MY BOARDSERVER
 Subject: The Forts
 
Author: Soos
Date:   5/16/2018 1:41 pm 
Timeline: 07:37h 16 May 2018
We had these forts growing up. They were about a quarter mile back in the woods, accessible via a bike-able path near the Udell Court cul-de-sac (John Vallorosi’s road).
Jack Behan and Joey Gerace and the Cancelleri brothers handled most of the construction, but all of us pitched in at some point or another. Plywood and 2x4’s were pilfered from various construction projects going on around the ‘hood; our dad’s tools were readily available (roll-up garage doors always wide open).
Eventually we built them up to two crude two-story structures, replete with trapdoors, and indoor/outdoor ladders. There was a giant fire pit between the two. (One rainy day we stupidly tried to build an indoor fire and smoked ourselves completely out).
At first they were just a place for those so inclined to play with hammers and nails and wood. Then they became an informal gathering spot. Then a formal gathering spot. One of the several places you’d ride your bike to, to see if anyone was awake yet, or done with Saturday morning cartoons, or dinner, or church. Soon they morphed into clubhouses. Some kids were partial to clubhouse number one, some partial to number two. As all things involving boys eventually do, it became competitive. There began to be small-carpentry envy over this watertight roof, or that new and improved ladder.
As we became older we would sleep out up there on summer nights. (I was never allowed, by the way—except for once, which ended in disaster). Predictably some of us discovered cigarettes and eventually, alcohol, and the forts became the place to experiment with such, as parents rarely ventured up there.
One July 4th weekend a drinking party was planned. I was in eighth grade, going into ninth. Way too young, but I was hanging out with the older kids. They figured out the amount of alcohol needed, and we all pooled our nickels and dimes. That Friday Jack Behan and I walked to Lou’s Corner Store to get the goods. Maybe another kid or two were involved, I can’t really remember….
Lou’s was the place for such enterprises, hands-down. The play was to stand outside the front doors, wait for some cool older kid to appear (drinking age c. 1973: 18) and ask them to buy the stuff for us.
No big deal back in the day. It went down as planned.
The walk home was Bataan Death March brutal, at least for me. Lou’s was probably six, maybe seven miles from our neighborhood. It was July, and Kalahari Desert hot. Jack was a strapping six-footer, broad-shouldered and strong as an ox. He carried the case of beer (Black Label) on his shoulder without even blinking. One of his strides equaled three of mine; I was a puny middle-schooler, practically jogging to keep up with him. I think I carried a bottle or two of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Wine. We stashed the liquor in the forts and waited for July 4th to arrive.
Long story, longer:
We began drinking late that morning, maybe we waited for noon, I dunno…. I drank half a bottle of Boone's Farm and felt nothing. So I drank the rest.
Bang: Lights out.
I remember being in the dirt, and the under-brush. I remember Kenny Foshay riding up on his moto-cross bike, and shaking his head sympathetically down at me. I remember, much later, riding my bike home, and climbing into my bed at dusk. (My mom and dad were at their own July 4th party, so no one was around).
My friends told me later that Jack and Eddie stayed with me and nursed me the whole time. They took my vomit encrusted shirt and jeans and sneakers and washed them in somebody’s pool (YUCK!!!), air dried them, and re-dressed me. John Val told that they were all riding their bikes behind me, E.T.-like, watching me wobble and sway down the street, and they couldn’t believe I didn’t fall off.
I didn’t touch alcohol again for a long, long time. When I did, as most of my friends will tell you, I was the ultimate light-weight, and truly a serial-barfer. To this day I really don’t have much of a taste for it. So it goes.
Hey Jack, and Eddie, and Val, wherever you are: Thanks.
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 Topics Author  Date      
 The Forts    
Soos 5/16/2018 1:41 pm 
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