Maddie

Love / Angst

It was 1972. I was young, fit and strong, five ten, 170 lbs.,  black haired, deep blue eyes and as deeply tanned as one could be. It was a summer on Cape Cod and what a summer it was to be.

I had been working as an assistant manager in a Brooks Drugstore in the West end of Hartford. I had a regional manager , Stanley Parola and he was a wonderful man. He was short, Jewish and chewed on these nasty cigars all the time. He loved huge cars and always had the biggest Oldsmobile they made. He really was a mentor and a kind considerate individual.

I was offered a promotion to manager in store down by the Connecticut shore and of course this was Stanley’s doing. I went as far as driving down to see the store. It just left me flat, hesitant, unsure and anything else a young man could feel. The thought of all that responsibility was not comforting and in a place I had never been. I would have to make so many changes and quickly. I was not ready for this and told this to Stanley. I told him I wanted to be transferred to the Cape. I was familiar and had been living there for summers forever. The stores were busy and it seemed like a challenge. He told me to think seriously about this , for the store in Connecticut was under his supervision , which was like saying I am watching out for you.

Now mind you , I have been known to make erroneous decisions from time to time and this was one of those times. I got the transfer and was sent to Orleans. This is where this story goes south and north at the same time. This store in Orleans was managed by a husband and wife team. I must tell you right from the start this is not a good situation.

Maddie was the head cashier . She was tall, blonde and beautiful . Smart as could be. She was studying marine biology at Woods Hole. I must say it took me no time at all to get the attention of this pretty young woman and within a week we were dating or I guess a couple. This is the north part of the story. The south is that working for this particular , un imaginative , morose manager and his termagant wife was more than young me was prepared to bare. I called the head office and quit. Parting company was not pleasant but then again Maddie was with me and summer on Cape Cod began. I took a sub human construction job with my father and became a grunt. We worked hard all day in the sun and sand , ocean breezes pretending to cool us, each day getting darker and darker. Funny, in those days people were using baby oil to get a deeper tan and the thought of sunblock had never come to mind . I doubt it had yet been invented. By the end of a summer of this time I almost appeared to be a light skinned Jamacian! Every night I was with Maddie. We would go to many different beaches and she would show me the tricks of the sea. One night she showed me the secret plankton and their curious light. We made love at every chance and were passionate as twenty one year olds are taken to be. We would visit the several local watering holes that were there at the time. One was called the Land Ho. It was a bar right out of the Perfect Storm. A fisherman’s bar, a locals bar , a could be trouble bar. It was smack dab in the center of Orleans and had a bartender named Bob. He was a fairly tall man and could probably take care of himself. The bar was rough and had peanut barrels around the room. All the shells went right to the floor and provided traction from all the spilled drinks. The juke box blared and became louder as the night went on .Behind the bar was a ships bell placed at around eight feet over the bar. During Bob’s shifts , which we liked to frequent, a good tip received would produce a kick to this bell . Everyone would applaud and order more drinks. We loved this place.

Maddie was another of my erroneous decisions. I left her at the end of the summer to try to return to an old girlfriend that used me like a dishrag. A much smarter me would have captured that young woman that obviously cared for me and made a good life.