Chapter 3 third chapter
By 1930, the Great Depression intensified and the entire nation's economy came to a standstill.The queue for relief supplies is getting longer and longer, unemployed people are everywhere, and riots occur on the street from time to time.
I graduated from Marshall Ranch Elementary School in Chicago and got a job at Aflemo's Pharmacy.Natalie works as a cashier at a roller skating rink.Roller skating is a new and fashionable sport: under the magnificent dome is a large circular ice skating rink, and brave men on roller skates slide by, knock down, or even leave behind the sound of cheering spectators. bruise their opponents mercilessly.
Otto is wandering around, trying to make the big business of his dreams.
Every now and then, he'd come home excited.
"I feel good this time. I just negotiated a deal that will make us rich."
So we have to pack up again and move to some Hammond or Dallas or Kirkland hub in Arizona.
"Kirkland Junction?"
"You'll love it there," said Otto confidently. "I bought a silver mine there."
Kirkland used to be just a small town, one hundred and four miles from Phoenix, but that wasn't our destination yet.The so-called Kirkland Junction is nothing more than a deserted gas station.Otto worked hard for his lofty ideal of dominating the silver market, and we lived miserably behind the gas station for three full months.The end result was that there was no silver in the silver mines at all.
A phone call from Uncle Harry saved us.
Harry asked, "How's the silver mine?"
Otto replied: "Not very well."
"Don't worry, I'm in Denver, and I've got a very profitable stock brokerage firm. Come and join us."
"Here we go," said Otto.He hung up and said to me, Natalie, and Richard, "Let's go to Denver. I feel good this time."
Denver is a lovely place, pristine and beautiful, with a cool breeze blowing from the snow-capped mountains across the city.I fell in love with it.
Harry and Pauline lived in a luxurious two-story house in Denver's upper-class neighborhood. The back of the house faced a vast verdant green space called Kissman Park.My cousins - Seymour, Howard, Eddie and Steve - were all happy to see us, and we were so happy to see them again.
Seymour drives a shiny red Pierce Silver Arrow and dates some older girls.Eddie got a tame horse as a present for his birthday.Howard was a junior tennis champion.Their affluence stands in stark contrast to our hard life in Chicago.
"Are we going to live with Harry and Pauline?" I asked.
"No," they surprised me, "we're going to buy a house here."
When I saw the house they were buying, I couldn't believe it.It's on quiet Marion Street in the suburbs, and it's a good size with a nice garden attached.The rooms are spacious, beautiful and very cozy.The furniture is new and lovely, very different from the old boring ones I used to have.It's not just a house, it's a home.The moment I walked into the house, I felt that my life had completely changed and I had my own roots.There is no need to move every few months, no need to change houses or schools.
Otto is going to buy the house.I'm getting married here, my kids are going to grow up here... For the first time in my memory, we had enough money to spend.Harry's business is doing so well that he now owns three agencies. In the autumn of 1930, at the age of thirteen, I went to the Oriental Middle School, which was a very pleasant experience.The teachers in Denver are very kind and helpful.They don't throw ink bottles at students.I started making friends at school.It won't be long before school is over and I'll be back in the beautiful house that will be ours.Whenever I think about this, I am very happy.Most of the issues between Natalie and Otto seem to have been resolved, and life looks a lot better for it. One day I slipped in gym class and hurt my spine, and something was out of place, and I was lying on the floor in such excruciating pain.Everyone sent me to the school infirmary. When the doctor examined me, I asked him, "Will I be disabled?" "No," he reassured me, "one of your discs is misaligned and presses down on the spine, and that's what's causing the pain. The treatment is simple, all you have to do is stay in bed for two to three days and apply heat to relax the muscles , the disc will naturally return to its original position. You will fully recover." The ambulance took me home and the paramedics put me in bed.I lay there in pain, but like the doctor said, after three days, everything was fine. At that time, I didn't know how this incident would affect my life.
One day, I had an "out of this world" experience.I saw an ad for the Denver Country Fair, and one of the things to look forward to was the experience of flying. "I want to go," I said to Otto. He thought about it, "Okay." This is a beautiful "Lincoln Commander".Just getting on the plane makes me so excited that I can't help it. The pilot looked at me and said, "First time flying?" "the first time." "Fasten your seatbelt," he said, "it's going to be a thrill later." He was right.Flying is a fantastic experience.I've never felt better in my life watching the ground recede and fade away from me. After landing, I said to Otto, "I want to sit again." So I took another flight.I made up my mind that one day I would become a pilot.
One morning in the spring of 1933, Otto walked into my room, looking sullen, "Pack up your things. We're getting out of here." I felt very confused, "Where are you going?" "Go back to Chicago." I can't believe, "Are we leaving Denver?" "right." "but--" He has gone out. I got dressed and went to Natalie, "What's going on?" "Your father and your Uncle Harry had - there was a misunderstanding." I looked around our house, where I thought I would spend the rest of my life. "What about this house?" "We haven't bought it yet." There was no joy in the return trip.Neither Otto nor Nathalie would say what happened.After Denver, Chicago seemed even less friendly and aloof.We settled into a small apartment and I was back in the harsh reality that we had no money and couldn't find a decent job.Otto started wandering around again, and Natalie worked as a salesperson in a store.My college dreams were shattered and we couldn't afford tuition.Surrounded by the four walls of my apartment, my prospects looked bleak. I thought, I can't live the rest of my life like this.After a brief period of intoxicating abundance in Denver, our current poverty looks worse, and we are desperately short of money.Working as a delivery boy at a drugstore was not the future I wanted. It was at this time that I decided to kill myself.Otto put me off the idea, telling me I had to turn the next page in my life.But the next page never came, nor did I see any hope.Otto's assurances were empty words. In September, I went to Sien Middle School.Otto continued to venture out, trying to make his big business.Natalie works full-time at a clothing store, but the money is still not enough.I have to help the family... I thought of Natalie's brother Sam, who ran the coat lockers of several hotels.The coat locker is staffed by attractive, scantily clad young ladies and a few bellboys who hang coats.Customers are generous when they tip these ladies, unaware that the money ends up in the hands of management. I took the light rail to the Big Loop to find my Uncle Sam, who has an office at the Sherman Hotel. He greeted me warmly: "Hi, Sidney, nice to see you. How can I help?" "I need a job." "Oh?" "I wish you would let me be a waiter in one of your coat closets." Sam knows our family's financial situation.He looked me over thoughtfully, and finally said, "Well, you look more than seventeen. I think you can go to the Bismarck Hotel." Under his arrangement, I started working that week. Being a waiter is easy.Customers would hand over their coats and hats to a waitress, who would give them a numbered tag, and would hand over their coats and hats to me, and I would hang them on the correspondingly numbered coat rack.When the customers come back, we return the coats and hats to them.
I now have a new schedule: stay at school until 3:00 p.m., then immediately take the light rail to Grand Loop, get off at the station near the Bismarck Hotel, and start work at the hotel.My working hours are from 5pm until the hotel closes.Closing time is usually midnight or later, depending on whether there is a special event.My salary was three dollars a night, which I gave to Natalie. Weekends are the busiest time for business in hotels, so I work seven nights a week.The holidays are just an emotional grind for me. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, many families come to the hotel to celebrate the festival. I can only watch those children and their parents spend the festive season together, and I am full of envy.Natalie was busy with work, Otto was away, and it was just me and Richard at home, no one else was with us for the holidays.At eight o'clock in the evening, everyone is enjoying their holiday feast and I'm scrambling to find a cafe or cheap restaurant to grab a quick bite and get back to work. There was an occasional bright spot in my monotonous and repetitive evening work – my bubbly Aunt Frances would occasionally drop by for an evening or two at the Bismarck Hotel.She is Natalie's younger sister, petite, vivacious, with black hair, witty and a sense of humor, and customers love her. The Bismarck Hotel has a new attendant in the coat locker, Joan Vitus, only a year older than me, and very pretty.I was fascinated by her and started to daydream about stories about me and her.I'm going on a date with her and I don't have money but she doesn't care, she only sees the good in me.We'll fall in love, get married, and have wonderful kids. She said to me one night, "My uncle and aunt have family lunches every Sunday, and I think you'll like them. If you have time this Sunday, come with me." My fantasy is about to come true. I had a great time that Sunday.This is a warm Italian family gathering, about a dozen people, old and young, sitting around a large table, the table is full of: bruschetta, spaghetti bean soup, chicken risotto , Lasagna. Joan's uncle, Louis Atrey, was approachable and gregarious, the head of the Chicago Doormen's Union.I thanked everyone before leaving and told Joan I had a great time.That's when our relationship really began. The next morning, Louis Atre was machine-gunned as soon as he came out of the house where we had lunched the day before. Joan just disappeared from my life. My illusions were shattered.
I was at school during the day, at the coat locker at night, and at the drug store on Saturdays, so I basically had no time for myself. There seemed to be something strange happening at home, and there was a tense atmosphere, a special tension.Both Natalie and Otto spoke in low voices, and their faces were gloomy. Otto came up to me one morning and said, "Son, I'm going to the farm. I have to go today." I was very surprised.I had never been to a farm and thought it must be fun. "I want to go with you, Otto." He shook his head, "Sorry, I can't take you there." "but--" "No, Sidney." "Okay then. When are you coming back?" "Three years later." After finishing speaking, he left. three years?It's unbelievable.How could he leave us and live on a farm by himself for three years? Natalie walked in.I asked her, "What's going on?" "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you, Sidney. Your dad's hanging out with some bad people," she said, "and he's selling vending machines to the store without knowing that there aren't any. His bosses ran off with the money and got caught. Your dad was convicted along with them, and he's going to jail." I was shocked.So the so-called farm is the prison. "Three years?" I didn't know what to say.How would we live these three years without him? Later, I realized that my worries were actually unnecessary. Otto reported to Lafayette State Penitentiary, and twelve months later he returned like a hero.
Notes:
Otto is going to buy the house.I'm getting married here, my kids are going to grow up here... For the first time in my memory, we had enough money to spend.Harry's business is doing so well that he now owns three agencies. In the autumn of 1930, at the age of thirteen, I went to the Oriental Middle School, which was a very pleasant experience.The teachers in Denver are very kind and helpful.They don't throw ink bottles at students.I started making friends at school.It won't be long before school is over and I'll be back in the beautiful house that will be ours.Whenever I think about this, I am very happy.Most of the issues between Natalie and Otto seem to have been resolved, and life looks a lot better for it. One day I slipped in gym class and hurt my spine, and something was out of place, and I was lying on the floor in such excruciating pain.Everyone sent me to the school infirmary. When the doctor examined me, I asked him, "Will I be disabled?" "No," he reassured me, "one of your discs is misaligned and presses down on the spine, and that's what's causing the pain. The treatment is simple, all you have to do is stay in bed for two to three days and apply heat to relax the muscles , the disc will naturally return to its original position. You will fully recover." The ambulance took me home and the paramedics put me in bed.I lay there in pain, but like the doctor said, after three days, everything was fine. At that time, I didn't know how this incident would affect my life.
One day, I had an "out of this world" experience.I saw an ad for the Denver Country Fair, and one of the things to look forward to was the experience of flying. "I want to go," I said to Otto. He thought about it, "Okay." This is a beautiful "Lincoln Commander".Just getting on the plane makes me so excited that I can't help it. The pilot looked at me and said, "First time flying?" "the first time." "Fasten your seatbelt," he said, "it's going to be a thrill later." He was right.Flying is a fantastic experience.I've never felt better in my life watching the ground recede and fade away from me. After landing, I said to Otto, "I want to sit again." So I took another flight.I made up my mind that one day I would become a pilot.
One morning in the spring of 1933, Otto walked into my room, looking sullen, "Pack up your things. We're getting out of here." I felt very confused, "Where are you going?" "Go back to Chicago." I can't believe, "Are we leaving Denver?" "right." "but--" He has gone out. I got dressed and went to Natalie, "What's going on?" "Your father and your Uncle Harry had - there was a misunderstanding." I looked around our house, where I thought I would spend the rest of my life. "What about this house?" "We haven't bought it yet." There was no joy in the return trip.Neither Otto nor Nathalie would say what happened.After Denver, Chicago seemed even less friendly and aloof.We settled into a small apartment and I was back in the harsh reality that we had no money and couldn't find a decent job.Otto started wandering around again, and Natalie worked as a salesperson in a store.My college dreams were shattered and we couldn't afford tuition.Surrounded by the four walls of my apartment, my prospects looked bleak. I thought, I can't live the rest of my life like this.After a brief period of intoxicating abundance in Denver, our current poverty looks worse, and we are desperately short of money.Working as a delivery boy at a drugstore was not the future I wanted. It was at this time that I decided to kill myself.Otto put me off the idea, telling me I had to turn the next page in my life.But the next page never came, nor did I see any hope.Otto's assurances were empty words. In September, I went to Sien Middle School.Otto continued to venture out, trying to make his big business.Natalie works full-time at a clothing store, but the money is still not enough.I have to help the family... I thought of Natalie's brother Sam, who ran the coat lockers of several hotels.The coat locker is staffed by attractive, scantily clad young ladies and a few bellboys who hang coats.Customers are generous when they tip these ladies, unaware that the money ends up in the hands of management. I took the light rail to the Big Loop to find my Uncle Sam, who has an office at the Sherman Hotel. He greeted me warmly: "Hi, Sidney, nice to see you. How can I help?" "I need a job." "Oh?" "I wish you would let me be a waiter in one of your coat closets." Sam knows our family's financial situation.He looked me over thoughtfully, and finally said, "Well, you look more than seventeen. I think you can go to the Bismarck Hotel." Under his arrangement, I started working that week. Being a waiter is easy.Customers would hand over their coats and hats to a waitress, who would give them a numbered tag, and would hand over their coats and hats to me, and I would hang them on the correspondingly numbered coat rack.When the customers come back, we return the coats and hats to them.
I now have a new schedule: stay at school until 3:00 p.m., then immediately take the light rail to Grand Loop, get off at the station near the Bismarck Hotel, and start work at the hotel.My working hours are from 5pm until the hotel closes.Closing time is usually midnight or later, depending on whether there is a special event.My salary was three dollars a night, which I gave to Natalie. Weekends are the busiest time for business in hotels, so I work seven nights a week.The holidays are just an emotional grind for me. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, many families come to the hotel to celebrate the festival. I can only watch those children and their parents spend the festive season together, and I am full of envy.Natalie was busy with work, Otto was away, and it was just me and Richard at home, no one else was with us for the holidays.At eight o'clock in the evening, everyone is enjoying their holiday feast and I'm scrambling to find a cafe or cheap restaurant to grab a quick bite and get back to work. There was an occasional bright spot in my monotonous and repetitive evening work – my bubbly Aunt Frances would occasionally drop by for an evening or two at the Bismarck Hotel.She is Natalie's younger sister, petite, vivacious, with black hair, witty and a sense of humor, and customers love her. The Bismarck Hotel has a new attendant in the coat locker, Joan Vitus, only a year older than me, and very pretty.I was fascinated by her and started to daydream about stories about me and her.I'm going on a date with her and I don't have money but she doesn't care, she only sees the good in me.We'll fall in love, get married, and have wonderful kids. She said to me one night, "My uncle and aunt have family lunches every Sunday, and I think you'll like them. If you have time this Sunday, come with me." My fantasy is about to come true. I had a great time that Sunday.This is a warm Italian family gathering, about a dozen people, old and young, sitting around a large table, the table is full of: bruschetta, spaghetti bean soup, chicken risotto , Lasagna. Joan's uncle, Louis Atrey, was approachable and gregarious, the head of the Chicago Doormen's Union.I thanked everyone before leaving and told Joan I had a great time.That's when our relationship really began. The next morning, Louis Atre was machine-gunned as soon as he came out of the house where we had lunched the day before. Joan just disappeared from my life. My illusions were shattered.
I was at school during the day, at the coat locker at night, and at the drug store on Saturdays, so I basically had no time for myself. There seemed to be something strange happening at home, and there was a tense atmosphere, a special tension.Both Natalie and Otto spoke in low voices, and their faces were gloomy. Otto came up to me one morning and said, "Son, I'm going to the farm. I have to go today." I was very surprised.I had never been to a farm and thought it must be fun. "I want to go with you, Otto." He shook his head, "Sorry, I can't take you there." "but--" "No, Sidney." "Okay then. When are you coming back?" "Three years later." After finishing speaking, he left. three years?It's unbelievable.How could he leave us and live on a farm by himself for three years? Natalie walked in.I asked her, "What's going on?" "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you, Sidney. Your dad's hanging out with some bad people," she said, "and he's selling vending machines to the store without knowing that there aren't any. His bosses ran off with the money and got caught. Your dad was convicted along with them, and he's going to jail." I was shocked.So the so-called farm is the prison. "Three years?" I didn't know what to say.How would we live these three years without him? Later, I realized that my worries were actually unnecessary. Otto reported to Lafayette State Penitentiary, and twelve months later he returned like a hero.
Notes: