A Nick & Carter Holiday #11
Tuesday, May 30, 1933
It's Decoration Day and Nick has decided to skip school because he doesn't want to take his history test.
With a fistful of money, he tries to convince his sister, Janet, to head out for a day at Chutes-by-the-Beach where they can ride the Big Dipper and visit the Fun House.
She finally agrees since she never gets to eat the hot dogs with mustard that she likes so much!
Will they have the time of their lives or will someone snitch and turn them over to the police for truancy?
Either way, it's quite likely going to be a day both children will remember for many years to come.
Welcome to a year of holidays with Nick Williams and Carter Jones!
This is the eleventh in a series of short stories all centered around specific holidays.
Each story is a vignette that stands on its own and takes place from the 1920s to 2008.
This is a short story containing about 7,900 words.
RATING:
1198 Sacramento Street
San Francisco, Cal.
Tuesday, May 30, 1933
After breakfast
"Come over here and quick!" hissed Nick across the hall to his sister who was just walking out of her room with her brown leather satchel in one hand and blue coat in the other.
Turning a quizzical face in his direction, Janet asked, "What?"
Nick motioned. "Come on. And don't dawdle."
Janet rolled her eyes but walked across the hall and into her brother's room. She sat down on his bed, threw her coat to one side, and let her satchel drop to the floor.
Nick softly closed the door and then, with his back against the knob, looked at his sister, as he whispered, "Wanna play hooky, today?"
Janet thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Today's the day they're bringing flowers to school and we're going to the cemetery." Looking exasperated, she said, "It's Decoration Day, you know."
Ignoring Janet's usual way of being bossy, Nick glanced over at his desk. "But I've got a buncha dough."
Janet's eyes widened a little. "Oh, yeah? Wheredja get it from?"
"Never you mind," said Nick, wondering if maybe his idea wasn't as good as he thought it would be. "I got the dough and now I wanna spend it."
"Nick!" hissed his sister. "We're gonna be late for school! Both of us!"
Crossing his arms, Nick shrugged. "I don't care. I gotta test today and I don't feel like takin' no test and that dough's burnin' a whole in my pocket." He grinned. He'd heard someone talkin' just like that on the radio a few weeks ago.
"How much?"
Nick's eyes widened as he quietly said, "Fifty bucks!"
Janet leaned forward and almost fell off the bed. "Fifty dollars! Wheredja get money like that?"
"Never you mind." Nick tilted his head. "You wanna go to Chutes-at-the-Beach and ride the rides?"
Before Janet could answer, they both heard Zelda clap twice and call up from the bottom of the stairs. "Children! Time for school!"
Janet jumped off the bed and grabbed her satchel. "I'm not gonna be late. Allie would be so mad."
Nick shrugged. "Suit yourself. If you change your mind, you'll find me at the usual place in the park." He reached into his front pocket and pulled out five dollars. Waving the small wad of bills in his fist in front of his sister's nose, he said, "Here's car fare from that snooty school of yours to our place in the park."
Janet blinked twice, looked at the money, and then looked at her brother.
"Children!"
Shaking her head, Janet dashed around Nick, opened his bedroom door with her satchel in hand, and then ran down the hallway towards the stairs.
"Janet!" exclaimed Zelda. "How many times must I tell you not to run down the stairs? Do you want to break your neck and end up in the hospital for six months like that poor child I told you about in Salt Lake City?"
Seeing that his sister had left her coat behind, Nick shoved the dough in one of its pockets, and then, running into the hallway, said, "Janet! You forgot your coat!"
Nick Williams Mystery Series
In 1953, the richest homosexual in San Francisco is a private investigator.
Nick Williams lives in a modest bungalow with his fireman husband, a sweet fellow from Georgia by the name of Carter Jones.
Nick's gem of a secretary, Marnie Wilson, is worried that Nick isn't working enough. She knits a lot.
Jeffrey Klein, Esquire, is Nick's friend and lawyer. He represents the guys and gals who get caught in police raids in the Tenderloin.
Lt. Mike Robertson is Nick's first love and best friend. He's a good guy who's one hell of a cop.
The Unexpected Heiress is where their stories begin. Read along and fall in love with the City where cable cars climb halfway to the stars.
Long before the Summer of Love, pride parades down Market Street, and the fight for marriage equality, San Francisco was all about the Red Scare, F.B.I. investigations, yellow journalism run amok, and the ladies who play mahjong over tea.
Nick & Carter Holiday Series
Welcome to a year of holidays with Nick Williams and Carter Jones!
This is a series of short stories with each centered around a specific holiday.
From New Year's Day to Boxing Day, each story stands on its own and might occur in any year from the early 1920s to the first decade of the 21st Century.
Saturday Series Spotlights
Author Bio:
Frank W. Butterfield is the Amazon best-selling author of 89 (and counting) self-published novels, novellas, and short stories. Born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, he has traveled all over the US and Canada and now makes his home in Daytona Beach, Florida. His first attempt at writing at the age of nine with a ball-point pen and a notepad was a failure. Forty years later, he tried again and hasn't stopped since.
Decoration Day, 1933 #11
