Uncle Eddie.

[cbl51]

Uncle Eddie. 1960.

It had been hard going for the boy and his mother. His father had died of cancer when he was very young, and he had only some vague memories of the man. His mother was doing the best she could making ends meet, working at the "club" downtown. Then Uncle Eddie came into his life.

He wasn't really an Uncle, but he was dating his mother, and the man Eddie was like an uncle. He took them out for movies, and sometimes dinner at the kind of restaurants the boy and his mother could never have been to on thier own. Eddie was one of the owners of the nightclub where the boys mother worked at night, and Eddie became "Uncle" Eddie. A sharp dresser, he always looked like he was in a movie, with sharp creased pants and highly shined shoes that cost more than the regular working guy made in a week. The car he drove was a huge white Caddy convertible that was always immaculate.

One sunny summer Sunday, Eddie picked up the boy and his mother for an outing. The hot Washington D.C. summer was in full swing, and they were going out to Front Royal Virginia for a day trip to escape the heat of the city. The boys mother had packed a picnic basket and Uncle Eddie had an ice filled cooler with beer and soft drinks in the Caddy's trunk. It was a long drive out to the picnic grounds but the rolling country side was a welcome relief from the city. At the tree shaded picnic area, they set up at a table not too close to others at the area. The boys mother set out a table cloth and lunch, and they set out to enjoy themselves.

Lunch and just began when three ruff dressed men wandered out of the woods and looked at the people under the shade trees. Dirty, unkempt, they approached the three people at the picnic table by the white Caddy convertible. One, the leader and spokesmen of the group, approached Eddie and asked for some money.

"Hey man, we're a little short of beer money, maybe you cold loan us a few bucks, huh?" He asked Eddie.

Eddie had got up from the table and stood a few feet away from them, stopping them from approaching the picnic table where the young woman and boy sat, and politely told the three men to leave them alone. If the big bearded man who was the leader of the three men had maybe been a bit more sober, he'd have sensed that Eddie was not to be pushed. But push he did.

"Come on, man! You got that nice big Caddy you drive down here with, you got some bucks you can spare!" He shouted at Eddie. While he shouted his hand slipped down to the large sheath knife on his belt.

Eddie grew very still, and said in a quiet tone of voice, "No, I'm not giving you a handout, so get moving and leave us alone. Now."

This only enraged the unkempt bearded man, and he advanced on Eddie. Next to the big ruff dressed man, Eddie looked like a slim twig standing up against a log. Nobody noticed him slip a hand down into his right hand pants pocket of his pleated dress slacks.

"Don't even think about pulling that knife on me. Turn around and get out of here now." Eddie told him.

The big bearded man yelled some obscenities and charged Eddie while pulling his knife out from the sheath at his waist. But Eddie wasn't there. He'd taken some backward quick steps and his hand come out of his pocket with a small flat gun. The first shot sounded like a fire cracker. The man with the knife stopped, hunched over a bit, then screamed again and took another step towards Eddie. Eddie shot him twice more in the stomach, the sharp crack of the gun shots blending into each other they were so close together.

He man with the knife stopped and went his knees, doubling over in pain, then falling flat on his side and curling into a tight fetal position. He screamed that it burned, and his guts were on fire. His screams rang out over the picnic area and all the people who had witnessed the event were shocked and horrified. Over the course of a few minutes, the screams faded to a whimpering, then silence as the man went unconscious. The owner of the picnic ground had run over and told Eddie that the police had been called and an ambulance. The two other men had run away at the first shot.

Eddie seemed to be very cool and undisturbed by the events. He walked over to the woman and boy and told them he was very sorry that they had to witness such a thing. Then he laid the gun on the end of the table and stood well clear of it. The police arrived with a wailing siren, and they talked to Eddie, to other people in the picnic area, and made lots of notes. Eddie was polite and showed them a Washington D.C. permit for the gun, and Virginia law at that time seemed to be more lax. Eddie and the boy and boys mother all went down to the local police station while paperwork was processed. Somewhere in all that time, a Lawyer from Washington D.C that seemed to know Eddie showed, and there was a long council in a closed office. 

The chief of police came out with the lawyer and told Eddie he was free to go, as it seems to be a clear case of self defense. The dead man had been a local trouble maker of some years, and served time in prison for assaults involving a knife. But, they would have to keep Eddie's pistol until the inquest made it official. It was a quiet trip back to D.C., and Eddie again apologized for the trouble. The boys mother said it was okay, at least he, Eddie, was okay.

Some weeks went by, and Eddie drove back down to Front Royal to retrieve his pistol. He took the boy along for the ride, and they talked much down and back. The boy was curious about the gun, and how Eddie had remained so calm.

"Weren't ya scared, Eddie?" The boy asked.

Driving one handed he reached into his shirt pocket and took out one of the little cigars he liked to smoke. Using the cars' lighter, he got it going good, and let out a stream of smoke that blew away in the wind from the open window of the Caddy.

"Naa," he said, "ya learn to read people, and I figured he was gonna be trouble. When he started to reach for the knife I knew what I had to do. I was already waiting on him, and had the gun in my hand and he didn't see it coming. He figured he was bigger than me and he had a knife. He didn't count on someone having a gun. Idiots like that wouldn't last long where I come from."

The boy knew that Eddie and his business partners were from New York, and had come down after the war because Washington D.C was growing so fast. They had opened some clubs in the 50's and by 1960 were making good money. The boy knew his mom was doing okay working for the club and it put food food on the table.

The boy looked down at the paper bag on the seat. The police in Front Royal had given Eddie his gun in a paper bag and the boys' curiosity was killing him.


"Eddie, do you think I can see your gun?" He asked tentatively.

Eddie glanced over at him, and asked him, "How old are ya now, Kid?"

"I'm 10." The boy said.

Eddie thought for a minute. Then slowed the car and looked around. He turned off on a small road and then turned again and they were off on some little road in the Virginia rolling woodlands. Eddie pulled over t the side of the road and told the boy, "Grab that box of ammo in the Glove box."

Our of the car, there was a small embankment down to the little creek. They walked down to the bank and Eddie told the boy to take a stick and make a circle about the size of a basketball on the dirt bank of the creek. Then he had the boy draw a smaller circle about the size of a grapefruit. He handed the gun to the boy and the boy was taken by the flat hardness of it. On the handle was the word 'Colt' and he liked the way it felt so smooth and secure in hand. Eddie showed him how to pull out the magazine, and push the small brass cartridges into it. The boy looked at the box and read ".25acp, 50 grain FMJ."  The brand name was Remington.

"It's so small." The boy said.

"Yeah well, ya want a small gun. When trouble comes, most times it's gonna be close. That's good, ya always let 'em come right in to you. You let 'em come in so close you can't miss unless ya try to. Then you come out with what ya got and let them have it. You never give a fair fight, there ain't any such thing. If someone is a danger to you, you put them down fast and dirty as you need to."

Then Eddie gave the boy a quick lesson on how to point and shoot. The boys first shot was just outside the smaller circle, the dirt kicking up and making it easy to see where he hit. The second shot was by the first. Eddie and the boy stood there on the creek back and the boy got his first shooting lesson. There was hardly any kick, but the noise was sharp enough to leave a slight ringing in his ears. The boy loved it.

Over the next few years, the boy learned more from Eddie, and when the boy got beat up in a fight at school, Eddie had him learn some things from Little Tony. Little Tony was one of Eddie's business partners, and although his job wasn't clear to the boy, he seemed to be held in very high respect by the other club employees. A compact slightly built man, he had a coiled up aura about him. A stillness that seemed deep. The boy would learn much from Eddie and Little Tony. Lessons that would last a lifetime.

[zburkett]

Nice.  Good story.

[kc]

Interesting.
I like the valuable things woven throughout (perseverance, honor, courage, responsibility.... and guns ), with the most important likely being a grown man teaching a young boy.
Good stuff.

[heyjoe]

CBL51....nice story.....you have a very easy to read and enjoyable writing style.