Small Town Truths

Small Town Truths

It was a chilly Friday night as the Estill County Engineers rushed on to the football field to face its rival, the Powell County Pirates. They were a surrounding county and not very different from Estill, but they became the enemy at the very moment their students taunted Engineer basketball fans by dressing up as ‘redneck train captains’ during half-time last spring. On this particular Friday night there was tension in the air and everyone knew that if their team did not win they would never hear the end of it, at least until baseball season. It would seem like just any other football game to an outsider, but to the citizens of the small town, it is the highlight of the year. The one time they get to prove they are better.

The track surrounds the football field and there is a caboose that shows the Engineer pride. The crowd is composed of many different characters. Most of the high school students are doing their social duty by walking around the track and greeting all their friends. The cheerleaders are winking to their boyfriends as they cheer on their team, and the boyfriends talk about the party that will take place after they egg the rival’s school bus.

The parents scream at the referees, shouting that the recent call made was obviously wrong; they taunt the other school more than the students. Behind the crowd of proud parents there is a different crowd, they scream the same theme to the refs and Powell County fans, but more obscene words are used. They hold their Ale-8’s in one hand, and cigarette in the other. Some would argue that there is more than just a caffeinated beverage in the ale-8 glass bottle. This group includes the 27th year seniors who never left the towns, got a job in the local factory, and have been divorced six times.

The most important characters in the crowd are the overachiever, the satisfied, the musician, and the mask. The overachiever is found on the football field right beside his fellow team captain, across from the rival team. Before the coin is tossed he says, “Heads” confidently. The coin lands heads up and Estill County gets the kick-off. He holds his head high and knows he will get congratulated for the 3 touchdowns he will make at the game tonight.

The overachiever is particularly fond of his grades that he will use to get into his university of choice. He already has a couple of full-ride scholarships that are in the bag. Next year he will be out of this hole of homework, always being perfect, and his parent’s breathing down his neck. No one knows of the pressure that he feels surrounding him. From the academic team to the football team, he is the leader and the one everyone looks to. The overachiever is ready to be rid of all the responsibility. He will always have his name on the trophies, in the yearbook, and on the jerseys that are framed; he will be a legacy – just what his parents wanted.

The satisfied character is one of the most intriguing. She seems satisfied with their life but in all reality they will always want something more. She is always trying to have the best all around persona. But it is actually drains her and to make her more unlike her true beautiful self. At the game she is cheering on the team in her cute team outfit. When the girls take a break to watch the game, she overhears a small group talk about a party that will take place that night. The satisfied runs over to get in on the information. The group of girls rolls their eyes at her, but she doesn’t seem to notice, she just wants in on the fun. She is injuring herself with each try to reach a higher level.

Whether that includes attending the party, getting the latest look, or dating the coolest boy. She is reminded each time she is in a relationship that there is someone better out there. She gets the boy for their emotional stability and then forgets about them when the next ‘hunk’ walks by. But the satisfied is just left empty and wanting more. It’s a sad character to try and be. The girl is only satisfied in being who she isn’t and trying to get out of the small town.

The musician is the character that is most intriguing. He is hard to explain and impossible to define. He hides behind his guitar and unique life style. He looks up to the sky and wonders if he will be given a bigger stage than the local mom and pop diner. He has a stage on Friday nights, like tonight. It is the pit of the high school marching band. The only problem… he doesn’t care what the people in this town think, so it doesn’t really count. The band starts playing ‘Desperado’ by the Eagles and sings the lyrics to himself, “And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talking. Your prison is walking through this world all alone.” He likes the lyrics, because they seem true to his own life.

The musician loves the importance of lyrics and he writes songs about getting out of the hell-hole and finding his purpose in life. He can’t remember the last time that he didn’t feel confined by the restricting family budget, and city lines. The musician has plans to get out, to escape, and to never look back. He doesn’t understand the immaterial love his family is trying to give him, he just wants out and to get away. Most people would consider the musician to be an angry person, but he is actually just misunderstood. The overachiever and the satisfied never look his way. He can’t help but feel alone when he won’t reach out for a hand to help him.

The mask can be defined and explained by all her peers, but it’s not the truth. They would call her reserved, conservative, intelligent, creative, and someone who has a good future ahead of her. But in all reality, she is the exact opposite. She isn’t well put together, can loose hold on everything in a split second, is struggling in all areas of study, and won’t make it see many more days unless she gets things under control. She is also at the Friday night game, but she is doing her social duty, by following her friends around the track, talking about the latest gossip.

Always following, the mask wonders each time she is in a group of “friends”, if they will leave her. If that happened then who would she interact with? Being alone is the mask’s worst nightmare, even though it happens on a regular basis. During the day, while the sun is shining, everything seems like it runs smoothly. But by the time things turn dark, and the sun isn’t shining on her plans, everything falls apart. She questions her purpose, she can’t continue on, and the worst of all is that she is alone. She has a few friends, but they don’t understand what is going on. The ‘friends’ are only around when she is cracking jokes about musician and his odd ways. At night after the homework struggle, there are only her parents – they don’t understand why a girl who has everything is so lost.

The small town life is a mystery, each person, lost, trying to find a way out. The town is dying of suffocation. The air is being taken from every area of the town and being poured into these empty lives that have the talent and the motivation to be something greater. The overachiever is too focused on himself and his aspirations to see the people around him who are struggling to survive. The mask is too consumed with self-pity to extend a heart-felt conversation to others who need a true friend, like the satisfied. The musician is too scared to branch out into the group of small town folks, so he is missing out on a beautiful song about a girl that might not survive unless someone reaches out to her.

Most characters are missing out on saving lives and are in turn losing their own, if the focus switches to other people around them without trying to gain attention on their selves then maybe they would actually survive long enough to escape with some memories that aren’t tainted by conceit, pain, unhealthy obsession, or loneliness. It is the sad truth of a small town.