TALES FROM H-TOWN: THE LONG WALK

Back when I was growing up in Harvey, I was into Boy Scouts. Boy Scout Troop 376 met at First United Methodist Church on Lexington; and, it's where I met Tracy Dyson, who ended up becoming my best friend. We were about 11 or 12 at the time, so this was around 1978 or 79. We'd decided to go for a merit badge, I believe it was for hiking. Everything was set for that Saturday: A day I'll never forget.

Tracy and I got picked up from Harvey by our Scoutmaster, Mr.. Gooch. We were dressed in our scout finest. Green uniforms, merit badges and ranks, and "Scout Pride." Mr.. Gooch took us to his house in Oak Forest. He dropped us off there, and gave us directions to find him a mile or two away at a local Forest Preserve. He drove off, and Tracy and I started our walk.

I was nervous. We were both from Harvey and had never been to this area before. I had no idea where to go! Tracy was better with navigation, so I relied on him and hoped that he would get it right. We walked through a residential area, made a few turns, and ended up on a street that was bordered on both sides by forest. Down the street we went.

We hadn't been on the wooded road long when a White lady with a child pulled up in her car next to us. She pointed at us and instructed her little one with "Those are niggers!" Then she drove off. I was shocked, and Tracy looked sick. We hadn't really thought about having any racial issues to get a merit badge...but here the issue was. We were two Black kids walking alone through what was starting to seem like hostile territory!

We walked a bit more and a White man drove up, and spat at us! We cursed him out as he drove off! By now we were cautious of every car that passed. Tracy and I were just coming to a big church property, when another White man drove by and threw a bottle at us! The bottle broke and some of the glass got in Tracy's shoe! We'd had enough! First, Tracy got the glass out of his shoe. Then we looked for bricks, sticks, and anything else we could carry. I tied a bandana around my head like an Apache warrior, and we were ready. Ironically we were preparing for battle on church grounds. The next driver that called us "Niggers" had so much shit flying his way, it looked like a biblical stoning! Every car that passed now contained a potential enemy! We were tense, angry, and defensive for the rest of our long walk.

When we made it to Mr.. Gooch, he was smiling. But he could see from our faces that something was wrong. We told him what happened and he was speechless. Mr.. Gooch was a very nice man, and he was White. He said that he was sorry for what we'd gone through. The whole time Tracy and I had been walking, Mr.. Gooch had been preparing a meal over an open fire with a Dutch Oven. He unveiled pot roast with veggies, and for dessert there was pineapple upside-down cake! It was a feast fit for Robin Hood and his merry men of the forest!

Even though the meal was awesome, Tracy and I were pretty quiet throughout. When we were driving back home we stayed quiet. I was just happy to be going back to Harvey. The meal had been delicious, but I still had a bad taste in my mouth from the long walk.

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