The best part of summer was the family's annual two week vacation in Arkansas visiting Crystal and Amy's Grandparents. The girls anticipated this event above any other summer plans.
The grueling fifteen hour drive was worth every second of discomfort and boredom spent in the back seat of the family sedan. Crystal knew that at the end of that final winding dusty gravel road, lay Grandma and Grandpa Duncans tiny log cabin ranch. Standing on the porch would be two people who loved her and Amy unconditionally.Upon arrival, they would first be greeted by Cappa, the herding dog, then smothered in Grandmas hugs. Grandpa would just puff on his pipe and smile from ear to ear.
Once hugs and hellos were completed, Crystal and Amy would be given permission to check out the barnyard and the new livestock. There would be eggs to gather, cows to herd and milk, baby calves to pet, and new kittens to cuddle. They would churn butter with Grandma and slop the hogs with Grandpa. This was paradise beyond anything Mr Disney could conjure up for a child. Crystal was free. For two full weeks the world was hers.
Two days after their arrival, Grandma decided they should all pay a visit to Great Grandma Bittle. Dad didn't seem very happy with the idea, but Grandma just pooh poohed him and said Grandma Bittle wouldn't be around much longer and she should at least get a chance to see her grandchildren before she passed.
Everyone piled into the car and drove back down the hot dusty lane and into the city of Batesville where Great Grandma lived. Her house was tiny; just one room with a couch, a table, and a bed crammed into the limited space. But if the house small, Grandma Bittle appeared even smaller. To Crystal's surprise, the woman who greeted them was barely as tall as she was. Old and bent and probably one hundred years old, this adorable lady embraced them, smiling through tears of delight. Crystal thought she was the most amazing person she'd ever met.
Everyone crowded in to the tiny house and the grownups began talking, and talking, as grownups tended to do. Crystal and Amy knew that their parents expected children to be seen and not heard during such visits, so they stood patiently and quietly by for what seemed like hours.It was a hot August afternoon and the room seemed stifling. Soon Crystal became sleepy and just slightly bored with the conversation. She climbed up onto the bed in the corner of the room and settled down quietly to watch and listen more comfortably.
Without warning, she heard her father shout her name. "Crystal! What the hell are you doing?"
She was jerked up off the bed by her hair, landing in a heap at her father's feet. Too startled to even cry, she rose obediently to the rough grasp of his hand on her arm.
"Where are your manners, girl? You do not sit on some one's bed when you are invited into their home."
Crystal was so ashamed. Once again she had embarrassed her parents by her bad behavior, and in front of Grandma.
Then an amazing thing happened. Great Grandma Bittle raised her cane high above her head and began to strike Crystal's dad. Shrieking as she lashed out at him, landing blow after blow until he loosed his grip on Crystal's arm. Trembling and wide eyed, she stood stunned as the scene continued to unfold before her.
"You leave that child alone!" Grandma shouted. "Don't you ever let me see you touch her like that again. This is my house and my bed. She'll set where she likes. Yer just a mean son of a bitch and I'll have none of it!"
Crystal couldn't fully comprehend what had just happened, but one thing was clear: She had not done a bad thing! It was Dad who'd miss behaved and he was being punished for his "meanness". Was it possible, she wondered, that she was not the only one who disappointed and miss behaved?
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