A Somber Survivor Halloween Party

A Somber Survivor Halloween Party

After Hurricane Sandy the ‘Game Bar’ had opened Thursday running its lights on some car batteries rigged up by Poppy’s friend Bossman from the Deli.  But Friday the lights came on and Reeta prepared the ‘Game’, along with Krizz’ee and some others, for the Halloween Party.

  

I showed up about 9:00 (I found out late in the afternoon or early evening about the party still going on).  The bar had a few regulars and two women I had never seen before.  Food had been laid out by Bossman from his Deli, Roast Beef, Pastrami, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, Pickles, Peppers and other delightful eats.  But the spirit in the Game was somber, most folks there came to escape.

The regulars who would show up later, the survivors and the bedraggled came to the game to get warm others had another motive.  The two women no one saw before stole some of the food and split.  Krizz’ee and Reeta were pissed but there was still plenty of food.  Some of the ladies came in costume trying to get their fellow survivors in the Halloween spirit. 

But it was the eerie darkness of a Halloween without electricity, without heat, without gasoline, without food that had the souls in the ‘Game’ visibly rattled.  I jumped on the jukebox playing Halloween music and motivational rock.  The place started to liven up although conversation was not about Halloween but about survival and getting information regarding resources.  But even with those conversations, people loosened up and had a good time.

Most of the regulars didn’t have electricity at their homes and were glad to be at the ‘Game’ to enjoy heat.  Others talked about the hardships they were helping their neighbors through.  Some conspired on how to get more gas to run their generators and even more found ways to score blankets and other clothing to keep their kids warm.

Soon the ladies got the music to liven up even more and some of the patrons started to dance, some started to joke and laugh and eventually the reality that most sought to escape from was set aside and forgotten for a little while.  I asked Poppy if he saw these women before and he said “no, but I won’t keep a grudge, or keep them out…who knows how hard or desperate they might be.”

Everybody was in a good frame of mind, even after Midnight, even after the TV had special reports on some new fires and the discovery of bodies in some houses in Far Rockaway.

Krizz’ee turned down the TV and let the music play after the football games and the Basketball games had finished.  All of us were stealing a moment to encourage each other, to laugh, to have a moment of fun.

But what was evident was the lament when it came time to leave, some forced a smile through tears as they left the happiness of the party for the grief of the reality that had to be lived through.  Bossman talked of finding gas so he could get to his distributors to restock his Deli.  He had run out of nearly everything, he jury rigged his store like he rigged up the ‘Game’…doing business and helping folks any way he could.

Others had to find a way to get to work, still others had to find a way to get food in their house.  Many found temporary shelter at their friend’s homes with power and heat, so they could stay warm through the coming days.  What did become real to me was that the self righteous, know it all, street hardened New Yorker's were again doing what they do best in the face of tragedy and disaster…come together!

I thought of my Dad when I got in the car to leave…I wondered if I was doing enough for my family and friends.  As I started to fade into sadness I got a call from my brother telling me that the folks from Oceanside and Long Beach can’t thank me enough for use of my generator…they can run their oil burner and their freezers.  They are supporting three families under one roof.

  

The blessing for me is I did prepare for absolute disaster, but never lost power, didn’t take any real damage and had stored up both gas and oil.  We had heat at home, we had the ability to help somebody.  When I got off the phone with my brother I thought of some words by Dr. King. 

Dr. King said “The world is all messed up, the nation is sick, trouble is in the land, confusion all around…but I know somehow only when it is dark enough can you see the stars and I see God working in this period…in a way that men in some strange way are responding something is happening in our world. 

The masses of people are rising up and wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, Accra, Ghana, New York City, Atlanta Georgia or Memphis Tennessee, the cry is always the same We Want To Be Free.”

In the bondage of the current despair brought about by disaster, a bad economy, cynicism of government promises and distrust of banks, business, the state and the Church, the New Yorker, specifically the Long Islander struggles through the cry and the tears to be free again. 

I remembered how Dad worked to secure what we had so we could have a life, now I have become as my Dad was, somebody who works to build what was a good life.  As I left the parking lot I heard the jukebox playing a Bill Wither’s tune…"just call on me brother when you need a hand…we all need somebody to lean on…”

RJ