Jack was a normal New York City kid. Born of parents of whom he knew only one sparsely, and the other not at all. He was an only child and in later years realized his parents probably hadn’t wed. Remembering his dad relating to him about the "date" on a Hudson River Midnight Cruise. On his own subsequent trips up the Hudson, with the Calypso bands that played all night, as the boat made it’s way up to Poughkeepsie and back to Manhattan. While the hundreds danced on the corrugated steel decks, Jack, either in solitude or with a girl would often speculate and silently muse about his conception. Jack’s beautiful mother was half her suitor’s age. Not long after her son Jack arrived, she migrated to Long Island. Somehow, someway the youthful mother neglected or forgot to take her Jack with her. There the fine young lady met a handsome man, married and started a family. To this marriage there were eight siblings. Twenty seven years later Jack met his mother,his sisters and brothers for the first time.
The forties found New York neighborhoods much more racially mixed than today. Forty-first street had Greeks, Jews, Germans and blacks. There were very few Puerto Ricans and almost no West Indians. American blacks regarded Americans of West Indian origin as uppity and arrogant. This feeling, Jack thinks is partly due to the impressive string of West Indian successes. Jack strongly believes that because the British ended slavery in the Caribbean in 1833. This was more than 20 years before the States did. Mostly, the English simply weren’t around to press the issue of servitude. The Brits told the ex-slaves that they were now British subjects and as such they had all the rights of any other subject. At the same time America’s blacks endured paternalism on the plantation. While what the British told the former slaves wasn’t exactly true, education was compelled. This enabled the West Indians to serve in Civil Service jobs at the lower levels. These jobs, although lower paying, provided self-respect, dignity and a chance to get the yoke off the shoulders. Not so in America. The weight of having their individual dignity beaten down for three hundred years was more difficult to bear. Both groups also reached the U.S. under different circumstances. The American black was brought here in chains and the West Indian emigrated here by choice.
One memorable event has him seated in the front toilet of two. On each of five floors there were two toilets, one served the front two apartments and the other was for the back or rear apartments. One day Jack, bored out of his skull and every bit of four years old, did his first experiment with fire. Armed with some wooden matchsticks, he unrolled the paper and stuffed the porcelain bowl. Dropping a lighted match among the dry, hungry paper the boy pulled the chain. Torrents of water, well not exactly torrents flowed down to wet and therefore extinguish the flames. This was Jack’s plan, but as in Murphy’s Law everything that could, went wrong. Even then he knew to close the lid and smother the flame. He didn’t know why it worked but it was part of the plan to put out the fire. Instead, the lid caught afire and the water didn’t do it’s appointed job either. Miss Lilah, the kindly, across the hall neighbor stopped, almost too late, the inevitable attack on Jack’s loins. Beatings in those days were never considered child abuse.
As a matter of fact, if you as a child reported that an adult had reprimanded you, you could expect to get another beating. When they moved to 52nd Street the neighbor make-up was just about the same. They never used the words "ghetto". Ghettos were somewhere in Europe. They lived in the tenements. Outsiders often have their own perception of New York as big, overwhelming, impersonal, anonymous. Actually, even now it’s a collection of neighborhoods where everybody knows everybody’s business, the same as in a small town. Hell’s Kitchen was like that. It was the city’s left armpit. There was a repeating pattern to the avenues that connected their streets. On almost every block you would find a candy store, often owned by European Jews, selling the "Daily News and the Daily Mirror and the Post. No one read the New York Times. These little stores also sold sodas, penny candies, school supplies and ice cream. Charlies, Jack’s little store made a fortune on the numerous penny candies. Neco peppermint wafers, Squirrely Nuts and everybody’s favorite Mary Janes. With his amazing memory Jack fondly recalls in chronological order every grade school teacher and her name.
Jack’s kindergarten classmates read like a United Nation roster. James Kafes, Greek. George Luchak, Polish. Donald Lagomarsino, Italian. Robert Moran, Irish. These along with Jack formed the Musketeers. Kindergarten’s first day found Jack, the impish devil, being ear-dragged by Mrs. Winterburn to a spot under her desk as punishment for allowing a rubber ball to break a picture frame. He recalls looking directly into her longjohns and associatiating them with her name. Looking back now, maybe he had looked up Josephine’s dress. There were so many toys and blocks to play with the young fellow did not want to go home. In First Grade the teacher was Mrs.O’Donald.
Second Mrs.Hirsh,and in progression Mrs.Fogarty, Caggiano and the wonderful, unforgettable Mrs.Spiegal. Mrs. Caggiano is best remembered for her resounding slap, rendered one day on a stairwell. He doesn’t recall why she hit him but if any similar incident were to occur today she would be dismissed. Mrs.Spiegal used to bring to school fine samples of exotic foods that they would otherwise not ever have tasted. Caviar, chocolate-covered insects, smorgasbord items and smoked lox. They all looked forward to Mondays when she would arrive with new items. Tasty gems for all of them. She was a special lady. Mrs. Salwen was the teacher for the CRMD class. The principal was named Mr. Lowenbaum. In the dialogue that follows that racial overtones would not be allowed today. With James the Greek playing a Chinese coolie the play included these lines.
"Me come a from Hong Kong, China
To worka for American Mon
Me can a no speaka much Ingleesh
Me speaka you the best me can
Me worka all day in alaundry
Me catch a lat in the market
Make a pot pie all a same, all a same
Ching chong Chinaman
Monkey on a stick
Me no like a Japonee
Make a Chinee sick"
Jack’s lines were in response: "My hat’s off to you Chang, your’s is perhaps the oldest nation represented here. Mine is the youngest. You see Chang, while you date back for centuries, my people really did get started until about eighty years ago. Our first chances began with Thomas Jefferson, but it was many years before my people shared in this countries goodness. But now we hope and pray, that with the end of this global war, that equality of man that Jefferson dreamed of, will be extended. God Willing to the Jewish rabbi in Warsaw, the catholic priest Mindszenty, to the pastor Niemoellers who languished in concentration camps. In short, to all who are downtrodden and underpriviledged. Without it freedom cannot hope to survive." To tumultuous applause Jack bowed as the curtain came down.
Other memorable events include the first sexual encounter. Helen Tsutis who happened to be James’ first cousin. It happened quite innocently. Helen and Jack had been quarantined in the auditorium because of either measles or mumps. When she asked Mrs O’Donald permission to go to the little girls room, the conversation got around to how she did her thing. Equally casual, she showed Jack how she had to remove the little cotton panties. When Jack saw Helen was missing the usual appendage, he immediately felt sorrow for her. She found that she too, had been missing something. Little did she surmise that if Jack hadn’t been a boy he wouldn’t have had any toys. They started playing with each other’s genitals. Even at six his awareness of the opposite sex was strongly evident. Odette the little curly-haired, French redhead was recipient of many of the Neco mint candies. Other names: Romaine Biggett, Barbara Hyndman, a tiny blonde, even a bit later and then at eleven or twelve going to Broadway to meet sailors on leave in town from the many ships docked in ports in the Hudson. Was it possible she was whoring even then. Kathy Ivaldi, constantly reeked of urine, probably a bed wetter. Alice Loof, who along with Jack always was the last to sit during the spelling bees. Queen Mary Sotomeyer, somehow even at that young age, able to fend for herself. She had been badly burned on face and body yet she withstood bravely the taunts and insults. The brother pairs, Hubert and "Beelie" Rosado. Robert and James McMahon. Jack’s closest playmates, Sonny and Donald attended other schools. Of course there was always Shirley. Tirso Negron with his "roach killer" shoes and his drop dead gorgeous sister Rachel, arrived as the start of the Puerto Rican thrust to the U.S.
At about eight or nine years of age, Sonny’s father sent him to get a box of pepper. Acquiescing, the youths decided to shop the local A&P. Not finding the proper size box for the fourteen cents his father had given him, Sonny and his entourage asked a store worker if the store had the proper size. The worker went to the stockroom and found the right box, began to restock the shelf. They thanked the man and their leader suddenly decided to not pay for the pepper. On the sidewalk outside of the store Jack forever the joker, yelled "Chickie", the jargon used to tell all that some was coming. Everybody ran except Jack, this was his prank of course and he didn’t run, instead choosing to laugh hilariously. The massive, ruddy- complexioned Irishman block out the sun as he scooped up the startled little boy. In his white apron, he carried Jack to the storeroom like a sack of potatoes. Assurring Jack of his imminent incarceration if they didn’t bring back the 14 cents, Jack felt the nausea creeping from the pit of his stomach. The police precinct was less that a block away. Thoughts of five years in jail, or wherever they send young accessories to grand theft, that feeling of uncertainty caused Jack’s ass to want to shit. They left him unguarded but the level of fear had locked him there as much as any cage or door ever could.
Suddenly the ruddy-faced behemoth appeared and told Jack he was free to leave. His bail had been paid. Sonny who had already spent the cash, somehow found enough 2-cent deposit, soda bottles to raise the bail. Jack’s boys had come to the rescue.
Admission to the local movies, fourteen cents. Even that was out of reach for kids Jack’s age so the boys always sneaked in. Especially into the Town Theater. Despite his Grandma’s not allowing him to go to the movies, Jack sneaked in and on Saturday afternoons always managed to find Nikki Escort. They would spend the entire afternoon embraced and Jack would emerge with the worse case of pain in his groin. The guys always called this "blueballs", from being erect too long without sexual relief. Jack suffered this many, many times as Jack never saw Nikki except in the Town Theatre.
Elementary School Days * No More Gizzards * No, You Didn't * For The First Time
Life In The Garment Center * Jack's Black Queen * Those Were The Days
New York, New York * Dad * Post Office Blues? * DS or BS?
The Hookers of Hunt's Point * SanMan * Amazing