Ruckus in the Cane Field

No doubt about it, my brother Percy is the best brother any little brother could have. Because my Momma worked, the responsibility to take care of me was thrust upon by brother. I don't remember him being upset about it, although at times I'm sure he was not happy with the situation. In September of '53 I had just entered second grade and Percy began his senior year at Franklin High School. At that time the elementary grades and the high school grades were on the same campus in different buildings. We walked to school together, me in a half trot, trying to keep up with him and a couple of his friends and Percy having to stop ever so often to wait for me. I stayed after school while he had football practice, or he worked in the FFA garden. On weekends he would pedal me on his bicycle about two miles, part of it down a gravel road, to see his steady girlfriend. Yep, the three of us were inseperable. Get this, I even went with them on thir dates. I guess that was part of the deal, he could use the car but he had to take his little brother. Now in Franklin, Louisiana the thing to do on Saturday night was to go to the picture show and then after get a coke at the drive in. We were lucky in a way because we had three movie theaters in Franklin, but unlucky in a way because if you wanted to go to the drive in movies to make out you had to go to New Iberia or Bayou Vista. Well we always went to theater in Frnaklin and I would immediately leave my brother and his girlfriend on the back row to smooch (old word for make out) and I would go sit right up on the front row with my popcorn and candy. When the movie ended we would go to Renee's Drive In for a coke and after take a little ride. Now you could park with your girl a Renee's because there was a wooded area at the side of the drive in but you knew that your friends who didn't have dates were going to come and shine their bright lights in your car and mess with you. Now I don't know what couples did in Illinios or Arkansas or Indiana but to get away from your buddies most couples in south Louisiana went park on a head land road in the area sugar cane fields. If any of you senior citizens from Franklin are reading this you know what I'm talking about. Well on this particular night as I recall they decided we would take a ride around Irish Bend. We were in the family car, a cool 1953 Buick, dark green with wide white wall tires and three little vent holes in the front fender which really served no purpose but sure looked cool. We're riding along on that country gravel road, Percy and his girlfriend up front and me in the back seat of that old Buick. The windows were down, the radio playing and the damp night air with the smell of fall permeating the car. Nights in the country were mesmerizing with millions of stars winking at us through the pitch black sky. At some point during this relaxing ride I fell asleep in the back seat. I don't know how much time had passed but when I opened my eyes I realized that the car was not moving, I was looking up through the back window at the night sky and it looked like I was the only one in the car. Seems like only a few seconds before I really got scared when I saw some strange lights in the sky. About the time I yelled out "where are we" two heads popped up in the front seat, and in no time at all my brother had that Buick smoking. Don't know what the girlfriend was doing but I was holding on for dear life as my brother manuvered that fishtailing Buick like Mario Andretti. We were throwing mud on that headland road like we were in some kind of motor cross race. I don't remember if I was crying and I didn't know what was going on in that front seat but I do know that all I wanted to do was to get out of that cane field. As it turns out they saw the lights also and thought it was a UFO. Turns out everyone in the car that night was scared. I don't remember the trip home but I know we didn't talk about what happened, I think we were just glad to get home.
My brother called tonight to tell me he was enjoying the stories on my blog and I heard someone in the back ground saying "don't print that story about the night in the cane field". No one had metioned that night in 56 years. I was surprised, I asked him if he remembered that night. He did and we all had a good laugh. They relented and gave me the okay to print the story.