by Mark Mueller
When we arrived at the VA, we were nearly two hours early for the fireworks display, so we had pretty much the entire parking area all to ourselves. I didn’t mind. It meant that we wouldn’t have to walk far after the show was over.
In 1930, the United States Veterans Administration built a hospital on a four hundred acre property in Lyons, New Jersey. The hospital consisted of a central medical center, surrounded by about a dozen smaller buildings that housed specialty units. The difference between the VA hospital and a regular hospital is VA hospitals are only for United States military veterans who were no longer in active service. One of the benefits of being a veteran is that by serving our country, they are entitled to free lifetime medical care, whether or not they were injured in the line of duty. It’s one of the few things our government got right if you ask me.
At any rate, this particular VA hospital had facilities for every conceivable medical condition, from surgery, to checkups, to a residential psychiatric facility. They also had an eighteen-hole professional golf course on site where they’ve hosted fireworks displays every Independence Day for as long as I could remember.
We set up camp just outside of the seventeenth green. I decided this was the best place to experience the view.
Harry’s cooler was filled with two-dozen cans of Coke. I removed two and handed one to him.
The Coke went down my neck like a blessing. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was. When I emptied the can in about three gulps, I grabbed another one. When it was about half-empty, I sensed someone standing behind me. Don’t ask me how I sensed it, because I’m not sure. It was just a feeling, but, I’m not a psychic. And I’m not spiritual, either. I just believe in God, plain and simple.
“F.O.T.! F.O.T.!” I quipped, not looking around.
“F.O.T., yourself,” Ducky replied.
I stood up and turned around. We shook hands.
“I see you found us,” I said.
“It wasn’t difficult,” Ducky replied. “I’m a pet detective.”
“Among other things,” I jested.
Harry looked at the two of us as if we were pointy-eared Vulcans.
“Come, have a seat,” I pointed at an empty lawn chair.
“Sure thing, Mac.”
I handed him a Coke from the cooler and then grabbed one of the cigars I had brought along. I stuck one end of it in my mouth and set the other end alight.
“Those things are going to kill you, Mac,” Harry warned.
“I know. I can’t help it.”
He shook his head in disapproval.
“Nice evening,” Ducky said as looked around.
“Not bad at all,” I added. “A lot of folks here.”
Ducky looked around. “Not too many F.O.Ts.”
“That’s always a good thing.”
We sat in silence for a while, drinking Cokes and people watching.
“I talked to Debbie today,” I said in a low voice.
“Oh?” Ducky looked at me, surprised. “What did the old ball and chain want?”
“Um, I was the one who called her.”
Ducky raised an eyebrow. “You got something going on I should know about?”
“You know me better than that, Ducky.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
I ignored his comment. “I called her because I talked with Mrs. Mattoon this morning. It seems that Ruth Lucas is hearing things at the library again.”
“Ruth Lucas always hears things.”
“I know she does, but Mrs. Mattoon asked me if I could pull some strings and get Ghost Chasers to pay a visit.”
“Pull some strings? More like pulling someone’s chain, if you ask me.”
“That’s not very nice, Mr. Duckworth,” Harry piped in.
“I’m just kidding around, Mr. Cassidy.”
Harry chortled. “Sure you are.”
Ducky turned his attention back to me. “So, is Debbie going to take her band of Star Wars bar scene denizens to a night at the library?”
“Yeah. And I suspect she’ll want me to be there to get her name in the Bugler.”
“It’s going to be a bust, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. But I have to put something in the Bugler to justify my salary.”
“That’s true. Tell you what. Why don’t we walk around for a bit before the fireworks start? You’re not the only one around here who has to justify their salary.”
“You have patrol duty, tonight?” I asked, surprised.
“You know I don’t do patrol. I just want to stretch my legs.” Ducky stood up and looked around, and then whistled. “What in the world is she doing here?”
“What—?” I followed Ducky’s gaze. “I didn’t think she came out at night,” I said when I ascertained whom he was talking about.
“Doesn’t she turn to dust or something after the sun goes down?”
“Behave yourselves, boys,” Harry said. “She has a right to be here just like the rest of us.”
We watched as Gertie Machine set up a lawn chair and a cooler next to her ancient, rusting Ford pickup truck. I noticed that people were avoiding her. No one was setting up any chars or blankets within a twenty-yard radius from her.
“She gives me the creeps,” Ducky said.
“I suspect a lot of people around here feel the same way,” I replied.
“Mind your manners,” Harry growled.
Ducky smirked and shook his head. “Come on, Mac, let’s walk.”
“You want to come with us, Harry?” I asked.
“Thought you’d never ask,” he replied.
We walked through the part of the VA golf course that was set up for fireworks viewing. I couldn’t help noticing that the whole county seemed to be turning out. It was a beautiful evening, so I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Off to one side, some tents were set up for vendors selling all kinds of food, ranging from hotdogs to hamburgers, and from pizza to fried chicken. It smelled as good as it was unhealthy for me, and I had to use every ounce of strength to keep myself from going in and stuffing my face. I had my girlish figure to consider.
Next to the food tents was the VA bandstand where a jazz band was playing in front of a small crowd. Several couples were swing dancing on the wide concrete apron in front of the stage. I could tell that some of them were pretty good. I knew what I was talking about because there was a time many years ago when I would go on swing dancing dates. But, that was a long time ago.
We stopped to listen for a few minutes.
“The band is pretty good,” I said.
“They’re okay,” Ducky replied.
“You sound like you don’t approve.”
“No, I do.”
“Then what?”
“I don’t know.” Ducky considered. “Maybe they need just a little more cowbell.”
I chortled. “Come on. Let’s keep going.”
Ducky and Harry and I continued to walk around and greet people we knew. It was amazing how many people at least one of us knew. Was it because we had all grown up in the area? Or was it because our respective careers had put us both in the public’s eye? Most likely it was a little of both. Either way, we both enjoyed what we did.
* * * *
I loved to read when I was growing up. A notable short story I enjoyed was called “Never Worked and Never Will” by Margaret Wise Brown. It was about an old man who had a storefront in a small town, where he’d carve and paint wooden ducks and wild geese, and sell them to hunters and to tourists who wanted rustic home decorations. The sign out in front of his store read, Never Worked and Never Will.
People came from all over to purchase the carved birds and animals from the old man, and they all wondered how he could carve wood all day and still have a sign out front that read Never Worked and Never Will. When people asked him what he meant by the sign, he would just tell them that he had never worked a day in his life, and never would.
What the people never understood was that the o
ld man was so delighted with what he was doing, he never considered it as work.
I was lucky enough to have a job where I felt the same way. Like the man in the story, I didn’t consider my job at the Bugler to be work either. I got a kick out of the fact that people were willing to pay me to write stories about what was going on in and around Spruce Run. It’s paradise here. And it didn’t get any better than this.
Chapter Sixteen
Just past the bandstand, I froze.
“What?” Ducky said.
I couldn’t speak. All I could do was gape. Nothing could have prepared me for what I hadn’t expected to encounter. How could I? It happened in a flash. All sense of time and space stopped, but I didn’t care. I was a deer in the headlights.
“Lordy lord,” I stammered.
Ducky followed my gaze and found what had stopped me. His jaw slacked.
“All that and a bag of chips,” he said in a low voice. “It’s your lucky day, Mac.”
I couldn’t move. My feet were frozen to the ground.
Ducky and I watched as Maddy Wuhrer sat with her parents just beyond the bandstand, about twenty yards from where we were standing. A young girl, perhaps five or six years old, was sitting with them.
Maddy was wearing a black t-shirt, tan khaki shorts, white sneakers, and a Yankees baseball cap with her chestnut brown hair in a ponytail through the hole in the back. Still the tomboy. And still cute as ever.
Yowzer.
“Go on,” Ducky said.
“But—” I started to turn and walk away.
“You have to at least say hello.”
“No. Not now.”
“It wouldn’t be polite to ignore your friend, Mac,” Harry said.
“I know,” I said, resigned. I hesitated, still.
Ducky grabbed my arm and turned me back around, and gave me a gentle push toward Maddy and her family. I dropped my cigar on the ground and snuffed it out with my shoe. I took a few tentative steps toward her.
A moment later Maddy looked up and we locked eyes. She held my gaze for a second. The hint of a smile crossed her lips. Or was it a frown? I couldn’t tell.
Either way, at that moment, for the first time in six years, I beheld the most beautiful girl in the world.
Chapter Seventeen
When Maddy and I first started dating, we were inseparable. Except for class time and sleeping, we spent almost all of our free time together. We had lunch together every day. We studied together in the Kean library or at one of our apartments. Every Saturday, we went to five o’clock mass at St. Josephine’s Church, a small brick church on Spring Street in Elizabeth. And almost every Sunday we took the train to New York and spent the day walking around, seeing the sights. We watched movie after movie at a midtown theater on 42nd Street.
The more time I spent with Maddy, the deeper I fell in love with her. We became very close and confided in each other more and more every day.
In a certain way, we needed each other. Both of us were away from home and from our families for the first time in our lives. Though I had Ducky, he was involved with Debbie so much at the time that he didn’t have the time for me as he had in the past. So, I was happy to have found Maddy, and we were becoming the best of friends.
* * * *
Summer turned to autumn during that year and Maddy’s sister, Peggy, was married on the first Saturday of October. Maddy was maid of honor, and she had asked me to go with her as her guest.
The wedding, it turned out, was our first formal date. What I mean by formal, is that although we were dating exclusively by this time, we never, until that day, did anything that required getting all dressed up. In fact, Peggy’s wedding was the first and only time I had ever seen Maddy wearing a dress. Though cute as anything, Maddy wasn’t at all girly girl, and she favored dressing down. No matter what we did or where we went, she didn’t like wearing dresses or skirts. Instead, she always wore jeans or slacks with an over-sized t-shirt, or maybe a sweater if it was cool out. I had gotten used to her being a tomboy.
But seeing Maddy in the pink bridesmaid dress at the wedding stopped me cold. She could have been a model. She was fit from swimming laps every day.
But, she was self-conscious about the way she was dressed. I told her she looked great and assured her she would be the most beautiful girl at the wedding.
She really was, and we had a wonderful time. Although I didn’t know anyone at the wedding, I didn’t care. We had so much fun that we even caused a stir when dinner was served. While everyone was feasting, the disc jockey cued up “Moondance” by Van Morrison. Maddy leaned to my ear and asked if I knew how to swing dance. I said I knew a little. Without another word, she grabbed my hand and a moment later we were alone on the dance floor.
I couldn’t help but notice that all eyes were on us. I swallowed hard as she led me into a medium-slow swing move. I was nervous, and also a little confused. One moment Maddy was self-conscious about the way she was dressed, and the next minute she had me dancing in front of a crowd. I couldn’t figure her out.
Soon, though, I forgot all of the eyes watching us. All I could think about was that I was dancing with the most beautiful girl on earth, and I wanted that moment to last.
When the song was over we went back to our table, while about half of the guests applauded. I could feel my face turn red. When we sat back down, I leaned to her ear and whispered that I’d get her back. She smiled, and gave me a look that told me she looked forward to it.
I don’t remember much of the rest of that evening. But what I do remember is that it was one of the most fantabulous nights I’d ever had.
Chapter Eighteen
Ducky nudged me again, and a moment later I was face to face with Maddy. I stammered for a moment.
“Hi Mac,” she said.
“Maddy,” I said.
“You remember my family, don’t you?” She turned her head and nodded at them.
“Good evening, Mac,” Maddy’s mother said. She didn’t seem too pleased to see me.
“Hello, Amanda,” I replied. “Good to see you again.” When I had first met Maddy’s parents, they insisted I call them by their first names.
Maddy’s father stood up. “Hello, Mac.”
“Hugo,” I acknowledged.
Ducky chuckled behind me and started to say something, but kept quiet when I looked at him and mouthed “no.” I couldn’t blame him. I wanted to laugh out loud, too.
Maddy’s father had shown up for the fireworks in his pajamas and an old plaid hunting jacket. All he needed was a matching flap cap and a shotgun, which would have made him a dead ringer for Elmer Fudd.
Some things didn’t change. He had always dressed that way when I would visit Maddy at their home. He was always in his pajamas. I don’t know how it could have been worse.
“It’s good to see you,” Maddy said.
“You too,” I said.
“Are you here on business or pleasure?”
“A little of both. My neighbor, Harry, invited me.”
Maddy glanced at Harry. “Mr. Cassidy!” She reached out and hugged him. “It’s been such a long time!”
“A pleasure to see you again, young lady,” Harry said.
“I’ll bet that put some lead in his pencil,” Ducky whispered to me.
“Shush, you,” I whispered back.
Maddy looked up and gave Ducky a dirty look. “I heard that, Ducky. You haven’t changed one bit. You’re bad.”
“I’m not bad,” Ducky replied. “I’m just drawn that way.”
Maddy shook her head and frowned. Then asked, “will you join us?”
“Sorry,” Ducky said. “We’re set up on the other side of the green.”
Maddy looked at me. “Can you stay for a little?”
I looked at Ducky and then at Harry. Both of them nodded.
“Sure.”
“I’ll meet you back at the chairs,” Harry said.
“See you in a bit,” I said.
As Harr
y and Ducky walked away, Maddy and I turned around. Two men wearing blue hospital scrubs were talking to Maddy’s father.
“You aren’t supposed to be out here,” one of the men said to Hugo Wuhrer. “You need to go back to your room.”
“But I’m not a patient here,” Wuhrer argued. “I’m here with my family for the fireworks.”
“Fine, sir. Do you have identification?”
“I left my driver’s license at home. My wife drove.”
“Sir, we must ask you to go back to your room now,” the first man said. “You’re not supposed to be out here.”
I broke out laughing. You can’t make this stuff up.
“Come on,” Maddy said.
I suppressed my laughter as best I could as I turned around and hollered at Ducky, who hadn’t yet gotten far. He and Harry came back and joined us. I whispered to him that Hugo Wuhrer had left his driver’s license at home.
Wuhrer was vehement in resisting the two VA orderlies, who were attempting to guide him to the hospital building. I had to hand it to them. They were doing their best to be discreet and not cause a scene.
Ducky stepped in and stood next to Amanda Wuhrer, who was trying to vouch for her husband. Ducky pulled out his wallet and displayed his detective’s shield. “It’s all right, gentlemen. I can attest that this man isn’t one of your patients. He’s with me.”
The two orderlies looked at Ducky and then each other, confused.
“That’ll be all, gentlemen,” Ducky ordered. “I’ll take it from here.”
“If you say so, sir,” said one of the two men.
The second orderly grabbed the first one’s arm. “I apologize, Detective. He looked like one of our patients.”
“Apology accepted,” Wuhrer said. “No harm, no foul.”
The two orderlies turned and walked away. A couple of times they both looked back as if they weren’t sure that they had indeed made a mistake.
I turned to Maddy, as I filed this incident away in my mind for future recollection.
“Are you okay, Daddy?” she asked her father.