A Perilous Journey of Destiny

By James Hunt

Joe Carr, raised in a shack in poverty and scorned by the townspeople, was only six when he witnessed his mother die in a pool of blood trying to give birth to his younger brother. Instead of getting help, Cyrus, his drunken father, went to the bar to drink and gamble. Willie, the baby, survived with brain damage. Cyrus blamed him for his wife Martha's death. Joe raised Willie and tried to protect him from his father's fits of rage and repeated abuse. Willie, slow and unable to learn, was never far out of Joe's sight. Joe grew into a strong, handsome, rebellious young man who dug graves for the funeral home owner to earn a little money for food. Although he never took a book home, over the years he read every book in the small town library. Reading was his escape from the hell he endured at the hands of his father. He graduated in the class of '44 and was one of the most intelligent boys. Joe realized that upon his graduation, draft was eminent, and he feared for Willie's life if he had to leave for the war. A few days before Joe's graduation, Willie became deathly ill. His father refused to take him to the hospital. Joe rushed Willie to the hospital, but it was too late. He died on the operating table. Joe, determined to bury his brother next to his mother, took his brother to the cemetery and began to dig Willie's grave after getting permission from the funeral home director. Cyrus ran up, cursing him, saying, That retard killed my wife, and he'll never be buried by her. Cyrus, drunk and angry, grabbed the pick ax, attempting to kill Joe. Without thinking, Joe swung the shovel and hit Cyrus in the head with the sharp edge. Cyrus fell to the ground, bleeding profusely, and then stopped breathing. Joe panicked. He had killed his father. He realized he would spend the rest of his life in prison. He crawled onto the motorcycle his best friend had given him and sped away from a life of hell. Joe, now a murderer and fugitive of the law with little money and no plan, began a journey across the nation. The first eighteen years of his life had been filled with pain and heartache; what he didn't realize was that the future held more peril than anyone should have to endure as he traveled to his unbelievable destiny.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1503571181
• ISBN13: 9781503571181
• Release Date: May 2015
• Publisher: Xlibris
• Length: 418 Pages
• Weight: 1.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.1" x 6.0"