I am the Author of my autobiography Called The True Life Of Tony. It is in two editions.
All the boys got together and we built a little hut, in the alleyway behind the bowling alley. We made it out of old lumber, and pieces of cardboard or anything we could find. It was kind of hidden from anyone seeing it. It was kind of cold, so we build a little furnace out of two five-gallon cans. Which seemed to keep it nice and warm. We used to really enjoy going into it all the time; the little hut was our secret hiding place. We used to go in there and some of the guys would smoke. I tried to smoke some kind of a weed that used to grow in the field. It had tiny holes running through it, and when you light the end of it, and draw on it like a cigarette, it would give you plenty of smoke. I remember even trying the sticks that used to be tied to balloons that you could buy. It didn't last long because they burned your tongue so much. One day we heard the fire trucks and police cars coming from all over the place, and were stopping at the bowling alley. We all stopped playing, and ran to the bowling alleys. When we got there we found the fire was in back of the bowling alley. It was our little hut that caught fire from our little heater. We all got really scared thinking we all might go to jail if they found out that we had built the hut, so we all decided no one would say anything. The fire didn't hurt the bowling alley wall, but burnt part of the garage on the property in the rear of the building. There wasn't that much damage, so it wasn't long before they didn't come around to ask anymore, and we didn't volunteer anything to help them.
I remember one time when we were just experimenting with cigarettes, and really didn't get right into it yet. I decided that I could get one of my grandfathers Old Italian cigars imported from Italy. You talk about something strong. They used to call them stoggies they were about six or seven inches long and wound as tight as a cigar could be wound with the tobacco leaves, and I think they were about a little less than ½ inch. We shared it Tommy and I, we cut it in half and lit it up. It didn't take long before the room started in spinning and we were coughing like crazy. I think we only took about five drags and that ended my cigarette smoking. That and the fact that my stepmother wanted me to come home right then. Tommy lived about a mile and half from my house. I had to ride my bike home, which was in the category of impossibles, every time I've got on it and tried to ride I would fall off, so I decided it would be best to walk home with it. I sure was glad by the time I walked home I was pretty straight. Otherwise there would have been a big wooden spoon waiting for my backside. My stepmother was famous for beating us with it anytime she took the notion.
By this time I had gotten used to the house and a new neighborhood. People were pretty friendly, except the time a few of us fellow went to the movie called the Franklin movie house. I will have to admit, that we did something wrong that day, but had done it before thinking that we weren't hurting anybody, or stealing from anyone. I guess you might call it cheating in a way. What we used to do was all of us pitch in our little bit of money, so that one or two of us could pay our way in, then one of us would sit near the door that opened from the inside only. Then when the movie started and the theater went dark one of us would get up and open the door for the other two or three fellow's to get in free. Well it just so happen that I had a ticket this time. But when the manager started chasing the boys around the usher came right to me. I think there was about five of us altogether and only two of us paid to get in. Well of course I felt that I was in the right because I had a ticket. The manager did not see it my way, he felt that by me opening the door then I had done wrong and should be kicked out of the theater. Well by this time I was about 16 years old and thought I could lick anybody in the country, especially an old man of 35, because to me 35 at that time was old. That's what I thought. By this time we were outside of the theater, and a small crowd gathered. When I saw all the people, I got a little brave. But you can bet I never made that mistake again, after a little bit of an argument, I use some foul language and that really got him mad. Here I was making like a boxer challenging him with my little fist saying come on, come on while throwing mine around like a boxer. Well needless to say, about that time I should have left and went home. Because he came at me so fast and furious, he hit me silly. There was a little door next to the theater front that led up to the projection room, he'd beat me all way up them steps into the hallway by the projection Booth. If it wasn't for the man working the projection machine stopping him, I don't know what would have happened. I sure was thankful to him, because I was beat pretty bad. I learned an awful good lesson that day. When my father saw me, he asked me what happened, and I told him I got into a fight and let it go at that. But the phone rang, and a couple of the people who saw what happened told him. He come to me told me he was going to take me back to the movie house, and he was going to beat up on that fellow. I tried to talk him out of it, but it was no use because he said no one was going to beat up on his son. I never mentioned that I cussed at him and called him names, because I thought I would get another licking from him. When we got down there, dad was all fired up and ready to beat up on that fellow. Dad was 36 then and could really handle himself so it would have been quite a go around, because they were the same age. But when the fellow came out, there were a couple of other people there, who told my dad what I had said and did. My dad just looked at me, and said let's get home. We turned and started to the house, which was only about a half a mile away on the same street of the movie. It seemed more like five miles to me, because every step I took it felt like I went five feetin the air, because dad was booting me all the way home. I don't have to tell you it took me a longtime to get up enough nerve to go back to that movie.
