Broken Record

I remember when Zack and I were about ten years old. I was visiting him at his home in Indiana Harbor in the building that also included the S&S Tavern, owned by Zack’s father and our grandmother as I understand it. For reasons I did not understand, Zack and I were thought to be a bit too noisy and active. I remember having a good time playing with him and his friends when I visited him in the harbor. I used to call him, Jackie at that time, not Zackie. Our Mexican friends called him, Ja-KIE. I really only started calling him Zack when I was in my late teens. We used to have a good time running around and apparently, making noise, because I remember when Zack was visiting me, in Hessville, my mother mentioned not to run around the yard, and in particular, not past our neighbor’s house, because Tom, who lived there, had to sleep. At Jackie’s house one afternoon, we assured his dad that we were capable and responsible, so we were sent to buy a record across the railroad tracks on the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue. I don’t remember why the particular record was important, but we had to convince his dad that we were responsible enough to return with the record safely. Uncle Zack seem not concerned whether we returned safely, just the record. For reasons, I did not understand we had to promise to be careful. Well, the task was easy enough, and we had no doubt that we could handle it. Zack carried the money. We walked 10 minutes, or so, to the record store. Bought the record and returned most of the way home. Zack, being a year older, probably had some insight into the importance of walking instead of running. Perhaps, he was more focused on the consequences of facing his father, I really don’t remember. To me, walking and running, were just equally alternative ways of getting from one place to another. As I said, we got back as far as the tracks when Zack slipped and fell. The record broke. Zack immediately started to cry. I was worried about the record; he being older and more insightful, was probably more worried about how his father would understand the situation. How did we make out? Well, there was some penance involved, but we made it to adulthood.