My dad has been away in the army for over a year. Almost 2 years This was during World War 2. Our house is on 7th Ave between 14½ Street and 15th street. We live in the middle of the block. On the corner down the street to the right is Mickey’s Tavern. Next door to us on the right is Lorentzen’s grocery store and next is Licata’s music store and then Mickey’s. To the left is a house that that Chet, the barber owned. His shop was next door to him. Then came the radio repair shop and then Schaums Tavern. And, as if there weren’t enough bars, there was the Spin Inn across the street from Schaums. We have an alley directly behind our house. Actually, 2 alleys. One is parallel to our backyard and another joins it behind our house making an “L” shape going up to 9th ave. The alley was also our playground. Mom spent a lot of time at Schaums tavern or at one of the others as a waitress or bar-maid or as a customer.
I spent as much time as I can up the street or alley where some of my friends lived. We had a garage, which we called the barn. We had found some old couches and chairs that probably were meant for throwing away. We pretty much hung out there a lot. Some times I slept there to avoid going home. There was Wayne, Earl, Harold, another Harold, Gene, Tom, Sonny and others at different times. Wayne was my best friend. One of probably two in my whole life. The other was Larry S. who I met in the Navy, later. Larry and I spent most of the time together in the Navy from Corps school in Great Lakes and to Quantico Naval Hospital and to Naples, Italy.
I could always buy beer at one of the taverns. I just told them that it was for my mom. So, we had beer at the barn whenever we wanted. We were all either 13 or 14, at the time except Harold. He was 15.
Harold had an older brother that had a “hot rod” he and another friend had built from scratch. It was a Ford coupe with a rumble seat in the back and was missing the back window. A souped up engine with Motorcycle fenders over the front wheels that turned with the wheels and the whole car was painted “robin egg” blue. The engine hood was off and the engine was painted bright red. Whenever he took it out on the streets, he would get tickets for no reason, probably, except it looked like it deserved one. It was fast and noisy. Harold’s brother worked the graveyard shift so, occasionally we would back it out of the garage and Harold would start it by rolling it down the alley. Then we would jump in,two in the rumble seat and two in the front, and take off. Usually we went out to Airport Road and hit the apple cider stands and buy a gallon jug of hard apple cider which we would pass back and forth through the open window. Now if you have ever drank much apple cider, you know that it makes you piss a lot which meant that about every half mile, we would have to stop for a piss call. But, they were great times. I don’t know if Harold’s brother ever knew but I suspect he did.
I learned the best lesson of my life when I was about 7 or 8 years old. My mother sent me next door to lorentzens grocery store one day to pick up a few things she had on a list. I gave the list to the clerk and while he was putting it together, I walked around the store and at some point I picked up an apple and innocently put it in my pocket. When I got home with the groceries I began eating the apple. My mother asked me where I got the apple. I told her and she told me ‘that is stealing’. She told me to take it back to the store and tell them what I did. I remember crying when I showed them the half-eaten apple and they, of course, played it up as stealing but they would let it go this time. The lesson stuck with me the rest of my years.
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