“Hey, Danny!” Delaney said peeking his head from out of the loft. “See ya’ tomorrow.”
“Right,” Danny said as he about to leave. “See ya tomorrow.” Everything would be okay, he hoped.
***
When Danny wasn’t with Delaney and the pigeons, he liked to draw things. He drew when he was in his room at home and he took his small sketchbook to school. He would draw dreamlike scenes from his childhood in Russia. He drew the small house with the red roof where he lived. He drew the yard with chickens and geese. He drew he horse-drawn carts and the marketplace. He missed all of that. And the drawings would bring it back; if only for a moment.
Chapter 6
There were days when Danny wished he was back in Grodno. He could remember what it was like before the war. And he missed his Grandpa Isaac.
His parents and grandparents lived together on the outskirts of Grodno; a part of Russia called the ‘Pale’. Sometimes there were problems with people who lived outside the Pale. But, before the war, Danny had good memories of time spent with his family and neighbors.
Danny’s mother was a seamstress; known for her beautiful work with bridal gowns. His father was a boot maker before they drafted him in the army.
Grandpa Isaac had a small plot of ground near the house where he grew vegetables and raised livestock. He also took care of the workhorses the farmers and peddlers used. What Grandpa Isaac raised he would bring to market. What was left over, the family ate.
Wherever Grandpa Isaac went, he would take Danny along with him. He would teach him how to grow things and how to collect eggs from the hens without getting pecked and how to milk a cow without getting kicked. Danny learned about the seasons and how they influenced the holidays they celebrated. No matter what, Danny always felt very safe around his Grandpa Isaac. His last memory of his grandfather was seeing him at the dinner table raising a glass of wine to everyone’s health and well-being. “L’chaim,” he would say. And everyone would repeat after him, “L’chaim.”
***
Danny loved his aunt and uncle and appreciated what they did for him. He knew they both cared about him; especially Aunt Shirley. But he also sensed that his aunt and uncle had put up a barrier to keep them from getting too close.
Abe Elkin would get up early every morning to take a bus to the meat market where he would load sides of beef in the freezers on the ground floor. Afterwards, he would go to the upstairs office to work as an accountant for the meat packing firm. For all his hard work, he made about forty dollars a week; just enough for the rent and to keep his family provided. Now that Danny was with them he would have to put in more hours. But as Abe would say, “It was the right thing to do. As long as there’s a roof over our heads and food on the table, we’ll be alright.” The only time Danny would see him was on the weekends and holidays.
Before she got married, Shirley Elkin always dreamed of being a model or a fashion designer. When she was young, she was slender, had long wavy auburn hair, and beautiful green eyes. Someone once remarked that she had a very good ‘movie face’. But her parents frowned on such ideas. ‘Nice girls’ didn’t have such notions. They would get married and raise a family.
Shirley met Abe, ‘a nice boy’ from the neighborhood and they got married. But shortly after, Shirley received bad news from her doctor.
“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Mrs. Elkin,” the doctor told her. “But I’m afraid you’ll never be able to have children.”
The news came as a terrible blow to the Elkins. At first, Shirley was devastated, and although Abe didn’t show it, he also was saddened by the fact that they couldn’t experience the joy of raising a child. Time passed and they both managed to accept the hand that life dealt them. But, every now and then, when Shirley would see a couple with a new baby, her heart would break.
The Depression and the War turned their attention from their misfortune. Then, after the war, like a bolt from the blue, they received the letter about Danny.
When Danny came they accepted him with open arms and were happy to care for him. Still, there was a cautious distance between the boy and his aunt and his uncle, a fear of getting too close, and a fear of more loss and sorrow.
***
Danny was sitting quietly during recess with his sketch pad on his lap when Tommy Vincent came along and snatched it from his hands. He was finishing a drawing of his Grandpa Isaac putting a new shoe on a horse when Tommy grabbed the pad and ran off with it.
“No, don’t take my sketch book,” Danny shouted, his nerves making his accent more pronounced. “Please, it’s very important to me!”
On one of his outings in Grodno, Danny remembered his grandfather telling him that no one had the right to take his happiness away. “Sometimes it’s frightening and sometimes people could get hurt,” Grandpa Isaac told him. “But you must stand up for what you believe in.” Once, Danny remembered seeing his grandfather defend their home from village bullies who threatened the family. He stood ready with a pitchfork until the bullies turned around and left them alone.
“Don’t take my sketchbook, don’t take my sketchbook,” Tommy mimicked. He enjoyed seeing the panicked look in Danny’s eyes.
Danny tried to get the sketchbook but the bigger boy raised it over his head and continued to tease him. When Danny grabbed Tommy’s arm, Tommy slapped him in the face. He felt dizzy and disoriented. Everything went white behind Danny’s eyes and a gush of memories flooded his head. Nazi soldiers breaking doors, smashing dishes, destroying furniture, laughing while the women and children wept in fear. Danny’s head swooned and he blindly lashed out; a deep seated fury was unleashed.
Suddenly, Danny heard voices around him, “Stop! Stop! You’re going to hurt him!”
Danny’s head cleared and he looked around. Tommy was on the ground and Danny was straddled on top of him. Blood was streaming from Tommy’s nose and cut lips. Danny wasn’t sure how it got there. The principal lifted Danny off of Tommy, while two other teachers looked on with shock and disbelief on their face. They didn’t expect this from the small foreign boy who sat quietly in their class.
When Danny got to his feet he saw the wide-eyed children being lead back to their classrooms. There were hushed whispers among them. Another teacher took Tommy to the nurse while the principal stayed with Danny.
“My sketchbook,” Danny said, shaken and confused. “Do you have my sketchbook?”
“Yes,” the principal said calmly. “It’s right here.”
The rest of the day was a fog for Danny. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t just sit with his sketchpad during recess without someone wanting to take it away. After all, he didn’t bother anyone. Then, he thought about what his grandfather told him and the things that happened in Grodno. He would rather think good thoughts than the dark things that haunted him at night. That’s what the sketchpad was for.
Danny walked home slowly. He noticed that there was a tear in one of his pant legs. Dried blood had formed a spider web pattern around the jagged hole. He hoped Aunt Shirley wouldn’t be too upset, she’d just bought him the new pants for school.
Chapter 7
Delaney began to put his pigeons on a rigorous training schedule; flying ten miles one day, twenty miles the next day, and thirty miles the day after that. Bill Foster came by before work to drive the birds, release them, and bring Delaney back to the apartment building with his empty bird crates. The Northeastern Regional Race was only a little more than two weeks away.
Later in the day when Danny came by to check on Feisty, he saw Delaney getting the pigeon crates ready.
“Are you taking the pigeons out?” Danny asked.
“They’ll be trying a shorter race this weekend,” Delaney said.
“Is Feisty going along?”
“Feisty isn’t ready for a race yet,” Delaney told him. “But if he keeps up with the other birds like he’s doin’, he’ll be in a race for sure.”
Danny nodded his head. He was quieter than usua
l. He didn’t tell Delaney about what happened at the schoolyard. And Delaney was so excited about the upcoming race that he didn’t notice the scratches on Danny’s face.
On the weekend, Delaney would be taking his best pigeons to the small local race in New Jersey. It was about forty miles away and should be a good training experience for Tobey and Isabelle, he thought.
“Tomorrow, when I take the birds to race,” Delaney said. “I’ve got a favor to ask of ya.”
Danny waited for him to continue.
“In case I’m not back in time,” Delaney continued. “I want you to check in the birds. Ya take the bands and put them in the time clock like I showed you.”
Danny nodded again. “Okay.”
“Ya think you can do that?”
“Sure. Delaney,” Danny said. “I can do that.”
“All right then,” Delaney also nodded his head in approval. “Before you go I’m givin’ you a set of keys for the rooftop.” He took a key from his key ring and handed it to Danny.
“You must close the door behind ya when you come up here and let no one on the roof. Can ya do that?”
“Yes, Mr. Delaney,” Daniel said. “I can.” He realized that he had slipped by calling Delaney ‘Mister’ but Delaney seemed too busy to catch it. He also realized the responsibility Delaney trusted him with.
***
Tommy walked over to the park to see if Ken was there. The park was once a reservoir. It was one of the projects WPA workers built when President Roosevelt put millions of people back to work during his New Deal Administration. It was a nice park with two levels. The top level had benches where people would sit on and feed the wild pigeons that congregated there.
Young mothers would push their babies in strollers on the tree lined path around the park. The wide path was paved with octagonal shaped cement tiles and bordered with gas lit lamplights; later changed to electric lighting.
The bottom level had a quarter mile track for runners, and sawdust pits for the high jumpers and pole-vaulters. There were bocce courts, and cement tables with inlaid chessboards. There were swings and monkey bars for the children. There was an ice skating rink for the winter skaters, and in the summer, they turned on fountain heads around the rim of the rink so the children could run under the cold sprays to cool off.
There was also a basketball court on the bottom level, where Ken and Tommy and some of the rough boys from other neighborhoods usually hung around on the weekend. Sometimes, they would spend a whole day there. If one of them brought a football they would play on the field. But most of the time they sat along the wire fencing that enclosed the court, talking tough or teasing the young girls that passed by.
Ken noticed Tommy’s split lip, black eye, and his swollen cheek where Danny lashed out at him.
“What’d ya do fall in a cement mixer,” one of the other boys said.
“Naw, he just got beat up by a sissy,” Ken teased. He knew how to rile Tommy. He liked seeing how Tommy flared up. Maybe he could instigate another fight.
***
The day Danny ran into trouble with Tommy, Aunt Shirley got a phone call from the principal. She was waiting by the door for Danny when he got home.
“So Danny,” she said. “Tell me.”
“Tell you?”
She noticed the scratches on his face. “My, my! And so, how did you get those?”
“It’s nothing,” he said. “Just a scratch.” He didn’t want to upset Aunt Shirley or Uncle Max. He understood what they were doing for him and didn’t want to be any more of a burden than he felt he already was.
“Listen Danny,” Aunt Shirley said. “I know it wasn’t your fault. I just want you to know that there’s any problems at school or you want to talk, I’m a good listener.”
It was the first time Aunt Shirley had said anything like that, and Danny had a hard time holding back his emotions. He took in a deep breath through his nose and said, “Thank you, Aunt Shirley. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, Danny” she wiped a tear from her eye. “Now maybe we should take care of those scratches.”
Danny realized it wasn’t going to be easy coming to a different country, learning a different language and being around some people who didn’t care to have him around; but he felt fortunate to be taken in and cared for by his aunt and uncle. And to have met a man like Delaney.
***
That weekend, Ken and Tommy met up at the park. They sat around for a while but soon became bored. There weren’t enough guys to play basketball or touch football and they were tired of just sitting at the park. Besides, Tommy was in a sour mood since Ken told the guys about Danny beating him up.
“I’ll show you who’s gonna get beat up by a sissy,” Tommy said to Ken. He had been brooding since the schoolyard tussle with Danny on Friday; and Ken just added gasoline to the fire.
“Yeah,” Ken said trying to agitate him even more. “ So whata ya gonna do about it?”
“I’m gonna beat him up,” Tommy said standing up. “And I know just where he is. He goes up on the roof with that cripple, Delaney.”
“So when are ya goin’,” Ken asked with a smirk.
“Right now!”
“This I gotta see,” Ken said getting up after him.
“Yeah, me too!” Called two other teens that had overheard Ken and Tommy talking about a fight and wanted to join in.
“Now things are starting to get interesting,” one of them said, as the four boys walked in a pack towards the apartment building where Danny lived.
Chapter 8
On Saturday morning, right after breakfast, Danny got ready to go up on the roof. Delaney and Bill left early that morning and the pigeons in the loft weren’t fed yet. Danny looked forward to taking care of them, and he was grateful that Delaney would trust him with the responsibility so he planned to surprise Delaney. He would give the pigeon coop a good cleaning. After that he could spend more time with Feisty.
Aunt Shirley set out a bucket, gloves, and cleaning rags for Danny to take with him.
“Listen, if you’re going to do a job,” she told him. “Make sure you do it well.
“Okay, I will,” he said rushing out the door. He was anxious to get up there. But before Aunt Shirley closed the door he stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. “Thank you.”
She smiled. “You better be careful up there on the roof,” she called after him.
When Danny got to rooftop door he checked his pants pockets twice for the key Delaney entrusted him with. He thought he lost it. He nervously groped in all his pockets and gave a sigh of relief when he found it deep in his front pocket. The last thing Danny wanted to do was betray Delaney’s trust by losing such an important thing.
Danny could hear the pigeons cooing when he got out on the roof. It was a nice day. The sun was up, the sky was clear, and spring was around the corner. It was going to be a good day, he thought. Little did he realize what was coming around the corner.
***
Bill and Delaney watched Isabelle and Tobey burst out of the crate at the race site.
“Looks like they’re anxious to get home,” Bill laughed. “They just might beat all the others there!”
“Well, you know I have high hopes for my babies,” Delaney said. “We’ll see how they do.”
Bill had seen a change in Delaney since he took over the pigeon coop when the apartment building superintendent left for California. He remembered when Delaney would sit by his window and brood. How gloomy he seemed to be.
“Mike,” Bill once told him. “You carry the past with you too much. And it’s weighin’ ya down. Let it go. Let it go, and put it behind you.”
Delaney usually ignored Bill when he tried to reassure him that things would be okay. Things would be better. But the pigeons changed Delaney. The pigeons helped him cope with some of the things that lingered in his head after the war. Every now and then, Bill could see the light that came into Delaney’s eyes when he was around his pigeons.
/> After releasing the last of the birds, Bill and Delaney drove back home. They were both anxious to see how Tobey and Isabelle would do.
***
Tommy led the other boys from the park to the apartment building where Danny lived. He felt important now. Not like at the schoolyard, where that weakling, Danny Simon, was getting
the best of him. Tommy remembered what building Danny went to on the day he found that injured pigeon. He also knew that Delaney, “the Pigeon Man”, kept pigeons up on the rooftop of that building.
On days when he had nothing better to do or when he played hooky from school, Tommy would wander from his home. Once while walking around the neighborhoods, he saw Danny on a top of the roof with Delaney. It was just after the kids got out of school. Tommy spotted him there another time; when he was with his parents visiting his aunt. He wouldn’t have gone but for the fact his aunt had a birthday gift for him. His aunt happened to live in the building opposite Danny’s. Now Tommy had a pretty good idea where Danny would be. Up on the roof with the pigeons.
“What if the Pigeon Man is up there with ‘im,” one of the boys asked.
“Don’t worry,” Tommy said looking over his shoulder. “The gimp won’t be there.”
“How do ya know?”
“I just know. Follow me!” Tommy said in his toughest tone, trying to regain respect from Ken.
Earlier that morning, when Tommy had gone to pick up milk for his mother at the grocery store, he had seen Delaney and another man driving away in a pickup truck. He figured Danny would probably be up on the roof alone, looking after the pigeons. That would be his golden opportunity to redeem himself.
***
Delaney would be proud of Danny. He scrubbed and cleaned the entire loft, filled the cups with birdseed and filled the dishes with fresh water. While he poured seed in one cup Feisty flew on his shoulder and cooed. There was the beginning of a strong bond between the two of them. Feisty was getting more and more tame each time he saw him. He could thank Delaney for that. Delaney really knew his birds. Danny was about to take Feisty to the flight area Delaney had set up, when thought he heard voices by the rooftop door.
The Pigeon Man Page 3