The Thaxter girls, Evelyn, Louise and Judy, were the most popular girls in the little Middle Tennessee town in which I lived for a couple of my young formative years back in the 1950s. They lived right next door to the little trailer my two younger brothers, Mom and I called home. Evelyn and Louise were sisters. Judy was a first cousin. They were all good-looking girls.
Judy’s mom went off the deep end after her husband, Judy’s dad, Mr. Thaxter’s brother, died. She began to nurse her broken heart with booze. Then she carried on with one low-life loser after another.
She finally married one of them. He drank, got mean and took it out on Judy and her mother. Judy ended up moving in with the Thaxters. It made it a little more crowded, but they were happy to have her.
The wrongest kind of man is the one who picks on women. They’re cowards. When they die and go to hell, they spend the rest of eternity sweating blood and wishing that they could have one more chance to make things right. Sorry, too late.
All three of the Thaxter girls were cheerleaders at the high school. Louise and Judy were the same age. They were seniors. Evelyn was two years younger. They shared one bedroom and the only bathroom in the house. Somehow, they made it work.