The Boaz Scorekeeper, written in 2017, is my second novel. I'll post it, a chapter a day, over the next few weeks.
I married Karla Jacobson in 1986. It had taken me nearly 15 years to tenderly and reverently bury my dear Wendi in a holy shrine in the back of my mind. This didn’t mean I would ever forget her. I would die with her on my mind, even if my death wouldn’t come for another fifty or sixty years. But now, I had to move on with my life. Even though I had only a few hours with Wendi, those moments seeded a lifetime of simple but precious memories. She was my first love and shaped my heart. Looking back on that fateful night in May 1972, I could easily see the framework of my life taking shape. Sitting around the fire that night, Wendi had shared how Cindi had made her come along with her and that Cindi was in a sense an oxymoron.
She was outwardly devoted to her preacher father, the Bible, and God, yet loved to party. Wendi thought it was rather funny that Cindi acted as though she had such a strong faith in God but believed her life would be more meaningful and fulfilling if she shared her body and soul with every good-looking guy she met. Wendi shared how she had some doubts about God but wholly believed in saving herself for her husband. She shared her dream of marrying young and having a big family with a dozen kids as she put it. Looking back, I could see and know that but for the evil that the Flaming Five perpetrated on Wendi that night, she and I would have gone on to marry. That conclusion was good and real, totally opposite of the evil that she had endured.
Karla came into my life just as unexpected as Wendi. Karla was from Boaz and was a year behind me in High School. We had never dated during our school years but had been friends. We both attended Clear Creek Baptist Church and were leaders in the Beta Club. After working nearly nonstop for six months at Downs, Gambol & Stevens, I took two weeks off during Christmas 1980 to come home to visit my parents. Mother made me, as she always had done, go to the Church’s annual Christmas program. She even made me stay over for the coffee and cake get-to-gather.
Karla was there with her parents and we stood along the back wall of the Fellowship Hall watching the younger kids exchange Christmas presents. Karla and I caught each other up on what had happened in our lives over the past eight years. She was in her fourth year as a kindergarten teacher in Albertville, single, and still living at home with her parents. As the gathering was winding down I kind of shocked myself when I asked her if she would like to meet the next day for coffee. Looking back, I know why I asked her. My mind had told me while Karla and I were talking that it was Wendi I was talking to. Karla and Wendi could have been sisters. They were both tall and slender, with curly black hair and blue eyes.
Karla and I hit it off. I think we saw each other every day I was home during that two-week visit. Over the next couple of years, we saw each other as often as we could, usually at least once per month. Karla drove a few times to Atlanta to see me and spend the weekend. After three years or so I asked her to marry me and move to Atlanta. I believe she truly wanted to but it took her two more years before she could muster the strength and courage to leave her job at Albertville Elementary School. She kept saying she was too much a small-town girl for a big city like Atlanta. Receiving a job offer to teach at Venetian Hills Elementary School probably was the tipping point in my favor. Partner Clayton Stevens was instrumental in arranging for Karla’s job. He represented the Atlanta School Board. It helped knowing the right people.
We were married on June 10th, 1986 at Clear Creek Baptist Church. Our only child, Michael Lewis Tanner, was born October 23rd, 1987.
The Pencil-Driven Life 