The Hollow - an original novel by free-reign --- Continuing with Chapter 2

Source

Click here to read Chapter 1

Chapter Two

_{Andy's parents bought the new family home from someone that Andy's dad knew. There weren't real estate agents, or anyone like that, involved in the sale. It was an old stone house that was built from stones that were used to build a revolutionary war-era mill that used to be on the creek that ran close to the house. It was a two-story house, and for the first time in his life, Andy had his own room. Andy had a sister, Arlene, two years older than him. They didn't get along all that well, going back as far as Andy could remember. As an older sister, she had a habit of doing things, which would end up with Andy finding himself in trouble with their dad. Even though she was two years older, Andy still felt that he was obligated to protect her if need be, despite his not liking her that much.}

_{The house wasn't in the town proper. It was up the road that ran by the creek, and going up that road was referred to as "going up the hollow". Andy didn't know what that meant, but he chose to not use the term. There was yet aother swimming hole further "up the hollow", where lots of people would go to swim in the summer. The day that Andy's family moved into their new abode, was Memorial Day, and in a matter of days, school was out for the summer.}

_{One of the reasons that Andy's family had moved from the farm, was because of Andy's dad getting a job that paid more - working in a coal mine. Andy never liked his dad working in a coal mine, thinking about cave-ins and explosions as probable events that could kill him. He remembered once before, when he was 5 years old, his dad went and worked in a mine and stayed there for the week, with his Uncle Joe. Andy and Arlene missed their dad very much, and were ecstatic when he and Uncle Joe came back from their week at the mine. He didn't work at that job long though, and went back to work at the farm. But now, he was going to keep working in the mine for the foreseeable future, and was earning a lot more than he ever would at the farm.}

_{There were, of course, a few stories about the hollow, like a headless horseman that would ride down the road at times, and another about a hermit that lived at the end of the hollow, where the road also ended. It was said that when someone drives up there, the hermit comes out and shoots at them. But the big attraction up the hollow, was the swimming hole, called Vanesky's, after the family that owned the property surrounding it. It was a very nice part of the creek where lots of people could have fun in the cool, slowly flowing creek water on a hot afternoon.}

_{Andy had never had a girlfriend, and back at the farm the girls he knew seemed more like family than someone he'd like, as a girlfriend. And none of them were Andy's age - they were either younger or older. Andy could recall one time though, that he remembered well. The day that he, his friend Danny, and Danny's tomboyish cousin Sharon, went off together, toward the woods. Sharon was a regular part of the "gang" of boys around there, and she always acted more like a boy than a girl. On this occasion, the three were heading to the orchard to pick some apples. When they got there, they talked about who was going up the tree, and Danny volunteered. Suddenly, Sharon pulled off her shirt, with nothing on underneath, and said to Danny, "Go ahead, get on my shoulders and I'll help you get up the tree!" She thought nothing of it. Andy had never seen her do something like this before, but Andy never thought of Sharon as one of the boys after that.}

_{When Marty walked up the hollow the day after Memorial Day, to go swimming at Vanesky's, and stopped off to get him, it was the beginning of a whole new life for Andy. When they got to Vanesky's, there were about 20 people there, swmimming, playing or sunbathing on the rocks or on the little "beach" between the creek and the road. Andy really enjoyed swimming in the water; it was cool and clear. He met some of the kids that he didn't already know from school, like Marty, and they swam and played games in the water, and dove off a big rock that seemed to be custom made for diving into the deepest part of the swimming hole.}

_{Later, Marty said, "Hey, let's go down the road", a phrase that soon became part of Andy's everyday utterances. As they got back to Andy's house, he told Marty that he had to go and ask his parents if he was allowed to go with him. Andy never knew what his dad would say, as he could be quite strict, and Andy knew that he'd either be allowed to go or not, depending on his dad's mood. His mother would always agree with his dad, and she didn't have the power that his dad had, in the family structure. Andy loved his mother very much, and had, all of his life, feared constantly that his mother was about to die. From as far back as Andy could remember, he had lived with that fear constantly. He would always remember the times when he would be playing outside, and when he went inside, his mother was lying on the floor. He'd scream, Mommy! Mommy! And then Arlene would come in and she would join in with the screaming and crying. Their mother would, after a couple of minutes, "wake up", and the kids were ecstatic, of course, that Mommy wasn't dead. She would always then say, "If you kids don't behave better, I will die one of these days", and Andy and Arlene would tell each other that they had to be good so that Mommy wouldn't die.}

_{Andy's mother had a lot of things wrong with her. She had a bad heart, which Andy knew from being told of it, ever since he could remember. She also had a few other things wrong, like Dropsy, Diverticulitis, gallbladder issues, etc. Knowing that his mother was in such horrible condition was inescapable for Andy, because he and Arlene both, had been informed of it repeatedly. TV shows like Ben Casey were watched religiously at Andy's house, and there were a lot of shows based on people having a serious disease or injury, from which they would die, if not for Dr. Casey. So, his mother's frail health was always on Andy's mind, growing up.}

_{When Andy asked his dad if he could go down to the town with Marty, his dad asked, "What are you going to do down there"? Andy replied, "Just gonna get a soda and some chips at Wilma's. Can I go"? Then after a pause, his dad said, "I guess." He always talked like that, never saying the word "yes". It was always like he refused to just say outright that yes, it is fine for you to do this or that. Andy loved his dad, but he also knew that his dad didn't think much of Andy, or that Andy had any qualities that his dad found desirable. He felt that his dad was disappointed in having him for a son.}

_{The walk to the town was only about a quarter of a mile, so Andy and Marty got to Wilma's fairly quickly. There were a few guys sitting on the rails outside the store, BS-ing about this or that. Marty introduced Andy, but the responses were anything but friendly and welcoming. After a while, though, one of the kids, Jack Lenkso that had been at Vanesky's earlier, said, let's go down to Lonnie's, and Marty said, "C'mon, let's go", to Andy. Lonnie was Jack's older cousin, and Jack's uncle, who was called "Boss", ran a gas station at the other end of town. When they got there, Lonnie wasn't there, but Boss was, and he told Jack to watch the store while he went upstairs, (where they lived), to do something. Jack told Andy to buy himself a soda, so Andy got one and brought it to the counter. He handed Jack the dime for the soda, and Jack rang the register up and promptly handed Jack a $5.00 bill and said, "Here's your change". Andy didn't know what to say, and then one of the twins, Eddie Gusman, said, "He does that all the time, just take it." And even though he knew it was wrong, Andy sensed that he should take it, like Eddie said, because it would mean that they were accepting him. So he kept it.}

_{To be continued...}