Punch Buggy

The whole time we kept thinking of different games to play because the entire trip driving from New Jersey to North Carolina was about eight hours. We used to play a game called “Punch Buggy,” where you’d punch someone’s arm and call out “Punch Buggy Red!” when a red Volkswagen Beetle drove past you, or whatever color it was. It was a silly game that kept us entertained. We played other things, like pretending we were on a battle spaceship and shooting all the cars behind us.

On the radio, one of our favorite 80s songs came on, “Lookout Weekend” by Debbie Deb. All of us jumped for joy and immediately began singing the lyrics to the song. Tammy and Sasha moved their hands in the air, mimicking snake movements, and I bopped my head a little as we were all looking out the car windows. As other cars drove by, some people stared or shook their heads, while others would wave at us and smile. Oh, how we loved this song and beat; this was one of our go-to beats when we hit that roller rink floor. Roller-skating days in the 80s were the best, but that is a whole other story to tell later. We had such great imaginations, and with the 3 of us, we could never be bored. Sasha asked now and then, “How much longer? Are we getting closer? Can we stop for snacks?” Me and Tammy were used to this kind of trip and always knew when we first entered North Carolina.

Dad stopped at one of the rest stops, and it had a store filled with sugary treats like the wax Coca-Cola bottles filled with flavored liquid or candy necklaces. The pleasure of sucking out the liquid from the wax bottles and eating candy straight from necklaces gave us a delightful feeling. Every time we stopped at a rest stop to get treats, we would fantasize that we were on a new planet and the people in the store were aliens. The first rest stop after we entered North Carolina had so many people with overalls or plaid shirts. They all looked like farmers. When we first entered the store, we went straight to the candy aisle.
“I’m getting some more candy necklaces!” Tammy yelled out as she did a little tapping with her feet.
“Can I get some candy too?” Sasha asked.
“Yea, my dad will get it for us. You don’t have to worry?”
As I replied to Sasha, I noticed a man watching us; he gave me an eerie feeling. Every time we switched aisles, I saw his eyes peep through from the other side. My throat became dry, then I felt goosebumps on my arms. I remembered that moment as if it were yesterday, the haunting gaze from that man. For a moment, I thought I heard him panting as he stood at the other end of the aisle. When we moved, he moved but was still on the other side of the aisle. I tried to walk a little closer but not too close, to see if he was real or my mind playing tricks on me. Standing a couple of feet away from him, he picked up a bag of chips and then turned his head towards the ground. My body was shaking, so I ran back towards the other end where Tammy and Sasha were standing.

Then my dad yelled out to me from the counter,
“Come on, bring your stuff so I can pay and we can get back on the road!”

As I ran up front to the counter with Tammy and Sasha with our chosen candy, I saw the back of the man leaving the store. His red hooded sweatsuit glowed underneath the front lights of the store, which shadowed his face. It gave me chills down my spine. We left the store after Dad paid for everything, and when I sat back in the car, I turned around to look through the window to see if he was still around. He was gone, as if he had never existed.

I turned towards Tammy; “Did you see that man looking at us in the store?”
“No, what man?” Tammy answered and shrugged her shoulders while taking a bite off her candy necklace.
“He was looking at us through the candy aisles, and then followed us until Dad yelled for us to come up front to the counter.”
“Nope, did you see a man looking at us, Sasha?” Tammy leaned forward and looked at her; waited for her to answer.
“No, sorry, San. I didn’t see him.” Sasha replied as she slumped her posture and rummaged through the bag with her candy inside.
“You are probably lying, playing a grim joke on us and trying to scare us, huh?” With a dramatic sigh and condescending tone, Tammy looks the other way.
“Whatever, sis. Why would I make something like that up? When do I scare people?” Crossed my arms because I was mad she said that to me.
“Because that is just stupid, a man watching us in the store knowing we are with Dad. You make no sense, sis.”
“Shut up! I’m not lying; there was a man watching us!” I pushed Tammy hard. Then she pushed me back. We began punching each other, and Dad and my uncle J put their hands on our arms to pull us apart.

“If you two don’t stop, I will turn the car around and head back home. Is that what you want?” Dad said sturdily and frowned.
Simultaneously, we both said, “No,” with a sigh.

On the rest of the ride to our grandparents’ house, me and Tammy did not speak to each other. For the last two hours of the drive, no one talked to each other. We played no games or used our imaginations, and I kept staring out the windows looking at the cornfields. Looking at them at night while driving past them made them look scary. I kept thinking that the man watching us from the store would jump out at any moment. I leaned my head on the window and listened to the oldies station my dad had on; “Dream Lover” by Bobby Darin was playing. It helped pass the time.
We finally got to my grandparents’ house and ran up to their farmhouse and gave Grandmom and Grandpop an enormous hug. We introduced Sasha to our grandparents, and they welcomed her into their home as family.
“Aren’t you a pretty thing,” Grandma said to Sasha while elongating the vowels in the words, showcasing her southern accent.

Entering the house, all of us could immediately smell the sweet smell of Grandma’s baked biscuits she made from scratch. She was a pro; no one could make biscuits like she could. The smell of butter and flour spread through the house and onto the porch. The first time Sasha bit into one of her biscuits with butter, she closed her eyes, chewing slowly to savor each bite. Each time she took a bite, she would scrunch her shoulders and look at it in disbelief. We ate so much that our bellies were full, and we were feeling sleepy. A milk carton stood on the table; I leaned in and traced with my finger the tiny print written on the back.
It read :
Janine Miller
Date Missing: 9/2/1985
From: Greenville, NC
DOB 1/17/1977
Eyes: Brown
Height: 4 feet 4 inches
Weight: 50.3 lbs.
Hair: Brown.

A realization came over me; the thought of this girl who went missing made my muscles tense, and goosebumps developed on my forearms. In the 1980s, the “Missing Children Milk Carton Program” was infamous for placing pictures of missing children on milk cartons, which was also the primary method for raising public awareness. This was the way to gain information about misplaced children.

Recalling the ominous man at the store had caused me to shiver just at the thought of his image. What if this man followed us back to grandma’s house? A deluge of thoughts flooded my mind, leaving an anxious fluttering in my gut, giving rise to a sense of unease. The sole burden of seeing him left an unspoken weight, unable to confide in anyone. After a last bite of the biscuit, sleepiness kicked in and his memory faded.

Grandma set us up in the room in the back, and we laid down on the beds. I stared at my sister, thinking about the fight we had in the car.
At that moment I was fidgeting with my shirt, listening to the cricket sounds coming from outside the window and then said in a gentle voice, “Sis, I’m sorry for punching you in the car.”
“It’s ok, I’m sorry too. Did you really see a man watching us though?” Tammy’s eyes widened with curiosity.
“I did, I swear to you I did. He followed us through the aisles and breathed heavily; it was creepy.” I turned my body to the side to look at her and Sasha.
Both just froze, and faces went a little pale as they gawked at me. Then baby sis said, “Well, at least we are at grandma and grandpa’s house now. Nothing can get us here.” Then she smiled.
I smiled back and turned back around and soon after fell asleep.

The next morning, Tammy woke up first and tapped me on my shoulder.
“San, San, Sani!!!”
I jumped up and yelled, “What?!”
I gave her a perplexed look and asked her, “Why did you do that?”
Tammy said, “I am soooo bored now; what should we do?”
Soon after, Sasha woke up and complained about the same thing. We went outside and did some exploring, walking on the dirt roads, watching different animals scatter into the woods, and then we walked over to the pigpen. One game we created was impersonating famous chefs from New York. I was the head chef, and Tammy and Sasha took down the orders from the hogs because they represented the customers. In order to make it look real, we threw in the pigpen dirt and grass and anything else we picked up from the ground. The pigs came running, thinking it was authentic food, smelled the dirt, and realized it was not actual food.

Sasha dared me to get in the pigpen, and we never back down from a dare. I jumped in the pigpen; some of the cute piggies came up to me and sniffed me. While I walked around the pen, I felt so powerful because I was not afraid.
Then my sister yells, “Ruuuuunnnn!” I looked behind me and saw a huge hog charging after me.

I immediately began running as fast as I could and then jumped over the electric wires. It stung my calve briefly, but did not hurt. The purpose of these electric wires was to give a mild and safe temporary shock to keep the pigs inside the pen. We all chuckled because they told me my expression was so hilarious.
“You had that look on your face like one of those characters in a scary movie when a monster is chasing them.” Tammy roared with laughter.
These were good old-fashioned innocent times because it was the little things that entertained us. We did not have electronic devices back then; we just loved playing outdoors. There was not enough money that could pay us to stay inside.

The next day, my dad and Uncle J told us they were heading into town and asked if we wanted to ride with them.
We all excitedly yelled out “Yes!”
This was just another new adventure for us. My dad went to the market and a few other stores but then saw a tiny little mall. He asked us if we wanted to be dropped off to hang out. Our answer yet again was yes. This mall looked small compared to the ones in Jersey. Our mall had multiple floors, but this one only had one floor.
“Ok, I will pick you up in one hour, and you better be outside this entrance in exactly 1 hour, or you all will get left here.” Dad said with pursed lips.

We nodded yes to let him know we understood. My dad always talked with a firm voice, but he was probably the coolest of the cool of dads. Our friends loved him. Some even called him Dad; he always said he had many daughters because of us. We waved goodbye to him and then entered the mall. I remembered this day because we had an unexpected run-in with some local boys. My innocence changed that year because of the awakening of what it was like to have my first crush on a boy, and all the emotions that came with it.