In the Winter of 1978, my family lived in Hawk Springs, Wyoming. A small town between Torrington and Cheyenne. This town had not much to offer small children, it had it's bar, post office and an old abandoned school. I had to be bussed an hour or so to the next town over to attend classes. Every once in a while a family would move into town with kids, but most of the time it was just my brothers and I. The residence of Hawk Springs were aged folks who had spent most of their lives in the community. There once was a restaurant, a DeSoto dealer, a couple of gas stations and a movie house; but all had dried up long ago.
That year was quite chaotic. My sister had broken up with her boyfriend and had moved to Wheatland with a man we called baggy pants. There was a cartoon back then which was called Baggy Pants and the Nitwit, and we always referred to them as so. Mom would laugh when they would come to the door, for the song would always get stuck in her mind. It wasn't too good for her, we had to go to Wheatland and rescue her from Baggy Pants. She had come home one evening from working at the Brown Derby, a local restaurant, and found him passed out in the chair. He had a shotgun and was waiting for her to return. She then called mom and we quickly drove to Wheatland, on the back roads through Chugwater and over to Wheatland. When we arrived, we found that he had also removed her tires off the car. That day she left and never returned. From then on he was referred to as Drip.
Most nights were spent doing homework and watching television. I never missed any of the shows on CBS. We only could get two stations and sometimes when the sky was cloudy we could get a third. As most of the winter was cloudy we could get good reception all winter long; even with the rabbit ears. Mom always said that when we get some money we could get an antenna for the house so we could finally see what was on the the third channel.
I was a latchkey kid, my family had split up when I was very young and mom never remarried. She hated dealing with the stuff that goes on with a violent family life. After school, I'd return home with my brothers and we'd sit and watch TV until my mom or older brother came home. It was quite good watching Star Trek or some of the shows that came on after school.
On a very cold evening, we were all home. Doing the usual, watching whatever came on CBS. It could have been Dallas, or some sitcom, Alice or the Jeffersons; when we got a knock on the door. It was a strange teenage girl. She stood in the doorway. I recognized her from the park earlier in the day. She and her family had been hanging out in the Hawk Springs Park, right across from the post office. I yelled for mom. Mom sent my older brother to talk to her. She asked if we wanted to get rid of one of the puppies that our dog recently had . It sounded crazy, but when my brother was talking to her, she implied that she didn't want the puppies; but the mother dog. I remember crying and saying that they couldn't have my dog. Mom then sent us downstairs so they could talk with out the noise from the little kids. I could hear them trying to take Misty from her area by the porch. I could hear her growl and fight with whoever was trying to lead her away. Misty would not go.
Once the car drove off, I and my smaller brother ventured back upstairs. We were upset that they were going to give away our dog. It all turned out that she would not go, so instead took one of the puppies. Mom was upset from the whole situation as well, she didn't trust anyone and tried to be calm about the whole matter. My brother then told us the girl had blood on her hands and they feared what might happen. They were trying to get whatever the girl and the people wanted and get them away from the house. Ben, had went outside to talk to the people in the car when the mother dog would not go.
Every weekend, my brothers and I would go to Torrington to visit with my father. We'd always get into the white International truck and head on down the road. The truck had no radio, so my sister had sent one to my brother as a birthday gift. The little black radio we'd listen to on the way. We'd always hear the latest news. On one such occasion the news anchor reported that a headless naked body was found in Wheatland. That news had hit the playground like a storm that following Monday.
2008, I had gone to my 20 year reunion. We had dinner at the Little Moon Lake Supper Club and spent a little time with my old classmates. I liked seeing everyone; they had grown and most had families that seemed to be ready to graduate from school. I stayed with my brother that weekend in Torrington. The following morning, as I prepared to leave, my brother asked me if I remembered the incident with the girl who wanted our family dog. I replied, Yes. He stated that he went out to the car and remembered the men in the vehicles. He told me to Google, Henry Lee Lucas. He said he would never forget that face of that man in the car.
Scary!
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