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| ISBN-13: | 9781475943214 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | iUniverse, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 08/30/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 242 |
| File size: | 454 KB |
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SEEKERS
DREAMS ARE MADE TO HAPPENBy Richard Paul Donahue
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Richard Paul DonahueAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-4320-7
Chapter One
Johnny Flannigan lived with his mother and two older sisters in a one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Indianapolis. The girls slept on a foldout couch in the living room. Johnny, who was six years old, shared a double bed with his Mom, Elizabeth. His dad was in the veteran's hospital at the time faking tuberculosis. Johnny's big brother Levi and his wife Ellen lived in the apartment across the hall. Every time a battle erupted between them, Ellen would run over and hide; she knew the door was never locked.Elizabeth always told her friends, "Why lock the door? one night some thieves broke in and stole our furniture. Two hours later they drove by and threw it back in the yard." She had a good sense of humor, but this Sunday morning was no laughing matter. Elizabeth was sitting straight up in the bed yelling, "Don't do it Levi! Don't do it!"
Ellen had wedged herself in between the worn-out headboard and the paint-chipped wall. She was pleading with tears in her eyes, "Don't hurt me Levi, please!"
Johnny wasn't fully awake yet but he knew something was about to happen and it wasn't going to be pleasant. He peeked through one eye and saw Levi standing at the foot of the bed wielding a butcher knife. Levi, who was obviously inebriated, slurred his words in a menacing tone, "You've lived long enough, Ellen. You've lived long enough."
At Johnny's age he had a tendency to take everything literally and he couldn't help thinking as he stared back at her ... She doesn't look that old.
This was the first redneck reality show without the cameras, they had a built in audience out in the street waiting for the climax.
Levi lurched to the side of the bed waving the knife in the air toward Ellen, and then he staggered backward on his heels. He was losing his balance, with both arms swinging in the air like an orchestra conductor. He crashed into a chair from the Goodwill store that was piled high with a wash load of un-ironed clothes. That's when everybody made their move—everyone but Johnny.
Johnny's mom jumped out of bed away from Levi. Ellen broke out in the same direction, along with Johnny's two sisters who were peeking in the bedroom from the hallway. All the women galloped out the front door yelling. "Come on, Johnny! Get your ass outta here!"
For some unknown reason, Levi made no move to run after them. All at once it was just Johnny and Levi, staring each other down. Although Levi loved his little brother and Johnny knew that bond would never be broken between them, every hair on his body stood out, like he was holding onto the wrong end of jumper cables from a car battery. He watched Levi steady himself with the footboard and work his way around the bed. His stare held Johnny motionless; and just as Johnny began to visualize the Saturday matinee newsreels, WILD MAN BREAKS BOND WITH YOUNGER BROTHER, Levi collapsed down on the bed next to him, completely exhausted. The knife fell from his hand. It bounced across the floor toward a large cockroach that ducked and ran for cover. Levi rolled his eyes and looked at his brother. "Johnny, you're the only one I trust. Nobody else understands me."
For a moment Johnny was proud to be considered an adult at six years old, but he wasn't sure how he had achieved that status. That's when Levi slipped his arm under the back of Johnny's neck like a pillow. Levi began to talk about everything from the war to putting Ellen in the grave.
Johnny divided his attention between Levi and the commotion down in the street. Through an open window he could hear his mom yelling, "Johnny get out of there. Come down here now!"
Johnny wasn't about to get up. Mercifully, he noticed that Levi's voice was becoming faint as he began to doze off. Johnny lay there quite as a mouse. The clock ticked on and on. Eternity came and went twice. His heart was pounding but he finally got the nerve to ever so delicately lift his head up. He looked like a mime without the makeup, slowly inching his way to the edge of the bed. Every tiny squeak sounded like a fire alarm in his ears. He slipped on his shirt and raggedy jeans with the six-inch split in the right leg from constantly getting caught in the bicycle chain. Quietly he worked himself down the hall to the front door. He took the stairs two at a time down to the street where his mom stood crying with the girls.
The cop cars pulled up with sirens blasting. They appraised the situation for a moment and walked upstairs with Billy clubs in hand. A few minutes later, two policemen drug Levi down to the sidewalk in handcuffs. The neighbors, who were mostly migrants from Kentucky stood gawking from porches, dressed up in their hillbilly Sunday clothes ready for church. The younger cop shoved Levi into the back seat and slammed the door. Levi began kicking the side window. The older cop turned and said, "We'll take him downtown and he can cool off in the hoosegow overnight ... unless somebody wants to press charges?"
Ellen shook her head no, and said, "but will he be safe down there?"
"He'll be okay," the cop said. "It's everybody else I'm worried about."
They took Levi off to jail with flashing red lights. Johnny looked at his mom and the girls half-dressed, and he could hear what the neighbors were thinking. We might not have much ... but we're better than you!
But from somewhere deep inside of Johnny, a little voice said, be brave. It won't always be like this, be brave.
Everyone in the family knew Levi was still having a tough time re-adjusting to a normal life after facing life-and-death situations in world war two.
Levi served in the south pacific. He was a seventeen-year-old kid doing a man's job. Much of the time he was serving on submarine duty. Levi was part of an underwater demolition team. Before the big battle, the sub would approach the island at which point Levi and a few other young men would slip over the side on a raft late at night. They were armed only with knives and handguns. They carried C2 explosive and primer cord to blow up the underwater defenses planted by the enemy, to keep the US ships from getting close enough to shore to unload the troops on the beach. After planting and detonating explosives under water, Levi and the other crewmen waited on the shore to be picked up once the troops arrived. More than once they were discovered and forced into hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese. After a skirmish, he and the other men would sit on the heads of the dead enemy soldiers and steal their rations.
When Levi was allowed R & R, he did what most sailors did who figured they would never get back to the states alive. He took on every tattoo parlor in the south pacific. Dancing hula girls on his biceps, the US Navy insignia on the left forearm and island birds, etched in pastel colors on the upper left and right side of his muscular chest.
By the time Levi came home from the war, Johnny was four years old. They took to each other instantly. When Levi came to the house, he hardly ever wore a shirt. Often times, he would sit Johnny on the couch next to him and imitate sounds like a drummer tapping on a hi-hat cymbal. As he flexed his muscles to the rhythm, the birds would fly and the girls would dance.
Johnny enjoyed his brother's antics. Sometimes out of nowhere Levi would put his little brother in a friendly headlock, give him a noogy, and say, "Hey, little brother, you wanna drive a car?" And before Johnny had a chance to answer, they were out the door to Levi's '38 Ford waiting at the curb. He would sit Johnny on his lap in the driver's seat, and they'd speed up the street with the windows down and a summer breeze for the air conditioning. Johnny drove with both hands on top of the wheel, turning corners smooth as silk as Levi guided from below. Levi let Johnny lay on the horn when they flew by his little friends, who sat motionless on their tricycles, watching him in envy.
To Johnny, Levi was the personification of macho. When Johnny was ten years old, a song came on the radio about a biker with tattoos, Johnny was sure the song had been written about his big brother, and he wasted no time telling his friends this revelation. The laughter was deafening, and Johnny took total offense at it. He got a knuckle sandwich on every corner in the neighborhood until he realized, the gift of "Bad Ass" was handed out only one per family.
Not long after Levi was born his mom and dad, Elizabeth and Daniel, got a divorce. But they couldn't seem to leave one another alone. Well, actually, Daniel just refused to leave. What happened was that once the divorce was final, Elizabeth left the courthouse and Daniel walked down the street behind her. She said she tried to lose him by jaywalking, but she couldn't shake him. When they got back to the house Daniel lay down on the couch, went to sleep and never left. Daniel somehow convinced her that the divorce was a waist of money. So, when they got pregnant with Johnny late in life, Elizabeth decided they should make it legal again.
January 26, 1942: 2:30 a.m.
The heavy iron knocker slammed five times against the old wooden door. The Justice of the Peace, Mr. Fahey, pulled himself out of bed and slipped into his robe. Hopping on one foot in the dark, he couldn't get his left slipper to cooperate and he slammed into the corner of the dresser, "damn it!" he hissed.
In a half-run he flipped on the light in the hallway, the slipper flapped against the side of his foot like a fish on a hook. He worked his way past a desk full of legal papers and folders, tenuously balanced against each other threatening to collapse at any minute. Finally he reached the front door. "Who is it?" he yelled.
The pounding grew louder. Unlocking the door, but leaving the night chain attached for safety he cracked open the door just enough to peek through. There stood Elizabeth and Daniel Flannigan, Johnny's future mom and dad. She was eight months pregnant with Johnny by this time. Daniel was weaving back and forth on rubber legs from consuming large amounts of whiskey. He said something incoherent, but Elizabeth interrupted speaking in a crystal clear voice. "We want to get married!"
The magistrate raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "You are joking aren't you? This man is drunk!"
Elizabeth showed no concern, "Aw, don't worry about it. He's always that way."
He married them to get rid of them. The so-called ceremony went quickly. The magistrate rousted his wife out of bed to witness the event. She stood there with no emotion, dressed in her housecoat with the nightgown hanging out the bottom. She fought to stay awake as a curler dislodged and fell out of her hair to the floor.
Elizabeth stared at the lifeless curl and thought, Another failed Toni Home Permanent.
After the I-do's, the magistrate led them back to his desk. Elizabeth signed the marriage license and gave the pen to Daniel, who was fading fast. He slumped down into the chair and bumped his leg against an open drawer. The papers and folders from the top collapsed onto his lap and down to the floor. By the time they searched through the papers and found the license, Daniel was passed out. His body was arched back over the chair, and he began to snore with his mouth wide open.
Bringing Daniel back to life was unbearable for Mr. Fahey. He yelled in desperation. "Wake up man! sign the paper and get out!" Elizabeth and the justice took turns on Daniel, shaking, pulling, and yelling. Finally Daniel opened his eyes, mumbled something about a luau and threw up in the wastebasket.
At this point the magistrate lost it. "Get out of my house, you idiot! Elizabeth led Daniel out the door into the night and the magistrate called after her. "Hey lady! that'll be two bucks!"
Elizabeth, in her most sophisticated voice, with chin up and belly out, replied. "BILL ME!"
Right before Johnny was born the family was evicted from their apartment. Daniel, always being ahead of the game, found an abandoned house down the street a block away. He wasn't about to spend money on a truck, so the family just picked the furniture up over their heads and walked down the street with it to the new shack. Daniel made the sisters carry the heavy things, while he walked along and criticized their performance. Elizabeth carried Johnny in her stomach and a hot plate in her arms for cooking. One month later Johnny was born at home. Two weeks after that, they had no money, Daniel had no interest, and Johnny was still nameless.
Elizabeth heard a car door slam. She hurried over and peeked through the dirty window, pulling aside the threadbare curtain. She turned to Daniel. "Oh no, here comes your sister Hazel with her new husband! Lets don't answer the door. I don't want them to see this place!" Daniel had another idea. "Don't be stupid, let 'em in. I think he's got money. He's a professional gambler."
Elizabeth, realizing her mistake, fluffed up her hair with her fingers and began practicing her sophisticated look.
Daniel, always wanting to be helpful, pointed out the runner in her nylon when she walked to the door. Just as she reached for the doorknob, which came off in her hand, she turned her ankle, breaking the heel off her shoe. She quickly kicked both shoes off and into the corner.
Daniel slipped on his suit coat. He always wore a suit, the same one every day. He was constantly ironing his coat and trousers making them so shiny that when he walked by a window, the sun reflected off his pants like a strobe light.
Aunt Hazel was attractive for a woman of fifty. She had beautiful black hair, wrapped in a beehive with a decorative gold pin in the back holding it together. Her appearance was always perfect, with bright red lipstick and long dark eyelashes, and she always wore lots of expensive perfume. Hazel ran with the fast crowd; she loved to have fun. Most women were jealous of her because she made a grand entrance wherever she went. She couldn't help it. She was a Leo. She made no bones about her dislike for her brother, Daniel.
"I don't care if he is family," she would say. "Keep your hand on your wallet when he's in the room."
She delighted in pointing out another moral failing, "worst of all, he can't hold his liquor."
Making her entrance, Hazel pushed open the door. "Where's that new baby! I want to see my little nephew." She could hardly contain her excitement.
Her new husband John did a forward roll through the front door right behind her. Elizabeth and Daniel showed only mild surprise at this gymnastic feat. They remembered he had grown up in a family of acrobats, traveling around the world in a circus.
Over the years, he had become a professional gambler, a dealer. He'd set up a game in the back room of some tavern or someone's house for three or four days at a time. His partner would pay off the cops and everybody made a lot of money. John was a likeable little elf-like guy, always telling jokes and doing magic tricks. He could make a quarter flip from heads to tails by laying it on the back of his wrist, and rotating his hand in such a way that a muscle in his forearm would snap and the coin would pop up and turn over. This move was unique to his arm only. Years later he showed little Johnny the trick, who spent months trying to perfect it. That was impossible of course and in the process Johnny almost ruined his arm for life.
John was nimble on his feet. Only a practiced eye could see that he and Hazel were halfway into a weeklong drunk. Hazel spotted the baby bunched up in a blanket on an old throw rug on the floor. She lifted the kid up and hugged him tight. "What did you name this baby?" she asked.
"We haven't named it yet," Daniel said. To him the kid was just something he had to step over to get to the kitchen. Actually he and Elizabeth had forgotten to name the boy.
"You gotta name him," Hazel said, "He's two weeks old!" still holding the baby, she thought for a moment and then broke into a broad smile. "I've got an idea, name him after John!" John gave Hazel an admiring look. "Yeah, name him after me and I'll buy him a bassinet," he said proudly.
Daniel, who was staring aimlessly out the window at this point, did a double take giving his self a temporary whiplash when he turned to accept the offer. He loved anything that was free.
Then he heard Elizabeth, whispering out the corner of her mouth. "Don't you dare! Johnny's the name they use in all those dirty jokes."
Hazel, sensing resistance, said, "We'll throw in a buggy too."
Mom and Dad locked eyes, both realizing a major opportunity. "A buggy and a bassinet.?"
Hazel looked at John. "Hell yes," John said, "Little Johnny deserves the best!" With that, he whipped out a pint of whiskey from his hip pocket. He tossed back a shot and handed the bottle to Daniel.
Aunt Hazel was all smiles. "Little Johnny Flannigan," she kept repeating, while holding her face next to the baby. She continued walking around, sizing up the house.
"Little Johnny Flannigan, you're gonna be somebody. I can feel it." Then she walked by Elizabeth and whispered. "You gotta get out of this dump!"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from SEEKERS by Richard Paul Donahue Copyright © 2012 by Richard Paul Donahue. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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