The Sugar Bowl And Tony's Uke

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1.

I had the uke
in my mouth
and ran through
the parking lots:
Tony's and B'hack

I was anxious
to get to the Bowl:
Linda was already there


2. 
We went to confession together

yesterday at St. Anthony's.

Mother drove us there

at exactly 4PM

and made certain,

by sitting in the last pew 

of the church,

that we actually stepped

inside the confessionals

and spent the requisite time

confessing our sins.

I could easily get

my older sister to think

just like me:

Mother (and sometimes  Father)

knew all of our sins, even before 

we commit them.

Of course, we did not actually
believe this to be fact 
but imagination is truth's
dance partner.

We imagined Mother would consult 

with Father Eugene in the rectory

—delivering him a Saturday Night

home-baked creme pie—

with a checklist.

Father, did Paul confess to all of the following...

Father, did Linda  confess to all of the following...

She would deliver

the creme pie 

sometimes as late

as 10:30 but the rectory

always opened

its doors wide for

the most beautiful 

woman in Rocky Point,

despite the fact 

that she virtually never

attended Mass.

But she was always present
in the church on Saturdays,
supervising her penitent
son and daughter.

The vote to determine

the most beautiful woman

in Rocky Point was decided by

exactly two people:
Paul and Linda. 

There would have been 

a third vote but Father 

refrained because he opposed

belaboring the obvious.

And he was not made of mud 

but he sure could 

sling the slang.

He called St. Anthony's church

Tony's place where the Eucharist

was the uke.

B'hack was his name

for Bohack's Supermarket ARS
(And Record Store)

The Pasquale Pasta family,
our next-door neighbors
were delighted by the nickname
Ronzoni because they were all born
in Italy and learned a lot of English
by reading adverts for Ronzoni's
enriched spaghetti.

The Sugar Bowl Soda Parlor,
which is where most of the action
in this story takes place,
was crowned The Bowl
by my mother.

Everyone in Rocky Point
called it that but she said it first.

Only the summer residents
used my Father's slang names
for places, things, and people.




3.
The year-round residents
of Rocky Point, for the most part,
shunned the summer people.

They regarded us as rich city folk
who could afford a second home.
 
It was commonly said 
that our parents looked like

brother and sister which may explain

why my sister and her brother

were closer than
the spots on the dice.

But any hanky-panky between us
ended at Linda's eighth birthday party
—July 9, 1954—
when a boy kissed her behind a tree
and she socked him in the nose,
drawing blood and breaking
his glasses.

(Nine years later, they deflowered each other.
Something she had secretly yearned for
since the first kiss after his family
moved out of Rocky Point.)

She had no shortage
of kissing buddies during
those nine years.

Billy Nevin was the only one
to get beyond first base
but never hit a home run
with my sister.

Or so I want to believe.


3.

Anyway, I was saying
at the beginning of this story
that my sister didn't receive
Holy Communion that day

—August  17, 1962—

despite having gone to confession

the day before.

I had seen her the night before

rolled up in a beach blanket

with Billy Nevin, whose father 

had just taken us
to our first Yankee game.

Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle both hit

grand slams while Whitey Ford shut out

the Baltimore Orioles.

The final score was 15-0.

Yeah, I was with Billy

on the beach and it was a full moon.

Of course, I let him touch my titties.

After receiving the Communion wafer,

I walked straight out of the door

of St. Anthony's, ran across the parking lot.

Then I ran across Bohack Supermarket's

parking lot and then

I was in the Sugar Bowl.

But I had covered my face

when I ran by the front

of the supermarket

because of the main reason

I had to go to confession

yesterday.

Father forgive me...
I shoplifted at Bohack's
on Tuesday
 

Father Eugene asked for specifics: 

I stole a 45RPM
It fit so easily inside my shirt.

Which song?

STAY by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs.

That's a great song, Pa...

He almost said my name which is a no-no

because the confession is supposed
to be totally anonymous.

That's why there was no lighting
in the confessional booth. 

No lighting when the priest

slides open that thing in front
of the screen where you can barely
make out his silhouette
and vice versa.

(But, of course,
the confessor always knew
which priest was there.) 

It was time 
for Father Eugene
to give me my penance:

That's a great song...

STAY is an essential...
like Elvis' Hound Dog...

but that doesn't justify stealing it. 
Say three our Fathers and six Hail Marys...

Not a bad price to pay
for a great piece of music.


4.
I arrive at the Sugar Bowl

but the group we loved the most
—Dion and the Belmonts—
had disbanded and Mr.
or Mrs. Sugar Bowl
removed all their songs
from their fabled jukebox.

The day before, however, 
Dion's Run Around Sue  
had just been added
to the "Sugar Box."

 

Father Eugene had administered 
the Eucharist and probably
because he liked Maurice Williams
so much, he gave me
a supersized communion wafer.

It was still stuck
to the roof of my tongue
when I sat down

Linda is at the front table with Billy,
his cousin Marie and Nicky Lomangino
who was the only one of our friends
who had more records than I did.
All 45s as in 45 RPM's.
Those thin slices of circular vinyl.

commonly referred to as "singles."

He had maybe three hundred
and I had almost two hundred
but I also had a bunch of albums

mostly thanks to my mother
who was a big time
Miles Davis fan.

At the age of eleven,
I liked to think of myself
as sophisticated enough

to appreciate jazz.

But, in truth, I had
as much sophistication
as poison ivy.

No sophisticated Catholic
would ever walk out
of church with the Eucharist
clinging to his/her palate. 

5.
Billy, Marie and Nicky had all been
to the 9 o'clock mass and were sitting
in the Sugar Bowl for over an hour.

Their breakfasts consisted
of three egg nogs.

TO BE CONTINUED ________________________________________________________________________________________________