“Did they hurt her?”
“Something bad happened, but it was strange. Mabel Wildrose was nine years old when she was kidnapped."
“The same age as me.”
“Yes, your age. They cut off some of little Mabel’s hair and sent it to her parents.”
“She must have been really scared."
“Fm sure she was. But other than that, I don’t think she was harmed. Her parents paid the money and the cops found Mabel wherever it was the kidnappers said she would be.”
“You said the men were caught.”
“Uh-huh, in New Orleans, when they tried to get on a freighter bound for South America, There was one crazy part of the deal I remember now: The men had left her wrapped in a blanket, and when they were caught trying to board the boat at the dock in New Orleans, one of them was discovered to be carrying Mabel’s clothes, including her shoes, in his suitcase. The man had polished the shoes and asked the police if he could keep them with him in his jail cell. He was a nut.”
“I wouldn’t want to be kidnapped.”
“Baby, nobody’s going to steal you. Everyone knows who your dad is. They wouldn’t want to get into trouble with him.”
“What if they didn’t want money? What if someone wanted to keep me?”
“It won’t happen, Roy, really. Don’t worry.”
“One day I thought I saw a ghost in the house in Pass Christian, but I don’t think it was Mabel Wildrose, It was too big to be hen I was lying on the floor in the front room, playing with my soldiers. It was rainy and kind of dark and cold, and a shadow ran through the room and went out the door. I didn’t really see it, it was more like I felt it. The screen door flew open and banged shut behind the shadow,”
“Probably only the wind, baby, blowing through the house.”
“It might have been the ghost of one of the kidnappers, maybe the guy with Mabel’s shoes. Do you think they’re dead now?”
“Who, honey?”
“The men who stole Mabel Wildrose when she was nine.”
“Oh, they’ve been dead a long time. They probably died in prison.”
“I’d stab someone with my knife if he tried to take me. I’d try to get him in the eye. Probably Mabel didn’t have a knife on her, huh. Mom?”
“I doubt that she did, Roy, but sometimes there’s not much you can do to stop a person, especially if they’re bigger than you.” -
“I’d wait until they weren’t looking and then stab my knife in their eye and run away. They wouldn’t catch me if I got outside.”
“Forget about it, baby. Nobody is going to kidnap you.”
“Sure, Mom, I know. But I’m gonna keep my knife on me anyway. “
Cool Breeze
WHAT WOULD YOU DO if one of the men on the chain gang broke away and jumped in our car?”
“That won’t happen, Roy. We won’t be stopped much longer. Their leg irons are too tough to bust, and these prisoners are swinging bush hooks, not sledgehammers. “
“The air is so smoky here. It must be really hard for the men to breathe when it’s so hot.”
“We’re in the Bessemer Cutoff, baby. This part of Alabama is full of steel mills. If these men weren’t prisoners, most of them would be working in the mills or mines or blast furnaces somewhere in Jefferson County.”
“There are more black guys than white guys on this chain gang. On the last one we passed, in Georgia, there were more white prisoners.”
“We’re going to move now, honey. Get your head back in.”
“Uncle Jack had two brothers working construction for him who’d been on a chain gang. Their names were Royal and Rayai.”
“They told you they were in jail?”
“Uh-huh. They didn’t murder anybody, only robbed a bank. Tried to, anyway. Rayai, I think it was, told me the reason they got caught was because they didn’t have a car. They got the money, then tried to take a bus to get away. “
“Where was this?”
“Jacksonville, I think. The bus didn’t arrive when it was supposed to, so the cops arrested them,”
“I’ll never forget that movie with Paul Muni, I Was a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. At the end he escapes, and when he meets his old girlfriend, she asks him how he survives. As he disappears into the shadows, he whispers, T steak’ It’s pretty spooky.”
“I feel kind of bad waving back at the chain-gang guys, you know? We get to leave and they don’t.”
“Here we go. Oh, baby, doesn’t it feel good to have a breeze?”
Night Owl
IT’S DANGEROUS TO DRIVE IN THE FOG like this, isn’t it, Mom?”
“We’re going slowly, baby, in case we have to stop on a dime.”
“Do you know how many bridges there are that connect the islands between Key West and Miami?”
“About forty, I think, maybe more.”
“Does everyone have secrets?”
“Oh, yes, certainly they do.”
“Do you?”
“One or two,”
“Would you die if anybody found them out?”
“I wouldn’t die, no. There are just a few things I’d rather other people didn’t know.”
“Even me?”
“Even you what?”
“You have secrets you wouldn’t tell me?”
“Roy, there are things I don’t want to think about or remember, things I try to keep secret even from myself,”
“It must be hard to keep a secret from yourself,”
“Gee, baby, I can’t see a thing.”
Islamorada
LISTEN, BABY, tonight when we get to the hotel I want you to call your dad.”
“Is he coming to Miami?”
“No, he has to stay in Chicago. Your dad is sick, Roy, he’s in the hospital It’ll cheer him up if you call him there.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s got a problem with his stomach. I think he needs to have an operation.”
“I remember when I was in the hospital to have my tonsils out. You stayed in the room with me on a little bed.”
“You were such a good patient. After the surgery you opened your mouth to talk but you couldn’t. All you could do was whisper.”
“The nurse gave me ice cream.”
“Poor baby, when the doctor came in you asked him if he would do another operation and put your voice back in.”
“Is Dad scared?”
“Your dad doesn’t scare easily, honey. He’s a pretty tough guy.”
“The doctor said I was brave. I didn’t cry or anything.”
“You were great, Roy. I was the one who was frightened.”
“Can we stop at Mozo’s in Islamorada and get squid rings?”
“Sure, Oh, there’s a big sailboat, Roy. Look! She’s a real beauty.”
“It’s a ketch.”
“I never can tell the difference between a ketch and a yawl."
“The mizzenmast is farther forward on a ketch, and the mizzen sail is larger than on a yawl Uncle Jack taught me.”
“You know, I don’t think your dad has ever been on a boat in his life, except when he was a little boy and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with his family from Europe to America.”
“How old was he?”
“About eight, I think.”
“Did they come on a sailboat?”
“No, baby, on a big ship with lots of people.”
“Why did they come?”
“To have a better life. After the big war, the first one, things were very bad where your dad’s family lived.”
“Were they poor?”
“I guess it was difficult to make a decent living. There were more opportunities over here. The United States was a young country and people from all over, not just Europe but Asia and Africa, too, felt they could build a new life for themselves. Everyone came to America this way, for work and religious reasons. They still do.”
“Were you already here when Dad came?”
“I wasn
’t born yet. Your dad had been here for almost thirty years before we met.”
“Dad didn’t tell me he was sick.”
“He’ll pull through, Roy, don’t worry. Well call him as soon as we get to Miami. You’ll see, he’ll tell you he’s going to be all right.”
“I wish you and Dad were still married,”
“It’s better the way things are for your dad and me, baby. Some people just weren’t made to live with each other.”
“I won’t ever get married.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Roy. Of course you’ll get married. You’ll have children and grandchildren and everything. You just have to find the right girl.”
“Weren’t you the right girl for Dad?”
“He thought I was. It’s not so easy to explain, honey. There were all kinds of reasons our marriage didn’t work. The best part of it was that we had you.”
“If Dad dies, I don’t want another one.”
“What do you mean, baby?”
“If you get married again, he won’t be my dad.”
“Look, Roy. Is that one a ketch or a yawl?”
“A yawl It’s got two jibs.”
“We’ll be in Islamorada in five minutes. I’m ready for some squid rings myself.”
On the Arm
MAYBE WE CAN GO to a baseball game in Atlanta. I went once with Dad and his friend Buddy from Detroit. We saw the Crackers play the Pelicans,”
“We’ll look in the newspaper when we get there, baby, and see if the Crackers are in town. Don’t hang out of the window, Roy. Get your arms back in.”
“Mom, it’s so hot, I won’t get hit,”
“Remember when we read about that boy whose arm got taken off by a truck?”
“Is Buddy from Detroit still in Atlanta?”
“Buddy Delmar, you mean? No, honey, I think he’s in Vegas now. He works for Moe Lipsky.”
“Buddy was a ballplayer. He knows a lot about baseball.”
“Your dad told me Buddy could have had a career in the game, but he had a problem, so he didn’t go on.”
“What kind of problem?”
“He’s a fixer, Roy. I guess he always was, even back when he played. Buddy bet on games. He paid pitchers to let batters get hits, hitters to strike out, and fielders to make errors.”
“Did he get caught?”
“Somewhere along the line. I don’t know exactly what happened, but according to your dad, Buddy had an umpire on the arm who had a big mouth. The ump spilled the beans and did Buddy in. I don’t think he went to jail over it, but he was finished as far as baseball was concerned/’
“He could tell me things that would happen before they happened. A player would do something and Buddy’d say, ‘Didn’t I tell ya?’“
“The first time I met Buddy Delmar, your dad and I were at the Ambassador, in the Pump Room. Buddy paid for our drinks. He flashed a roll that could have choked a horse.”
“You mean if he tried to swallow the money.”
“Who, honey?”
“The horse.”
“It’s just an expression, Roy. Buddy likes to act like a big shot. Some women go for that routine, not me.”
“I remember Buddy asked me, ‘How’s that good-looking mother of yours?’“
“Did your dad hear him say that?”
“I think Dad was getting a hot dog.”
“Buddy Delmar thinks he’s catnip to the ladies.”
“I’d never take money to strike out.”
“Of course you wouldn’t. You won’t be like Buddy Delmar. You’ll be your own man.”
“Is Dad his own man?”
“Sure, Roy, he is. Being his own man causes him problems sometimes.”
“Buddy from Detroit had a problem, you said.”
“Baby, you don’t have to be’ like any of these people. Your dad is a decent person, don’t get me wrong, but he does things you’ll never do. Your life will be different, Roy.”
“What about Buddy?”
“What about him?”
“Is he a decent person?”
“If Buddy Delmar had never been born, the world wouldn’t be any worse off.”
“Mom, if we ever have a house, could I get a dog?”
“Oh, Roy, you really are my own special angel. We won’t always be living in hotels, I promise. Listen, if the Crackers aren’t playing, we’ll go to a movie, okay?”
“Okay. It wouldn’t have to be a big dog. If he was too big, he wouldn’t be happy riding in our car so much.”
“Baby, remember what I said about keeping your arms in.”
Look Out Below
MOM, WHEN YOU WERE A GIRL, what did you want to be when you grew up?”
“I thought I might be a singer, like Nanny. Other than that, I had no idea.”
“Uncle Jack says I should be an architect, like him.”
“If that’s what you want to do, baby.”
“I want to be a baseball player, but after that I’m not sure.”
“Apalachicola. Doesn’t the name of this town sound like a train? Let’s say it, Roy. Slowly at first, then faster and faster.”
“Apalachicola — Apalachicola — Apalachicola — Apalachicola — Apalachica-cola — Apalachica-agh!-cola! It gets harder the more times you say it.”
“Isn’t it just like a choo-choo? Ap-alachi-cola — Ap-alachi-cola — Ap-alachi-cola —“
“It’s pretty here, huh, Mom?”
“Especially now, at sundown. Your dad and I were here once in a big storm. Almost a hurricane but not quite. Black sand was flying everywhere. We couldn’t see to drive.”
“I think it was close to here where Uncle Jack’s boat got stuck on a sandbar when he and Skip and I were fishing. Remember, Mom? I told you about it.”
“Tell me again, honey. I’ve forgotten.”
“Uncle Jack couldn’t drive the boat off the sandbar so he told me and Skip to jump in the water and push from the stern."
“Did it work, or did you have to call the coast guard?”.
“It worked, but when we first got in and started pushing, Skip saw a big fin coming at us. He shouted, ‘Shark! and we climbed back into the boat as fast as we could. Uncle Jack asked, ‘Where’s a shark? Skip pointed at the place where he’d seen the fin and Uncle Jack said, ‘Get back in the water and push! I’ll tell you when there’s a shark coming.”
“That sounds like my brother. Did you both get back in?”
“Uh-huh. Skip’s a lot stronger than I am —”
“He’s four years older.”
“Yeah, well, he pushed as hard as he could and so did I, and Uncle Jack cut the wheel sharp so the boat came unstuck. Then Skip and I swam fast to it and climbed aboard before the shark came back.”
“I’ll have to talk to Jack about this.”
“No, Mom, it was okay. We had to do it. We were really stuck and only Uncle Jack could drive the boat.”
“You wouldn’t be much good as a baseball player if you lost a leg to a shark.”
“There was a pitcher with the White Sox who only had one leg. I saw a movie about him. I think he lost it in a war.”
“Roy, is this true?”
“Honest, Mom. He pitched on a wooden leg. I don’t know how many times, but he did it.”
“That’s incredible. A person really can do just about anything if he works hard at it.”
“When I find out what I want to do, I’ll work really hard at it.”
“After baseball, you mean.”
“Yeah, after baseball Mom?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Do you think Skip and I were really dumb to get back in the water? What if the shark had come up from underneath to bite us?”
“Please, Roy, even if there was a one-legged baseball player, I don’t want to think about it.”
The Up and Up
WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME DAD was going to die?”
“Oh, baby, I didn’t know he would die. I mean, everyone dies sooner or later, but we c
ouldn’t know he would die this soon.”
“Dad wasn’t old.”
“No, Roy, he was forty-eight. Too young.”
“I didn’t know he was in the hospital again.”
“We talked to him just after he went back in, don’t you remember?”
“I forgot.”
“Your dad really loved you, Roy, more than anything.”
“He didn’t sound sick, that’s why I didn’t remember he was in the hospital.”
“It’s a shame he died, baby, really a shame.”
“After he came home from the hospital the first time, after his operation, Phil Sharky told me Dad was too tough to die.”
“Phil Sharky’s not a person worth listening to about anything. I’m sure he meant well telling you that, but he’s the kind of man who if you ask him to turn off a light only knows how to break the lamp.”
“What does that mean, Mom?”
“I mean Phil Sharky can’t be trusted. You can’t believe a word he says. If he says it’s Tuesday, you can get fat betting it’s Friday. Phil Sharky’s a crooked cop who doesn’t play straight with anyone.”
“I thought he was Dad’s friend.”
“Look how dark the sky’s getting, Roy, and it’s only two o’clock. If we’re lucky, we’ll make it to Asheville before the rain hits. I thought we’d stay at the Dixieland Hotel It has the prettiest views of the Smokies.”
“Phil Sharky gave me his gun to hold once* It was really heavy. He said to be careful because it was loaded.”
“Was your dad there?”
“No, he went out with Dummy Fish and left me at the store. He told me he’d be right back. I asked Phil if the gun wouldn’t weigh so much if there weren’t any bullets in it and he said if they went where they were supposed to it wouldn’t.”
“Baby, you won’t ever see Phil Sharky again if I have anything to do with it. Did you tell your dad about this? That Phil let you handle his gun?”
“Dad didn’t get back for a long time and I fell asleep on the newspaper bundles. When I woke up, Phil was gone and Dad and Dummy and I went to Charmette’s for pancakes. I remember because Solly Banks was there and he came over to our table and said I was a lucky kid to have the kind of father who’d take me out for pancakes at four in the morning.”
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