Dear Diary, my name is Molly Matthews, and I have a story to tell you. Its kind of scary, kind of dramatic, but its my story, and I wanted to share it with y'all.
See, I'm only sixteen. My daddy, Harlan Matthews, he's the Mayor of Maylorsville, that's the town where I live. It's in a small valley, surrounded by the Cumberland Mountains in east Tennessee.
Daddy's a mean man, hateful and cruel. He lives to beat on my Momma and me. Momma told me he started beating on me when I was just a few months old and he only stopped when I turned twelve. I wish I'd never turned twelve. I think the beatings were easier to take than what came then, but that's a secret, something I ain't supposed to talk about.
Anyway, like I said, daddy's the Mayor, and he has this Sheriff, Amos Quimby? Oh boy, does my daddy hate him. They used to be friends when they were in school, but I think daddy done something really hateful to Sheriff Quimby, cause he hates my daddy every bit as much as daddy hates him.I think Momma was involved somehow, but they won't say.
Life here in Maylorsville is pretty boring. I mean we got one movie theater, a couple of diners and a Tastee Freeze, the IGA, the drug store and soda fountain, a few churches, a couple of beauty shops, two gas stations, a post office, the five and dime, the courthouse, the clinic, where I was born, and Dollops garage.
As you can see, there ain't much for kids to do but hang out at the Tastee Freeze or go see a movie or just hang out at the park.
Me, I like the park; especially at night. Of course I have to sneak off to go there. Daddy would strip the hide off a me if he ever caught me in that park after dark. So, I don't never let him catch me. Sorry, that makes me giggle!
So anyway, Halloween was two weeks ago. I went trick or treating with my best friend Carol Ann Wimberly. She's fun. She covers for me when I have a date, and I cover for her so's she can sneak off and be with her boyfriend, Tommy. We're gonna do that tomorrow night. I told my Momma and Daddy that I was going to spend the night with my cousin Leila after choir practice, but I ain't!! We got plans.
More later diary, I hear Daddy coming up the steps. I got to pretend to be asleep or....
