Scenes from my past - Part Thirteen

This the corner of West St and Main in the little city where I grew up. I want to say that monument was still in the middle of the road then, but I may be making that up. I'm sure the Greek pizza place was in that modern building on the right. The building on the left was the City Hall. The police department was in the basement.

I was in that PD twice. The first time was when I was about 11 years old. My friend and I found a handbag left in a payphone booth just up the street. The wallet had $80 in it. That was a lot of money then. We turned it into the police. The woman who lost it was very grateful. She didn't give us a reward. We were okay with that.

The second time was when I was 13 and hanging with Vicky Lawrence. The girl who taught me to smoke. We were hanging with her friends, a gang of ruffians. She had a crush on one of them.

We were walking through the big cemetery and a couple of the guys got rowdy and knocked down a gravestone. I was aghast. I told her her I was going home. She walked with me.

All the ruffians scattered in another direction. They got away. We got taken to the station by the cops. We were questioned. I had to call my mother to come take me home. That's the only time I remember my Dad being really pissed at me. I didn't hang around with Vicky after that. [photo via]



[Photos are better if you click on them to embiggen.]