THE STAR CLUB
Some other older kids that fasci- nated me were my brother, Marvin’s buddies. My dad bought Marvin a bicycle for his thirteenth birthday. Marvin then started a bicycle club called The Star Club. The members wore Navy blue sweaters that had a white star on the front. When they got together I would sit hidden and quiet just to listen to them. I especially liked one of them, a boy named Elmer Babitsky, who had deep dimples. I got into trouble once because of a boy named Richard who I liked but who was ignoring me. To get back at him I drew an explicit, anatomically correct picture of him on the street. His mother told my mother and I was very embarrassed. It was a stupid thing to do. My mother simply told Rich- ard’s mother that I was just a child and that she should take that into account. In the back of our house was a little pantry where my mother kept two barrels – one filled with red cherries fermenting into a liquor, and another filled with red wine with tiny berries in it. Whenever I was going out to play I thought nothing of dipping a glass into the wine barrel and drink- ing the wine or eating the tiny berries. No one ever told me not to and no one ever caught me doing it. I would take a drink just about every time I left the house. I don’t think anyone was aware of it. I sometimes wonder if that wine was making me drunk. Maybe it was keeping me healthy. Who knows? I was such a poor eater that my mother would give me a dime once in awhile during the evening and tell me to go buy a banana split to fatten me up. She always told me not to tell my brothers or sister about it. A LITTLE SUPPLEMENT
Marty Simon 2012 The funniest man I have ever known.
Fairmount Park was a very large city park not far from us. We would go there for family picnics or just to walk in the park. Inside the park was the Woodside Amuse- ment Park that had roller coasters and all sorts of rides. My favor- ite was called The Pretzel that had things like pirates that would jump out and scare you. One of my child- hood dreams was to grow up fast so I would have my own money and could go on those rides as often as I liked. Most of the rides were a dime except for the boats that you drove yourself, they were twenty cents, a special treat.
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