Aunt Robenia

 This is a group photo of my father's family.  Aunt Robenia is on the second row, second from the left.

I enjoyed sitting on the front porch listening to Aunt Robenia spin tall tales.  She often told the story about the time she got into trouble in the fourth grade at Hayesville School.

Several kids were eating peanuts and threw the  shells on the floor in the old rock gym.  The substitute teacher wobbled into the classroom.  "Who threw down those shells on the floor?"  No one confessed.

She ordered a little girl to sweep the floor.  "What's wrong with you?" yelled the teacher.  "Didn't you ever learn how to sweep?"

Robenia told the teacher the little girl had polio and couldn't sweep.  The teacher told Robenia to sweep.

"No, I won't sweep," said Robenia.  "I didn't throw down the peanut shells."

The hefty teacher stomped to Robenia's desk.  She grabbed both of her arms and yanked her out of her desk.  Robenia took off and dragged the teacher around the room.  When she got to  the front of the room, Robenia pushed the teacher down, climbed on a desk, and jumped out a real high window.

Robenia ran to a nearby church and hid.  She peeked out the window and watched the principal chug-a-lug by in his old T-model Ford.  When  the coast cleared, Robenia hightailed it to her  sister's house.  Rena had a belly laugh about Robenia's latest capper.

The next day, Robenia returned to school.  The teacher avoided Robenia like the seven-year itch because she had never seen such a strong child.  No wonder Robenia was so stout.  She often got into fights with her brothers and whipped them.  

By:  Brenda Kay Ledford

Reprinted from:  Old Tales

                            an anthology by:  Old Mountain Press:  

                            www.oldmp.com