Thankful re-loaded her shotgun and leaned it against the wall. She calmly went back to her chair as I took some deep breaths and went back to mine.
She did a little more ranting and got back to the story,"I had to go on living....mum held me many nights and cried with me....George finally gave into mum's wishes to get a telephone....George thought the telephone was evil...he told us it was like talking into a snakes mouth with nothing but shit coming out the other end..... George didn't like new fangled things."
"Old George even bought a Model T Ford...mum kept wrecking it and George kept fixing it....she struck a cow one time...old George laughed and told her that sometimes cows don't mooo...ve!
Thankful lit a cigar and went on,"The 1920s rolled around and I decided that I needed to do some traveling...I packed my bags for California....I was like a daughter to George and he set up an expense account for me....he and mum saw that I wasn't happy in Sunrise, Indiana.....I think they may have wanted their privacy back too."
It was the summer of 1921 when I arrived by train in Los Angeles. I met a man named Sam Warner...a delightful and very intense person....He introduced me to my next husband, Jimmy Harloon.....Jimmy had been worked in a few silent films as a camera man...he loved parties...he loved drinking...he loved himself."
She giggled,"My third marriage lasted about six months...I caught him with a very young actress...he had her bent over the davenport...I sneaked up with the fireplace shovel and beat his lily white ass out the door....the poor girl had slid down to the floor...crying out that she didn't know he was married...I don't know why but I knelt down beside her...stroked her hair and told her he wasn't worth either one of us crying."
"I can't tell your her real name Tommy because she is a famous actress and she is still living...I wrapped her in a blanket because the cowardly dumb ass grabbed up her dress with his pants on the way out the door...we shared some hot tea and conversation about the Men of the movies...we talked for hours....she broke down crying again about Jimmy.. and I held her in my arms."
Thankful then, with a distant smile said,"I won't go into details but I wound up naked in the blanket and she walked out the door with my dress on....I remember kissing her goodbye so clearly....the look on her face...those beautiful dark eyes reflecting the stars....I knew she was going to be great that very moment."
