Millie & Ethel, and the Great Civil War

Millie & Ethel were sisters, but they were complete opposites. They really had nothing in common, except their parents. Millie lived just past Snellville, in a very large home with lots of other women. Most likely, she was the madam of a brothel, rumor has it. She never told, and no one ever asked. Ethel would just talk about how good of a woman Millie was for taking in all of those young women and taking care of them.

At the age of 50, Millie got her first car and learned to drive. She didn't really have anywhere to go, but she wanted to stay in practice, so every week she'd make the long drive from Snellville to Tucker. She was always dressed to the nines whenever she visited the family-- she liked to show off her wealth. No matter what outfit she wore, she had a hat and long gloves to match. She was never a good driver; she often ran people off the road, and never payed attention to the stop signs. When she approached a stop sign, she'd stick her gloved hand out the window and wave. Everyone else would yield. This is back when Stone Mountain Freeway was a one lane dirt road with only a couple of stop signs. Now it's a congested 6 lane highway with busy intersections every few feet.

In contrast to Millie's extravagant lifestyle, Ethel lived a quiet life. Her husband was a factory worker and they lived in a little bungalow on the factory grounds. After all of her children grew up and moved away, Ethel spent her time collecting. She loved junk. She'd show off her dime store purchases like they were diamonds. Among her favorites was a little plastic chicken- if you pushed on it's back, it would lay a little plastic egg. She also had a little rubber baby- if you cranked the knob underneath, it would rotate it's head and act like it was crying. In later years, her daughter brought her a fiber-optic sign that lit up to show an Hawaiian waterfall. She loved showing off her souvenier from "Hi-Waya", and her other "dust collectors", as she called them.

One Sunday afternoon, Ethel invited all of her family to her house for a Reunion, of sorts. I don't know all of the details, but some of her brothers, cousins and sons got into an argument in the front yard. They all carried guns and used them that day. Just after the coroner bagged the last body and left, Millie arrived. She still hadn't mastered the brakes, so her car came to a stop about 2 driveways past Ethel's house. She walked up to the house carrying her trademark congealed salad, clueless of the huge civil war that had taken place just minutes before she arrived.

The Reunion had to be postponed- none of the survivors were in the mood for a family get together that day. The food was all put away and served after one of the funerals that same week.