Leaving Smalltown

Patricia Jones has been leaving Smalltown, Alabama, since she was thirteen years old. Sometimes in her mind. Sometimes in her preparation. Sometimes physically. Never, however, did she anticipate leaving under the circumstances in which she eventually did. As the youngest of four siblings, Patricia realized she was the last child to leave home. Her parents had a tumultuous marriage that she witnessed all her life. At the age of thirteen, she overheard her mother tell a friend she was trapped in the marriage until she got Patricia out and on her own. Patricia began, at that moment, to plan her departure, and depart she did, learning a lot about herself in the process.