Cape Cod's Figure in Black

by Bill Russo

  “Hello boys, I’m your waitress Vincenzo,” he joked.

  “Very funny Vinny, if girls looked like you the human race would die out in one generation!” said Geo.

  “Well you ain’t too pretty yourself Giovanni,” countered Big Vinny, who at two inches over six feet was one of the tallest men of Boston’s North Shore, but certainly not one of its most handsome.

  Lucca interrupted, “Hey Vin. What are you doing with that newspaper tucked in your back pocket? Gino don’t allow no reading in here!”

  “I just took it from some guy who was probably eating here for the first time and didn’t know the rules. I was nice to him. I simply told him we have a deal with the library, they don’t sell fried clams and we don’t sell books and papers, and we don’t read ‘em here neither.”

  “Here you guys can have it,” said Vinny, removing the paper from his back pocket and tossing it on the table, “Take it back to the shop. You can read it there, because the way I hear it, now that you got all that extra help, you haven’t got too much else to do.”

  The brothers laughed and gave him their lunch orders. Carmine started to discuss their next big project, an additional railroad bridge that would span the harbor from Beverly to Salem. If they were awarded the bid, it would be their biggest job by far.”

  “Holy crap! Shut up a minute you guys! Look at that headline in the paper! I don’t believe it!” The excited shouts came from Tony Junior, who picked up the newspaper and began reading aloud….

  “The nearly intact wreckage of a fishing trawler that ran aground off Nantucket seven years ago has been discovered. According to Roland Jones, the island’s harbor master, the ‘Nonna’s Choice’, a coal fired steamer, apparently sunk almost immediately after one of its boilers exploded. Jones went on to……

  “Wait a minute,” Carmine said, breathlessly, “that was our brother Billy’s ship! Does it say if anybody survived?”

  Tony Junior read the rest of the startling article. After hearing it, the boys were shaken to their toenails and they left the Rose Café without even waiting for their fried clams.

  “We gotta get home and tell Ma and Pa about this,” said Geo.

  The brothers raced outside and sprinted for their home at the other end of Rantoul Street, stopping only briefly to ask Cousin Luigi the beat cop, to find Meo at the fish pier and tell him to get home quickly.

  Tony Junior rapidly outdistanced the pack and was the first to reach the house. The rambling three story structure sat directly across the tracks from the flagman’s building at Gloucester Crossing, the intersection of the town’s two main streets, Rantoul and Cabot. Fifteen times per day as the trains were about to roll through, the “Crossing Tender” got up from his seat in the shack and cranked down the gates that warned the operators of buggies and automobiles, of the oncoming train. The message was reinforced by the flagman as he walked back and forth in front of the gates, waving a huge red flag.

  Tony dashed up the front steps and on up to the second floor living-room where Papa and Mama were battling each other in a brutal game of ‘Scopone’. The popular Italian game simulates a Sicilian war in which cards and tricks are captured, using a combination of strategy, skill, and luck.

  “Stop the game,” shouted “Junior,” breathlessly.

  “Hey bachagaloop! Whatta you trying-a do? I’m-a getting a-scalped inna this-a game by you mama; but right-a now I’m ready to capture you mama’s cavallo and donna (horse and queen!)”

  “Papa, shuddup-a you face,” ordered Mama. “don’t-a be calling my boy no dummy! He’s-a smart-a boy!”

  The other brothers by then had filed into the room. Carmine, being the head of the family after Papa, ordered all talk of card games and anything else to stop, immediately!

  “Mama! Papa! We have news of Billy. They found the wreckage of his ship. The ship’s log was recovered and they could read it because it was in a waterproof box,” Carmine reported.

  “Well this is good-a news. I’m-a think-a so. But what about Guillermo?”

  “He was not on the trawler when it sank Papa! The boat was in Provincetown for repairs to the boiler. As Captain of the ship, Billy told the crew they could have a week in the city, but were to report back to the MacMillan Pier in seven days time after the boiler was fixed. The crew came back, but Billy never did. They waited two days and then the first mate took command and set out for Nantucket. The boiler that was supposed to have been repaired blew up. Most of the crew was killed by the blast and the rest drowned.”

  “But where’s-a my boy Guillermo?” Mama asked with fresh tears in her eyes, but also with a little slice of hope building up in her heart.

  “The paper says that nobody knows what happened to Billy. He paid the shipyard in advance for the repairs, but never came back to check up on the work and was never seen in Provincetown again.”

  Lucca, usually the least talkative of the family said – “What we must do is go to Provincetown. We will shake down that little city like it’s never been rousted before. We’ll find out what happened to our brother - one way or the other!”

  The very next morning the five brothers, along with Mama, Papa, and Meo’s fiancé, Colleen in tow; boarded the train at the Beverly Depot for the 140 mile trip to Provincetown. They were certain that the end of the line would be the beginning of the solution to the mystery of Billy’s disappearance.

  Chapter Nineteen:

  The Gallows for John Deer?

  John Deer crumpled into one of the booths at the Rod and Cod Tavern after Deputy Sheriff Jim Hannon told him that he had killed a man in the very room in which he was now standing.

  “How did I get away? Have you been keeping a gallows in the town square for me these past seven years? “

  “Well, it’s true that you did kill…….”

  “I’ll not run this time Sheriff. I’m ready to pay for my crimes.”

  “If you stop jabbering and interrupting me for a minute, I want to tell you something!” said Hannon. “You did kill a man, but as far as paying for your crimes – it is I who should be paying you!”

  “What the Deputy means,” said fisherman Marty Crosby, “is that you killed the man in self defense. There’s no charge against you.”

  “And the part about me paying you,” added Hannon “is because you probably saved my daughter’s life.”

  Hannon explained that seven years before, his daughter Melissa had been working for him; serving customers, helping with the ordering, keeping the books and such. One night a drunken customer named Lute Fowler started to drag her off to the backroom. He was a well known brawler, crook, and an extremely dangerous man.

  “I had left her in charge of the Rod and Cod while Marty and I went to look at a new ice box that I wanted for the bar. So, neither of us was actually there when it happened. But there were twelve men in the place when he started ripping the clothes off Melissa and not a one of them dared to make a move – except you stranger. Except you!”

  “What did I do?” John Deer wondered.

  “You went right over to him, though he was much bigger than you, and pulled my daughter right out of his arms. She ran to safety, and he came charging at you.”

  “He had his arms straight out in front of him, like he was going to strangle you,” Marty picked up the story. “But you grabbed his arm and twirled him around like a little toy poodle. He fell down on the floor right next to the bar.”

  “That was bad news,” said Jim Hannon. “because I always have a peacemaker there in case of trouble – it’s a 64 ounce wooden bat just like the one Tris Speaker of the Red Sox uses. Well Fowler spotted it, and he came up swinging. He lambasted you with that bat straight across your forehead. It made a sound louder than thunder and lightning. You recoiled from the blow and everybody thought you were going to die right that second. Blood started trailing down your face in a little river from your scalp-line down to your eyes.”

  “But you didn’
t go down,” Marty once again took up the tale. “You grabbed the bat right out of his hands and with a mighty roar that seemed to come from a deep underground pit, you whomped him with the bat directly on his right ear. His head exploded like an over ripe tomato thrown onto a vaudeville stage. As he started to fall, you turned around and swung the bat left handed, and got him on the other ear! What brains weren’t scrambled by the homerun stroke from the right side were certainly crushed by the left-handed swing. He fell to the floor after you ‘switch-hitted’ him and never moved. Not even a twitch.”

  “By the time Marty and I got back from looking at that ice box,” said Jim Hannon, “Fred Crump had already taken the body down to the funeral home. My daughter told us everything that happened. You were sitting in a booth with a towel on your forehead but you seemed okay. I sat down and started speaking with you. The cloth you were holding against your wound was soaked with blood, so I went to the bar to get you a fresh one and when I got back you were gone. I ran outside but I couldn’t find you. A few people said they saw you get on the Boston bound train.”

  “I guess I did get on the train, I must have been in shock and collapsed somewhere along the route. I woke up in Boston in a hospital with a skull fracture that nearly split my brain in two. I also had lost my memory. I didn’t even know my name. The hospital called me John Doe, but I……”

  “…..didn’t want to be named after female rabbits, ferrets, and rats, so the doctor changed your name tag from ‘John Doe’ to “John Deer”.

  The words that interrupted him in mid sentence were spoken by a beautiful woman who had slipped unnoticed into the Rod and Cod. She had heard the whole story of what happened the night John Deer suffered his injury.

  John whirled around and saw…..

  “Emily! Emily, I’m free! Did you hear?”

  They embraced and laughed through their tears at the good fortune that had come to them in Provincetown.

  “Not so fast Mister. I want to talk to you!”

  The new voice came from a man with dark curly hair and a rough face that looked vaguely familiar. He stepped to within two feet of John Deer and Emily.

  “I am Carmine Russo, first brother and head of the Russo family, after Papa. I also heard everything that has been said here. I and the family have been sitting in the booths listening to the whole story. I know that you know us, because you hired us to capture Cardenio Collucci, which we did.

  “The problem I have right now is that I don’t think you are who you say you are. You are not John Deer!”

  One by one, the other four brothers stood up, their faces as grim as a January snowstorm at dusk. Then Mama and Papa also rose, as did Tony Junior’s finance Colleen. The entire Russo family stared hard and long at John Deer.

  Lucca broke rank and walked slowly up to Carmine. Wider and taller than his ‘big brother’, Lucca had a bullet head and a body as bulky as Charles Atlas. In the dim light of the bar he looked even fiercer than usual.

  “I agree with Carmine,” Lucca said in a soft, but deep voice that seemed to be potentially more powerful than the massive Engine Number Two of the Cape Cod Railroad. “I know you are not John Deer!”

  “I am certain that you are not John Deer. Instead, you are my little brother Billy,” said big Lucca, breaking out into a wide smile.

  With that pronouncement, all the five brothers plus Papa pounced on John Deer and showered him with hugs and backslaps; while kisses were rained down on him from Mama and Meo’s fiancé Colleen O’Brien.

  Chapter Twenty:

  The End of John Deer

  The bittersweet reunion of lovers and family continued for hours in the warm atmosphere of the quaint Provincetown bar called the Rod and Cod. Everyone from Mama to John Deer himself; had dozens and dozens of questions.

  Carmine, as leader of the family after Papa, took it upon himself to sort things out. He showed John Deer/Billy Russo, family photos with “John Deer” in them.

  “He looks exactly the same today as he did in those pictures,” vowed Colleen and the family agreed that it was true.

  “It’s the beard,” John/Billy offered. “If I shaved it you’d see all the wrinkles!”

  “I have a question for you Deputy Hannon,” Lucca said. “You’re a trained lawman as well as a bartender, so I guess you’re good at remembering faces, but how could you recall our brother’s face? Before tonight you only saw him once and it was seven years ago!”

  “It’s because of Crump the undertaker,” Hannon offered. “This city of Provincetown is really just a small village. Everybody has at least two jobs. As you pointed out, I am the barkeep and the deputy as well. Fred Crump is the undertaker and doubles as the town’s professional photographer. He took pictures not only of the dead man Lute Fowler, but also of your brother. If you go look in my office you will see a large framed photograph hanging on my wall. It is a picture of a hero, a brave man to whom I owe everything. It’s a photo of your brother. I have looked at that image every day for the last seven years hoping that I could someday say thank-you to this man in person.”

  The reunion party lasted all through the night, assisted by some bottles of Chianti that were broken out in honor of Anthony Senior, the head of the family, before Carmine. At six a.m. John/Billy walked to the railroad terminal. He made a telephone call and then purchased tickets for ten people – the six brothers (himself included), as well as Emily, Mama, Papa, and Colleen O’Brien, the future Mrs. Bartolomeo Russo.

  A short time later as the train prepared to leave the station, the family started up the steps to board. John/Billy was last in line, just behind Emily. As he placed his foot on the first step of the three leading into the passenger car, he looked back and saw a female form sitting on one of the benches by the side of the terminal. She was dressed entirely in black with a wide brimmed hat on her head.

  “Emily, you get on, I’ll be join you in a minute,” said John as he turned around and walked toward the figure in black.

  “John the train is leaving! Come back. John the wheels are starting to movie, you’re going to miss the train. Please get on now!” Emily pleaded.

  As if not hearing, he continued toward the wooden bench. When he was within a foot of her, the figure in black spoke to him…

  “Goodbye John Deer/Billy Russo. Your work is done. I willingly take your burden from you.”

  “Maria? Is it you? You look older today, but you’re still barely a teenager. It’s too much for you. I can stay and handle….”

  “Your time is done John/Billy. You are healed. No more will you carry the burden/blessing of second sight. I have known for some time that you would come here and that the tasks would fall to me. Despite my lack of years, I’m ready and I will do the work until such time as it is taken from me as I have taken it from you.”

  “In parting I’ll give you some good news that I have ‘seen’. In time, you will regain your memory. Your marriage will be a great success and you will have four wonderful children - two boys and two girls. Your train is leaving Billy/John. Get on it now. Ciao Billy. Ciao.”

  He raced towards the Cape Cod Engine Number Two, which had begun to pick up speed. His leap for the stairs was close but he made it, and was seated inside the coach in time to hand the family’s tickets to the conductor.

  “Have a pleasant ride to Sandwich folks. It’s 16 stops up the line on a sleepy morning. Take a nap if you like, I’ll let you know when we get there,” the conductor said.

  “Sandwich?” questioned Carmine. “Why did he say Sandwich? I thought you bought the tickets for Beverly. Why does the conductor think we are getting off in Sandwich?”

  “We are going to the place where I first met Emily. It’s down by the old mill stream in Sandwich - the Newcomb Inn. I booked the entire top floor for the whole family. We’ll stay there a month or more, long enough to have a beautiful double wedding – the marriages of Meo and Colleen and of myself and Emily.”r />
  Back at the railroad station, the little girl from Provincetown watched the train as it pulled out of the terminal. She kept looking at it until it became as small as the head of a thumbtack.

  She felt a twinge in her hands. Her body began to tremble. Lights started to flash in her brain. She stumbled home and managed to reach her bed in time. She would sleep for 48 hours uninterrupted by her parents who knew of her special ability/disability.

  When she awoke, though still a very young girl, she would leave her home; guided on a mission by a compulsion she could not ignore - for she was the new ‘Cape Cod figure in black’.

  The End

  Thanks for reading about Cape Cod’s Figure in Black. If you liked the book, please consider leaving a review on the site where you got the book.

  About the Author:

  Bill Russo is the author of The Creature from the Bridgewater Triangle and Other Odd Tales from New England; in which he recounts his meeting with a swamp creature called a Puckwudgie. His blog about that scary encounter led to an appearance in the award winning documentary, The Bridgewater Triangle. He also was also featured on national television in ‘Monsters and Mysteries in America’ and ‘America’s Bermuda Triangle’.

  A number of his fictional works are centered in the Bridgewater Triangle, where he says “Fanatasy and reality are crowded together into a haunted 200 square mile area of Massachusetts - where they share an uneasy truce”.

  ‘Swamp Tales’ and its prequel, ‘Jimmy Catfish’ take readers deep into Southeastern Massachusetts and neighboring Cape Cod for various adventures involving ghosts, monsters, and a strange amphibious boy who swims with, and leads, a school of shark-like, killer catfish.

  In ‘Ghosts of Cape Cod’, Russo does not write the typical tale of people waking up and seeing spectral beings at the foot of their bed; rather, he probes into the fascinating lives of the real people who became the legendary ‘haunts’ of one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States.