This is How It Started

It was really easy to do, really it was.

Back in the ‘olden days’ things were a little looser than they are now. In fact, I would say they were a LOT looser. You couldn’t get away with those kinds of things now. The police will now have you in jail, or if you are a kid, you’d be taken away from your home and be slapped into foster care faster than you can blink an eye.

Back then was a different time. My mother would come home early in the morning (code word, partying all night long) and be sick until two the next afternoon (code word, hung-over). About two thirty, she would sort of wake up and give me a dollar to go down to the corner store and get her some cigarettes. I started doing this when I was about seven or eight, old enough to walk down to the store by myself.

The clerk knew my mother from high school. All I had to say was, “Can I get a pack of Virginia Slims for my mom?” and she would give them to me, just like that. Then I’d walk back down to my house and give her the cigarettes. She’d take a couple of drags and it would be enough to wake her up. She’d still be groggy, but it helped with the disposition. She wouldn’t be so likely to snap at me or hit me with a broom.

When I was about eleven, I had the brightest of bright ideas. I decided that I would see if I could get a six pack of beer out of the lady at the corner store. We didn’t have very much money, but I made a little by returning cans and bottles. Every now and then I would find a quarter on the ground and would scoop it up so fast. Sometimes my teacher, Mrs. Glass, would give me a dime for doing errands for her. I hid all of it in an old tin and hid the tin in a heating vent in my room. It wasn’t long before I saved up six dollars.

It was a really nice spring day when I took my six dollars and a bottle opener and went down to the corner store. My mother was at work at the bar. I walked into the store and asked for a pack of cigarettes, just like usual. The clerk seemed busy stocking cigarettes, so I thought the time was ready to slip in my extra purchase. So I casually added, “Can I get a six-pack? My mother said to bring it right back.” I held my breath. I thought maybe the clerk would be onto me and she would say no.

Lydia (I think her name was Lydia) turned away and put a six-pack of Schmidt beer on the counter. It was my mother’s favorite, and she and I both knew it. Then she totaled my purchases, put everything in a bag and said, “Five forty-nine,” and took my dollars, and gave me fifty-one cents in change.

I almost couldn’t believe it. Well, I could, sort of. After all, I’d been going there for years buying cigarettes. I thought I was so cool!

I took my brown bag and headed off to the river. Like I said, it was a really nice spring day. There were caves by the river, where we would go to play and hang out. My favorite cave was a really small one, where only two kids could fit. It was above most of the bigger ones that were closer to the shore.

The caves often made noises when the wind blew through them. Legend had it that the Indians thought there were spirits in the caves. The bigger ones would emit a very low moaning and it was very creepy. I guess bootleggers used the caves back in the day to store their whisky, or at least that’s what my granny said. The noise was fearsome and people would stay away. My little cave made a sound more like a lady sighing. I used to call it the Whispering Cave. Most people couldn’t even climb to it. You had to be really spry and small just to climb to it.

The big caves often had rats and other critters in them. I didn’t like hanging out in the big caves much. Besides, the bigger kids who were teenagers would hang out in them and party. It wasn’t a good mix. I liked my little cave much better. Besides, no one else could climb up. Either they were too fat or too lazy to try it.

I climbed up and sat down. The sun was just starting to go down a bit, so it was shining brightly right into my cave. I popped the top of my first beer and drank it. About half way down, I lit one of the cigarettes and took a couple of draws. I didn’t like the cigarette as much as I liked the beer.

I can’t remember, but I think I stayed there all night.

And that’s how it all started.