Chapter 3: 1946-1947, Heartaches, challenges and trials

Raymond Miller and Emmett Davidson had been riding around the outskirts of Huntsville in Raymond’s Model A Ford. They had been drinking and sightseeing for most of the day. It was a chance to blow off some steam and get away from Lorene and Bonnie (their wives) for a little while.

2 It was February, and it was a dreary and cold day. They had been driving along the main north/south highway out of the city and decided to pull over and take another drink just outside of Hazel Green. The land here was flat and consisted of one empty cotton field after another.

3 “Give me a swig of that,” Raymond said as Emmett put the bottle to his lips and turned it toward the roof of the old car. “Sure, old buddy, have a little nip,” Emmitt responded as he passed the bottle to his friend. Raymond looked at the bottle and smiled.

4 “I’ve enjoyed the hell out of today!” he declared. “Yeah, me too, but I guess we’d better be gettin back to the old ball and chains,” Emmett replied. “Oh, alright, if we must,” Raymond chuckled.

5 The car, however, refused to turn over when Raymond tried to start it. “Shit fire!” he shouted as he slammed his open hand down on top of the steering wheel.

6 They both got out of the car, and Raymond raised the hood and began scanning around the engine for any obvious problems. “It does this sometimes,” Raymond explained.

7 Just then, a truck pulled up and parked behind them. “Hey, y’all need any help?” the driver yelled from his open window. “Could ya give us a little push to get us started?” Raymond asked. The driver looked at the man seated beside him and smiled. “Yeah, we can give you a little push,” the man snickered.

8 Raymond and Emmett quickly got back into the car, and Raymond put it in gear and waved to the man behind them. The man eased his truck forward until it made contact with Raymond’s rear bumper and began pushing the Model A along the road.

9 The car lurched forward slowly at first, and then quickly picked up speed as it veered back onto the pavement. “That’s too damn fast you son of a bitch!” Raymond shouted.

10 Then, just as he popped the clutch to start the engine, the right front tire left the pavement. The old car lurched toward the ditch before Raymond could steer it back onto the highway and rolled over.

11 Raymond and Emmett were both thrown from the car, but the vehicle landed on top of Raymond. The men in the truck watched in horror as the scene unfolded before them. They quickly pulled off of the road just ahead of where the accident occurred and parked. Raymond was dead before they reached him. Emmett was still breathing, but he was obviously badly hurt.

12 By that time, another vehicle that was traveling south (back toward Huntsville) pulled off the pavement on the other side of the highway. A man and his wife rushed across the road and stopped beside the overturned car.

13 “Help us to get this one loaded into the truck!” the other two men shouted at the man standing beside his wife. When that was accomplished, the two men in the truck headed straight for the hospital in Huntsville.

14 In the meantime, a Madison County Sheriff’s deputy had arrived at the scene of the accident and made arrangements to take Raymond’s body back to Huntsville. Lorene and Bonnie were notified about what had happened a short time later. Mittie fainted when she learned about the accident.

15 The following day, Emmett too succumbed to the injuries he had sustained in the accident. He had survived the Allied Invasion of Normandy and had received a Purple Heart during his service in WWII only to die in a car accident a little less than two years later.

16 Ironically, Raymond’s body was taken to Athens to be buried there among his father’s people. Emmitt was buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville. Both men’s families were left to cope with the loss and unfinished business of the lives of two young men which had ended so suddenly and unexpectedly.

17 Doodle was devastated by the loss of her big brother. “He’s the one who held our family together through the really hard times,” she told Clayton. All he could do was hold her as she wept.

18 A month later, Doodle learned that she was pregnant. They had finished the evening meal, and Clayton had kicked back in a chair in the front room. She had just finished washing the dishes and was still drying her hands on the dish towel when she walked into the room.

19 “Well, it looks like we’re going to have a baby,” she told him. “Are you sure?” Clayton asked with a smile. “I’m pretty sure,” she replied.

20 At almost the same instant, there was a knock at the front door. Doodle crossed the room and opened the door, and there were two Huntsville Police officers standing on the porch. “Mam, sorry to bother you this evening, but does Clayton Jones live here?”

21 “I’m Clayton Jones,” her husband volunteered from his chair. “We have a warrant for your arrest.” “What for?” Doodle demanded from behind her husband. “Failure to pay his child support,” one of the officers replied.

22 Clayton quickly got up out of his seat and walked toward the door. “I’ve paid my child support,” he protested. “Not according to your ex-wife,” the officer continued.

23 “I’ll strangle the life out of that bitch!” Doodle declared. “I advise you not to do that, Mam,” the other officer told her.

24 “Anyway, this is all for the judge to decide,” the first officer concluded. Then they loaded Clayton into their police car and headed back to the jail.

25 Within a few hours, Doodle had managed to post bail and get him out of jail. “I can’t find the canceled checks that prove that we’ve paid child support,” Doodle told him on the way home. “She must have stolen them while we weren’t home,” Clayton replied.

26 “You know that I’ll go back to jail without them, and I’ll owe her a bunch of money on top of that!” “What are we going to do?” she fretted. “We’re going to have to leave Alabama as soon as possible,” he told her.

27 By the following day, he had sold the house which they had just purchased a few months prior to this event. They also sold or gave away most of their furnishings and clothing. “It ain’t much, but it’ll have to do,” Clayton told her as he stuffed the cash into his wallet.

28 They loaded what few belongings they had left into the black, two-door 1936 Chevrolet parked in the driveway and left Huntsville just after sundown. Wayne was jammed into the backseat with a pillow and a blanket and off they went.

29 The car had two spare tires in the trunk to provide for the numerous flats which they were almost certain to encounter on a long road trip. Clayton had also purchased several of the Camel brand cold patches in the small tin cans for patching the inner tubes in those tires. And those preparations proved to be very useful as they encountered their first flat about a half hour after leaving Huntsville.

30 They had driven for about three hours when Clayton suddenly pulled off of the road and stopped. “I made a wrong turn back there!” he exclaimed. “Where’s that damn map?” he demanded. Doodle handed him the map and pulled out the flashlight and turned it on.

31 As she held the light over the map, Clayton studied it for a few minutes before speaking again. “Well, we’ve driven about a hundred miles out of the way,” he finally said.

32 They thought that they had been travelling in the direction of Texas. Clayton had heard a rumor that there was work to be had in Houston.

33 “I don’t guess it really matters,” he sighed. He closed his eyes and raised his index finger into the air in front of him. After a moment of hesitation, he lowered his finger onto the map before him and opened his eyes. “Lorain, Ohio,” he said. “We’re headed in that direction anyway, so we may as well keep going,” he told them.

34 They settled first in a little cottage at Vermilion-on-the-Lake. It was the only place they could find to live. Housing was at a premium after the war, and nobody wanted to rent to people with small children.

35 The stress and strain of the past two months had taken its toll on Doodle. She miscarried. “This happens,” the doctor had explained. “You’ll be able to have other children,” he assured her.

36 And, sure enough, in the fall of 1947, Doodle learned that she was pregnant again. From the beginning, however, something did not feel right.

37 “I’m bleeding down there,” she told the doctor. “And I’m having sharp pains in my right side.” “Let’s have a look,” he said.

38 When the examination was complete, he smiled and told her that there was nothing to worry about. “You seem to be progressing normally,” he assured her.

39 A few weeks later, her entire belly and pelvic area was hurting. She got dizzy and nauseous, and finally fainted in the middle of the floor one day. A neighbor called for an ambulance, and they carried her to the hospital.

40 When Clayton arrived, the doctor was still with his wife. He was sitting in a waiting area when the doctor approached him. “Your wife has had what we call an ectopic pregnancy,” he began. “She has lost the baby, and we may lose her,” he told him flatly. “She is very sick, but we will do everything we can for her,” he finished.

41 Clayton slumped back down in his chair. His eyes were full of tears. “She can’t die,” he whispered to himself.

42 He didn’t have anything to worry about. Doodle was determined that she would never leave Wayne to face the world alone. Her recovery, however, was very painful and slow.

43 Nevertheless, as Wayne’s birthday approached, she decided that she had been in the hospital long enough. “This will be my son’s fifth birthday, and I’ve always been with him on his birthday,” she explained to the doctors and nurses. They made arrangements for the ambulance to take her home on the fifth of December.