Cicero, '59

“Jimmy Dean Jackson, where do you think you’re going?

“None-a-yer-business, Rosey Mae!”

“If you get us both into trouble again, it’ll be my business!”

“I’ll let you know when I need you, little sister.”

“Little sister? I’m almost two years older than you! I know you just turned nine, but you know good and well that I will be eleven at the end of the month, little brother.”

“I don’t need you taggin’ along. I’m big enough to take care of myself.”

“You better not be headed off to go hang out with Stanton Burkhart. Uncle Bob and them haven’t lived up here as long as us. Stanton has already started running with those older, mean kids at school. They’re all two years older than me. He doesn’t know them like I do.

“Maw, don’t care. Stan’s our cousin.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

 . . . Wherever I want to go. . . . Don’t follow me . . . . Beat it, Rosey Cheeks, now!. . . . I mean it . . . . quit following me!”

“Mama said if you get into trouble again that she’s going to send you back to Kentucky this summer to stay with Poppy and Mamaw. You’ll be down there all summer workin’ in the heat in the garden, sloppin’ the hogs, and tendin’ baccer.”

“Well, Pap said we may be moving back down there anyway sometime before the end of the year, so what does it matter if I get into trouble or not? Maybe I want to go back to Kentucky. Maybe I’d rather be runnin’ around in the woods instead of bein’ beat up on the streets here in Cicero. Besides, it ain’t none of your beeswax where I’m going or what I’m doing.”

“I don’t want to get a whoopin because of you.”

“If you leave me alone, you won’t have to worry about it.”

“I worry about everything.”

“I know.”

“Mama said I needed to look out for you.”

“You mean, you just want to see what I’m doing so you can go and be a big tattle-tale.”

“No.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Nuh-uh!”

“You’re cruisin for a bruisin.”

“You better not hit me. Mama will tan your hide.”

“All right then, see you later, gator . . . ”

“You better not . . . . Stop! Hey . . . . Come back here . . . . Quit running . . . . Slow down . . . . Don’t you dare run out into that traffic . . . . Deany! Look out! . . . . Gee whiz . . . . I’m telling Mama.”

“You better not say a word to Maw . . . . you big baby . . . . you won’t catch me now, Rosey Cheeks!”

“Whoa there, little fella. Where do you think you’re goin’? Wow, you almost got hit by that Buick, you big dummy! You shouldn't try to take on a tank like that.”

“Ah, Stan the Man. I sure am glad to see you. Where you headed?”

“I was comin’ to find you, Cuz. The guys are gettin’ a game together down here at the lot. If we ain’t got enough guys, maybe they’ll let you play.”

“Stan, you guys may be like twelve and stuff, but I can play ball just as good as any of you. I ain’t got a glove with me, and I don’t want to go back to the apartment. Maw will flip her lid and make me stay home if Rosey gets back to her before I do.”

“It’s all right, little man. We can trade out if we are on different sides. We can put you in the outfield, you may not even need a glove.”

“Hey, you wanna stop by the drug store and get a Coke? I got twenty cents.”

“Where’d you get twenty cents? I thought your old man had disappeared again?”

“He ain’t been around for a few days. I’ve been pitchin' pennies with the drunks upstairs in the alley by The Magic Lounge. Since March, I’ve managed to save up almost five bucks.”

“Five bucks? Man, you’re rich.”

“Sometimes those drunks don’t know what they’ve got. I’ve managed to get a few twenty-five cent bar tokens. I’ll trade them for a dime or even fifteen cents. I’ve been lucky a few times and just found a few layin’ around in the alley. Sometimes, Pap don’t remember what he’s got in his pants pockets, so I slip some pennies or tokens if I think I can manage it.”

“You sure are slick, J.D.”

“Yeah, Maw don’t always see it that way. She said Jesus sees what I do, even if she don’t.”

“More like your sister sees you and rats you out.”

“That’s what I say. I try to sneak out after she falls asleep. Because the El train is right behind our apartment, I can climb out the window sometimes without anybody hearing me.”

“You do have it all figured out, don’t you, J.D.?”

“I try. Hey, let’s slip in here to the drug store and get us a Coke.”

“Okay, the guys have probably already started anyway. They’ll let us cut in on the game, especially if they don’t have enough.”

“Mornin, Mr. Baczek.”

“Well, if it isn’t Little James Dean and Stan The Man. How are you two young gentlemen doing on this fine May morning? James Dean, does your father really let you run around with that Elvis haircut?”

“He don’t care. He ain’t really been around that much lately. Working all the time. He’s got two jobs.”

“Yeah, your father stays busy. I haven’t seen him around in a few weeks.”

“Yes, sir. Give me two cokes and two packs of baseball cards.”

“Getting an allowance now? Your father must be doing pretty good for himself. You're still running around with Little Stan Musial here, I see.”

“I’d rather be Ernie Banks. You know he won MVP last year.”

“I know, I know, but my money is on Nellie Fox for league MVP this year. I’ve always been a White Sox guy myself. We’ll see how old Ernie does against Stan The Man today and tomorrow in St. Louis. Besides, son, you know Banks is a negro right? I would of thought that two little hillbilly boys wouldn’t root for a negro. Baseball sure is changing since they let Jackie Robinson in the majors. We’ve managed to keep a lot of that riff-raff out of here in Cicero, especially since they took care of that Clark family back in ‘51.”

“We’re kind of in a hurry, Mr. Baczek. Here’s twenty cents.”

“You need me to open those Cokes for you?”

“Sure. Yes, sir.”

“Okay, kid. Stay out of trouble. You know what happened to James Dean, right? And say hello to your father for me when he’s around.”

“Yes, sir. Sure will. Take it easy, Mr. Baczek.”

“Man, J.D., I can’t believe that old man likes The White Sox. And the way he put down Ernie Banks?”

“He’s just a stupid, old man. Pap likes Ernie Banks. He said he was a veteran, so was Jackie Robinson. You know Pap gives respect to anybody who served in The War.”

“My old man don’t talk much about The War. I know he was in Europe sometime after D-Day. That’s about it.”

“Pap was in the Navy. He was in the Pacific when they dropped The Bomb. He never saw no action. He got to go to China and Korea though. Said he smuggled a Jap rifle all the way back to San Diego, and some stupid officer confiscated it. Stole it more or less. He hitchhiked all the way back to Kentucky.”

“Ain’t that a bite. Man, this Coke is so good. I ain’t had one in a while. Thanks.”

“No problem, Cuz.”

“Ain’t you gonna open those baseball cards?”

“Nah, I’ll wait until I get home. I don’t want to lose any of them. I need to be careful not to damage them when we play today.”

“Geez, won’t you look at that! I don’t think we’re going to get to play today. Looks like Joe Dodd is getting the snot beat out of him. I didn’t think there would be fist fights this early in the game. We better not go down there.”

“We should help, Joe.”

“No, J.D., there’s too many of them from over on West 24th. I don’t know why they’re over here instead of playing down there in Morton Park. C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

“What are we going to do now? I really wanted to play today.”

“I know, J.D. Let’s just go up the street to sit and finish our Cokes.”

“Man. I love Coke. You know what would be great? To have a Coke and a hotdog and watch Ernie Banks at Wrigley Field. Pap used to go watch the Cubs all the time. You know, we only lived seven blocks from the ballpark? Of course, I was too little to go to a game then. I barely remember living in Chicago. 

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“Cincinnati is in town next week.”

“I know.”

“Hey, we could go back over to your place and roll the drunks at The Magic Lounge. You’ve been doin’ pretty good making dough pitchin’ pennies with them.”

“I don’t know. If Rosey Mae catches us, Maw will give me the belt.”

“C’mon, chicken. With the money you’ve got, and what we could get today from those old winos, we could go see the Cubs play Cincinnati next week.”

“But the game’s on Wednesday and Thursday.”

“So?”

“What about school? Pap would tan my hide if I was to skip school. You know Rosey Mae would rat me out.”

“Look, your old man ain’t been around for a few days, who knows if he’ll be back by then. Maybe you could bribe Rosey Mae with some of the money?”

“Maybe. She’s a tough cookie, especially if she thinks she can get me in trouble.”

“My old man won’t care. We could say he needs some help with something around the house, and you have to stay the night with me. We could catch the El and ride it into the city and catch the game on Wednesday or Thursday. Man, don’t chicken out on me now. What about the hotdogs, the popcorn, and the Cokes? Don’t you want to see Ernie Banks play?”

“Yeah, I do. Let me think about it. Maw can read me like a book if I ain’t careful. And we definitely can’t let Rosey Mae in on the plan if we can help it. I just need a couple more dollars. I think we can work something out at The Magic Lounge today, since it’s Saturday.”

“All right, let’s go,”

“Okay, we can get our deposits back from these empty bottles. I can’t guarantee how much we’ll make today off those old drunks, I can usually trade money for beer tokens if they got any. They like pitchin’ those because they know I can’t spend them, but they haven’t figured out that I can sell them for half price.”

“Good. Ain’t The Magic Lounge owned by Johnny Paul?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever seen him do magic there? I hear he is the king of card tricks.”

“No. Maw don’t like me hanging out around the lounge.”

“How can you help it? You live in the basement for God’s sake!”

“I know, but it ain’t Maw’s choice. She hates it there. She had to go upstairs one time and ask Pap for some money to get some groceries, and she came back crying. I don’t like to see Maw sad.”

“Don’t they have naked dancers there?”

“I’ve heard that.”

“Ever see a naked woman? I bet they go around with their titties out all the time.”

“I ain’t never seen any, but one night, I heard some weird noise behind the lounge. I looked out the window and saw a man and a woman gruntin’ and rubbin’ up against each other. I think they were doing back seat bingo without the back seat.”

“Really? Was she naked?”

“No, she had her dress yanked up, but I couldn’t see nothin’ because the guy was in front of her. Maw must’ve heard it too, because she yelled out her window at them. She told them to go away because she had kids living with her. The woman screamed, the man cussed Maw, and they moved on.”

“Jimmy Paul is really famous, you know. He's on TV. You ever see him on TV?”

“No. All we got is a radio. Pap likes to listen to The Opry, and baseball games, sometimes boxing. Maw listens to Soap Operas sometimes. I listen to The Lone Ranger.”

“High-Ho, Silver!”

“Away!”

“Catch me, Tonto!”

“Stan, wait for me . . . . Don’t run so fast . . . . Make sure Rosey Mae or Maw don’t see you . . . . I’ll catch up . . . .

“You are so slow . . . . Hey, watch out kid! Outta my way . . . . Next stop, The Magic Lounge . . . . It’s about time you got here.

“No fair, man. You’re older and faster.

“Never stopped you before. Where do we start?”

“Okay, Step back here in the alley. The way we play it is that we usually start with five pennies, then move up to five nickels, five dimes, and then five quarters. I’ll dig a hole with a ring around it. Whoever has the most coins in the hole at the end of the round wins the round. If no coins are in the hole at the end of the round, first coin in the hole of the second round wins everything in the ring, then we start over with whatever round we’re on. I usually try to lose the penny round, sometimes the nickel round, but I start taking them on the dimes and quarters. Sometimes we don’t get to quarters.”

“Good. I’ve got the hang of this. Sounds a lot like marbles. I’m pretty good at marbles too.”

“Until you lost all your marbles!”

“Oh, you think you’re so funny, J.D. Use this stick to draw the circle and dig the hole.”

“You and me will start, then I’ll go complain to one of the regulars about how you're taking all of my money. He’ll come to win it back, then I’ll try to get one or two more to pitch with, then we’ll clean them out and go home.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ve got the pennies.”

“I’ve got a little bit more. While you’re playing with them, I’ll sneak into the apartment and get some more change. You start.”

“Look at that! First two right in the hole.”

“Don’t be too good to start out with. You got to make them think they’ll beat you, after all, you’re just a kid. Yeah, that’s better. Now we’ll switch to nickels. Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

“Be practicing while I go get somebody.”

“Okay. I think I’m going to get pretty good at this . . . . ”

“Hey, J.D. What’s wrong, little man?”

“Hey, Roy Boy. I was pitchin’ with this older kid in the alley, and he took all my money. Maw gave me some grocery money to buy us a few things, and I lost it all.”

“Your dad around?”

“No sir. I ain’t seen him for a few days. My maw is going to tan my hide with a belt.”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll get your money back.”

“Listen, don’t hurt that kid. It’s okay. I’ll think of something.”

“Huh, you know how good I am at pitchin’. I’ll have it back in three shakes of a lamb’s tail, kid.”

“You ain’t been drinkin’ have you?”

“Nah, I just had a few beers. I’m good.”

“I’ve got to go get something out of our apartment. I’ll be right back . . . .”

###

“Wow, J.D., you were right. That’s some of the fastest money I ever made. Let’s split it. Four dollars and sixty cents. That’s enough to get us into Wrigley, plus the money you said you'd saved up.”

“Told you.”

“Deany! What are you doing? You’re not supposed to be hanging out with Stanton! Where did you get all that money? Have you been bumming money off of those drunks again?”

“I’ve gotta split. Talk to you tomorrow, J.D.”

“Mama and me have been looking all over the neighborhood for you. She was supposed to go to the pantry down at the Catholic church because we were completely out of food. All we had was the mustard and saltines we ate for dinner last night. She got there too late because she was looking for you. There wasn’t any food left at the pantry.”

“Where is she now?”

“She’s over in the park, crying her eyes out.”

“I can buy us some food. I’ve got a couple of dollars and some beer tokens, I’ll need to trade them for money somewhere.”

“Come over here . . . . Right now! . . . . Throw those beer tokens here in the storm drain. That’s The Devil’s money!”

“That’s Maw talking.”

“I don’t care. You’re going to do it, or I’ll tell mama what you were doing and that Stan was in on it.”

“Okay. Okay. There. I hope you’re happy.”

“Stick that tongue back in your mouth and don’t get smart with me. We’re going to tell Mama that you have been running errands for Mr. Baczek all week, and he gave you enough money to buy peanut butter, bread, milk, and some eggs. Now come on. Let’s get those groceries and surprise mama. She’s cried enough lately.”

“I’m doing this for Maw, not for you, Rosey Cheeks.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”