The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 22, 1969 Page: 6 of 16
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CHEROKEEAN OF RUSK, TEXAS, THURSDAY, MAY 22,1969
"Mist Tie Yeing Die Too?" Book Publication Cootinoos With Third Of Seven Articles
Editor's Note: Author-Pub.
fisher Wyatt Sawyer has gran-
ead The Cherokeean permis-
sion to reprint In toll, his no-
vel "Must The Young Die
Too?" The entire book will be
printed In aeren Installments,
paid for at regular church
retos by the Rusk Church of
Christ.)
Chapter 5
AFTER THE DANCE
Roger didn't know how long
be had been lying there In his
cell thinking back over his
past. Sometimes he felt that
time was speeding by, but at
other times he hardly thought
It was passing at all. Very
soft sounds were coming from
the Jury room so it appeared
that the jurymen were either
coming to some agreement or
were becoming weary.
Roger shook his head in re-
gret as he remembered the
excellent advice the prea-
cher had given him about his
dancing. He regretted that he
had not listened to him.
"I'm not going to spare many
words with you Roger, I have
plenty of evidence to back up
my position about your dan-
cing. But let me reason with
you a little before 1 bring up
my evidence. Maybe I won't
have to convince you through
other's mistakes. Nowlknow
its hard for a young man like
you to take advice from ot-
hers at this time. You think
you have a lot at stake, and
maybe you do. Maybe you
have more at stake than you
realize. I hope you haven't
closed your mind on the sub-
ject because there's quite a
lot for you to consider on the
other side of the question."
"*1 wasn't really listening to
Brother Ainsworth. 1 was too
prejudiced against anybody
who would take my fun away
from me. This was the first
group that ever took to me and
1 thought a lot of their friend-
ship. I'm sure now that I
wasn't capable of reasoning
with the preacher at all. My
mind was made up and 1 was
afraid if I listened to anyone
too much. I would want to
quit the gang--that was what
I didn't want to happen."
The young preacher sensed
immediately that Roger was
acting selfishly rather than
reasoning intelligently. He
felt that he couldn't tell the
boy anything. He would just
have to find out for himself.
"So you take the position
that dancing is just good, clean
exercise. Well, I've heard
that one before. But do you
know that 1 have yet to find
one person who could prove
it. Besides there are too
many other ways to get whole-
some exercise. Ways which
are above reproach. Now
what do you say we try an
experiment. If It works then
you gain the right to attend
all the dances you want to.
But if you lose then you will
exercise. I'm suggesting that
there Is some hist involved.
Oh, I know a lot of young
people never dream of get-
ting Involved in anything
where hist Is concerned, but
tbey do nonetheless. They
Just don't realize why they
like to dance. You say its
for exercise. I say it is for
the gratification of a devel-
oping urge within young peo-
ple. They aren't emotionally
mature, that's true, but they
are maturing and there's a
physical satisfaction enjoyed
when a boy holds a girls body
that close to his. Underneath
it all, whether you're willing
to admit it or not, there is
a craving for the satisfaction
of one of the human drives.
And God doesn't want thar
urge to be stimulated In this
or any other such manner.
It invariably produces unwise
thoughts which in turn foster
a growing lust which, if not
¡rly checked, ends in ei-
ther sin in heart or body."
'1 was getting the point,
all right, but 1 didn't like it.
I hadn't begun dancing for any
such reason as this. 1 just
wasn't guilty! I went to the
dances to be with the other
'kids, that's all. But then I'll
have to admit too that I got
to enjoying dancing with the
girls. I never thought about
figuring out why."
"Now here's my propos-
ition," the preacher contin-
ued. "I'll give two dances for
your crowd if you think they'll
come."
"Oh, they'll be there all
right. They'll go t o any dance
anywhere. They;d even go to
one you put on, that isifyou'd
also have something to eat."
"Flnel"'Now here's what I'll
do, I'll give two dances next
week. Say, one on Thursday
night and one Friday night. How
dots that sound?"
'That sound* great! Boy I
won't they he surprised when
they hear thai they've laten in-
vitad to a dance %pori >ore4 by
you. That'll Knoc Ihelr ha'1
oH,"
"Whoa, «heir1 I'm not
through. Hare'* the re t.
More yah «ay your dancing
¿tat tar the eaarci* , I'llgi
mm fter the girls m TWaday
night and another dance for the
boys the next night. Then they
can get their exercise to their
heart's content."
"Aw that's no bargain at all!
That's cheap. You know they
won't do anything like that.
That's the slllest thing I ever
heard of. why they'd laugh us
both out of town If I put it up
to them that way. Look here,
you knew they wouldn't ac-
cept a deal like that. That's
the reason you offered to give
the dances in the first place.
You knew they wouldn't take
you up on It. That's not being
fair.'*
'To the contrary, Roger, I'm
blng consistent with your rea-
soning. Can't you see that?
If they dance just for the fun
of it, and that fun Is just the
exercise they get out of it.
then they'll be glad to accept
my offer. But on the other
hand, if they don't like my of-
fer you can well see that it in-
volves more than just ex-
ercise. Maybe you do dance
just for the exercise. But
they don't! And I really doubt
that you do. I don't honestly
believe you understand what
you're doing or why. My point
is this. Those boys and girls
get together because there's
something of a thrill in it for
them. Now I'm saying that the
thrill mentioned is the begin-
ning of the gratification of
lust. It's insignificant at first,
but as those boys and girls age
and mature emotionally they
find this passion, or lust if
you want to call it that,grow-
ing also. Such familiarity be-
tween young men and women
was never a part of God's
scheme of things. It fosters
harmful thoughts and has led
to shame and disgrace in some
instances. Son, I'm not try-
ing to take anything away from
you that's good. I'mjusttry-
ing to spare you the inevitable
problems which will be yours
if you stay with this crowd
you're running with. They
call themselves the No-name
Club. Why? They don't want
to be identified with anything
that's good.There other clubs
have names taken from one
sources or the other, but your
bunch wants tohesosevretive
that they don't even want a
name."
"We gotta do something! We
can't sit around every night
and twiddle our thumbs. We
gotta have our fun while we
can. There's nothing wrong
with my gang and we like the
name too. They're all
right."
"Look Roger, most people
are very much alike. Your
crowd doesn't mix with the
majority of the students at the
school and you know it. They
don't want good clean fun. I
have reason to suspect that
your No-name Club is no-
thing but a bunch of kids who
think its smart to smoke and
drink and cuss."
"Well If they did, you woul-
dn't have nothing to say about
it. What have you all done to
give us something Interesting
to do' Ask Grandpa Horton,
he won't even let me start a
woodshop of my own. He won't
let me do anything 1 want to
do. So what do I do? I stay
away from home all I can
and tend to my own business.
I don't hurt nobody and I don't
want nobody nosing into my
business either."
I'm really sorry to hear you
talk that way, son. Now you
sound like those punks you
chum around with. You're
not their type. Now why don't
yew get away from them while
the getring's good? Oh, I'll
admit there isn't much being
provided you young people at
the church to do, but we can
change that. It will take time,
but I think we can arouse the
parents to their obligation in
this matter in time; but Roger
you need to be patient. Ifyou
will, we should have a very
interesting setup before too
long. That bunch you're with
right now just isn't the kind a
Christian young boy should be
around. They're up to no
good."
" Tha's a lie,' I told him.
*1 guess I run around with
them. They don't do all those
things you accuse them of.
That's what's wrong with so
many of you adults - now.
You're always talking about
stuff you don't know anything
about."
'Then what do you say we
try another experiment? This
will show you what dancing
and associating with that
crowd will do to your Chrt
tian Influence. As a matter
of fact, 1 dare you to try it. I
doubt rhat you're brave
enough.'
"I'm brave enough to do any
thing you can dream up. Jum
give me the detall and I'll
show you.','
'Then Brother Altr worth
toM me his plan. Of course,
I agreed to It. What el v
I do? I had alre«<*> hragped
about what all t co 1' *o. We
«hook hand* arid I left
the meeting tetermine-' *«
fh«t praarher a thi p >r
The following Friday rtignt
fawnd Roger at the>cheul
tearing a* «Ml After
a half dozen numbers had been
played on the juke box he got
up enough courage to try out
the experiment. Now he was
to make his report on Mon-
day.
"Brother Ainsworth was in
his office Monday afternoon
like he said he would be. I sure
hated to go in there, but 1 had
made a promise and I don't
like to go back on my prom-
ises."
•'Well, Roger, how did you
come out last Friday night?
Did you talk to any of the girls
about becoming a Christian?
You remember that was the
problem. I said you couldn't
be an Influence for Christ a-
round such people as that and
in such a place as that. You
said you could. Now I want to
know which of us was right.
I'm not trying to embarrass
you, I just want to find out your
results."
"But I was embarrassed.
And I finally found enough
breath to speak."
"Then tell me all about it and
don't spare the details. I'm
anxious to know how you came
out."
"It did'n work out good at all.
Everything happened about
like you said It would."
'"Is that so?" said the prea-
cher. "Then tell me all about
it."
"It just didn't work out,
that's all. I tried it and it
didn't work. That's all there
Is to tell."
'Mo, no Roger. I want the
details. I want to know what
the girls said. Now come on
and tell me. I'm your friend
and I'm trying to understand
you and help you."
"All right, I'll tell you. I
didn't talk to but one girl about
it. And after I finished with
ner I didn'twanttotalktoany-
one else. That one was hu-
miliating enough."
"Yes, go on. Tell me what
you two said. I may want
this information for future
reference. Of course I'll not
use names and places, but I
would very much like to know
what words were exchanged."
"Something was wrong. The
atmosphere wasn't right or
something. Maybe it was the
record they were playing.
Anyway, I was dancing with
Lula Anderson. I thought she
was probably the best girl
there. She used to attendall
the Sunday School class par-
ties I went to, so I got the im-
pression that she must have
been pretty religious. I just
knew she would agree with me.
But when I asked her if she
was a faithful Christian you
should have seen her face.
She told me she wasn't and
didn't intend to be until she had
her fun. And when she asked
me the same question I blus-
hed for five minutes. That
wasn't the place to discuss
things like that. I felt odd
in even bringing up the sub-
ject. She didn't talk very nice
to be either."
"Roger, if you're a Chris-
tian what are you doing here?
You know this isr.oplace for a
Christian young person.
What will the other girls think
of you? It's a good thing they
don't know it because if they
did they might think you were
spying onus. You'd better not
tell anybody else. What are
you trying to do, throw a wet
blanket on our fun?"
"And with that Lula walked
off and left me. She didn't
want to be around me after
she found out I claimed to be
a faithful Chrl-tian. What
was the matter with her? She
puzzled me!"
"Then you see my reasons
for opposing such activity
don't you Roger? That is nor
the place for a Christian young
person to frequent. Nor are
those the kind of young people
the Lord would want you
around. Remember he said
'Evil companion hip corrupts
goo>d morals.' And as I've ex-
plained before, the familiarity
involved is everything but
wholesome. Don't you see
you can't be a faithful
Christian and be a faithful
member of that crowd at the
same time? You're trying to
serve two masters, and it
won't work. Sooner or later
you'll be forced to make a
choice. Ipray you'll make the
right one."
"You talk like dancing 1' the
only sin in the world. What
about the other ones? And
what about the other kids in
the church here too, they're
not angels. Why !on't you
c.ill them in an,! bawl them
out?" „
"I ets keep the record
straight, Roger, I'm not
bawling you out and danclnf
isn't the only sin in the world.
Certainly it isn't bui that'* go
ing to prive the • tarli ¿ point
of your 'rouble , Keep away
'roin trouble and rj*ntib)f wilt
«ero t*av from )0u, *Htr
your re
hing
Mvlng
dlOÍW
had me discuss their pro-
blems with them. Two of them
invited me into their homes to
discuss the matter with them
and their parents. The other
one, talked with me by phone.
Now let me try to summarise
what I've been trying to get
across to you. First you get
with this outcast gang or club
as they call It. Then you start
going to dances with them.
They're bad medicine. They
put you in bad company and
tempt you to do wrong things.
And don't forget that the usual
companions with dancing are
drinking, smoking and gamb-
lings. Those other things
come along sooner or later
down the line."
"You still haven't convinced
me. I think Its all a lot of
fun."
"It may be to you now, son,
but what about later?Take
for instance the reports by na-
tionally known doctors and
lawyers and judges. Look at
the crime records. The po-
lice chiefs and judges say that
8055 of all the women In this
county who get in trouble with
the law started at the dance.
Or you could ask the F.B.I, for
their records. They'd also
tell you that thousands of
young women each year admit
that they were influenced to
throw away their lives in sex
crimes and it all began with
the wrong kind of people at
dances. So you see, it Isn't
just the dance Itself that's
wrong. Its everything that
goes with it and follows af-
ter it."
"But our high school dances
don't have any drinking and
gambling with them. There's
just a bunch of young people
who like tobe together and en-
joy themselves each Friday
night. That's alL"
"But how many of those
young people who learned to
dance will stop dancing when
their high school days are
over? And how many of those
youngsters will be strong en-
ough to withstand the drinking
and gambling which goes on in
those beer halls and dance
halls out on the highway? Now
suppose, because you go to
these dances some other boy,
say William Hlnes, starts go-
ing. You're strong enough to
stop when you graduate from
high school, but he isn't. He's
weak and you influenced him.
Then he goes to these road
houses frequently and fin-
ally is killed at one of them in
be partly responsible wouldn't
you? You got him started! If
it hadn't been for your danc-
ing he never would have died.
Now don't say this couldn't
happen because it can. As a
matter of fact Williams's pa-
rents are having a time with
him about this subject now.
He says he ought to be al-
lowed to go ifyou do. How-
ever, I think we've just about
convinced him of the serious-
ness of his request."
*'I gotta go now. I think I
understand everything bet-
ter. Thanks for the talk."
"One more thing, Roger.
Whatever decision you make,
I want you to feel free to talk
with me about It. We under-
stand each other now and
there's no reason why we
can't go on being friends,
I'm ready to help you if you
get in trouble. So call me
when you need me--and I'm
afraid you will."
"I didn't like the prea-
cher's suggestion that I was
headed for trouble at all. I
thought I knew what I was
doing and I wasn't afraid of
getting into any serious dif-
ficulty. However, the next
few days were disagreeable
ones. One minute I decid-
ed to throw th whole gang
overboard and get me some
new friends. But the next
minute I would get cold feet.
I wasn't sure I could get any
more friends. I had heard
that ^nce a fellow got in the
No-name Club he couldn't run
around with any of the other
No-name Club he couldn't run
around with any of the other
groups."
The No-name Club learned
about Roger's conference with
Brother Ainsworth through
round about means. For one
thing it was written all over
his face the next few day<- at
schooL Roger wasn't frien-
dly and carefree as before.
'The club felt like they were
in a crisis 1 guess, Any
way, they had some confer-
ences of their own to discuss
my case. They were afraid
If anyone dropped out of the
dances that others might fol
low .suit and the whole thing
would fold uj'. 1 kni'\* that
only about a Ixth of the tu
lent;, ever #ent to the dan
ces, but 1 II !n't think rn> quit
tiny would top any other."
Thr inwnal conflict In
Hoeer*' heart went on for ev
er#l lays more,
"I Afame ' the gang'* «p.
prov.il *«•!! a- their
Nnclatl. m, hut I M «n't like 'he
* ay «y ct.t c letter hurt me,
I' w.> awfully har ! for mr to
•mm uj fny milt . Finally I
tart.'* ' i||!. I *1' V tfnthr
«.ttiiihoy all
a manar af
all
ivit f r I
far H toa!
a lor* mm.
tier
the chib gave me the cold
shoulder and snubbed me
every time they saw me. 1 had
no one else to turn to, so here
,A was out in the cold again--
right back where I started."
The No-name Club members
were cunning kids. They in-
creased the pressure on
Roger at every opportunity.
And if these measures had
failed they planned to start
tales on him around the school
and completely ruin his in-
fluence. They planned to set
him up as an example of what
would happen to any other de-
serters from their ranks.
"1 was dealing with some
ruthlessmlnds but didn't know
it at the time. I didn't ap-
prove of their cursing and
general loose behavior, but I
didn't suspect just how low
the club really was. They put
the pressure on me, alright,
and It worked, I just couldn't
take the embarrassment, I
felt like I had to conform. I
guess I didn't have the moral
fiber at the time to resist."
The Club received Roger
back with great jubilation.
They had won out over the
preacher's influence and they
were gloating about it.
"They had taken my will
away from me Is what it a-
mounted to. I knew It at the
time, but I wasn't strong
enough to do anything about
it. As long as I went along
quietly I got along with them
fine. After this they sorta
made me their goat and their
sesman, but I knew I had to
do these things In order to gei
along with them."
A few weeks later the Club
felt very confident of their
hold over Roger so they de-
cided to let him go a step
further in their organization.
Until now he had never been
allowed to stay our with past
midnight, but now they ex-
pected him to stay with them
later.
"It was about two weeks la-
ter that I really got to know
my gang. As usual I went
driving with them after the
dance. This night there were
three carloads. This was
to be my initiation night so I
was a little excited. Some
of the football boys were along
and they were all bragging
about who was the strongest
and the toughest. Then they
got out their bottles of wine
and tried to show how tough
they were by outdrinkingeach
other. I could tell it wa«
burning their throats but they
didn't let on that It was. The
girls squeeled with glee and
admiration as the boys took
turns at the bottle. And oc
caslonally the girls took a nip
too just to show they were reg
ular fellows. All this behav-
ior shocked me at first. I
didn't know they drank and
carried on like this. Prob-
ably that was because they
hadn't trusted me before and
didn't do these things in front
of me. But now they didn't
care."
The three cars followed the
leader from one roadhouse to
the other. Usually they raced
each other down the highway
after the traffic let up.
'Three of the boys soon got
a little groggy and they didn't
know much that happened the
rest of the ride. When l was
handed the bottle Ididn'twant
It, but they said this was my
initiation Into the secret or-
der. I didn't like either the
smell or the taste of the whis-
key they gave me. I asked
If I couldn't have one of the
bottle of wine, but they turned
me down. I drank as little as
1 could but It burned all the way
down. By now over half the
couples in our group were
drunk. The revelry in.
creased and some of thegirls
acted downright wild. Then
came the real surprise. 1 ile,
one of the girls from the bet
ter part of town had con
nectlons with a dope peddler
from the big cirv. She
had goof-balls and also doped
cigarettes. She usually wa-
ited until the other were well
inebriated before she let them
have the marijuana. Some of
them didn't know what they
were smoking and they didn't
care-.they just liked the feel-
ing."
I lie was a sadistic creature.
Her folks had divorced sev-
eral years before and she wa
now living with her mother and
rich step-father. Her mother
and step-father both drank
and gave wild parties which
was why they didn't want her
around the house at night. It
was her reputation as a night
streetwalker that got her the
dealer- hip for tope.
"Whan It came m> time to
srnoke one of the marijuana ,
I paid for It and lit it. It wa
different to anything I hade*
(>erlenced before, When I !*■
tan to feel woory ! gotscared
in thr**w rhe rest of H nut
th* win tow. They a k me |f
I didn't like the 'weed' ,«n ' I
told them my tomach had
been up*ei that day. \nd,my
way Mnre t htdn*' «moke-'br
fore i hay dldr'" ( he i> .
cldeiu much mil*!*"
fhlft #«i*rterk'r caused
#r a «II \ o an«t rale steel of
Hnt«e|f. tla realty •** mlaed
up in something worse than he
had anticipated.
'The preacher told me they
didn't stop at dancing, but I
thought he was wrong. I
didn't thenk he could know
what he was talking about. I
knew that he hadn't don those
things, so I wondered how he
knew. Later I found out that
a person doesn't need to par-
ticipate in such thingstoknow
they exist. I was just too
dumb and stubborn about the
whole matter. But I never
would have believed that the
club members were dopers
if I hadn't seen it with my
own eyes. At school they
really put on a front. They
were considerate and polite
and many of the teachers
were fooled about them. But
away from school and espec-
ially on these night rides or
club meetings as they called
them, they were unpredicta -
ble."
The thing that puzzled Roger
was that the peddlers should
come to a moderate-sized
town like Centerville to ped-
dle their stuff. The cities
were on the war-path against
them, so maybe they were
looking for safer territories
for awhile. And the thing that
was the most astonishing of
all was that they were getting
away with it. Once a victim
got started they wouldn't tell
where the cigarettes or cap-
sules came from. Law en-
forcement against the dope
was a difficult task.
"Each time I saw how stu-
pid the others got I wished
I'd never heard of the club. I
didn't want to smoke or drink
or do any of the things the
bunch was doing. But I felt
that I was too far in now to
get out."
In time word finally reached
the Horton's about the acti-
vities of the No-name Club,
The Information horrified
Grandma Horton and made
Grandpa Horton very angry.
They had never had such a
problem as this with their
children so they didn't know
what should be their first
move. Brother Ainsworth
and the elders of the church
were called together. Grandpa
Horton felt that this problem
concerned more than just
their home. It involved the
church, the school and the
communtiy as well.
"We're counting on you
Brother Ainsworth," said
Grandpa Horton at the elder's
meeting. "You've talked with
the boy before, so you're the
likely one to talk to him now.
And another thing,gentlemen,
I've been thinking lately.
Somewhere down the line
we've let this boy down. I'm
his grandfather, but I haven't
known what todo with him. I'm
afraid I've made a big blunder
in Roger's case. As mother
and me look back on it, it
seems that we began to lose
the boy when he started going
to those denominational young
peoples'parties. Mother and
me never played with the boy
so I guess he went over there
to have fun. Ther. came the
high school dances. You're
aware of the fight we had over
that subject. It look like we
lost him through his recrea-
tion. Most all the other young
people were enjoying them-
selves in some kind of activi-
ties, so I guess he had aright
to expect some fun too. But
we didn't provide anything
worthwhile for him. That's
why he got away from us. When
that boy comes home now he's
not the same youngster we
used to have. He's grown up
fast and we may have lost him
for good. But we're hoping
your talk with him will put
some sense in his head, prea
cher. Now you go ahead and
we're all behind you."
"Brother Ainsworth didn't
want to talk with me further.
He thought I was beyond help,
and 1 guess I was at the time.
I was determined tohave some
of the pleasures out of life.
The trouble was I didn't know
what the real pleasures
were."
The preacher called Roger
and requested another meet-
ing between them. Roger was
reluctant to accept the lnvi
tation, but he didn't know any
way out.
"Brother Ainsworth got to
the park before 1 did. No one
else was around when I ar
rived so I selected a bench out
of view. I didn't want anyone
to see us there, ande peclally
the gang."
"We'll ".kip rhe usual form-
alitle and get right down to
the matter at hand. We've
been getting report of the
drinking tnd other ictlvltlr
yi*ir club ha boan participa
ting in lately. 1 don't nee.' to
ask you If the report* are
true. I knuw I hay are, Cen.
tervllle |s oo mall a piare
for that 111 ' •>' r I'g oi
notice \ Your gr
tr -very H'turb >'
'I!
a|T
"Look, I got problems and
I'll work them out myself.
You don't understand my sit-
uation. Nobody does. And
there's no way you, or theel-
dars, or my grandparents can
help me, I just want tobe left
alone."
"But can you work these
problems out by yourself?
Most young people have a
mother or a daddy to go to
when they need help. But you
don't have anyone outside of
the Horton's and your grand-
father tell me you two don't
understand one another. Now
I'd like to be a big brother to
you. If you'11 let me. Working
together, we can pull you out
of this mess. But I can't do a
thing without your coopera -
tlon."
"I was getting more con-
fused all the time. The prea-
cher had made me a real good
bargain. I could get help to
get away from the gang If I
wanted It. If I would tell him
everything and get It off my
chest maybe he could work
something out. That would
be a grand things. But I got
shaky In the knees when I
thought about having to face
the club members five days a
week at school. They would
really make life miserable
for me. I didn't believe I
could stand that."
In desperation the preacher
decided to put some pressure
on Roger. He hadn't suc-
ceeded in getting anything out
of his young friend any other
way, so he tried direct char-
ges.
"Roger, are you getting
drunk like the other members
of your gang?" The town's
people say you are."
'This question rocked me on
my heels, I didn't know the
whole town knew what we
were doing. The gang said
nobody knew. I told the pre-
acher, I sipped a little, but
that was all.
"And how do you know you
won't go further next time and
get drunk?" the preacher
pressed him.
"Because I don't like the
stuff, that's why! Idon'tdrink
any more than I have to. 1 get
along with the gang, that's all.
"And how do you know you
won't turn out like your
father? Maybe he started
drinking with á crowd like
you're doing. What guarantee
do you have that you won't fol-
low in his steps? You could
you know."
"I didn't even try to answer
him. He was right and I cou-
ldn't think of any more to say.
But I was sure that I wasn't
going to end up like daddy. I
was determined not to. Then
we finished our talk and shook
hands like friends. I wanted
to get out of the club like the
preacher suggested, but I just
couldn't now, I knew too much
and there was no telling what
they might try to do to me if
I tried."
Chapter 6
MARGIE AT THE BALL
"Brother Ainsworth wasn't
surprised when I returned to
the club and the school
socials. I guess he was ac-
customed to seeing young peo-
ple do crazy things because of
the hold a high school group
could get on them. I was cer-
tainly no exception. I was a
slave to all of their petty
whims and fancies. And a
high school clique can be
very unpredictable. By now
the preacher knew that I
would try to weather this
storm out. I didn't tfilnk 1
could get out of the gang if I
wanted to, so I chose to take
my chances with them."
The preacher was well aware
that there was nothing he could
say or do to change Roger's
current trend of conduct. He
did pray dally that he wouldn't
get hurt too badly and that In
time he would break the cap-
tive chains his social friends
had put on him. But how long
his young friend would remain
under the hypnotic spell was a
guessing matter.
"For the next few months I
was about as unpredictable as
the winds of a cyclone. I guess
I was quite a mystery to the
town. I'm still amazed at how
long-suffering the church was
with me during this tlme.Th
ough I didn't take as active a
part In my class work and all
with the church, still my at
tendance didn't suffer. The
Hortons saw to that. They
worked on the theory that if I
got the chance to know right
from wrong that theday would
come when I would return to
the right. At least they hoped
tnd prayed that I would,"
Though Roger hud never
made up his mind to ■ ee new
companionship, lie thought
ibeui It. He was suffering <in
agonising conflict with die
church foils, Including the
Horton- on one side, and the
high ch'ol tu lent- on 'he
other. Roger's heart *■ the
baitlegrmitvt, He prayed an 1
thuigh' tnd changed hi mind
' ray the price. fat one night
!• <
aach of them. This was his
opportunity to get out—.at
least he had a good excusa.
And as he was getting ready to
tell the club off and leave, ha
changed his mind. He ram.
embered Marjorie Scofleld
and decided to stay in after
all.
Marjorie was a very attra-
ctive, auburn-haired girjwith
the most beautiful hotel-blue
eyes In the world, She was of
medium height and was by far
the neatest dresser in school.
She and her folks had recently
moved to Centerville from
New York because her father
had been transferred thereby
a large farming equipment
manufacturing firm. It didn't
take Margie long to fit into
the social life of the school
since any new girl was a
treat for the home-town boys.
Roger had seen Margie tha
first day she visited Center-
ville High, and he fell for her
then, but was too timid to In-
troduce himself.
"Little did I ever dream
that she would give me a sec-
ond glance. I was shy in
public and must have made
my feelings of inferiority
quite evident. But she was
lovely and graceful and tha
image of everything I though I
ever wanted in a girl friend.
All the rest of the boys had
their eyes on her too, so I
expected to be satisfied just
admiring her from a dis-
tance."
Two weeks later Roger met
Margie at the dance, Richard
Hutfieldwas her escort that
night and Roger had brought
Shirley Hawkins.
"I was just plain rude to
Shirley after that. But I
couldn't help It. 1 couldn't
keep my eyes off Margie.
Then we got better acquain-
ted after the dance when we
all drove out to the drive-In,
Richard might as well hava
been dating Shirley that night.
Margie and I didn't make any
bones about wanrlng to be to-
gether so we ignored our
dates. However, I didn't get
to see her much that night.
They took her home early
because they didn't know
whether she would fit Into our
activities or not."
The girls at school were a-
mazed that the new town bea-
uty should pay any attention at
all to Roger, much less accept
his invitation to the next Fri-
day night dance. When the
girls pressed her for an ex-
planation she told them her
reasons quire frankly.
"That boy's going some-
where girls, and that's the
kind of fellow I want. And
what about those broad sho-
ulders and that brown wavy
hair. And don't you think
he's got beautiful eyes?
They're a little sad, but I
like them anyway. He's al-
so got strong arms and I like
men with strength. And who
knows, one of these days he's
liable to be a real he-man.
I like him too, and I guess
that's enoughreason to date him
but there's another thing I
like about Roger. He's not
a wolf. All the boys at home
are wolves, or at least all I
know there. I like a quiet
unassuming boy with some
hidden ability. That's my
Roger."
"But Margie," one of the
girls exclaimed, "Roger's
been a dud around town for
years. Whey he hasn't got a
reputation or talent or money
or a car or...."
"Hold it right there, sis!"
Margie spit "back. "Roger's
all right for me, besides its
none of your business who I
date or why. Now you gals
go on and peddle your petu-
nias."
Roger smiled when he though
about how he felt during his
early dates with Margie.
"There I was the nobody-boy,
yet I was dating the most
sought after girl in Center-
ville, Those boys at school
sure gave me some hard looks
but she was worth them. It
didn't take us but about six
weeks to convince the rest of
the neighborhood that neither
of us was available after that.
And as for my world, it re-
volved completely around
Margie. There were good
reasons too. I can see them
now, but I sure didn't under-
stand all of them then. For
one thing she stroked my ego,
she made me feel really wan-
ted. She used to tell me all
the good qualities she .aw In
me and she made be believe
1 had them too. Tills was the
first person, outside of Bro-
ther Ainsworth, that ever
made me feel that I might rea
lly have a bright future ahead
of ine. She gave ine self.con
fidenca and made tn«'do things
CONTINUED
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The Cherokeean. (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 121, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 22, 1969, newspaper, May 22, 1969; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth150810/m1/6/?q=EARTH: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.