Monday, March 18, 2013

Bleach Monster, Part VI


March 18, 2013

Murray sailed the Staten Island Ferry with his brother-in-law, Robbie. This weekend was going to be a break from his usual life.  He had things to do on the old home front of Staten Island. He chatted with Robbie.  But he pretty much lost himself in reading material.

The boat sailed and they trekked to Robbie’s home via train and car.  It snapped back into Murray’s head how much he hated going to and from the Island.  It wasn’t a bad place to grow up. However, it was so damn inconvenient to travel to and from. Plus it is somewhat backward from the rest of the City.

But he was going to a farewell party and hitting his old health club in between.  Overall Murray was in a good place. He was back to handling his special powers well. His sister, Danit was doing well with hers.  Danny was no longer getting bullied.  He was working hard to stop others from having this problem.

Murray had things to do. Danit was nice enough to lend him a car for the day or two he’d be on Staten Island.  As he jumped into the car his mind drifted back to his old days.  He thought of the crazies he hung out with then.  He wondered how different they are from the nut jobs he now spent his time with.

He had great pizza, worked out and slept in his mom’s house.  Next day did similar. Eventually he made it over to the catering hall for the farewell party.  His closest friends were there. This party was a farewell to place he grew up in.  It was being shut down and merged into another being.

Would it be a stronger one? Perhaps it would be.

Murray was wondering if this was the time to confront Danit about her powers. He knew she was trying to take a young lad under her wing to train him.

They were good friends as brother and sister. But he knew she wondered about him and how he’d control his powers.  He still had thoughts of going after the superficial people.  But back on his home base he should be ok.

Everything was great. He was excited to walk into the party.  All of the people he grew up with were there. People came from all over the country to say goodbye.  Thankfully he got a ride home to Queens.

While at the party there were people he wanted to attack with bleach. They didn’t do the right thing to bring everyone to the event. They didn’t let the young kids, who the disbanding group was created for participate and lead the show. However, he took pictures, shook hands and ate lots of salmon.

Meanwhile, Danit was in the park with Tony the kid that got beat up a few weeks ago. She befriended his mom.  Danit was trying to figure out if he had any powers or if they could be created.  She saw Danny, the blubber boy and figured Tony may have potential.

But she had no idea how Murray fleshed out Danny’s magic.  She was struggling.  She got so hyped up. That was very unusual for her.  She ran off into the woods and shot out wine.  She was not in control. 

After spraying the trees she sat on a rock and fell asleep for a few minutes. It was during this time that she figured out what to do with Tony.  But she had to break him apart from his mom.  She wasn’t going to take him away or hurt him.

But she saw how dependent he is on his mom. She knew if he was going to be strong he had be independent.   What powers he could have was still open.

The park was quiet. Most people were relaxing. There were baseball and soccer games being played.  Little kids were on the see-saws and monkey bars.  The ice cream truck rolled in. People ran out to go get their cones and went back to what they were doing. All was well.

As the day got later people started leaving.  Danit looked up at the sky and saw that a storm was brewing. She grabbed Audrey and put her into the car. She said goodbye to Tony and his mom, Elise. 

There were dramatic changes in the weather.  Tony was getting drenched on the way to the car with his mom.  The water was dragging him down.  But somehow he was fighting it. He was never a fighter. But since he got beaten up and then rescued by Danit he decided to work out a little. He was still a little kid. But he was getting stronger.

He struggled.  Elise was running after him. He was toughing it out. He almost got sucked down into a sewer.  But he managed to jump away from it.  He was soaking wet. Elise was screaming for him. He heard his mom’s screams. But knew he had to keep running. He got toward the car and turned his head. Mom was only a few feet away. 

His clothes were soggy. His feet were full of water. Elise, who was just as drenched as her son helped him into the car. She pulled away.

Tony was shivering. But he was proud of his mad dash to the car. Elise was cruising down Amboy Road.  The weather was clearing up.  A truck smacked into Elise’s Maxima.  She and Tony bounced around a little. However, they were ok.

They got out of the car and were ready to call the police and input the trucker’s into the iPhone so they can call the insurance company. The truck driver was walking with a limp. It looked like he broke his foot. He came after the wielding an ax and screaming.  It turns out he has a bad safety record and this was his trial trip to see if he’d maintain his employment.

Elise threw her arms around Tony. But he broke free. He ran toward the trucker.  Elise screamed at him. Tony started waving his arms and kicking his feet up and down.  Elise was crying.

As the tears rolled out of her eyes, gusts of water shot out of Tony’s knees. The trucker was knocked 15 feet away. The ax flew out of his hands. Tony ran over to him and tied him up. 911 was dialed the police came and took the report about the accident. No one mentioned Tony’s heroics.

The trucker was handcuffed and carted off to a mental hospital for evaluation. They did a DWI test. He tested sober. The accident was likely due to weather. His ax wielding was likely because of his fears of getting canned. That was in the police report. But the man couldn’t speak a complete sentence and seemed clinically insane.

Murray and Danit were steps behind Tony.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

RIP: Aquehongian Lodge # 112, June 1938-March 2013


I recently attended Aquehongian Lodge #112’s 75th Anniversary Banquet. It was the final meeting for the Order of the Arrow Boy Scout lodge that I grew up in.  On April 1, the lodges in all five New York City boroughs will be merged into one.

The Order of the Arrow (OA) is an honor society for campers. In order to become a member, you need to be at the least a First Class Scout and meet several camping requirements.  Then you are selected from your peers.

Those who are voted in undertake an ordeal. In the old days, when I was selected, you slept on your ground cloth, were given a candle so you could read the pieces of the OA ritual. You ate little and worked the next day. Times have changed and thus, the ordeal changed with the times. 

I was an eighth-grader when I passed my June ’84 ordeal. I joined the ritual team that fall. That team is now called ICE (Inductions, Ceremonies and Events).  Again, times have changed.  I took my Brotherhood the next spring.  To obtain that honor you must have been an Ordeal member for 10 months, been on a committee, attended a few service projects and learned the OA’s obligation, handshake, song and admonition. 

As I moved along in my membership, I became ritual team chairman and used to write the OA Tap Outs for my Lodge. I called them “Tap-Mania”. I was copying “Wrestlemania”, something all of us 80s teens loved. 

In Sept. 87, I was elected Lodge Chief.  One of my best friends counted the votes.  The incumbent dropped out of the race minutes before the election. My opponent got two votes. I wasn’t supposed to know that. My buddy opened his mouth. I hope the kid I beat cast one of his two votes. I got like 50. The next year, I ran unopposed.

My dad was chief of the soon-to-be defunct Shu Shu Gah Lodge # 24, Brooklyn. I joined Scouting to emulate “my fadder,” that’s what a former Chappy camper, my summer camp called his dad. I think he still does.

While I was chief, I had to be publications chairman at the same time. I was somewhat of a dictator. But I loved my Lodge so much. I could not let anything go wrong. I was chief of our 50th Anniversary party.

In June 1988, I earned my Vigil Honor, the highest honor you can receive in the OA. In my mind, it is the highest honor in Scouting. I am Eagle. However, the Vigil is more spiritual. Those of you that know me understand how spiritual I am.

I was chief during the Ordeal weekend that I took my Vigil Induction on. Sadly, two Cub Scouts drowned during the afternoon. 

My friends and I were building the ordeal’s induction fires and went to the rededicated Berlin Lodge in Pouch Scout Camp to get lunch. The old one was torched about a year before my some kids.

 

The ritual team did not associate with anyone else. We were bound to each other. We formed a clique. We walked down the trail and saw a Cubmaster letting his Cubs swim in Orbach Lake, Pouch Scout Camp. No swimming was allowed at the time. We yelled at them and made them come out.

 

We ate and walked back. We saw the Cubmaster, who admitted he couldn’t swim was in the lake up to his knees screaming the names of two kids. I was wearing a bathing suit. I tossed off my shirt and sneakers. My other ritual team members did the same. We jumped into the lake and led the Lifesaving merit badge lost bathers drill. We pulled one kid out. The ambulance rushed him off to the hospital. Unfortunately, he didn’t survive.

 

We were told the other kid ran out of the lake. So we set up a massive search all day and night.

I did my Vigil induction that night. My dad came to the morning ceremony. He saw me get my Vigil sash, axe and name. “Alhaquot Aptonen” interpreted as “Stormy Speaker”. I was so proud. But he pulled me off to the side and said the FDNY pulled the other kid out of the lake. He drowned.

I made my best friends in my Lodge.  Many of the guys are now married with kids. Some are getting married. 

When I was chief, I gave out positions to be on my “Cabinet”. Man did I love playing politics.  I was not nice. I was only 17. So if you wanted a job and ate lunch with me in the Tottenville High School “liberry”, you got a job. Yes, I know it is library. But a teacher in I.S. 34, once said all my students think they are going to the “liberry”, not the library. So it stuck with me.

As ritual team member, I played many parts. We dressed up as Lenni Lenape, Delaware Indians. We wore war paint. I was Meteu, the medicine man of the circle in induction ceremonies. I was Allowat Sakima, mighty chief of the circle in the Brotherhood ceremony. The Vigil inductions remain secretive. I was in those too.

The kids that got their positions by hanging with me in the “Liberry” practiced and photo copied the rituals at lunchtime. We were a Tony-award winning team.  I was very dramatic. Once a helicopter was flying over our ritual site. I was doing the OA’s “Legend”. I stopped looked at it and raised my staff.  It circled and flew away. 

I can tell thousands of stories. My friends and I sometimes meet for a few beers and reminisce.

Jumping back to our final meeting.  They called up all the Vigil members to join the ceremony to call out the new candidates for this esteemed honor.

I’m happy to say that everyone was able to join us in the ceremony. Some of our older crowd had some trouble getting up there. But we made sure they were recognized.

The meeting ended all of us in a circle singing, “Firm Bound in Brotherhood,” the OA song. 

Our eyes were filled with tears.  I had an amazing time seeing people, I have not seen in over 20 years. I wish others were there.  Those that couldn’t make it because they had other plans live too far or are in the great lodge in the sky. We placed a sash on the fire for those brothers that were watching us from heaven. We walked out. Part of me died.

Friday, March 8, 2013

ELEM-Entry NY’s Sixth Community Dinner

March 6, 2013

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of coordinating ELEM-Entry NY’s Sixth Community Dinner in the glamorous Upper East Side home of ELEM-Youth in Distress in Israel board member Marilyn Butler. We were there to raise money to help rehabilitate teens lured into Israel’s ever growing teen prostitution population.

Marilyn, a most gracious host, arranged for a delicious meal, featuring salads, salmon, chicken and lots more. Yuval Sheer, ELEM-Entry co-chair emeritus, and his amazing one-year-old son, Leo (the evening’s real star), and I readied things for the intimate gathering.

Yuval asked me to speak about the “Awake at Night” (Erim Bayala) program. Everyone expressed interest in learning about the program and to gain an understanding of why it is so important to make donations.

I showed an alarming video prepared by ELEM-Entry NY, which highlighted a pimp who got caught for forcing teens into the sex trade. The video also showed the efforts Knesset was making in its endeavors in trying to crack down on teen prostitution.

I also talked about how the some of the youngest, more innocent children don’t even get to keep the money they are paid. Instead, they are forced to turn it over to their pimps.

Following our discussion, we were delighted by the musical talents of Israeli up and coming musicians Mika Hary, vocalist, and Dan Nadel, guitar. They played several wonderful songs and then took requests. Our guests, in unison, all asked for a Leonard Cohen song. Mika and Dan broke into an amazing version of “Hallelujah.” All of us joined in. It brought a smile to my face, feeling this unity in the cause to help Israeli kids in need.

It channeled me back to my memories of the “Meet a Star Under Starlight” event and 2011 ELEM Gala Dinner. It featured Israeli Idol winner Diana Golbi, who was rescued by ELEM during her teen years. “Hallelujah” was her encore performance at both events.

This was my fourth Community Dinner. I look forward to my fifth. But I really look forward to the day we can have an ELEM-Entry NY Dinner to celebrate how we eliminated the harsh problems of the children we help rescue in Israel.

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