Saturday, October 31, 2009

PUNKUS IN HARLEM


PUNKUS IN HARLEM

You could say that Punkus and I grew up in the Bronx, New York although, as a matter of fact, I was born in Manhattan and she was born on the island of Jamaica.
Yet most of our early memories of each other concern Bronx locations. We first met when her mother and grandmother moved from Jamaica into a Union Avenue apartment where my best friend’s family lived. My family lived around the corner on 164th Street. I was a constant visitor to the Union Avenue home of my friend and since his mother was also from Jamaica, it was inevitable that the two families became acquainted. And it was inevitable, also, that I was introduced to Punkus’s family.
I was just 15 at the time, just entering DeWitt Clinton High School. Punkus was only ten years old so my interest in her at the time was like that of a little sister (I already had three younger sisters). But she soon became a special sister and she looked up to me as an older brother or even as a father figure, as her own father remained a divorced spouse in Jamaica. I took pleasure in showing her family familiar Bronx sites, which consisted mostly of the neighborhood soda fountains, movie theaters, beaches (mainly Orchard Beach), and of course the Bronx Zoo. Two of my favorite (black and white) photos of Punkus at this time I have lost, one of her dressed in a cowgirl outfit shooting a toy pistol I took at one of our park outings and the other of her dressed in Easter finery. The photos are gone but not my memories of those fleeting, youthful moments.
Those early outings with Punkus, although special to me, were not “dates” as we were always accompanied by either her mother, her grandmother or with my sisters. This platonic relationship lasted until the time I was drafted into the WW II Air Force at age eighteen—right out of high school. Punkus and I exchanged friendly letters during my four years of active service. When I returned home, the scenery in the Union Street area had remained pretty much as I had remembered. My best friend’s family (he had volunteered for the Marine Corps) still lived in the same apartment as did my family in their apartment around the corner. The only change I noticed was that Punkus had grown into a beautiful teen-ager!
Had Punkus lost the innocent, fun-loving qualities I found so appealing in years gone by, I probably would not have been romantically attracted to her. My wartime experiences with women had honed my ability to separate the flighty women from the serious ones. But as fortune would have it, I fell madly in love with my old friend. And she with me! So it was not long before we began going out on dates, this time solo! We revisited our old Bronx haunts—the theaters, the zoo, and the beach.
At some point in my return, I don’t know exactly when, I decided it was time to take Punkus on a date outside of the Bronx. And money-wise, the farthest I could take her out of the Bronx was across the river into Manhattan—specifically to Harlem. Which wasn’t an unlikely choice--at the time, Harlem was a hot-bed of exciting clubs. Punkus loved to dance, so we spent quite a number of hours in the Savoy Ballroom. I loved jazz, so we also were customers of places such as Small’s Paradise, Minton’s Playhouse, the Apollo theater, Well’s Chicken and Waffles for late morning breakfasts.
I wish I could end this story on a happy note, but you know what eventually happened to us. But wherever Punkus is today, I’m positive she remembers her visits to Harlem with me!