by: Essy Jane

Later on that evening, Bo was cooking dinner. Before either Daisy or Uncle—I mean Jesse would cook the dinner. Now, here was Bo, cooking. I watched him as he stirred each pot with care. He seemed to be so—well, alive when he cooked. Bo smiled as he took out a spoon. He tasted his creation and knew it was almost done.

“Hey Bo?” I asked him.

“Yes Nancy-Lou?” Bo replied.

“How do you prepare your chicken?”

“Oh I don’t do anything special, I just tell him straight out he’s going to die.” I rolled my eyes and started laughing.

“That wasn’t funny.”

“Then why are you laughing?” I began to laugh harder.

“I’m not.”

“Oh yes you are, you’re doing it right in front of me.” I tried to hide my smile but he kept pulling my hands off my face. “Oh come on Nancy, you have a smile…use it or I’ll pull out another joke.”

“You don’t have any.”

“Two goldfish were in their tank. One turns to the other and says, ‘you man the guns, I’ll drive.” I looked at him wondering what the joke meant. He could tell what I was thinking almost immediately. “You know tank…aquarium…army tank?” Now I that I got it the joke was funny. I began laughing again.

“Hey Bo, don’t burn dinner again,” Daisy said as she walked out. Bo laughed. I wondered why. “Do you remember last time you put your mind on other things?” Bo nodded softly as Daisy walked out.

“What happened last time?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Bo mumbled. He was hiding something and I knew it. I tapped my fingers on the counter. “Oh okay, there was this one time Luke came home with the General and he seemed sick.”

“Awe, poor Luke, you must have felt awful.”

“I was talking about the General.” I rolled my eyes but honestly, I should have known better. Bo and Luke do think of their General Lee has a person.

“I see, I didn’t know cars could get sick.”

“Your car hasn’t made a weird noise in its life?”

“Well yes but…”

“Or ran out of gas?”

“Yeah but…”

“There you have it. When he makes a weird noise he’s sick. When he needs gas he’s hungry and can’t do anything until we fill him back up.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, I got under the hood and forgot about dinner. We had charbroiled chicken…charred past recognition. I almost burnt the house down.”

“All that fuss over a car.”

“No, all that fuss over a family member.” I shook my head. “What, you don’t think the General is family?”

“Bo, it’s a car.”

“Now see, that’s where I disagree. A car that has saved my life countless times is a part of your family. We made him with all the love in the world. Now you can’t tell me that doesn’t make him family.”

“Look, just because you have a few adventures in a car, doesn’t make it family. People make cars.”

“People make babies, with the lord’s help. Now did God not make everything?”

“Yes he did.”

“He made us and the metal to make cars. Everything here is family, including the General Lee.” I shook my head softly and sighed. “You still don’t believe me. Or maybe you can’t put yourself in my frame of mind.”

“I can see where you’re coming from.”

“But…”

“But I can’t see General Lee as part of the family.”

“One day, you will see what I mean by the General being part of the family. Just like Dixie is a part of our family. That old pickup is a part of our family. They all help us out and we couldn’t do very much without them.”

“I guess not.”

“You see, you do understand.”

“Not really.”

“Well Nancy-Lou, you see, a friend may say they’ll always be there but a lot of them leave.”

“Okay.”

“A family member is there for you no matter what.”

“I still don’t see…”

“Your Dad for instance, he has been there for a long time. I consider him part of my family—even though he’s not blood related. Now with the General it is the same way. He may not be related but he’s always there and always helps me. Do you understand?” I nodded softly. Suddenly now, I shared Bo’s opinion.

When we sat down for dinner, I couldn’t help but embrace every one of those good country smells. Everything looked really good and the funny thing was Bo made it. Luke and Bo would always have these contests when cooking. Young Bo used to be worse than Luke when it came to cooking.

What was the difference you ask? Well, my good friend got cooking lessons from one of his friends uh, girlfriends that is. She was a special person to both the boys. Betty Sue always made Bo smile which I don’t think is very hard to do but, that’s what made Bo want to date her so very much.

Bo stole her from his cousin. Luke wasn’t too pleased about it. I mean come on, Luke worked hard on his relationships with women. Bo just walked in and showed up. Everyone loved his charm. Then again, who wouldn’t?

Stealing Betty Sue from Luke made Bo a way better chef. He didn’t make burnt carrots anymore. Bo seems to listen to girls better than anyone else. Whether it was because of how wonderful they looked or how they put things, I couldn’t tell you.

When he was younger, this guy was really impatient. Jesse told me that Bo always couldn’t wait until school started. Two weeks after the young man got there, he couldn’t wait for it to end. He couldn’t wait for anything. Even when the General was being build, Bo was always the first one who had to test everything…well that is if Luke let him.

Anyway, back to the cooking, Bo began listening to Uncle Jesse’s advice after that girl taught him. Now this young man, who used to destroy his Jello by fire, could cook gourmet meals and of course the famous fresh foods Uncle Jesse made so well. However, Bo was still very impatient and sometimes forgot to check things. He turned the stove full blast most of the time to make things cook faster.

He is one up on his cousin though. Luke still can’t cook anything but beans. That’s right, throw them in a pot and warm them up. Luke even messed up on Kraft Dinner. Then again, neither could Bo. I guess it would have to do with Bo not following directions. Luke would follow the directions and it would come out as Macaroni soup. I think that’s funny.

“Uncle Jesse, do you have any advice before I get hitched?” Judd asked. Uncle Jesse nodded.

“Tizdales, fun people but don’t mess with them too much. They’re strong and very fast people,” Uncle Jesse replied. I laughed. I knew how Essy was like now. I knew that she was ready for anything that was thrown at her. She would fit very well in this family. “Now, the biggest advice I can give you is never go to bed angry.”

“A lot of couples have told me that.”

“That’s because it is important.” Uncle Jesse sighed happily. “Always finish your fights before you sleep on them. That way you don’t have time to stew.”

“Is that how you and Auntie were?” Daisy asked.

“I never saw Aunt Livonia and yourself fight ever,” Luke said to Jesse. Uncle Jesse smiled as he shook his head softly.

“Oh Livonia and I fought. We didn’t do it often because I didn’t like to fight with her. Women are precious. They truly are. Why when Daisy came to live with us, it brought a whole new spirit into our home,” Uncle Jesse responded.

“Yeah, we locked her in the closet.” Daisy bit on her bottom lip, trying not to smile. Something was funny about this. “Well okay, Bo locked her in the closet.”

“He never really did like me all that much,” Daisy confessed.

“Well Daisy, Bo did like you—he just missed the attention he used to get.”

“This is true. Bo loved attention.”

“Longed for attention.”

“Begged for attention.”

“I did not,” Bo cut in.

“Oh Bo don’t be so upset about it. You were like any other kid. Why when you came into the world I wanted to throw you in the toilet and flush you to London. When you were born, everyone said how cute you were and surrounded you like you were a puppy,” Luke mumbled. I loved hearing these stories.

“You’re kidding me, you didn’t like me?”

“I liked you—just not when you followed me all the time or tried to play with my toys. I got used to you though and look how close we got in the end.”

“How did this turn into a story about the boys?” Judd asked. We all began laughing. Judd winked. “You know guys, I wish I could have been with you in all of your adventures.” Bo and Luke looked at each other.

“Yeah right,” They said at the same time.

“No really, I think I would have met Essy a lot sooner.”

“And saved me the trouble of dating Judd,” I added.

“Oh come on, you liked me.”

“Sure, as much as I like the smell of a skunk.” Now it was time for everyone else to laugh once again. Judd gave me that look…you know the one, the ‘I know I am right’ look. I hated that look. “Nah, I did like you but you weren’t my type.”

“Good, because it took a lot to win Essy’s heart.”

“Oh I believe it, she is quite the woman. You better treat her right or you’ll have me to answer to.”

“Even if she doesn’t have strength she’ll talk you to death,” Bo cut in.

“Bo, you are…”

“I know, too much fun to handle.”

“No, you’re nuts.”