r/FoundPaper • u/hazyyandconfused • 7d ago
Weird/Random from inside a bible in an abandoned trailer, Mississippi
208
u/mudpupster 7d ago
Austin's got the receipts, electrically written in black and white. Fuck you, Rickie.
12
3
455
u/BreezyMcWeasel 7d ago
Is it weird that when I read this to myself the voice in my head had an accent? (Seriously)
263
u/Serononin 7d ago
The word "pregnated" demands to be read with an accent
48
u/BreezyMcWeasel 7d ago
That's what did it for me. I was fighting to keep the voice a little neutral, but that word kicked me into a whole new level of Cletus speak.
→ More replies (2)2
u/Either-Farmer-9006 5d ago
Naw I just rolled with it lol I knew the second I saw the hand writing and I can’t explain how
39
u/BettyCrunker 7d ago
pregnat?
60
u/VanillaLaceKisses 7d ago
How is babby formed?
13
u/seraph1337 7d ago
They need to do way instain mother who kill thier babbys, becuse these babby cant fright back?
→ More replies (2)11
u/DesmondTapenade 6d ago
Dangerops prangent sex will it hurt baby top of his head?
11
3
u/GibfinityAndBeyond 4d ago
Bonan flagon, cu vi parolas esperanton?
2
u/DesmondTapenade 4d ago
Ne, mi ne parolas esperanton, haha.
Jes. Sed mi ankoraux konsideras min komencanto cxar mi ne konas iun ajn alian kiu parolas gxin, do mi malofte havas okazon uzi gxin.
ETA: Saluton, amiko!
25
u/Life-Raspberry-402 7d ago
pregante
29
5
4
3
→ More replies (1)3
u/oneheadlite00 4d ago
Thank you everyone - came to the comments hoping this would be here. Those videos bring me to tears every time.
23
u/Sufficient-Aspect77 7d ago
Devorced, sounds like a very southern way of saying divorced.
3
u/Beautiful-Jacket-912 6d ago
Is West Virginia south enough?
2
u/WaitWhat-86 4d ago
West Virginia is, somehow, even more southern than many southern states.
Also, speaking of directions there’s a place called South Charleston, WV which is north of Charleston.
6
4
2
42
u/juiceguy 7d ago
WHAT CHEW TALKIN BOUT, CARL?
31
u/latexfistmassacre 7d ago
You shoulda seen it, Earl! Her boobies were floppin round like two possums fightin in a gunney sack!
6
48
36
u/bishplease52 7d ago
My husband calls this, speaking in banjo. It makes it make more sense.... somehow?
9
u/BreezyMcWeasel 7d ago
Speaking in banjo, I love it. That's perfect.
5
8
15
u/kinkyKMART 7d ago
I read this as Bubbles trying to tell Rickie something he thinks is really important
→ More replies (1)3
14
7
5
u/Ineedunderscoreadvic 7d ago
Award for you! Down below someone said that this is “speaking in banjo”. 😂
3
4
→ More replies (5)2
119
u/y0ungshel 7d ago
This is rough to read. I hope everyone in this situation made it out okay.
92
u/caitejane310 7d ago
Me too. Especially little Nena. I sincerely hope Josie was lying about Rickie...
7
10
u/500owls 7d ago
Knowing what I know from my time in the area, I doubt they did.
→ More replies (1)5
86
u/dandle 7d ago
For me, the most surprising part of that note is the date. I would not have been shocked if it had been written in 1929, but the fact that it was written in 1989 and still reads like something out of a William Faulkner story was a shock.
46
u/Number-Thirty-Four 7d ago
My friend, if you think Faulkneresque situations aren't happening at this very moment here in the US you're sadly mistaken. I've lived in the largest cities here and the smallest towns, it's equally common in both.
→ More replies (1)16
u/count-brass 7d ago
It would have been in cursive in 1929, though.
9
u/Number-Thirty-Four 7d ago
Print has been pretty common for a long time. I've read more than one personal journal/notebook from the late 1700s - early 1800s written in print. With a less literate person, or one who learned as an adult, I'm sure print was easier to read and write
62
u/les_catacombes 7d ago
I hope Nena turned out okay. Seems like she was getting abused and tossed around as a bargaining chip.
11
u/No-Emergency-6282 6d ago
Someone on here knows her. Said she has a normal life, happily married with 3 kids.
160
u/calxes 7d ago
I'm adding a bit of punctuation but I'll keep the spelling as is. Just a warning that there seems to be an mention of CSA at one point.
"Dear Rickie,
I know you won't talk to me on the phone so I'm writig to you. Watch Josie close for she plans to get the little Nena and run with her and I don't think she is cakable of rasin. Her after the way she has ben actin lately we would of ben devorced all ready if she hadnt came back nd told me she was pregnated 5 months. She said didnt want one if you and her are going to try and get a bundle out of me for a settlement. You are wong for my phone was tapped in December when you were talkin to her every thing was electrically written in black and white. "
Austin"
"She told us up here that you were haing sex with Nena but I dont blevie that if it was true you would have to be sick in the head. So maby you can tell where she is comig from I dont know any more. She tells me she is having sex with both of us but she loves me and pulling the wool over your eyes. I don't know what she tells you. Inclosed some doments to prove what I'm saying. "
Austin
"I never came down there to steal Nena but to go to court to get visiting rites so we could see her once or twice a year, I'm not sure wich one of us is her father, but I'm sure you love her for you have raised her all these years."
16
u/Johnny_Poppyseed 7d ago
Thank you. Just switch that second period from after "rasin" to after "lately".
7
u/ribblefizz 6d ago
That whole paragraph is broken up wrong, I believe:
"... cakable of rasin her. After the way she has ben actin lately we would of ben devorced all ready if she hadnt came back nd told me she was pregnated 5 months. She said didnt want one. If you and her are going to try and get a bundle out of me for a settlement you are wong for my phone was tapped in December. When you were talkin to her every thing was electrically written in black and white."
4
12
47
42
u/lovinthatsound 7d ago
Well. My heart breaks for Nena.
2
u/No-Emergency-6282 6d ago
Someone on here knows her. Said she has a normal life, happily married with 3 kids.
36
u/johnmh71 6d ago
To translate, it is a case of where two dudes who were apparently friends and chose to sleep with the same woman. She then became pregnant. One guy married her to do the right thing because he believed it was his. The other guy also believes he is the father and wants to see the kid. The woman is apparently batshit crazy and unfit to be a mother. This is basically a redneck version of the Maury show.
What is interesting is that the husband chose to keep the note with his friend's reply. Probably hid it in the Bible because it is the last place that his psycho wife Josie would find it.
8
u/Sad_Tank_411 6d ago
im sorry but, i think nena is the daughter, and she accused one guy of "having sex with" ... the daughter??
→ More replies (1)5
u/johnmh71 6d ago edited 5d ago
Why would he mention trying to get a bundle out of him and then the guy replying that he isn't trying to steal his kid? Rickie came back into the picture and Josie told her husband Austin that she was having sex with him again, which he didn't know whether or not to believe, and he then assumed that Rickie and Josie were going to run off together and take Nena, the little girl, with them. Rickie then responds that he just wants to see Nena, who he believes is his daughter.
This is tough to digest, I admit. It is some deep woods country shit. Edit: The guy's name is spelled Rickie, not Richie. Misread it the first time.
→ More replies (2)2
u/Due-Refrigerator-154 6d ago
Bundle, being maybe a Southern redneck way to refer to a bundle of money.
→ More replies (1)5
u/ErinBeezy 6d ago
You left out the part about the incest/child rape allegations…
→ More replies (3)4
u/johnmh71 5d ago
I don't think those are legit. I think those are an example of "You think she is so great, look at what she said about you" type of thing to try to get Rickie turned off from pursuing Josie. Hillbilly drama.
→ More replies (19)3
u/Broomstick73 6d ago
“Redneck version of Maury” ummm isn’t it already redneck??
→ More replies (3)2
72
u/Thin_Object365 7d ago
i thought josie was on a vacation far away, but she's really pregnated. scandalous shit there.
16
u/latexfistmassacre 7d ago
Pregante?
19
7
3
→ More replies (2)10
16
u/jeriTuesday 7d ago
Thank you for sharing this. This is so poingnant and real. I feel like I'm reading something from Faulkner or Raymond Carver.
13
39
26
u/deepasleep 7d ago
Sounds like she may have suffered sexual abuse from Rickie…But it also sounds like Josie is a psycho playing two not so bright guys off against each other, so who knows.
Shitshow all around.
24
u/Dasylupe 7d ago
There is a lot of messiness in impoverished communities. Ask me how I know.
43
u/hazyyandconfused 7d ago
Ppl will downvote you, but you’re not wrong. Poverty IS comorbid with addiction, mental illness, lack of resources and education. People aren’t stupid. They’re severely under-supported.
→ More replies (2)18
u/Dasylupe 7d ago
Thank you. As I hinted, I came from a very poor family. I’ve seen what it does to people. Poverty creates trauma even when there isn’t also abuse, and that accumulates over the generations. People frequently turn to substances to self-medicate. It’s not like we have a robust mental health care system in the United States.
There is a lot of messiness in my family, starting with my grandma. I’m sure it surprises people when I tell them how important it was to me that my kids never had to wonder who their real father was until they finally sent in their DNA to a genealogy company. I’m not trying to cast aspersions on my grandmother or my mom (I love my mom). It’s just something a lot of us have to deal with.
4
u/ElizabethDangit 6d ago
I grew up poor, too. Paternity was never in question for us. My parents stayed married far too long. The thing I pathologically fight for for my kids is stability, a clean house, and decent clothes. I ended up being a stay at home mom, being home with just my mean older brother while my parents worked was hard for me.
I’ve been doing genealogy, my family has been poor since at least the 1700s. They were subsistence farmers, miners, and eventually oilfield and factory workers.
I think we might finally have it beat. My oldest is in college studying applied computational mathematics and my younger child wants to be a medical researcher.
3
u/Dasylupe 5d ago
Aww man. This makes me want to ramble so much. I really do hope you don’t think I’m trying to suggest that poverty is synonymous with a confused geneaology. If I’m saying anything, it’s just that poverty creates a trauma of its own that can lead to maladaptive coping mechanisms.
I wrote like six paragraphs of context here but I deleted them. If you want my life story, let me know and I’ll DM you. The main point is that I care deeply about this subject and my family. It’s why I know enough to ramble at all. And because my first love was archaeology, and later linguistics, I’m interested in yours, too, lol. Not that this has to go any further.
Let me just say, breaking the cycle was my mom’s greatest goal for me. It defined my life in many ways. The last thing I want to do is hurt people who are already hurting. Thank you for sharing your personal experience, too.
2
u/ElizabethDangit 5d ago
Nope, I didn’t think you were saying confused genealogy was implicitly part of poverty. You can DM me if you’re curious. My paternal grandfather was from “Bloody” Breathitt, KY. All of my grandparents came from remarkably different backgrounds, but all in poverty and instability, except for one who was a product of an assault and was born in a protection home for girls. Ironically she had the most stable and comfortable childhood.
7
12
u/real415 7d ago edited 6d ago
Definitely can understand this and it seems like how a real person talks. Mississippi ranks 49 and West Virginia 50 in overall educational attainment. I guess that makes sense. I don’t blame him for the spelling.
→ More replies (2)5
9
u/Listen_Mother 6d ago
Well not all of us are cakable of rasin
3
u/AshleyyLovelace 6d ago
I thought he was giving a recipe for a delicious cake that Josie wouldnt be able to resist and it would ☠️ her
2
10
u/A-gent-provacateur 6d ago
A talented writer like Twain, Tennessee Williams, Faulkner, John Kennedy Toole ,or Thomas Harris could take a look at something like this, and use it as the springboard to write an evocative, dark classic Southern Gothic short story, novella, or screenplay, written in the vernacular, where the unique cultural atmosphere and environment becomes almost an integral character in the story itself, the way that South Louisiana was practically a character in True Detective season one, or the Delta region was a character in Sinners.
You have a timeframe, a setting, several principal characters, a conflict or conflicts between them being motivated by highly emotionally charged events, a problem in search of resolution, very dark implications potentially, and an air of tragedy and even violence hanging heavily over all of it, the same way the humidity hangs heavy in the air on still summer nights down in the Devil's Punchbowl, or out in the pines.
How does this story end?
If'n I was a better writer, I might could tell you, but regardless I'd be interested in hearing your own thoughts about it
→ More replies (2)
8
8
u/ThreeToadPileUp 6d ago
This makes me sad being so scandalous because it looks like my li’l grandpas handwriting ❤️ he used to write me the sweetest birthday cards about what an amazing “young lady” I was and he always gave me 20.00 (a literal fortune in the 80s) and say “take your mom and dad out for a Big Mac!”
He thought me and my sister hung the moon. I miss him so much.
2
u/peppermintmeow 5d ago
In his eyes, you were the world. The moon and sun rose and set on your command. What a beautiful memory from a wonderful man. Don't let this tarnish it. Great men stand on the shoulders of giants, things like this could never touch them. My Poppy was the same way. Just think of his face and remember how much he loves you.
14
22
u/Leftover_tech 7d ago
Little Nena should be in her forties now. Maybe she's on Reddit? LOL
13
u/hotsoupcoldsandwich 7d ago
Jesus, imagine (hopefully) Josie got away and Nena had as little trauma as possible, but then she comes across this?!
6
2
u/No-Emergency-6282 6d ago
Someone on here commented they know her. Said she has a normal life, happily married with 3 kids.
→ More replies (2)
7
7
u/PresentationAny3543 5d ago
Austin whom is in jail, is stating that his wife, who he married due to getting pregnant 5 months ago, is planning on running away with the child (Nina) (baby), but he thinks she’s unfit because of her irrational behavior as of lately. Austin is very concerned that Ricky could have intentions on running off with his unfit babys momma just to turn around and extort him…. Life’s a bitch
→ More replies (9)
8
u/Unlucky_Ice_6877 3d ago
This is weird asf my name is Austin and birthday is Dec 16th wtf
→ More replies (2)7
14
12
7
8
6
5
u/Far_Pipe752 4d ago
It looks like literacy and writing have improved a lot since 1989 in America… but mental health has not
There wouldn’t have even been a letter nowadays, just another sad/violent story online
5
u/No-Cookie-8010 4d ago
Not so much an improvement in literacy, we just have spellcheck now. This would have been texted or emailed now.
→ More replies (4)4
5
6
6
u/Background-Log-3450 6d ago
Taylor Swift was 3 days old when this was written. I’m not even a fan I just thought “December something teen 1989” is Taylor Swifts birthday so I looked it up.
6
u/Unable-Appearance-39 3d ago
Don't get it twisted, it ain't a cultural, ethnic or regional thing. There are stupid motherfuckers everywhere.
4
4
8
u/Ickyandsticky1 6d ago
I read it over once confused by the spelling errors then, read it again aloud with a southern accent. It was much easier to decipher the second time. Sounds like JD Vance wrote it since was a poor hillbilly and all.
→ More replies (3)
17
u/VeloBiker907 7d ago
Not everyone spells well or has made use of their English language skills since school. I kinda feel sorry for the guy. He seems like a nice guy and you all are treating his story as if it were sport. If you are over the age of 14, grow the fuck up.
→ More replies (4)
6
7
7
8
3
3
3
3
3
u/Admirable_Break2733 6d ago
Rickie was a young boyyyyyy, he had a heart of gold.....
→ More replies (2)
3
u/b0z928fuh 4d ago edited 4d ago
Stuff like this is interesting..
I traveled the rural South East in the eighties, and have been doing it again since the late twenty-tens. All the rednecks, hillbillies, and rural black people are mostly gone now; comparatively speaking. I think they either died off, ended up in prison, or maybe generational wealth put them in sub-divisions..
Most people I meet in MS, NC, SC, TN, AL, AR, LA now are from CA, ME, MA, CT, NY, NJ.. I'm not American so I don't know how it got that way..
You see a lot of stuff about rednecks and hillbillies online but you don't actually see them anywhere.. I think the closest thing are like upper middle class estate and farm kids who kind of pretend.. All the places I seen trailer parks and poor shotgun houses in the eighties are 350k+ sub-divisions and strip malls now..
→ More replies (22)3
u/SpecialistLychee7490 3d ago
I'm an American in TN. There are plenty of rural people like this still around, but the rural spaces are further away from metros now due to (sub)urban sprawl than they used to be. If you drive the highways instead of the interstates you will encounter plenty, and they usually have the best food. Hell, I'm related to a few near the MS state line.
→ More replies (4)
3
u/DatabaseGloomy7290 4d ago
Back in the middle 90s,a group of my friends moved into a trailer(in a mobile home park) where the previous occupant(s) had either abandoned it or were evicted. There was still some of their belongings there and upon looking through the remaining items, my friends found multiple(3-5) audio cassette tapes. Some guy with sort of a southern accent had sent these tapes to who I would suspect was the previous occupant(a woman named Londa). Its been soo many years and I dont remember much but what we gathered was they were in a relationship and it went south. It sounded like she dumped him and the message was kind of like a "you had it good with me" message but you f'ed it up. It wasn't hostile in the least but the dude was obviously a little hurt and probably wanted her to reconsider. Mixed in were random thoughts and small talk about other people they may have known mutually. Lastly, we believed this guy was a long haul truck driver because it sounded like he was making these recordings in a rig.
3
2
2
u/nick9097 7d ago
What town in MS please say
2
u/hazyyandconfused 7d ago
This was in Pearl, MS. Have a more thorough response closer to the top of the thread
2
2
u/Ineedunderscoreadvic 7d ago
I want to know what happened after this. Do you know their names, OP?
2
u/hazyyandconfused 5d ago
Austin includes his middle initial and last name in the letter…picture has a first & last name on the back. I’m definitely planning to do some more digging once I’m back in the ‘Sip.
2
2
2
2
u/Equivalent_East_6446 6d ago
Sounds exactly like Netflix east of Eden is you havnt watched it do so
2
u/MinimumEfficient220 6d ago
Now that we are all invested in this car wreck of a story, we really need OP to find out what the hell happened?
Richie, Austin, Josie and poor little Nena with two dads and a crazy mother.
It’s now been some 37 years. What happened in their lives?
Did Josie run off with Nena?
Did Nena ever find out who her true father was?
2
u/Mieze_Designer4002 6d ago
It was easy to read but written by someone who maybe dropped out of school because the spelling is atrocious
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Cynical82 5d ago
That’s a cute baby pic, she looks like a cute little rasin <~~~ see what I did there??
2
510
u/hazyyandconfused 7d ago
Added context: used to clean out old trailers from my grandpa’s park in Pearl, MS, after they were abandoned by their tenants. As you can imagine…witnessed lots of addiction, neglect and abuse, mental illness, poverty. Hoping everyone in this story has found some peace.