Sunny: The Hippie Chick

By Dawn Natelle

Reviewed and Edited by Eric

Chapter 15 -- Because tramps like us, baby we were born to run

The trip north this Christmas was a lot easier than last year, thanks to the van. There were four of us: Mary and Ben heading to Santa Rosa, Sunny and I going all the way to Eureka to meet with the family. Due to my job at the clinic during the summer I hadn’t gotten home then, and mother was pretty adamant that I was to get home for the holidays “and bring that pretty girl with you.”

Apparently, there were no new babies this year among my sisters and aunts, which Sunny was sad about, but she was thrilled to see all her other young fans again. And because I was making good money, she was given a big budget to buy gifts. It was worth it to me. I really didn’t like shopping, while Sunny loved it. It was worth the money to have her look after that, as well as the wrapping and such. The back of the van was packed with gifts, not only Sunny’s but the ones Ben and Mary were taking to their Christmas.

It was still fairly early in the morning when we were directed to Mary’s parents’ house in Santa Rosa. Eureka doesn’t have many blacks, so there is no black neighborhood. But in Santa Rosa Mary’s folks live in a smallish area that was exclusively black. Sunny and I attracted some attention at first, but folks out on the street relaxed when they saw Mary and Ben with us. A massive black woman ran out from the house when Mary got out of the van to completely engulf her. It was clear this was Mary’s mom. A tall, thin black man with a collar of white hair above his ears waited his turn for a hug while Momma got her time in. Sunny and I grabbed the boxes of presents to stay here and carried them into the house, which was older, but in fairly good condition and spotlessly clean inside.

Mary introduced us, and three minutes later Sunny had made friends with everyone, as she was prone to do. I was a bit more reserved, but the family had a way of welcoming us in. Any friends of Mary were friends to them. Ben got special attention, as the prospective boyfriend.

We spent an hour visiting and an attempt was made to have us stay for lunch. It was only by promising to stay for dinner on the return trip that enabled us to get back on the road.

We picked up hitchhikers on the way up, three of them at separate times. But none were with us for long. I felt it was important to pay back for the times when we had been on the road on our thumbs. We made good time on the trip and were in Eureka in late afternoon after about five hours on the road.

I got a Mom hug like Mary had endured once we got to the house. My sister Norma was already at the house, planning Christmas with Mom and we hugged as well. Suddenly there was a shriek: “Aunt Sunny!” as my niece Melanie burst into the room. That attracted the attention of the younger kids, who streamed out to see Sunny (and me, I hoped).

“You cut your hair, Sunny,” Melanie complained. Sunny’s hair had grown back to about four inches long. Melanie hadn’t cut hers all year and it was down to her shoulders now.

“Yes, I did,” Sunny answered. “I met someone who needed it more than me.” She then explained about donating her hair to the kids with cancer.

“Wow, that is so sweet,” Norma said.

“I should let mine get that long, and then donate it too,” Melanie said.

“If your marks aren’t better than last term, you’ll be donating more than your hair. Like that guitar,” Norma said.

Melanie did the teenaged eye-roll thing.

“Aren’t you keeping your grades up?” a concerned Sunny said.

“She just sits in her room playing that guitar or listening to records,” Norma complained. “She barely passed Science this year.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Melanie pouted. “I’m going to San Francisco and join a rock band. Won’t need school for that.”

“It does matter,” I said. “Sunny was making good money with her music last year, but it dried up completely this past year. She has been doing volunteer work lately.”

Sunny had apparently picked up something in Melanie’s manner. “Mel? Are you planning to quit school and head to the city?”

“Of course not,” the younger girl claimed, but a red face made it clear that she was lying.

“When were you planning to go?” Sunny said. Melanie broke. She admitted that she and three girlfriends were planning to pool their Christmas money and head south early in January, hitchhiking.

“Four hitching is pretty hard,” I pointed out. “A lot of rides will only pick up one or two. It will be easier with girls, especially if they are all as pretty as you, but a guy cramming four teen girls into his car may not be completely trustworthy.”

“But school is such a bore,” Melanie complained.

“It is if you don’t care and don’t work at it,” Sunny said. She looked at Norma, still open-mouthed at the news that her eldest child was planning on running away. “But I have an idea. It means you will have to work through the entire spring term and get your marks up. If you get up to mostly A’s, then Mitch and I will come up at the end of June and take you to our apartment. Only one friend though: you two will be sleeping on the pull-out bed Ben had. He stays with his girlfriend now.”

“Maybe your mom will make you an allowance of $5 or $10 a week, that Mitch will give you if you behave and don’t get into underaged drinking.”

“No drugs,” Norma insisted.

“Well, it is hard to avoid grass and acid down there,” Sunny noted. “But if your experimenting gets out of hand Mitch sends your allowance back to Norma and you will find San Francisco is pretty boring if you are broke. Don’t think you can panhandle or busk to make money. There are dozens of kids in the city right now, and in summer it will be crazy. You might be able to earn a quarter a day like that. If you are lucky.

“If you are good, you can stay with us through to September coming back in time for school again. But you have to get good marks this spring and be polite and helpful to your mother and nice to your sisters and brother.”

“Geez, that’s a lot,” Melanie mused. “But going to Haight for the summer would be so cool. And not to have to worry about food and a place to sleep. I’ll go for it if Mom and Dad agree.”

“I’ll have to talk to your Dad about it,” Norma said. “You know he’s going to go ballistic when he finds out about you planning on running away. But Sunny’s idea is a good one. I’d sleep better knowing you are with family down there. And you have to tell us the names of the other three girls. I bet Lisa is one of them.”

“I can’t Mom. We promised not to rat out the others. Yeah Lisa is one, but you don’t know the others. Lisa will be the one I share the bed with at Sunny’s.”

“Okay. Let’s head home now and get ready to talk to your Dad,” Norma said. They walked out the front door, when Melanie shrieked again. “Uncle Mitch has a hippie van. Can I ride in it?”

Norma had the other three kids, so I suggested that I drive Melanie home, which was only eight blocks away. The enthused young girl climbed into the passenger seat, her head a-twirl looking at the interior of the vehicle, which Ben had finished up quite nicely. There was a second row of seats and then a small bed behind, currently covered with boxes of presents.

All too soon we were at the house, and Melanie hopped out and started for the front door. “I think now would be a good time for you to start helping your Mom out with the little ones,” I said. “And also, I know you will want time with Sunny to practice your guitar. I want you to spend as much time with me and I’ll tutor you in science. I was pretty good at that.”

“Okay Uncle Mitch,” she said and gave me a big hug. “Thanks.” She trotted over to the station wagon and started helping with the smallest children. Norma glanced at me and mouthed a thank you.

Back at the family home I started carrying in Sunny’s loot, and Dad came out to help. He sounded disappointed that Ben hadn’t come. He had been planning to get his car worked on. I told him he would have to pay to have a garage do it this year.

In the house Sunny and Mom were bonding in the kitchen, but when the boxes came in, they both came out and took over distributing the presents under the tree.

We had a small dinner with just the four of us in the kitchen. We were several days before Christmas Eve, when the house would get crazy. About three hours later, when we were thinking about going to bed (Mom still had “Mitch’s Room” reserved and didn’t seem to object to us sharing a bed) there was a phone call. It was Norma.

Apparently, they had agreed to Sunny’s plan. Melanie would get a $10 allowance and Norma insisted that we get an additional $5 a week for room and board. They had spoken to Lisa’s parents, who also went ballistic on learning about the planned escape. They were also willing to pay their daughter an allowance if she was allowed to go south. The major difference was that Lisa only needed to get a C average to earn the trip. Lisa was not as advanced a student as Melanie. Finally, Norma begged Sunny’s help to get a present for Melanie for Christmas. Their earlier plan of giving her $50 was stopped with the knowledge that the girls were planning to use the money to run away.

The next day Norma appeared early.I got Melanie for a two-hour science lesson where she learned about mitosis and cell division. At the end of the session she claimed that she finally understood, better than after her teacher had taught it. Sunny and my sister went to the pawn shop where Sunny found a Korean War surplus knapsack for $10. Most of Melanie’s present was the trip in the summer, with the old bag as a symbol of the trip.

Norma held out the old bag by a strap, as if it were diseased. “Are you sure about this?” she asked Sunny. “I mean we can probably buy a brand new one in the hardware store camping section for not much more money. This is so old and decrepit.”

“No, it’s perfect,” Sunny explained. “It is still in really good shape. Army stuff was made to last, and all the kids on Haight will think it is super cool.”

Norma accepted Sunny’s advice and bought the bag. Sunny also bought two sets of surplus meal kits: tin plates, cups and flatware that packed into a small space. Then it was back to Mom’s where Sunny spent a half hour reading and singing to the little ones while Melanie finished up her tutoring. Then we swapped, with Melanie getting a guitar lesson while I read to the kids. No, I don’t sing.

The next day saw more of the extended family come, so more kids for Sunny to play with. She also did two hours on the guitar with Melanie and the teen spent another two hours with me in tutorials. The girl was quite bright, but unmotivated. The trip to the Haight should provide the motivation. At the end of the session I told her she was to phone me for help if she was ever stuck on things at school.

The following day was Christmas Eve and everyone showed up. Sunny was in heaven, singing, reading and playing with the little ones while still finding time to help in the kitchen. Melanie was also mirroring her, helping out the way she had last Christmas. When Norma commented on getting helped, Mel hugged her mother and promised that this year it would last. She really wanted the summer in the Haight.

On Christmas Eve Sunny got a surprise. There was a stocking with her name on it, and it was hung up next to mine on the mantle. She was officially a part of the family now, Mom declared, and Sunny started to bawl. This upset the little ones, who didn’t understand about happy tears, and they all crowded around her and tried to “fix her boo boo”.

Eventually Sunny put the little ones to sleep in the bags arrayed in the rec room and everyone went to bed upstairs an hour or so later. We all got about six hours sleep before the ear shattering peals of “Santa Came!” from the early risers downstairs got everyone else up. Soon the living room was a mess of wrapping paper and opened presents. Sunny was on coffee duty and I was doing toast while Mom and Norma did bacon and eggs respectively. Soon the adults were all well fed, and a break was ordered for the little ones to get some cereal and toast into them while some of the other adults tidied up the chaos that was the living room.

It was after lunch when gifts were exchanged. Sunny watched Melanie intently when she was opening an oddly shaped package. Once she pulled it out, she looked at it quizzically for a second and then suddenly realized what it was. “It’s a hippie backpack,” she squealed. “It is so cool. Thanks Mom.”

“It has words on it,” she said, reading. “MASH1081? What’s that mean?”

“That’s from the Korean War,” her Uncle George said. He had served for two years in that conflict. “It stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and the number. They were mobile care centers that were placed near the front lines to help wounded soldiers before they were evacuated to Seoul or Tokyo for more work. That was probably a bug-out bag used to package drugs or equipment when the unit had to move.”

Sunny also watched Melanie when she opened a more easily recognized present: clearly a music album. She opened it and noticed that the shrink wrap was off the album. “Did you test it for me, Aunt Sunny?” as she held up the latest album by the Mamas and the Papas.

“No. Turn it over honey,” Sunny said with a. smile.

“There is writing on it,” Melanie stared at the scrawl and then shrieked again. “It’s a signature. Mama Cass! Wow!”

“I bought it at a concert they had at the Avalon. I could only get Cass to sign. The others were pretty busy signing other copies for people. I hope you like it.”

“Like it? I love it. After my trip this summer it is the best present I’ve ever had.”

The one other present I paid attention to was the small box that I handed Sunny near the end of the madness. It was quite small and I didn’t want it lost in the debris. She looked at the label, seeing it was from me and quickly opened it. First, she saw it was from a jewelry store in the city and when she opened it she squealed herself. It was a silver locket. I had looked at gold ones, but Sunny had told me that with her pale blonde looks silver looks better on her. The locket was heart-shaped, and when she opened the heart, she saw pictures of her and me on the opposite sides.

“So that’s why we had to go to that photo booth last month,” she accused. I had to confess that I had taken the photos and trimmed them to fit into the locket. It was worth it though, as Sunny leapt on me and kissed me deeply until the others in the room started to applaud.

“I’d have thought that an engagement ring would be more appropriate,” Mom chuckled, and I started to feel my face go red. “Maybe next year,” I said.

“This is perfect, Mitch,” Sunny said as I helped her put the locket on. She jumped up and ran to a mirror and saw that the chain was a perfect length to lay in her new cleavage.

Christmas soon ended, and on the 28th we headed south to Santa Rosa to pick up Mary and Ben. We had our promised dinner with them and got in late that night. Mrs Horley was back, and I found a stack of mail on the hall table. I dealt out half to Mary and ours to Sunny. Mary stared in shock at one letter and handed it to Ben. “Open that first,” she ordered him.

The letterhead said Selective Service System and we all caught our breaths as Ben read it, then handed it to Mary.

“They want me,” Ben said. “Because I was not in school for fall term, my educational deferment has ended. They want me to appear at the local induction centre for a medical on January 24.”