Rope Opera (eBook)

CHAPTER 1 'Daniel Elsberg'sPsychiatrist' and'Negro Sneakers' At least at one point in all our lives, we sat at the perfect place. Forme, I can remember three times where it was just right. BeyondPoplar Street, there were my childhood and teen years at 5 MelvinCourt in Farmingville, Long Island. Those summers are so fresh inmy mind that I can pull them out any place, at any time, and justreplay them in my mind. It's summer. It's eight a.m. I can hear thesound of small stones (they had to be small enough not to break thewindow) raining upon my window. My crew of neighborhoodfriends would 'quietly' toss the stones from the ground below inan attempt to wake me from my slumber so we could start the daywith some baseball at St. Margaret's of Scotland Church. The castwould vary some day to day as the younger kids from the neighborhoodwould occasionally show up (mainly Doug, Kenny, Jimmyand Bobby), often in a futile attempt to make the 'show,' or the 'bigkids'' game. But the core group was always there: Ralph, Duge, Mikeand Chykirda, and what a diversified bunch they were. Starting with the youngest and smallest, Ralph DeStephano wasperhaps the best all-around athlete on the block. A rookie southpawwith great promise, Ralph had some nice pop in his bat as he loadedand cocked his Louisville Slugger with visions of impressing yourstruly, who at a few years older was his idol. Now, even though Ralphshowed tremendous potential as a kid trying to make the cut, therewas one small thing that kept him back . . . his mother. 'Raaaal-pheee, Raaaal-pheee!' Those were the echoes that 'bing-bing-bing, ricochet-rabbited'throughout every street in the Barclay Meadows development,courtesy of Flora DeStephano, when it was time to call her youngest son in to eat. And, unfortunately for Ralphie, that would just eraseit all. No matter how many hits he got that day, or how many saves he madein street hockey guarding the pipes like his idol Ken Dryden, or how manytouchdown passes he caught in the fat part of the court, Ralph would foreverbe known as a 'momma's boy.' And that's where Mike never let up - ever! No doubt the smartest of the bunch, Mike DelPiore also had to be themeanest. Man, this guy would just flat out make Ralphie's life miserable. Imean, the guy just never let up. I remember Mike and Ralph literally fistfightingfrom Melvin Court all the way up Roberta Avenue. Some of the bestbrawls I ever saw took place during those summers. But the ironic thing wasthat the next day they'd be right there, together, throwing blue-gray pebblesat my window attempting to wake the veteran up. But Mike was my boy.Being that I lived in the court, and he right off it, we were always together.Mike and I would play everything, and not only your traditional games. Wewould also invent some of our own. You see, all Mike and I needed was a ball. It didn't even matter what size, itjust needed to be round, and we would be set for the day. The truth is weinvented two of the greatest games ever known to man: 'Daniel Elsberg'sPsychiatrist' (even though we had no idea who he or his psychiatrist were -we were just hearing their names on tv every day) and 'Negro Sneakers,'named after a hideous pair of black, green, red and yellow...