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- Story Listed as: True Life For Adults
- Theme: Family & Friends
- Subject: Adventure
- Published: 11/02/2020
It was going to be a hot day, only 8 am and already Rickey was sweating. Now Rickey is a 5-year-old copper-colored haired boy. He had on thick glasses as he was born with what doctors called congenital cataracts. That means the lens of his eye from birth was discolored and had to be removed.
He was dressed in a blue pullover shirt and a pair of light tan britches. Right at that moment he was trying to tie his shoes as his brother Donny kept saying, hurry up, hurry up we don’t have all day. Dad is going to get mad if we don’t get downstairs.
Rickey and Donny were two brothers and normally pretty close with each other. See, Donny had some hearing loss due to being born with holes in his eardrums. So Donny was Rickie's eyes and Rickey was Donnie's ears.
Yep, Rickey said, I hear him already saying, those boys better get down here and I better not have to go get them. So Donny said, oh for Pete’s sake, let me do it. He bent down and tied the shoes.
They lived in an old two-story brick house on 12th street in St Louis, Mo. There was Dad, Mom, Rickey the youngest, Donny about three years older, and Chris, about two years older than Donny. Also, there was uncle Leo, who Rickey thought of as an older brother and in his eyes, he was a giant, he was so tall. In fact, when he started school later that year, he would brag to his fellow school mates, he had a giant for a brother.
This day Chris was off doing whatever older boys do, Leo was trying to get some sleep, no doubt dreaming about a pretty girl, Peggy, he had his heart set on. So this day's adventure would just be the two young brothers and Mom and Dad.
It was Saturday, the second-best day of the week. Dad didn’t have to work and thus they got to go places. Dad never liked sitting around the house when there were places to go and things to see.
Dad and Mom both also had bad eyes and thus they walked to most places, it was too expensive to take the old red city buses. Uncle Leo would drive them many places and on the best day of the week, Sunday, he would be joining them.
Sunday was the day they looked forward to. They would get up and dress in their best clothes. Have a quick breakfast, load into the car, and head for church. Sometimes Rickey would tease and say things, like, Leo is in a hurry he wants to see his P EG G Y and then make those annoying kissing sounds. That would get Leo’s long arm reaching over the seat to thump him.
They were all going to get to go to Sunday School, they would be singing and sitting with their friends, trying to out do them. Rickey's uncle Harvey was the Pastor and sometimes Rickey even listened and remembered the sermon.
Like the time he preached on how David used a slingshot to kill a giant. Or the one about Jonah not obeying God and getting swallowed by a whale. Yet, even as Rickey grows old and many things slip away, he remembers the sermon on wearing God's armor.
Now, at church near the back row, his cousin, JoAnn, would sit, and sometimes Rickey would sit by her. Cousin Peggy would sit with Leo about halfway back. Mom and Dad sit about four rows back and at some point when Rickey would get too noisy sitting by his friend Gary, Mom would grab Rickey by the ear and make him finish the service by her and Dad.
Donny would be sitting by Wayne, then Gary then Ricky, till he got noisy, and often cousin Steve would be next. All of them singing as loud as they could. Brother King had his second seat spot in his overalls, his wife was totally blind and the best cook Rickey had ever eaten food by. No one ever could make cabbage-like hers, or amazing chicken and dumplings.
Sister Zok had her seat too and the Elermans, then there was the Hunters and Sister Hunt, there were the Macmahans, and the Carmen’s, she was way taller than her husband and they would often sing. Rickey fell in love with the singing, we are going down the valley one by one. Plus he kept his good eye on the prettiest little blonde hair girl at church, Naomi Carman. There were others too. Like uncle Russel and Aunt Ardlene, Cousin Jerry Jackson, and his wife Paula and their kids. Aunt Mullen with Doug and Ann and Jaun, and you always hoped they would come to your house after church.
So Sunday was the best and after church, you got to go to somebody’s house or they came to yours. Now Rickey was a roaming lad and often went home with one of those families by himself. That meant he got all the attention and spoiled a bit. He loved going and playing all afternoon with Naomi and her brothers. Or to the Kings where they would play old 78 records and sing, or to the Macmahans where a hamburger was likely and he could play in the older boys room with his guitar.
However, this was Saturday, and what a good one. Today they were going to the big outside and inside farmers market called Soulard Farmers Market. There would be a long walk, and most likely Dad would stop at the little confectionery on the way and buy each boy his very own 3V soda and a bag of salted peanuts.
That gave everyone time to sit on the store's step and rest and cool off. Then when they reached the market, wow, all the lines of booths with fresh vegetables. People selling fresh from the farm eggs, and oh the homemade cakes and pies and cookies. There were booths that sold fresh butcher meats like rabbits and chickens and beef and pork. There were the stinky fresh fish booths too.
Vendors selling fresh-popped corn, hot dogs, hot tamales, roasted Pecans, cotton candy, fresh-made pork rinds, and many other snacks to eat while you shopped. Donny would take Rickey by the hand and dad would give them a quarter each to spend. They would head up one isle then the next, eating a grape here, sampling a tomato there, a slice of apple and maybe a slice of an orange, and best was samples of watermelon.
Today was no different, Rickey was tired and full and had yet to spend his quarter. He told Donny to find Uncle Georges booth. Now he was not really an uncle but a close friend of Dads and sometimes Dad would let Rickey stay with George and his wife and go home and spend the night with them.
George was Blind and played the guitar, even made guitars, he carved wooden shoes and wooden toys to sell at Soulard's. His wife was a great cook too, so to stay with them meant getting to sit on the seller's side and helping to sell the goods. At five years old, a cute red-headed boy, yelling, step right up and get your hand-carved Dutch shoes, how about some ribbons, and such like was fun and never failed to bring in buyers.
This day was not one of those days, it was just a day of laughing and Listening to George tell a tale. Even when Rickey was old and George passed through God's golden doors, George’s stories rest in the mind. It is likely he told one the day of his passing and had to finish it, telling it to Peter.
The thing Dad was really good at and Donny and Rickey learned well, was how to negotiate the price. A life lesson that never was forgotten, dicker on the price of everything. What fun it would be too. Dad saying those peach’s look a bit overripe, I will give xxx but not oooo. How much will you knock off the cost of these tomatoes if I buy a half bushel, then a bit more dickering, and how much for a bushel?
Paper bags would fill up and mom was as picky over the green beans and the potatoes as dad was in his dickering on prices. When everyone had all they could carry, the walk home.
This is where this story was headed, the walk home. Now Rickey had his bag to carry, Donny had his bag, Mom, though pregnant with a boy she would name Mark, had two big bags. Dad had two big bags, so no empty hands. going home, no running, no playing to see who could do a surprise bump and knock you into the bushes.
It was a time instead of where your arms got tired, legs became tired, sweat going in eyes and wet shirts. On this day as they neared the corner of the same confectionery that had the big 3V painted on the wall, it happened.
Dad had negotiated for a bushel of tomatoes, but this time to get the best price they wouldn’t give him the basket. So, Rickey and Donny, had big paper bags loaded with bright red soft tomatoes.
Now I would venture to guess, Rickey was tired and that bag was heavy and he squeezed it close to his chest. He was sweating so much, and everyone so concentrating on just wanting to get home, no one noticed.
That is no one noticed till it was too late. The whole bottom of Rickey's bag fell out just as he reached the curb outside that shop. Never a sight like that have you seen, bright red tomatoes rolling down the street, on the walk. To make it worse the smashing tomatoes and Rickey fell.
He fell into Donny first then hit the ground right on top of what was left in the bag. Donny's bag came open adding more tomatoes to decorate the street. Mom sits her bags down, screaming at Dad, he is dying, my Lord, my baby is dying!
See, those smashed tomatoes looked like he was bleeding, and mom not seeing good went into hysterics. Poor Dad was more worried about losing his amazing bargain and was yelling at Donny to get up and grab those tomatoes.
Cars stopped and some helped calm Mom and show her Rickey was ok. Someone helped gather tomatoes and Donny had to run into the store to beg bags. What a sight it was and what a memory.
They did make it home but a whole bag of tomatoes did not make it. After that Dad bought a rolling basket, and later after Mom had that baby, Mark, they bought a wagon.
Until April of 1968, on a warm summer Saturday, you could be sure you would likely see Dad and Mom and baby Mark, Rickey, and Donny walking across the city to enjoy the delightful day and events at Soulard's. In fact, don’t be surprised if on a warm summer day you see two old men, Rickey and Donny, still walking the isles and dickering over the price of tomatoes.
A Saturday Adventure(Rich Puckett)
It was going to be a hot day, only 8 am and already Rickey was sweating. Now Rickey is a 5-year-old copper-colored haired boy. He had on thick glasses as he was born with what doctors called congenital cataracts. That means the lens of his eye from birth was discolored and had to be removed.
He was dressed in a blue pullover shirt and a pair of light tan britches. Right at that moment he was trying to tie his shoes as his brother Donny kept saying, hurry up, hurry up we don’t have all day. Dad is going to get mad if we don’t get downstairs.
Rickey and Donny were two brothers and normally pretty close with each other. See, Donny had some hearing loss due to being born with holes in his eardrums. So Donny was Rickie's eyes and Rickey was Donnie's ears.
Yep, Rickey said, I hear him already saying, those boys better get down here and I better not have to go get them. So Donny said, oh for Pete’s sake, let me do it. He bent down and tied the shoes.
They lived in an old two-story brick house on 12th street in St Louis, Mo. There was Dad, Mom, Rickey the youngest, Donny about three years older, and Chris, about two years older than Donny. Also, there was uncle Leo, who Rickey thought of as an older brother and in his eyes, he was a giant, he was so tall. In fact, when he started school later that year, he would brag to his fellow school mates, he had a giant for a brother.
This day Chris was off doing whatever older boys do, Leo was trying to get some sleep, no doubt dreaming about a pretty girl, Peggy, he had his heart set on. So this day's adventure would just be the two young brothers and Mom and Dad.
It was Saturday, the second-best day of the week. Dad didn’t have to work and thus they got to go places. Dad never liked sitting around the house when there were places to go and things to see.
Dad and Mom both also had bad eyes and thus they walked to most places, it was too expensive to take the old red city buses. Uncle Leo would drive them many places and on the best day of the week, Sunday, he would be joining them.
Sunday was the day they looked forward to. They would get up and dress in their best clothes. Have a quick breakfast, load into the car, and head for church. Sometimes Rickey would tease and say things, like, Leo is in a hurry he wants to see his P EG G Y and then make those annoying kissing sounds. That would get Leo’s long arm reaching over the seat to thump him.
They were all going to get to go to Sunday School, they would be singing and sitting with their friends, trying to out do them. Rickey's uncle Harvey was the Pastor and sometimes Rickey even listened and remembered the sermon.
Like the time he preached on how David used a slingshot to kill a giant. Or the one about Jonah not obeying God and getting swallowed by a whale. Yet, even as Rickey grows old and many things slip away, he remembers the sermon on wearing God's armor.
Now, at church near the back row, his cousin, JoAnn, would sit, and sometimes Rickey would sit by her. Cousin Peggy would sit with Leo about halfway back. Mom and Dad sit about four rows back and at some point when Rickey would get too noisy sitting by his friend Gary, Mom would grab Rickey by the ear and make him finish the service by her and Dad.
Donny would be sitting by Wayne, then Gary then Ricky, till he got noisy, and often cousin Steve would be next. All of them singing as loud as they could. Brother King had his second seat spot in his overalls, his wife was totally blind and the best cook Rickey had ever eaten food by. No one ever could make cabbage-like hers, or amazing chicken and dumplings.
Sister Zok had her seat too and the Elermans, then there was the Hunters and Sister Hunt, there were the Macmahans, and the Carmen’s, she was way taller than her husband and they would often sing. Rickey fell in love with the singing, we are going down the valley one by one. Plus he kept his good eye on the prettiest little blonde hair girl at church, Naomi Carman. There were others too. Like uncle Russel and Aunt Ardlene, Cousin Jerry Jackson, and his wife Paula and their kids. Aunt Mullen with Doug and Ann and Jaun, and you always hoped they would come to your house after church.
So Sunday was the best and after church, you got to go to somebody’s house or they came to yours. Now Rickey was a roaming lad and often went home with one of those families by himself. That meant he got all the attention and spoiled a bit. He loved going and playing all afternoon with Naomi and her brothers. Or to the Kings where they would play old 78 records and sing, or to the Macmahans where a hamburger was likely and he could play in the older boys room with his guitar.
However, this was Saturday, and what a good one. Today they were going to the big outside and inside farmers market called Soulard Farmers Market. There would be a long walk, and most likely Dad would stop at the little confectionery on the way and buy each boy his very own 3V soda and a bag of salted peanuts.
That gave everyone time to sit on the store's step and rest and cool off. Then when they reached the market, wow, all the lines of booths with fresh vegetables. People selling fresh from the farm eggs, and oh the homemade cakes and pies and cookies. There were booths that sold fresh butcher meats like rabbits and chickens and beef and pork. There were the stinky fresh fish booths too.
Vendors selling fresh-popped corn, hot dogs, hot tamales, roasted Pecans, cotton candy, fresh-made pork rinds, and many other snacks to eat while you shopped. Donny would take Rickey by the hand and dad would give them a quarter each to spend. They would head up one isle then the next, eating a grape here, sampling a tomato there, a slice of apple and maybe a slice of an orange, and best was samples of watermelon.
Today was no different, Rickey was tired and full and had yet to spend his quarter. He told Donny to find Uncle Georges booth. Now he was not really an uncle but a close friend of Dads and sometimes Dad would let Rickey stay with George and his wife and go home and spend the night with them.
George was Blind and played the guitar, even made guitars, he carved wooden shoes and wooden toys to sell at Soulard's. His wife was a great cook too, so to stay with them meant getting to sit on the seller's side and helping to sell the goods. At five years old, a cute red-headed boy, yelling, step right up and get your hand-carved Dutch shoes, how about some ribbons, and such like was fun and never failed to bring in buyers.
This day was not one of those days, it was just a day of laughing and Listening to George tell a tale. Even when Rickey was old and George passed through God's golden doors, George’s stories rest in the mind. It is likely he told one the day of his passing and had to finish it, telling it to Peter.
The thing Dad was really good at and Donny and Rickey learned well, was how to negotiate the price. A life lesson that never was forgotten, dicker on the price of everything. What fun it would be too. Dad saying those peach’s look a bit overripe, I will give xxx but not oooo. How much will you knock off the cost of these tomatoes if I buy a half bushel, then a bit more dickering, and how much for a bushel?
Paper bags would fill up and mom was as picky over the green beans and the potatoes as dad was in his dickering on prices. When everyone had all they could carry, the walk home.
This is where this story was headed, the walk home. Now Rickey had his bag to carry, Donny had his bag, Mom, though pregnant with a boy she would name Mark, had two big bags. Dad had two big bags, so no empty hands. going home, no running, no playing to see who could do a surprise bump and knock you into the bushes.
It was a time instead of where your arms got tired, legs became tired, sweat going in eyes and wet shirts. On this day as they neared the corner of the same confectionery that had the big 3V painted on the wall, it happened.
Dad had negotiated for a bushel of tomatoes, but this time to get the best price they wouldn’t give him the basket. So, Rickey and Donny, had big paper bags loaded with bright red soft tomatoes.
Now I would venture to guess, Rickey was tired and that bag was heavy and he squeezed it close to his chest. He was sweating so much, and everyone so concentrating on just wanting to get home, no one noticed.
That is no one noticed till it was too late. The whole bottom of Rickey's bag fell out just as he reached the curb outside that shop. Never a sight like that have you seen, bright red tomatoes rolling down the street, on the walk. To make it worse the smashing tomatoes and Rickey fell.
He fell into Donny first then hit the ground right on top of what was left in the bag. Donny's bag came open adding more tomatoes to decorate the street. Mom sits her bags down, screaming at Dad, he is dying, my Lord, my baby is dying!
See, those smashed tomatoes looked like he was bleeding, and mom not seeing good went into hysterics. Poor Dad was more worried about losing his amazing bargain and was yelling at Donny to get up and grab those tomatoes.
Cars stopped and some helped calm Mom and show her Rickey was ok. Someone helped gather tomatoes and Donny had to run into the store to beg bags. What a sight it was and what a memory.
They did make it home but a whole bag of tomatoes did not make it. After that Dad bought a rolling basket, and later after Mom had that baby, Mark, they bought a wagon.
Until April of 1968, on a warm summer Saturday, you could be sure you would likely see Dad and Mom and baby Mark, Rickey, and Donny walking across the city to enjoy the delightful day and events at Soulard's. In fact, don’t be surprised if on a warm summer day you see two old men, Rickey and Donny, still walking the isles and dickering over the price of tomatoes.
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