Rembrandt Street - Ch 6

The Basement

The five girls climbing out of the 1955 Scarlet-colored Plymouth were E’beth and her four friends. Caitlin’s 17 year old brother, Pete, had driven. They had been at the roller skating rink and were being dropped off at the front of E’beth’s house.

Pete was proud to have purchased the car on his own. He was excited to say the ‘55, his car, had a PowerFlite 2 Speed Automatic Tranny, 260 Poly-Head V8 engine and a 120 mph speedometer. Although the car was ten years old, Pete bragged it was a year when horsepower and styling had become major reasons to buy a car.

During that time, the Plymouth styling was called, "Metal In Motion." The Plymouth included sporty cathedral styled front fenders that were draped back to the slightly raised fins that hung over the recessed lights. At that time, the industry had called these standards the "Forward Look." The car balanced looks and performance.

Despite how obviously great Pete thought his car and chauffeuring abilities, he took heat from his mother. Mrs. Morgan had heard the safety concerns of the older modeled Plymouth. In case of an accident, the steering wheel would thrust toward the driver’s head. The seat would lurch forward and there was no locking mechanism to keep the doors shut. The dash was all metal providing no cushion and the car had no seat belts installed.

Pete had argued there were other safety factors on the car. There was safety glass and it wrapped around the front for better viewing. There was a catch latch on the hood to keep it from flying open and he had already retrofitted the doors to be safer. The girls were happy just to have transportation. Caitlin was the only one who had heard Mrs. Morgan’s complaints. She was not attuned to this level of concern.

E'beth was different in this respect from Caitlin.  In fact each of the five girls had discussed their similarities and differences. They were all 14 years old. They went to the same public school and had each teased the other about hair color and what it meant. E’beth and Margot were the two brunettes. Caitlin and Tammy had matched up as the blondes and now that Alice hadarrived, there was a red head.

Their attributes seemed to grow stronger with each round of birthdays and a good source of gabbyness during the many private pajama parties. E’beth was known for her intelligence, athleticism, being creative, organized, but cautious. Caitlin was beautiful, outgoing, very savvy, smart, but a little pudgy. Margot was known for being the most intelligent, supportive, a natural writer, oldest of a demanding large family, but almost introverted. Tammy was sure she wasn’t as smart as the others, but she was good-hearted, playful, curious and also athletic. Alice’s addition to the group was being a gifted musician, outgoing, smart, daring, but the girls teased, too thin!

As they toppled through the basement door leading to E’beth’s rec room the substance and style of Pete’s car was far from their minds, although Tammy did claim to maintain a steady crush on Pete and E’beth had hung back to specially thank Pete for the ride. Caitlin went automatically toward the small record player sitting between the two old L-shaped couches. The couches weren’t matched and they’d long since lost their beauty. They framed in the ping pong table.

Tammy and Margot picked up paddles from the table and found a ball on the floor close to the table. They began an easy volley.

Alice was quickly joined by E’beth. "C’mon Alice, I’ll show you where we keep the cokes!" Alice had paused to give the room a once over. It was a large open room that seemed to allow access to several other rooms behind closed doors. She noted that the masonry walls were painted white and the cement floors were painted brick red. It seemed clean and spider free for a basement.

Alice said, "This is pretty nice! It looks huge!

E’beth said, "Yes, we spend a good amount of time here, especially during the winter." She explained the rec-room had given living at this apartment an extra advantage. She continued, fact fully. "The carpet and old roll-top desk belong to us. Those two doors go toward private locked storage rooms for us and the other tenants. The third door is for the people who own the apartment. They store lawn equipment and paint and ladders. It used to be the coal room."

Alice appeared interested as E’beth relayed common attributes of her basement. "There is another very large room in back of this. It holds the clotheslines and a few old tables, chairs and an old single bed. There was also an old wood tool bench and off of that room there is a laundry room and an old wringer. There is a huge boiler room and one more small room for mama’s canning."

E’beth was looking more forward to the ping pong game than diagraming the basement, but she was naturally patient.  Alice was directed to where the cokes were waiting in the old fridge under the front stairs. Delightedly, she exclaimed, "Oh yes, we made some popcorn balls too!"

"Oh no, I couldn’t eat another thing. Those hot dogs at the rink were terrible," complained Alice.

"Sorry Alice, we should have warned you. The hamburgers and chips are much safer." E’beth watched Alice as Alice continued to familiarize self with the frozen labeled packages in the fridge. She sure is investigative, E’beth thought. Though the light was poor (just light bulbs extending from ceiling cords), E’beth noted how fast Alice had accustomed herself. She then easily reached into the fridge for four pops. Her fingers were long and confident.

By this time, the upbeat music began to take over the rec-room. It was loud enough to wake the dead! Caitlin yelled, "Hey guys! Where’s the pop?"

"Comin!" yelled E’beth. E’beth and Alice found Caitlin dancing. Margot’s and Tammy’s game had sped up considerably.

"Hey, popcorn balls!" exclaimed Caitlin.

Alice handed Caitlin her coke and placed Margot’s and Tammy’s on the old roll top desk. She was told by Caitlin, "the bottle opener is right here in the drawer."

"Thanks," said Alice. Alice sat down on the couch that contained a box of records. "You have a lot of my favorites E’beth"

"No, not me," said E’beth. The record player is mine, but all the 45's are Caitlin’s. Caitlin’s basement is a mess and Pete’s taken it over with his friends. E’beth sat down on the couch outliningthe long side ofthe table. "I’ve got winner!"

"Be with you in a few minutes," laughed Tammy. Tammy grinned as she spelled out for Margot, "14-4 Margot! When are you going to start playing?"

Margot complained, "What about my handicap?"

Tammy shouted, "Oh yeah, game is 16-14 your lead!

"I’m not that bad!" defended poor Margot.

"Depends who you ask Margot!" teased Tammy.

"Sure wouldn’t ask you Tammy. Its obvious you’ve no heart!"

Tammy slammed down another long spike and laughed, "How about I close my eyes?"

"Close your eyes and I throw the paddle at you!" warned Margot as she leaned over to pick up the ball.

Tammy chuckled. She stated, "The day Margot goes violent I’m outta here!" All the girls laughed except Margot who blushed.

About an hour went by with much talking, laughter and gaiety. The girls practiced their sillier behavior. There was an intimate release of tension after having roller skated with the larger crowd. As much fun as they had, there was fear of falling on your face or otherwise embarrassing yourself. They teased who should be with which boy, because after all, there were so many to choose from. Attention had also gone to which of the other girls had managed to hook-up with a guy or who was wearing their skirt too short.

Alice had wandered away from the group and was just now coming back from the rear of the basement. "Hey where were you?" asked Tammy.

"Just looking around." claimed Alice. "Look at what I found!" Alice had in her outstretched hand a new package of camel cigarettes.

"Ugh!" claimed Margot. "What are you doing with those filthy things?"

"Did you find them back there?" questioned E’beth though apparently a bit startled.

"Yeah," said Alice. "Who smokes?"

E’beth didn’t knowanyone who smoked. She was already worrying. Who could have left them laying around? She noted that Alice had matches in her other hand.

Alice’s quick hands tapped out a cigarette from the pack, "Who wants one?"

E’beth’s face looked stunned and it dropped as she exclaimed, "What do you mean? You’re not going to smoke one of them are you? What are you thinking?" Alice had challenged E’beth’s thinking.

"It’s not a big thing," stated Alice, "My Dad smokes, I’ve had some of his before!"

E’beth felt unexpected frustration bursting in her chest, "Why? It’s just wrong!"

Caitlin interrupted, "I don’t know E’beth. It is not the same as if we stole them or went to the store and bought them. They’re unclaimed!

E’beth became quickly infuriated with her best friend. "This is not going to happen in my basement! Give them here Alice. I’ll return them myself. Where did you pick them up?"

"Never mind E’beth." Alice volunteered. "I’ll do it. I didn’t think it was going to be such a big deal. She turned quickly and disappeared around the corner.

Alice might have seen how red E’beths face had become. No one had ever challenged E’beth over something so obviously wrong. She was unsure how to handle it and didn’t know herself how strongly her feelings were.  She was definitely provoked. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud quick shout!

E’beth didn’t think. She lunged forward yelling, "Alice!" Tammy was directly on her heals. Margot and Caitlin looked at each other, but neither moved.

E’beth had no sooner turned the corner before she came to a quick stop. Tammy stumbled over E'beth which pushed E’beth forward. Still ahead, Alice stood alone facing the old man who lived in the apartment under the Willobee’s. Cathy’s first thought was that he must have come down by the back stairs. She then guessed that Alice must have been terrified. She appeared frozen to her spot with the cigarettes still clenched in her fist.

The older man was slightly hunched over. He was almost bald, but had a fringe of short white hair. He had a pronounced stomach and wore for a shirt only his armless t-shirt which was tucked into green pants. The looked dark and dirty such as a gardener might wear. His boots were large and black.

He limped forward. E’beth hustled to Alice’s side and unclenched Alice’s hand from the package of cigarettes. "Here! I think these belong to you!" The old man reached out for the pack. He lifted his heavy knobby finger and pointed to the table.

"Nobody should have bothered them," he growled. E’beth and Tammy turned their heads toward the direction he was pointing. They saw a rickety old card table and two folding chairs. On the table was an outdoor ashtray. It was red plaid and had a heavy sand bottom. It’s surface was black with tar.

"I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to bother you," apologized E’beth. We didn’t expect to find them here. I’m sorry."

The old man had a grumpy voice and grunted, "Hmpf!" He turned around and the girls watched him walk up the old wooded steps. His limp was more pronounced than before. It seemed to take him effort to climb the steps. He finally disappeared from sight.

E’beth said, "C’mon guys. Let’s go back to the other side."

Tammy took a deep breath, "Wait until I tell Margot and Caitlin.  They missed it!"

Before E’beth had taken a step, Alice grabbed at her shirt sleeve and hissed, "Wait!" E’beth’s eyebrows raised and she looked at Alice’s slim fingers grasping her shirt by the elbow.

"What?" E’beth asked, "What’s the matter?"

Alice’s face looked white. She stuttered, "You didn’t see the whole, the whole thing!"

"What do you mean?" asked E’beth.

Alice looked like she was going to faint. E’beth reached out trying to steady Alice by her firmer grip. Alice wavered and waned. In a voice that had sounded terribly shaken, she said, "Something’s wrong! That man ...that old man. When I came in his pants were open and he was relieving himself in the floor drain!"