Glenwood Arkansas April 1954

 

 

 

 

Eight-year-old Daniel Banning laid tied and gagged, in the sleeper of the 1948 Diamond T diesel truck, as it roared through the night. Every pothole sent Daniel crashing into the wooded coffin-like box, his hands hurting from the ropes. There were no more tears to shed. The terror of darkness and stifling heat pushed his young mind into shock. Daniel desperately wanted his mother to hear her gentle voice and feel her touch as she hugged him.

Reality delivered muffled sounds of an AM radio. Daniel thought he heard rain hitting the windshield but wasn’t sure. The day before, he walked to school like any other day with his sister Dona. He sat with Billy Hudson and Billy Sherman and played kickball at first recess. Ms. Henderson, the schoolteacher, taught Math, English, and Science, following the same routine daily. The next pothole was a big one. Daniel bounced straight up, hit his head on the wood lid, crashed back down to the bottom, and lost consciousness.

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            “Danny, get your lunch, and let’s go!” said Dona.

“I’m coming, I’m going to forget my lunch, and you aren’t the boss of me.”

Dona gave Danny a hard stare.

“It’s a good thing, or I’d knock the hell out of you.”

“You keep talking like that, and I’ll tell momma!”

Dona was a feisty 14-year-old who rather not mess with her baby brother but caught the task when their mother started working at the shirt factory. Father Frank was in Korea cleaning up after the war on the 38^th. Frank wouldn’t be home for six months. HT Huggins elementary school was six blocks from the house and the high school another two. A cloudy April day, but the weather had changed, and a warm-up was on the way. The wind blew last fall’s leaves across the city streets and produced a whirly-wind. Glenwood was a peaceful rural American town with strong values bred from centuries of Christian teaching. The love of God and country stood above all else.  

            “I’ve got track practice after school, and you will have to walk home by yourself,” said Dona. 

Daniel rolled his eyes, ran by his big sister, and raced into the mix of kids entering HT Huggins. Mr. Anderson, the hall monitor, sent an ugly look toward Daniel, telling him without a word spoken to slow down. Daniel entered his homeroom, placed his lunch pail on the ledge with the others, and sat by his best friend Billy and his second-best friend Billy.

“Tonight, at the old feed mill,” said Billy Sherman.

Understanding the instructions, Billy Hudson and Daniel shook their heads yes. Ms. Henderson followed her routine with perfection, stopping once to scowl Ernie Thompson for not completing his homework. The last recess found the boys near the basketball court, huddled close together.

“Bring some candles and matches,” said Billy Hudson. Daniel nodded, yes.

“I’m going to bring daddies kerosene lantern and that old book about the devil,” said Billy Sherman.

“You going to bring your rifle?” asked Daniel, to Billy Sherman.

“Damn right I am, ain’t nobody going to catch us off guard, especially the devil.”

“What are you boys talking about?” chimed the sweet mellow voice of Donna Jean Cherry. The boys turned to see Donna, Lisa Gorbett, Bobbie Jones, and Thelma Rich, giggling and pointing at them.

“Ain’t none of your business,” said Billy Sherman.

“You best move on,” said Daniel pointing toward the playground. The bell sounded before an argument arose, and all returned to homeroom to finish the school day.

            Jackie Banning sewn nylon into shirt collars exceeding her piecework by thirty-five percent, raising her earnings for the day, twenty-three cents more an hour. Her fingers and lower back hurt. She hadn’t worked a full-time job since Dona had been born. The day passed as Jackie sewed and thought about Frank. She missed him badly and sometimes could feel the touch of his hands from 5000 miles away. Jackie struggled with war, and men fighting and dying, leaving their women and children to fend for themselves?” She understood the cost of freedom was high, but it didn’t make it any easier.

Johnny Birch, Jackie’s supervisor, came around a couple of times during the shift and gave her a good stare. It had nothing to do with her work, but her tits, and if he kept it up, she would remind him that Frank Banning would be home soon. Jackie was one-hundred percent certain Johnny’s eyes would wander in another direction because Frank Banning was not a man to anger. The horn sounded, and Jackie slid the chair back, swept the work area, and headed for the time clock.

            Daniel paid little attention to the traffic as he crossed State Street on his way home. His thoughts were on tonight’s adventure. Scared for sure, and his Christian upbringing taught him to do otherwise, but he could not ignore the excitement. He was a good boy; besides, he could ask for forgiveness later.

The Diamond T semi slowed and watched Daniel cross State Street and disappear down the alley. The T made a left, traveled a block, turned left again as Daniel crossed the next street, walking south through the alley. The T was mobile without the trailer. Turning right at the end of the road, the T moved slowly south while looking east. Daniel entered his home at 2121 Wallace Street, and the T traveled south. 

            Daniel used a kitchen chair to reach into the top of the hall closet to retrieve the candles and matches. Frank placed them in the closet in case the power went out. Tacking the lot to his room, Daniel placed them into a small box and put the box under the bed, placing sneakers in front to hide them. He recovered his pocketknife from the nightstand and shoved it into his trousers. Midnight would not arrive soon enough.

Daniel glanced at the New Testament lying beside the lamp, thought again about his mission, left the bible, and exited the room. He completed his chores early, and after dinner, he’d excuse himself for bed. Once his momma and sister were asleep, he’d slip out and walk to the feed mill.

Jackie attempted to make small talk with her children. She sat the pork chops and mashed potatoes on the table but had little luck with a conversation. Dona was a teenager, and nothing her mother said pleased her. Jackie wanted to slap her at least twice a day but seldom did. When Dona did talk, she was hateful and biting, another reason Frank needed to get his ass home. Daniel usually talked her head off, reminding her how wonderful it had been to have children, but tonight he seemed distant.

“What’s on your mind, Daniel?” asked Jackie. Danny looked up, surprised, and realized he had not said a handful of words all evening.

 “Nothing, mamma, I’m tired.” Dona shot a bouncing glare at her little brother.

“Momma needs you, honey; be a good little boy and talk to her.” Daniel desperately wanted to assault Dona but didn’t want anything to mess up tonight’s plans, so he bit his lip.

“That’s enough, and I mean it!” said Jackie. Dona rolled her eyes and reached for the potatoes.

Dona fell asleep at 11:15 p.m. Jackie had been asleep for hours, the job taking its toll on her body. Danny took the box, eased quietly down the steps, walked through the kitchen, and out the backdoor. The night was warm and misting rain. Daniel pulled his cap down and headed west toward the mill. The incandescing streetlights were few, but he knew the way. The old mill had gone out of business before the Great War and moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas. The local farmers still used the silos to store grain, but the three-story mill grinder sat dormant. Billy and Billy sat on the front steps smoking a cigarette.

“Give me a drag off that,” said Daniel. Billy Sherman handed him the cigarette.

“You ready,” asked Billy Sherman. He stood with his rifle.

“Yeah,” said Daniel and Billy Hudson.

The thick wooden door squealed, the rust binding the hinges. Clearing the spider webs from the entry, the boys climbed the steps to the third floor. The mill smelled like ground corn, mildew, and rat shit. The third floor was a big open room with wood floors surrounded by massive windows, the glass mostly absent. Pigeons rested on the large oak beams in the top of the mill and exploded in a fury when the boys reached the top step.

“Shit!” yelled Billy Sherman. Daniel and Billy Hudson ducked down, watching the pigeons fly through the broken panes.

“Light the candle,” said Billy Hudson. Daniel opened the box of candles, sat one in the middle of the floor, and lit it. Billy Sherman squatted down using white chalk he stole from Ms. Henderson’s classroom and drew a four-foot circle around the candle.

“Get the book and come in close to the light,” said Billy Hudson.

The boys gathered around the light and opened the book titled “Hail to the God of Darkness.” Billy Sherman turned to page seven. And read, “By the divine power given to me by the universal God, call on my name. I will come to you as I did to Eve and the son and offer you the desires of your heart. I will make you gods above all gods.”  “We are supposed to stand in a triangle, inside the circle, and hold our arms straight up. Close your eyes and repeat after me: “Ave ut quod princeps autem tenebris.” (Latin: Hail to the prince of darkness) Daniel, and Billy Hudson, followed Billy Sherman’s lead. “Wiggle your fingers and jump up and down.” The boys looked like a revival at the Mt. Nebo Pentecostal church. They skipped around and chanted the devil chant repeatedly.

“Run around the circle,” said Billy Sherman. The boys began to run until Daniel ran into Billy Hudson, who fell and tripped Billy Sherman. A sharp gust of wind blew through the open windows, and the candle went out.

Daniel said, “He’s here. I can feel him.”

“I don’t feel a damn thing, how about you, Hudson?” asked Billy Sherman.

“Nope, that book is a bunch of shit.”

Daniel was nervous and knowing they had no business messing with the powers of darkness. His friends may not feel it, but he damn sure did, and right now, all he wanted to do was go home. Daniel grabbed the half-burnt candle and said, “See you tomorrow. I’m going home.”

“Don’t let the devil get you,” said Billy Sherman. Billy Hudson snickered. Daniel did not think the comment funny as he descended the steps and passed through the big wood-door.

The mist had turned to light rain, and the night air had cooled. The clouds hid the moon and stars, the night-black. Seeing the dim streetlight in the far distance, Daniel picked up his pace. In twenty minutes, he’d be home and safe from the devil.” Speaking aloud, he said, “God, I’m sorry for what we did and if.”— The massive hand smelled like oil as it wrapped around Danny’s mouth. He fought feverishly, attempted to scream, to break free, but all for naught.