Fire
The Rat Cop - Fright Night

“Hey, Buddy, make sure you guys come back and visit us before we leave?”
“O.K. ya swabbies,” was Brian’s reply as we came out of the mess hall to exit the Naval Base on Sumner Street, East Boston.
Suddenly we all froze as we watched the Boston Fire Department leaning out Mom’s second floor window in the Public Housing Projects across the cobblestoned street from the base.
‘Smash, crash, crumble,” as the scorched mattress and the burnt remains of the Master bed came flying out the window, the mattress burst into flames, to the courtyard below.
It all started when Dick woke up in the middle of the night to continuous coughing.
”Cough, cough, cough.”
“What’s the matter Brian, are you sick, I can’t see you.”
“Cough, cough, I don’t know, I can’t breath; I think there is smoke in the room”.
‘Click, click’ someone is trying to turn on the wall light.
“Dad, there’s no light bulb, Brian’s sick.”
“Johnny, you grab the kid coughing; come here little guy we’re getting you out of here.”
Hands reach in the bed and scoop Dick up in the air. “Cough, cough,” Dick is now coughing and can not see the face of the man holding him; the smoke is so thick. “Where we going, what’s going on,” the young boy is dazed and confused in his coughing spasms’. Being carried through the maze and not being able to see the face of his father, Dick is rushed out into the hallway where smoke now pours out the apartment door. “Your not Dad”, as Dick now sees his rescuer. It’s one of his pals from the next building, a sailor. Down the stairs, outside the hall door, into the cool fresh March night air; Dick sees the rest of the family with blankets over them.
“That’s it; he’s the last of the children, we can’t thank you enough. The U.S. Navy to the rescue” says Aunt Mamie who was, baby sitting the family while Mom was having baby number five at the Boston City hospital. It was 1943 and the War was still on. We had a Navy Base across the street and sailors were even living in the projects building next to us. Brian and I would go in the apartments and become balloons as the guys would throw us all around the room, playing catch the kid as we would tumble onto the top bunk beds. We always left with a pocketful of Baby Ruth candy bars. Our favorite game was to bring little Francis, the prettiest baby you ever saw across the street. The sailors would lean out the fenced in Barracks’ window and throw candy bars to Frank; Brian and I would stash the loot so Mom wouldn’t know we were begging. She used to go nuts.
“Let’s get the kids off the street, it’s chilly out here,” shouts someone.
“Where are we taking them,” says the Swabie holding me. [Slang for cleaning or swabbing the decks]
“We’ll bring the family in the Base and put them up in the Cadre Building”, says someone in charge. This adventure was becoming more and more exciting. We were now crossing the Forbidden Government Property Gate; guarded by Special Police and electronically controlled. The family was taken to a barrack building and brought to the second floor. Brian and I started running around the barren room except for two double bunk beds. ‘Slow down you guys, it’s not play time; it’s two o’clock in the morning,” said Aunt Mame. My Dad was very quiet; he had apparently stopped for a few cocktails to celebrate the birth his newest son, Dominic; later that evening, exhausted he fell asleep with a lit cigarette and burnt the mattress.
“Dicky, come with me, you’re my brave little Sailor so you are going to be treated extra special. You’re going to sleep in the officers room, that means you’re the captain.”
Now feeling like the boss Dick jumps on the single bed while everyone else is stuck on the double bunks. The lights are on and he’s eating up all this Royal Treatment.
“Good night, my brave little sailor.” Mary kisses him good night as she tucks him in and shuts out the light.
“Arggg, what are you doing?”He whispers to himself. I can’t let Aunt Mary know I’m not her big brave sailor.
Monsters come from every area of the darkness. Having just recently overcome his own room’s dark shadowy ghosts’ he now is thrown in with new lions, tigers and bears now alone in this strange place, it’s overwhelming. ‘Sob, sob,’ he quietly covers his head as he blocks out the shadows. He finally cries himself to sleep, muffling his cries not wanting to lose the captain’s Hero title.
“Cadence, cadence, cadence count.”
“Hup, one, hup, two, hup three,”
“One.”
Loud screaming awakens the frightened little boy.
“What’s going on,” he’s thinking.
“Hup one, hup two, hup three.”
“Four.” He hears.
Dick crawls out of bed and sneaks to the window and peeks over the edge. It is still dark and he has no idea of time. As the yelling continues Dick spies a glorious scene that will burn forever in his mind. It was the woman’s division of the Navy, the Waves. They had just finished jogging and were now doing calisthenics; all wet and wild. It was his first wet T shirt contest and they were all winners. Not wanting to be selfish, he rushes out to wake Brian.
“Bri.”
“Snort, snizzle, arggg.”
“Bri, shhhh.”
“Whadoyawan?”
“Shhhh, wake up; come mere.”
“I’m tired.”
“You can sleep later, hurry before they go.”
Both boys sneak back to the window and peer over the edge.
“Wow, This must be a dream. Are we in Heaven?’
“Boys, Come on it’s breakfast time. We’ve been invited to the mess hall.”
“We’re not hungry for mess.” Brian answers and they both enjoy the beautiful scene until the girls jog away. Aunty Mame drags the reluctant boys to the chow line. The adoring attention the boy’s receive burns a special place in their hearts for the Navy. The excitement of the clatter of trays, dishes and chatter make the experience even more memorable.
The fantastic journey ends abruptly as the family is leaving the base and sees the chard ruins of the nights destructive beginning; the master bed crashing to the pavement.
At a later time at the movies, the news reels flashed across the screen, U.S. ships being torpedoed by enemy submarines; we cried for our beautiful Navy buddies who rescued us on Fright Night and became ‘Our Heroes’, forever.