Rendorous

By Cathy Crier Appleberry

The title Rendorous means Ren doors are us. Southern charm is illustrated throughout. Many of the people in the south speak fast and tend to run their words together. They have different accents. Some of the southerners even sound foreign.

The characters are fictional with a lot of drama that many people can relate to. The quotes are phenomenal. “If the shoe fits you, wear it and walk through Ren’s doors.”

The main character is a young lady who grew up in the south with a lot of generational ties. She endured the struggles of segregation, peer pressure, love, and relationship issues. She was able to overcome many of the obstacles. She was determined to get away from all that hindrance. She would be the one to rise up and make a difference to all that was dear to her. Her generational patterns showed the type of people she would be most attracted to.

You may cry. You may laugh. Just enjoy this Rendorous journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9781662481949

Book preview

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Rendorous

Cathy Crier Appleberry

Copyright © 2024 Cathy Crier Appleberry

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2024

ISBN 978-1-6624-8193-2 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-8931-5156-5 (hc)

ISBN 978-1-6624-8194-9 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

In the south, many people speak fast and run their words together. That is how Cathy came up with the title Rendorous.

The characters in this book are fictional. Many can relate to these characters and quotes. If the shoe fits you, then wear it and walk through Ren's doors.

Ancestors

Then Came Ren

The Disaster of the Decade

A New Beginning

Challenging Times

High School Years

A New Era

The Final Years of High School

Start of a Romance

College Adventure

Holy Matrimony

California Lifestyle

The Empowerment and the Elite AKA

The Divas and Legends

Girls Trips

Estelle's Devastation

The Tour of Italy

Leaving Italy and Returning to Texas

The Countdown

Tying the Knot

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Iam indebted to my family, friends, and colleagues, to name a few. You encouraged me to put my thoughts in writing. I appreciate your dedications and prayers.

In the south, many people speak fast and run their words together. That is how Cathy came up with the title Rendorous .

The characters in this book are fictional. Many can relate to these characters and quotes. If the shoe fits you, then wear it and walk through Ren's doors.

Ancestors

Lucius Long was a Mississippi Native American of the Choctaw Indian tribe. Lucius had land that reached from Mississippi to the Louisiana border. He farmed and lived off his crops.

On a fall day in September, Lucius took a load of cotton to the gin in New Orleans. As he pulled up the gin in his wagon, he saw a young beautiful brown-skinned woman getting off one of the boats. The young lady was greeted by a French family. The French couple asked her if she would like to be a house servant for them. The young lady had left Ghana and had traveled so far. It was her dream to come to New Orleans and work. Lucius interceded and said, This woman is coming with me. The woman's name was Equilla. She looked at Lucius. He was a tall slim man with high cheekbones and hazel brown eyes. Equilla refused the French couple's offer and went to Mississippi with Lucius.

Lucius and Equilla got married and had twelve (12) children. Equilla never had to work outside of the home. The children were taught to do all of the chores. The children consisted of eight girls and four boys. The girls cleaned, cooked, and helped the boys work the fields.

Lucius was very strict with the girls. The girls as well as the boys were very attractive. They attracted all races, creed, and colors. In that area of Mississippi, there weren't many foreigners. The whites did not consider themselves as foreigners. The Native Americans had fled to other parts of the country. Many of them sold their land and left the south. Lucius was often approached by the white men with an offer to buy his land. Lucius refused to sell. He wanted his land to remain in the family for generations to come.

Jennie Long, also known as Shug, was the sixth child and fifth girl born to Lucius and Equilla. Elizabeth Long was the oldest girl. When Elizabeth went on a date with a guy, Lucius would send Jennie with her. One night Elizabeth had a date with Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown was allegedly a married man. When Mr. Brown saw Shug, the younger sister, he was attracted to her as well. Mr. Brown started dating both sisters. While Lucius was sending Shug to spy on Elizabeth, the sisters were sharing the joystick.

Both sisters became pregnant by Mr. Brown. That's how Robert Earl and Eula Mae came about. Elizabeth rushed and married a neighborhood friend before Lucius would find out she was pregnant. Shug went to live with another sister in Texas by the name of Sadie. Sadie was married to a military man, and his duty was station was in Texas.

Sadie and her husband traveled often. After Robert Earl was born, Sadie and her husband moved to California. Jennie-Shug had to move back to Mississippi. Robert Earl was delivered by midwife, and no birth certificate was registered at that time. Sadie did not want to take Jennie to California with her, especially with a new baby boy. Jennie was only fourteen years old.

Sadie and Elizabeth reached out to another sister named Louise. Louise was married to Joseph La'Cour. Joseph La'Cour was from the opposite race. Joseph and Louise did not have any children together, so they adopted Robert Earl. Jennie returned home to Lucius and Equilla. Jennie acted as if she had been on a long vacation. She was able to see her son often. She would go to New Orleans to visit Louise and Joseph and spend time with her son. Elizabeth and her husband, Walter, raised Eula Mae as if she was Walter's biological child. Eula and Robert Earl grew up as first cousins, but they were actually sister and brother. They could even pass for twins. Grandfather Lucius never took a liking to Robert Earl, as if he knew the truth. The sisters were very close. No matter what the circumstances were, they always had each other's backs. As a young child, Robert Earl often wondered why his aunt Shug was so close to him.

Joseph and Louise LaCour adopted another son named George. George was the biological son of Louise's niece, another family member. George looked more like the La'Cours. He was a mixed breed. His mother was black, and his father was either Mexican or Italian. George's mother was a prostitute and a drug dealer. She turned tricks and sold drugs at the shipyards. When she became pregnant with George, she could only recall that she had been with an Italian and a Mexican man.

One night while George's mother was being chased by the cops, she ran into her aunt Louise's house and went into the bathroom. The cops invaded the house and found her attempting to flush the drugs down the toilet. She was arrested and sent to prison. That's how the La'Cours ended up adopting George.

After George came, Robert Earl was treated more like a stepchild. When Robert Earl turned sixteen, the sisters decided to tell him that Jennie, his aunt Shug, was his biological mother. That's when the shit hit the fan. Robert Earl had so many questions as to why his mother had given him up for adoption to a couple who did not look like him. Jennie explained that she was very young and his grandfather Lucius was strict. Robert Earl's life was pretty much jacked up after that. He dropped out of school and started drinking and partying all the time. He would go back and forth from the La'Cours' to Jennie's house. Jennie was now married