by Fred Nicholson | Jul 3, 2020 | Fred Nicholson, Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
a Book Kid.We steal some cheap flashlights. I am under the tented cover at night,reading a thrilling, historical Russian novel. It is Sholokhov’s, ‘The Don Flows Home to the Sea’. The Reds and the Whites. His stories charge,flow are sad joy full...
by Fred Nicholson | Jul 3, 2020 | Fred Nicholson, Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
“You can’t catch me”, and much more.It’s winter,an early morningSaturdayin NYC.We are down stairsplaying Tagin the new snow,that fell last night.He shouts”You can’t catch me”and is running fastto the safe spot.Determinedto tag...
by Fred Nicholson | Jun 15, 2020 | Fred Nicholson, Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
Fill in the blanks.Mother, Austrian Polish Jewsent to Boston,all her family die in Auschwitz.Mother meets father, black and Native Indian, he says,living in Harlem.Mother and father have a child, me,Born in Sydenham Hospital,Bronx, New York.Father and mother...
by Fred Nicholson | Mar 12, 2020 | Fred Nicholson, Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
House Guests We kids,us boys and girls,didn’t have any guestscome over to hang with. Ma didn’t either.She was fearful of intruderssneaking into our 13th floorhousing project apartment. Dad had house guests over,same ones every few months,five or six in the living...
by Fred Nicholson | Mar 12, 2020 | Fred Nicholson, Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
“Do what you’re told.” When they told me“Lock the doors and bar the windows”,I responded immediately. When he told me“Go to your room and take off your clothes”,they said “We’ll show him”, and we did. When she told me“I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap”,they...
by Fred Nicholson | Mar 12, 2020 | Fred Nicholson, Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
For years I dreamed of pushingwith palms and soles against the coffin lid.Now I lay in the dark under the wool blanket,settling into a comfort, imagining the feelingsof a mother’s warmth. Being my own motherhas not been the same as wanting to have onethat holds and...
by Fred Nicholson | Jan 10, 2020 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
Normal I’m stooping scoopingants out of their homewhere grass meets path The good humor ice cream stickcatapults them into the airto drop and scurry crazily aboutI dig with a vengeancefaster and deeperto get to the bottom of things It’s early Sunday morning hot JulyNo...
by Fred Nicholson | Jan 10, 2020 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
Eliminating Carelessness He lectures me on carelessness.I curse myself for dropping the plate.”Next time you won’t be so careless.” He mixes his potent solution,Castor Oil, Milk of Magnesiaand Castoria in a water glass. He’s an expert at making...
by Fred Nicholson | Jan 10, 2020 | Fred Nicholson, Kids and Grown Ups, Love is the Answer, Stories
Mama You reach through the fogto grab a little handand lead me across the street. I see your sweet-smelling skin,Cashmere Bouquet fragrant and smooth,when passing the barely open bathroom door. I love when your behind movesside to side and the men’s eyesfollow,...
by Fred Nicholson | Jan 10, 2020 | Fred Nicholson, Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
the Balance Be and know the dark firstto appreciate the lightmore In the carheading homeI thought ‘Dad brought joy into the housewhen he appeared with big bagsfull of beef, pork and chicken. We’d all gather aroundthe dining room table,6 kids and...
by Fred Nicholson | Nov 27, 2019 | Fred Nicholson, Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
January 18th, 2019 Tongues of Fire & Forgiveness in NYC I lay down to rest last night and the word ‘forgiveness’ sprang up. I thought we were going to be talking about my relationship with dad. My lined yellow pad was close at hand. The next instant ....
by Fred Nicholson | Nov 24, 2019 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
Relax, smile, and blank them out. (part 1)I did that a lot,smiled and looked relaxed,even when I wasn’t. The electrical cord whistlesbefore hitting my body,wherever it lands. I’m tied face downto the cots four corners,for some ridiculous reason and never...
by Fred Nicholson | Jul 7, 2019 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
The child in meis still methis many years later. That un-trusting frightened onestill hovers in the background,popping up when he whiffs fear. The first to test the waters.Is that a porpoise or a crocodile waiting just beneath the surface? An inner cast of...
by Fred Nicholson | Dec 16, 2018 | Kids and Grown Ups, Love is the Answer, Stories
In a written piece from December 10th, ‘Let’s talk about Vietnam’, I wrote, ‘I was raised with hatred for Jews and even the word repulsed me’. A friend asked, “How long did it take to transform that hatred?” I really...
by Fred Nicholson | Aug 31, 2018 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
In the beginning, terrifying darkness reigned and found easy entry into me. My angels jumped to and battened down the hatches. Invisible rays, body/mind closures and blanking*, kept me relatively safe and sound, in those early years. *Blanking: When I felt threatened...
by Fred Nicholson | Jan 17, 2015 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
Secrets A child in thought is how I most remember myself. A child talking little, thinking a lot, afraid a lot. Loving peace and quiet, hating when he comes home sick. Not understanding her when she rattles on in a language that seems to be English but somehow isn’t....
by Fred Nicholson | Jan 1, 2015 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
It’s a winter’s night in our 13th floor bedroom. Both windows are wide open. The room smells like urine. We shiver from the cold. One cot mattress is wet and leans against the wall, so it will dry quicker. Both sides have been eaten through by too many accidents. We...
by Fred Nicholson | Apr 21, 2014 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
He bangs on her head with the frying pan. I told you BONG to meet me BONG at nine o’clock not nine fifteen. BONG BONG I had to pay that fuckin’ cabbie SLAP extra BONG SLAP because you SLAP BONG “I’m sorry . . .” PUNCH don’t wanna’ listen. Now get in there PUNCH SLAP...
by Fred Nicholson | Apr 21, 2014 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
He’s 83 today but looks younger in his black suit. I whisper to him and play with the fingers that respond unnaturally. His closed lids make me wonder if his eyes are still in there. For three days he lays in view of 60 empty chairs. My brother comes by with his wife....
by Fred Nicholson | Apr 21, 2014 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
Eye Peace we hold hands, mama and me climb the stepsto Lester Weintraub, OPTOMETRIST. he tests me with the chart,changes lenses in the two-eyed machine,blinds me with his pen light gizmo,says SEE YOU TOMORROWwe go back the next night,and he adjusts my new glasses.i...
by Fred Nicholson | Apr 21, 2014 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
Come in here boy Sit down Let’s talk like men When there’s something on your mind let me know We’ll discuss it What we discuss is between you and me You’re not a man if you can’t keep a secret You got that? Good Let’s shake on it. * Boy Come in here Stand right there...
by Fred Nicholson | Nov 24, 2012 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
He storms into the boys room, whips the clothing closet curtain back and hollers, What the . . . Girl . . . no, don’t you move a muscle. Girl come in here. You gotta see this. She shuffles into our room, cased in her sadness cloud and stands beside him. Look at...
by Fred Nicholson | Oct 23, 2012 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
When I was 12, we lived in the Lillian Wald Housing Projects in the Lower East Side of New York City. Every summer we’d pass the Pitt Street Pool and hear the splashing and laughter coming from the other side of the high brick wall. That summer day mom said,...
by Fred Nicholson | Jul 6, 2012 | Kids and Grown Ups, Stories
Do you know what welfare means? It means I’m going with Ma and a big brown US Department of Agriculture bag open in the shopping cart to the Welfare Distribution Center in another project building, across from the basketball court. It means walking past the...
