Ponies and Watermelons
About 1924, when Sue was five years old, her father decided he wanted to farm, so he moved his family just across the state line into South Carolina, onto a farm on State Line Road. While living there, her parents took her in their Model T Ford for a weekend visit with her father’s cousin, Ernest Atkinson, and his wife Eddith, who lived on Bonner Road in the Cherokee Creek Community. Sue enjoyed the ride there in the car, but quickly became bored, not enjoying the visit and the adult conversation as much as her parents were. Then a little girl about her age rode up on a brown and white pony, and Sue was ecstatic. Although she knew it was an impossible dream, Sue’s greatest heart’s desire at that age was to have a pony.
The girl, Louise Potter, allowed Sue to ride the pony all around the yard and adjoining field, taking turns with her. They were still having so much fun when it was time for Louise to go home that they both begged that Sue be allowed to go home with Louise to spend the night. After Ernest assured Vol and Beatrice that the Potters were a respectable family and Sue would be safe with them, the visit was cleared with Louise’s parents, and off Sue and Louise rode on the pony.
On the way there, they passed a watermelon patch that Louise said belonged to her father, and she invited Sue to eat some with her. Louise picked a likely looking watermelon and dropped it to the ground hard enough to break it open. As soon as they finished eating the heart, Louise picked up another watermelon and dropped it to the ground to break it open. They repeated this, eating only the heart from each watermelon, until both were too full to continue. Sue loved watermelon, especially the heart where she did not have to pick out seeds, so was in watermelon heaven.
Sue was impressed with Louise’s house, which was a very nice house near Cherokee Creek Baptist Church. When it was time for bed, she and Louise went upstairs and talked and giggled until they finally fell asleep. Sue decided Louise must be very rich indeed to be able to have a pony, a big, fine, two-story house, and all the watermelon hearts she wanted.
