It was one of those boring, hot summer afternoons, too hot to go fishing and too lazy to walk down to the corner of Main Street to get a can of pop. Every summer ended up being the same as the one before it. When you were only nine, there was never enough to do. A normal summer afternoon would bring our group atop the school roof. We would lay there for hours with our shirts off, taking in the sun and ranking on our parents. Billy Otter could generally outdo Andy and me. He was black haired, brown eyes, dark skinned. The community made him to be the bad kid in our group. Billy was the kid from the bad family in town. If his Dad wasn’t whaling on his Mom, his Mom would be whaling on his Dad. Then, if they had both been out on a Saturday night binge, the kids would be the next in line. Billy had all kinds of excuses of why, he was generally covered with bruises. He was a good kid, at heart and did not deserve half the shit that lay on his platter.
Andrew Colton was the only other boy in our class of six. Andy came from a good family. The three of us spent most of our summer days together. We never paid much attention to the three girls in our class. They carried their noses about six inches higher than everyone else did, so we left them alone. We lived in a small town in the heart of South Dakota. Oacoma did not have more than three hundred and fifty residents, and like any small town, everyone knew everyone else’s business. The local ritual was to gather at the Post Office for the morning mail. Mrs. Heckter, the postmistress was the town gossip. She was a gray haired woman who carried her wire-rimmed glasses perched in the middle of her nose. And, I swear, she didn’t have anything else to wear but that damn old blue polka-dot dress. Mrs. Heckter had the goods on everyone in town and she didn’t hesitate to share with anyone entering her postal lobby. Last Wednesday night, when Mr. Barlow came home from one of his all night stupors and beat the piss out of his wife, Mrs. Heckter had the news pretty well distributed by mid-morning the next day. Heckter’s big mouth was enough to keep any young kid out of trouble in fear that she would pass along bad news to any young kid’s mom or dad, depending on who was at the post office first.
History told us that in the late 1890’s the Indian Reservation that sat just west of Oacoma had been moved. Many of the buildings on the Reservation were sold. One such building was that of the officer’s quarters, brought into town and remodeled. The house sold to "Ted" Starky, former Governor of South Dakota. It was a grand house, and everyone in town often talked about what it looked like inside. The house sat in the middle of town, bordered by a wrought iron fence. A number of huge maple trees canopied the yard. There was a dense grove in the back part of the property. The grass, overgrown, giving the appearance the house had been abandoned. There was an eerie feeling every time we walked by the mansion. The only nice thing about the Starky House was that it had a strawberry patch to the north side that ran the entire length of the property. The railroad tracks ran parallel to the property alongside the strawberry patch. We would walk the tracks until we got to the strawberries, and then we would sneak in only to gain our fill of the early summer fruit.
Since the house was along our path we took on the way to school, it became the object of many a scary story. We could almost hear the voices beckoning us to come in to explore, and last August we couldn’t resist any longer. We paid the Starky House a visit.
We decided to enter the house on its dark side. There was a porch on that side that had a flat roof. We would be able to ease ourselves up to the second story, allowing us to make our entry through one of the windows in the back of the house. We could use the old fifty five gallon drum that was used to store rain water. It would aid our climb to the second story. I emptied the barrel and Andy rolled it to the middle of the porch.
“Billy, you crawl on my shoulders and I’ll help you to the roof,” I said.
He made his way onto the barrel with me, while Andy steadied the barrel.
“Up you go,” I said while he put his knee on my shoulder to gently help himself to the ledge above.
“I made it, now give me your hand,” he said while lying on his belly and reaching down for my hand.
“Come on, start pulling,” as I held on tight to his hand.
Andy was already on the barrel pushing my feet upward.
“Now, it’s your turn,” I said while Billy and I both reached down to pull Andy up to join us.
What an awesome sight. The heavy canopy of trees blocked the view of anyone walking by and it was dark enough that it created just enough shadows for us to hide. I had taken a buck knife from my back pocket and started to pry the window open. It had been painted shut. As soon as I broke the seal, the window slide right up.
We had entered a large bedroom, where the bed was prepared, as though someone had just slept there the night before. The room was clean; there was not a speck of dust to be found. Opening the door, we reached a long open hallway that overlooked the living room below. The house was amazing. We were very surprised; once thinking it was empty, we found it completely furnished. There was new furniture and it was though a house cleaner had come in and freshly cleaned the place. There was a newspaper still lying next to a large chair, there was nothing out of place. It was as if the tenants had just left. We very quietly made our way down the stairs.
“Hey! Look at this,” Andy said, while holding up a Mason jar full of rattlesnake rattles. The furniture was plush and soft to the touch. The red drapes covered the lower half of each of the living room windows; I was fascinated with the touch of velvet. It was a sight that none of us had seen before. Together we made our way through the house. Just as we entered the dining room, the phone rang. We froze in our tracks, stared bug-eyed at each other for a couple of seconds. Before scrambling up the stairs to make our great escape, I grabbed a souvenir. With the three of us on the roof, Billy decided to make his jump to the ground. Landing safely, Andy followed. I stuffed my souvenir inside my shirt; it would be a secret that I would keep forever. I stood at the edge of the roof, jumped down to join the others. We ran down the tracks. Half way into the next block we jumped off the tracks and lay with our eyes peering back at the Starky House. We wanted to make sure that no one saw us make the great escape. We were shaking with fear and laughing with the excitement of escaping the confines of the house before the Calvary arrived.
Since Andy had the television that worked, and because Mrs. Colton made the best pizza in town, we headed over to his house. We would spend the rest of the day watching the Adventures of Super Man; George Reeves had become our hero. When he took off his glasses, removed his hat and jumped into that telephone booth, we knew that the next half hour would be filled with excitement. I buried my souvenir between two old newspapers and sat on my prize until it was time to head back home.
The next day started much the same, with nothing to do. Thinking we would end back up on the school roof to darken our tans, we headed for Andy’s house to pick him up. Before we got in the door, Mrs. Colton asked,
“How were your adventures in the Starky House yesterday? When I was young, they called that breaking and entering.”
I had a vision of the FBI coming to arrest me, my mug shot posted on the post office wall with Capone, Dillinger, and Baby Face Nelson. Instantly, I became scared.
“What do you mean, Mrs. Colton?” I asked
“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about,” she replied.
Then it dawned on me I had seen the stack of mail lying on the table. It was Mrs. Heckter; that bitch told Andy’s Mom. If Mrs. Colton knew, then my Mom and Dad would know, too. I decided to head back home, fearing the worse.
“I think you need to stay away from that Otter kid!” Mom yelled as I walked into the house. “And just what were you doing inside the Starky house anyway?”
“You want me to run down and pick up the mail?” I asked sarcastically.
“No, I just picked it up, and stop being a smart ass.”
“Mrs. Heckter, that big mouth bitch!” I said as I slammed the screen door behind me.
I ran over to Billy’s to get his damage report. However, neither of his parents was home yet and would not be back until later in the day. We sat down on his front steps and I explained that Mom had already found out.
“I’m sure it was Mrs. Heckter. That bitch somehow found out, and we need to know how she does it.”
Billy came from a broken family. He did pretty much whatever he wanted. He had the run of the town, and he had the privilege of staying out past ten o’clock. The news of our parents finding out about breaking into the Starkey house didn’t bother Billy much.
“My folks don’t like that old hag anyway!” he replied
“Hey! Want to watch Clark and Lois?”
It was nearly four o’clock and time for The Adventures of Superman and The Lone Ranger to come on. Billy’s folks would not be home for a while. We called Andy, broke out the popcorn and settled in for our daily ritual. Yesterday, Butch Cavendish and his gang shot Tonto. With the last “High O’ Silver,” I scramble back home for supper.
At nearly nine o’clock the next morning, there was a pounding on the front door. I jumped out of bed drew my curtain back, and saw it was only Billy. Still in my boxers, I ran downstairs to let him in. Billy came over to share his injury. He was nurturing a fresh black eye.
“I see your folks picked up their mail too,” I said as I examined his new shiner.
“I guess your folks get along with Mrs. Heckter better than you thought. I only got grounded and have to baby sit for a week.”
Part of my punishment for my bad deeds was to stay home and watch my younger brother. My folks would go to work everyday forcing me to watch over the crybaby until they got back home. Richard was my five-year-old brother. He was a four and half foot tall, seventy-five pound spoiled brat. Richard was the type of kid the whole world would love to hate. He would actually sit down, not caring where he was, and cry until he got what he wanted. He would cry for no reason; hence the name “cry baby.”
* * *
The summer had come and gone. Our adventures from last year were now a memory. It was remarkable; I had kept the secret of the souvenir for nearly one year, although having been asked many times about my memento. Our sacred brotherhood did not allow keeping anything from one another. I could not maintain the mystery any longer. It was time to share the enigma. Now, how could I pass along the information and save face?
At nearly 10:00 o’clock, it was seventy degrees. Billy and Andy were already at the door.
“Want to head over to the school?”
“I can’t,” I replied. “I have to stick around the house and watch Richard today.”
“Bring him along with us,” Billy declared.
“Hell No! This damn kid ain’t gonna spoil my day,” I said, pushing the little monster back about five steps.
“I’m telling Mom!” the little creep explained.
“If he gives us any shit, we’ll just push him off the roof,” Billy retorted.
Conceding, I grabbed my towel and we headed over to the school. Stripping down to our boxers, we lie on the sun-drenched roof, hoping to toast our bodies to a golden brown. We lay there reminiscing about our adventures from last year. We continued to try to figure out exactly how Mrs. Heckter had found out about our explorations in the Starky House.
“We were caught, all because of Heckter,” Andy exclaimed. “That bitch has her nose in everyone’s business.”
“It happened once; we need to be more careful next time,” Billy inserted, rolling from his back to his stomach.
Lying there, I thought to myself it was time to share my excitement.
“I have something to tell you guys,” I said nervously.
“What is it?” Andy asked.
“Remember when we were in the Starkey House last year?”
“Oh yeah! Are you ever going to tell us what you took?” Andy asked.
“Remember those red curtains in that living room?”
“Ya, what about them?”
“I took one of the small panels of the velvety curtain and used my Mom’s needle and thread and made it into a cape!”
Both of the boys sat up, they were intrigued by my announcement.
Andy anxiously asked, “Where is it?”
“I have it stuck away in my dresser,” I said.
“I’m telling Mom,” Richard said.
“You need to keep your damn mouth shut,” Billy injected.
“Go get the cape!” Andy anxiously exclaimed.
I made my way down the long fire escape ladder. I headed back to the house; digging through my dresser, I found my prize possession. I ran as fast as I could and returned to the roof where the others waited. The excitement filled the air as I unfolded the velvet red cape.
“Do you think it works?” Billy asked.
“Ya, does it work,” Andy echoed.
I held the prize up for all to see. The garment was gently flowing in the breeze. We looked at the red cape with amazement; it was beckoning each of us to try it on. We each took our turn, running about the rooftop. We each envisioned a strong gust of wind picking us up and carrying us away. As I ran my way around the roof’s edge, Andy shouted.
“Jump…jump and let’s see if it really works.”
“No way,” I said, I’m not jumping off this roof.
“Let’s get Richard to do it,” Billy said.
“Ya, he’s small and light enough, he can do it,” Andy exclaimed.
I explained to Richard that the red cape had magical powers. He would be able to fly anywhere and get anything he wanted. He would become famous. After one half hour of the three of us trying to talk him into testing the powers, he conceded. We tied the strings of the long red cape around his neck. He climbed on the roof’s edge at the back of the school. He looked marvelous standing there, the wind causing the cape to wave behind him.
“No, I don’t want to do it,” he announced
While he was standing on the edge of that roof, I placed my hands on his back. I knew if I set him in motion, the powers of that cape would carry him for miles. I gave him the push. Just as I drew my hands back, Andy yelled!
“It’s Mrs. Heckter.”
We dropped, laying flat on the roof, as not to let her see us. Peeking over the roof’s ledge, we could see she was making her daily postal deliveries. We thought for sure she had seen us. With her out of sight, we jumped to the ledge.
We stood in amazement. Richard fell straight to the ground. The wind did not catch his small frame, as we had hoped. He made an awkward landing in the playground behind the school. The three of us stood at the roof’s edge, gazing down at Richard lying on the ground below us. We were in absolute shock. We made our way down the ladder to check on Richard, who lay on the playground crying. His flight yielded a sprained arm and a cut on his right knee.
“Mrs. Heckter,” we heard Andy say.
We all turned around and there in the shadow of the schoolhouse stood Mrs. Heckter. With her hands planted firmly on her hips she asked:
“And just what are you boys up to?”
The End