Down in Mississippi and up to no Good

I think I was in second or third grade, so 1978 or 79 ish. I was living with my mother but my dad had secured visitation rights. So I was on one of my regularly scheduled visits. My sister had driven to pick me up and when we got close to home she told me we were not staying home, we were going on a trip. I was very excited, I loved trips so I asked where we were going, her answer filled my mind with visions of a magical place called Mississippi.

When we got to our house my dad and my brothers were outside standing by a family friends car playing with her baby girl. I was happy to see them I loved our friend and I thought her baby girl was adorable. When we got out of the car my sister told me to put my stuff in the friends car. I should say that I was confused and had no idea I was being kidnapped and that our friend was becoming an acomplice. But I was used to just doing what my sister told me so I put my things in the trunk and by then my sister was out of the house with her bag which she put in the trunk too. She also had a bag full of snacks. We said goodbyes to my Dad and my brothers and we were off.

I had no idea where Mississippi was, why we were going there and I'm pretty sure I thought we would be back in time for me to go back to my Mom's. It turns out Mississippi is pretty far from South Dakota. But I loved car trips and I loved riding in back with the baby. She was very cute and I got to hold her bottle and give her the pacifier, or play with her and make her giggle. I was having fun and before long I didn't care where we were going or how long it would take. And my sister was there so I knew everything was fine.

I have no idea how long the trip took. I don't remember if we stopped at hotels or if we drove straight there. What I do remember is that when we got to our friends relatives house I was very sick. My sister asked for a thermometer and took my temperature, it was 104 and she was really scared. She was only about 16 or 17 and she had no idea what to do and I imagine she knew or was told that going to the doctor was not an option during a kidnapping. Our family friend and her relative were both moms and they were really helpful. They said I should take a cold bath to get my temp down and there was some medicine then I went to bed in a strange bed in the biggest house I had ever seen in my life. I was in bed a couple days and not very aware of what was going on or how worried my sister was about me. When I felt better it was time to go. We were going to another relatives house.

The next house was a normal size house, just a normal house in a normal neighborhood. The only difference is that all the neighbors were of a different race than me. From what I can remember the family we were staying with were the only white people in that particular town. They were very nice people and they had lots of friends in town they didn't give us the impression that it mattered to them at all that their neighbors didn't look like them. I am grateful to them for their attitude. I had grown up in South Dakota, I had never really seen black people before and I think if they had been of the opinion they were better than their neighbors it could have influenced my own opinions given I was so young. I didn't really get to know many people in that town though because we were living on the lamb and didn't want to attract attention. I do remember the only time we saw other white people in that town. They were dressed in white sheets with white masks covering their faces that went to a point above their heads and they terrified me. Little kids don't know much but I knew that the people we saw in the grocery store or the gas station or just walking on the street were absolutely not threatening but the grown men wearing sheets were very threatening. I think a better word to describe them was menacing.

I discovered some things on that trip I still like. Boiled peanuts, refried beans, black eyed peas, corn bread, yogurt with the fruit at the bottom, ice cream in little cups with a wooden spoon, and peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

I honestly do not know how long we stayed there and I also have no Idea how long we were supposed to stay there. No one had told me what the plan was. But I began to be aware the plan was falling apart when the cop cars started driving by the house slowly. That made my sister nervous, so she called my dad. It appeared that Mom knew we were there and that the cops were looking to grab me and give me back to her, which I did not want to happen. And I'm sure my sister and Dad were worried about getting our hosts in trouble. I remember that when someone spotted a cop car turning the corner I was supposed to get out of sight. Which I did obediently. I was getting very worried about being sent back to my mom, I did not want that, I did want to see my Dad and my brothers.

I was asked by my sister if I had called mom or sent her a letter. I had not, in fact I had no idea how to do either of those things and she was the last human being I would have called or wrote to if I knew how the phone or post worked. I learned many many years later that my mother had hired a private detective and he had tracked our family friend and that is how she found us. Again I have no idea how long the cops slow driving and looking in the windows went on. I do know that it caused me a great deal of anxiety and was the start of the nightmares that plagued me for many years. And I do remember how this particular episode ended.

One evening our hosts drove us to a bus station. My sister bought tickets and we got on. I asked if we were going home and we were not, we were going to Minnesota. I had no idea where that was but I went where my sister went. We rode all night on the bus stopping often we mostly stayed on the bus, I sleped on my sister's shoulder. We continued on most of the next day then we came to a place where we had to change busses and the next bus didn't leave until the next day. I was amazed that my sister knew how to get us to a hotel and check us in. I certainly didn't know how any of that worked. In fact checking into hotels still freaks me out I have made my husband to it for 30 years. The next day we got on the bus and it took us to Minnesota where my dad and my brothers were waiting for us.

Minnesota is a long story and will have to be for another day. Thank you for reading this. I really appreciate your time. If you enjoyed it feel free to like, share or tip.