Muscles, Our Neighbor

I was catching up on some Back SS reading and came across the series of entries about Muscles, from our old Perkins-Van Geisen neighborhood. He lived right there on the NE corner of Perkins and Van Geisen, just across the street from Wayne Meyers '62' and kitty-corner from Jimmy Heidlebaugh '65'. So Jimmy and I would watch him take off from his side yard on his bicycle, and then later maybe watch him land when he came back.

Hey Hey Ho Ho.

A very fancy bike. Horns and streamers. And he went EVERYwhere, it turns out, and everyone knew him.

Muscles. Sonny.

Just reading those several days of entries in SS, I was surprised at just how far and wide he roamed. Silly us, in Jimmy's front yard, thinking he was somehow more our friend than anybody else's. Ya know? Like our jealous little minds could ever even guess what a wide following Sonny had.

But still...Wayne knew him best, Jimmy knew him second best, and I was third.

The house is still there. One of the original old farm houses in the middle of what was once a large cherry orchard--before the pre-cuts and pre-fabs were put in. And later, Jason Lee.

The big house had a screened-in porch, where Sonny had one or two pet monkeys. You'd sometimes see their shadows moving around up inside there when you went past, even though we never actually went up into Sonny's yard to get a closer look through the screen. We just didnt.

Nobody did.

It wouldn't have been polite.

Plus, I was scared of those monkeys.

I was surprised to read that old Richland Villager article from 1961 about Sonny coming back to town for a visit. Without his bicycle.

I almost couldn't believe it.

And maybe I don't. I mean, who was he with? It only said "friends."

Because Wayne knew him best, and Jimmy knew him second best. And I was third.

And I wonder what he must've thought when they drove him past the old house?

• Last Time Around
  
• Charlie Nevins
  
• Young Men And Fire
  
• Austin Healy
  
• Cathy
  
• David River's Birthday
  
• Han's Pavilion
  
• Muscles, Our Neighbor
  
• John Browne, Learning to Dance
  
• Your Brother Mark Browne
  
• Buster
  
• Celluloid Lies
  
• Nuked
  
• Learning to Box
  
• Dog and Goose
  
• Buses and Such
  
• Stealing
  
• Hookybobbing
  
• Stiles Old Upstairs Apartment
  
• Sign Of The Time
  
• Learning to Drive