STORIES
If our lives are a book, the cars we drive define the chapters.
These are stories featuring cars, trucks, and even RVs that played a role in the lives of the people who owned or drove them. Many are set in Fort Stockton, Texas and involve a cast of characters in and around the dusty southwest Texas town. A lot of the stories are shared around the table at The Grounds for Divorce, where the ‘regulars’ meet.
Pull up a chair and let Lucinda pour you a hot cuppa joe and enjoy.
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SUNLINERS AND LINGERIE, Chapter I
This is the first chapter of a Seven Part Series. His family having been wealthy and then losing it all on a stock speculation deal, Richard Warren Sears moved to Minneapolis to work as a railroad station agent. While he was working that job, a jeweler refused shipment on an entire delivery of watches. Proving the fact…
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FROM THE BACK OF THE BERMUDA, 2/9/2025
Jeez Louise, it’s been a week here in the Lone Star State. I mean, we’re used to things being a little unruly around here. That’s the way we like it, generally. But the wheels seem to be flying off the wagon a little more than usual and it’s just flat out hard to keep up with. Luckily the weather…
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HAPPY MOTORING, Chapter VIII
WE PICK UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF IN THE TALE OF KELLY KERR AND HIS TEMPORARY RELOCATION TO FORT WORTH AND SUBSEQUENT RETURN TO FORT STOCKTON IN TWO RECENTLY DISCOVERED CHAPTERS. THIS IS THE SECOND OF THOSE TWO LOST CHAPTERS. And so it was that Kelly Kerr settled in. Settled into Fort Stockton. Settled in to the…
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HAPPY MOTORING, Chapter VII
WE PICK UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF IN THE TALE OF KELLY KERR AND HIS TEMPORARY RELOCATION TO FORT WORTH AND SUBSEQUENT RETURN TO FORT STOCKTON IN TWO RECENTLY DISCOVERED CHAPTERS. Kelly Kerr was glad to be back in Fort Stockton in the late spring of 1964. Glad to be around people he knew and in…
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FAMILY HISTORY, Part II
I’m not sure what struck me most when Sister Thelma muttered the words “This is the car of my people.” I didn’t know if it was the subtle tone of the words as they fell off her lips, or the look in her eyes as she said them. The Citroën had obviously touched a nerve. And by…
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FAMILY HISTORY, Part I
There was a break in the cold weather, temporary I’m sure. The thaw taking place outside reflected the one going on inside the Grounds for Divorce. Delgado was back in the kitchen. When I noticed the Huevos Rancheros were back to the highest standards in Southwest Texas, Lucinda acknowledged they were of Delgado’s doing. “He’s back in the kitchen,” she…
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SINS OF THE FATHER
Good lord she was gorgeous. The most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on, and he’d laid eyes on a lot. She’d just been crowned Miss Cottonpatch of 1954 and could have had her choice of dates from nearly anyone in Fort Stockton. Why she chose to accept his offer is something she reflected on over and…
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PRESCRIPTION FOR PROBLEMS
Rex Hall just got back from the Annual Pharmacists Convention. For reasons that nobody is sure of, but had to involve someone’s brother-in-law getting a payoff of some kind, it was held in Michigan in January. I suppose if you’re from that neck of the woods you don’t think anything about getting out when it’s single…
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SUITS & VERDICTS, Missing Pieces
The final chapter of a story that has run all week. It was odd that nobody else was at the Grounds for Divorce. I mean it wasn’t like it was first thing in the morning. The Folgers had been sitting on the Bunn-O-Matic long enough for it to have a consistency and flavor that couldn’t be confused…
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SUITS & VERDICTS, Verdict Number 3
The sixth of seven chapters that will run all week. It seemed like the toughest part of the case of Jimbo Carthage versus Frontier Ford was going to be the jury selection. Jimbo thought that any prospective juror who’d bought a car from the dealership should be stricken. “That’s not how it works, Jimbo! I explained that already!” His…