The Boys Recall the Candy Store<\/p>\n
The booth at the far right corner of the diner was reserved for the 80+boys. For the last three years they sat there for lunch spending most of the time reflecting on their kelly green years.<\/p>\n
Events took place in this candy store that would have had Bob Hope applying for welfare, and Cecil B. DeMille\u2019s spectaculars, unspectacular.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went back there last year. You wouldn\u2019t believe what happened to our neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever was done had to be better than what we had.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a completely different scene. It appears as if Hollywood planted a giant sterile set to replace the cracked sidewalks, tenements and potholes of our ghetto.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe it. The area wasn\u2019t cardboard. There were asphalt streets and tenements leaning against concrete sidewalks. How were they replaced?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you moved your ass and went there you would see what happened to our neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hearing aids don\u2019t pick up the sounds of cars and horns from the road, so my wife doesn’t let me drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, put her behind the wheel and go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has no interest in where we grew up. She came from a fancy neighborhood with private homes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI lived in a private house in our neighborhood and I\u2019m not fancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, a private house. It was the only private house in the neighborhood. It should have been condemned as soon as it was built. It wouldn\u2019t surprise me if instead of a pull-chain toilet, you had an outhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK guys, forget about private houses and toilets. Were you able to locate the place on the hill where Refugee Jack had his candy store?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t believe it. There is no hill. It\u2019s as flat as Flat Anne.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFlat Anne. She should have worn blouses. Her chest was as flat as my handkerchief.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Fat Anne? What became of her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe married The Nose. I think he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRefugee Jack; his eyes lit up like flashbulbs when a young female came into his store.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t blame him. Did you ever see his wife?\u201d<\/p>\n
“Don’t you remember the song we sung?”<\/p>\n
Refugee Jack’s a sex maniac \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0There’s no such thing \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0As a piece of dreck \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0To Jack, Jack the sex maniac.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Sol Pearl\u2019s father bought the store. That was laughs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sol Pearl baptized Pearl with Strictly because “strictly” flowed from her lips like the water flows out of a hydrant. She hated the name Strictly.<\/p>\n
She came into the store one day and Sol asked, \u201cWhat\u2019ll you have Strictly?\u201d Her mother was about to pay for a newspaper. Upon hearing this she said,<\/p>\n
\u201cSure she\u2019s strictly; she\u2019s strictly kosher.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStrictly kosher my ass,\u201d replied Sol. \u201cShe\u2019s strictly bullshit.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Were you there the day that Jake the Snake and Willie the Weasel came in with a “cashmere” overcoat?”<\/p>\n
“What was that all about?”<\/p>\n
“They put up the coat as wager that Jake could throw an orange further than anyone in the store. Then Monty came down with his brother’s two suits to up the ante.”<\/p>\n
“What was the bet against those coats and suits?”<\/p>\n
“They bet the coats and suits against fifteen dollars. We could only raise twelve, so Sol removed three bills from the cash register.<\/p>\n
“Only in our candy store would this take place.”<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, this diner is our candy store. No laughs. Most of the boys are gone, just pills and memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
The complete story can be read in:\u00a0Seabury Place, A Bronx Memoir\u00a0<\/em>by Daniel Wolfe<\/p>\n danielwolfebooks@aol.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Boys Recall the Candy Store The booth at the far right corner of the diner was reserved for the 80+boys. For the last three years they sat there for lunch spending most of the time reflecting on their kelly green years. Events took place in this candy store that would have had Bob Hope… Continue reading The Boys Recall the Candy Store<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielwolfebooks.com\/danielsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielwolfebooks.com\/danielsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielwolfebooks.com\/danielsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielwolfebooks.com\/danielsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielwolfebooks.com\/danielsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3549"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielwolfebooks.com\/danielsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3746,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielwolfebooks.com\/danielsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3549\/revisions\/3746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danielwolfebooks.com\/danielsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielwolfebooks.com\/danielsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danielwolfebooks.com\/danielsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}