Chapter 17

Between feeling awful about kissing Uncle Bob and wild wet dreams, I hardly got any sleep on Saturday night; and I almost went to sleep in church several times. Thanks to George nudging me, though, I didn't embarrass myself and start snoring in the middle of anything. I could tell by his expression that he was concerned about me, but I couldn't explain what was going on in church or even when we got back to the house, where all of my family that could, would be arriving for the Sunday dinner that was usually held at Grandma and Grandpa's. I would have to wait 'til we were alone and where I was sure no one could over-hear us.

Grandma, Aunt Prudie and Elvis came to the house for lunch, as did Grandpa and Uncle Bob. Dad made sure Grandma and Grandpa were sitting in the end chairs of the dining room table and things went smoothly -- in spite of the glares they threw at one another every now and again. I had thought that Bob's announcement about Tammy Sue being his next date would fix things, but apparently, they were going to drag things out for reasons known only to them. Personally, I think they enjoyed arguing as much as they enjoyed eating.

George, Bob and I, along with several of the older kids, cleaned up afterwards and then joined the younger kids out in the front yard for a game of kick ball. There were twenty of us, with the boys out-numbering the girls by two, but we had some older players and decided in favor of girls verses boys. With changing the rules and horsing around the game ended up being tied at twenty-two before Dad called us for homemade ice-cream.