Hurts enjoy Southern hospitality during time here

Published 12:00 pm Monday, May 30, 2016

Saturday afternoon, Donahmi Hurt, 18, and his sister, Adonai Hurt, 13, were found in a parking area beside one of the gas stations at the four-way stop on Old Highway 7.

The two had gotten up early to sell produce at 7 a.m. from the back of a truck. They had made a number of sales by mid-day, selling watermelons for $5 each, and tomatoes, two for $1.50.

The Hurts are originally from Illinois, but they came to Mississippi to help a sick relative.

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“We came down here to help our granddad because he had back surgery,” said Adonai Hurt.

Both have fond memories of Illinois, but say it is different than Mississippi.

“It was pretty cool meeting a lot of people there,” Donahmi Hurt said. “We traveled a lot. We kept moving and trying to make the best of it.”

Adonai Hurt said life is more calm in Mississippi.

“It’s more chaotic up there,” she said.

“People are a lot nicer down here,”

Donahmi Hurt added.

Donahmi said his favorite subject is science.

“I like making stuff,” he said.

He and his sister are home-schooled, but in the future, they’d like to become video game designers.

“When I was 5, my dad taught me how to play video games,” he said. “Since then, I’ve been playing video games all my life.”

Their favorite video games include God of War, Call of Duty, Street Fighter and Guitar Hero, and both have ideas about how to improve them.

“I would try to have it more action, because in some of the games, it’s not really like that,” said Adonai Hurt. “It’s more story and dialogue than actually action in it.”

Donahmi agreed.

“They’re not focused on the adventure,” he said. “They’re focused on what you have to do to beat the game.”

About LaReeca Rucker

LaReeca Rucker is a writer, reporter and adjunct journalism instructor at the University of Mississippi's Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

A veteran journalist with more than 20 years of experience, she spent a decade at the Gannett-owned Clarion-Ledger - Mississippi's largest daily newspaper - covering stories about crime, city government, civil rights, social justice, religion, art, culture and entertainment for the paper's print and web editions. She was also a USA Today contributor.

This year, she received a first place award from the Mississippi Press Association for “Best In-Depth Investigative Reporting.” The story written in 2014 for The Oxford Eagle chronicles the life of a young mother with two sons who have epilepsy, and details how she is patiently hoping legalized cannabis oil experimentation will lead to a cure for their disorder.

Her website is www.lareecarucker.com.

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