Fight at the VFW Hall

VFW Halls can be found around the country. The halls are big enough for meetings or public forums such as sales or receptions.

In Mix Tapes and Stuff, there is a big sale at the VFW Hall. Orville and Mix go there to see the items on sale. They are most interested in relics from the forgotten Schuyler Mine. What we find out at this scene is that friends Orville and Mix are now on opposite sides. Each want those relics for themselves.

I wrote about the VFW last week because these locations can be found in several towns. What are those VFW Halls for? You'll have to read last weeks blog for that. Here I'll give you a bit of the chapter where Mix and Orville have a fight.

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 13:

The VFW Hall looked like they built it a long time ago. A facade of red brick and gray concrete was a relic of pre-aluminum siding days. Spots of gray concrete splotched into the red brick looked like they did patchwork on this old building. Tall trees blocked the sun. The parking lot only had room for four or five cars so people parked on the street since the Hall was on a corner. One giant step led to the glass doors of the entrance.  

Orville followed a group of women all older than his mother to the doors. They stopped to blabber about grandchildren and their friends instead of just going in the building. One lady with crazy fake looking blonde-white hair laughed and grabbed the railing which left Orville no way to get around the group. 

He didn’t have a watch so he couldn’t be sure, but the time for the auction had to be soon. One woman walked in the building, but the next one had to talk to a guy at the door. 

“I saw Mary the other day,” she said. “She looked good after the operation. When Tony had that operation, he was sick for days. It made me sick to see him.”

Orville rolled his eyes. A guy in a jogging suit pushed along with nowhere to go. A woman in a long wool coat laughed and held a man’s shaky arm. One of her friends had to steer her away to the hallways of the building. 

An old man that looked even older than the ancient ladies blocked Orville. “Five bucks,” the man said. 

“What?” Orville screeched. “I’m going to spend money in there.”

“It’s for the veterans. You’re at a VFW Hall, buddy. Besides it’s just a small amount.”

“It’s more than my sister makes an hour at Tartan’s.” He pulled a crumbled five from his pocket and bored it into the man’s wrinkled thin hand. “Here, have fun with it. Rip off.”

The ladies hadn’t moved down the hall. They spread out and talked with their hands or bent over in fits of laughter. Orville bobbed up and down to see over or around them, but it didn’t work. They took baby sized steps and stopped several times to look at pictures of war heroes. The brown wood door that led to the auditorium was close enough that he could grab it, but the ladies kept jabbering on and on. He had to wait for another laughing fit before he could squeeze around them and enter the auction. 

An American flag as long as a Cadillac hung from a back wall. Flags attached to poles placed in black stands were in every corner. Tables had red, white, and blue plastic covering with merchandise on top. Metal folding chairs were opened and stationed in the middle of the floor in rows of twenty or so. The old ladies took a group of those seats and continued to blab. A Kent ten-speed bike hung from the ceiling by hooks and wire. One table had books and another cassettes. One table had gold colored lamps and porcelain statues.   

Another group of women around Orville’s mother’s age blocked his view of a table. Some guy in brown khakis and a blue shirt walked around with a clipboard and gave a “Hmmm” of approval at each stand.  The table Orville wanted was mixed in with the junk dealers under a window. A “Schuyler Mine” sign blew around the table every time wind from the window gusted. Someone had enough sense to tape down the description sheet. Chips of a broken shovel from the 1700s covered in dirt, dirty rags that were labeled as original clothes, and bits of wood from a staircase covered the table.  

Orville didn’t find these artifacts to be impressive. It seemed to be the kind of things that anyone could see in a stuffy museum. A tall man in a gray suit leaned over the table. He pulled a magnifying glass from his pocket and looked at the broken shovel parts. 

“It must be interesting,” Orville said. 

The guy nodded and felt the rags. “Ahhh.” A loose piece of metal fell off a shovel part. He held the metal up to the ceiling light before he smiled. “No point in trying to buy anything off this table,” he told Orville. 

Orville was ready to walk away until the guy said that. The table must have value. It didn’t matter what museum this guy worked for, he wasn’t getting the artifacts. 

A clipboard on the side of the table had empty pages for early bids. Orville went to grab it, but another hand got in his way. 

“O. What are you doing here?” Mix asked. 

“What are you talking about?” Orville answered. 

Mix put the clipboard down. He wore jeans with ripped knees and a button down shirt. One lone zit poked out from his cheek, but other than that, he looked better than he did in school.  “This morning was a disaster. I had to take a thirty-minute shower when I got home. I called you, but got not answer. I didn’t think you’d be here.”

“I wanted to check this stuff out.” He grabbed Mix by the shoulder. “Do you know where the bathroom is? You have a zit on your cheek.”

Mix put his hand to his face. “I feel it.” They walked with no one behind them to the bathroom just outside the auditorium.  

“You really want that Schuyler stuff?” Orville asked, when they got to the bathroom. 

“You know how much I wanted find that mine. What could someone else have? I’m jealous. I want to see it. You’re the one that never had an interest. You didn’t help me contact the Historical Society.”

Orville paced in front of the door. “I know, but I want to put a bid on that. You like music. Someone had a collection of vinyl albums out there.”

Mix grinned. “Vinyl. Ha! Cassettes are the future.”

“Some museum guy all ready wants that mine stuff. You don’t have the money to outbid a museum. Let me buy it. I’ll keep it safe because it’ll bring me attention.  It’ll make me popular. I can finally meet a girl like Dawn Summer.”

“You really have to give up on her.”

“Never.” Orville pulled out a shiny credit card. “I can pay for all I want with this. You’ll never out bid me so just go home.”

“That’s not your card is it?

“Doesn’t matter. They gave it to me. If I bid one really good bid, I’ll get it and own it.”

But I been digging and researching this. You should let me see it.” 

“I’ll let you see it, but not touch or keep.”

Mix stretched his fingers before he went to grab the card and yelled, “Gimme.”

The card slipped out of Orville’s fingers to the floor.  They both went for it. Mix’s hand landed on the card with Orville’s hand on his. Neither could get a grip. Orville slapped Mix with a backhanded slap that left a red slash on Mix’s face. He fell back with his feet in the air. The card slid under a sink.  

“I’m going to win. No one calls a winner, ‘Popcorn.””  He stood over the prone Mix like a skyscraper. “It doesn’t matter what you think. Look at how my parents live. They own stuff that no one else has and everyone likes them. Magazines are filled with rich people’s cars and houses. Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, the Helmsleys. My parents talk about them as heroes all the time.”  

“We don’t have to fight about this.” Mix slid back from Orville. “We’ll look at the table and leave. We could go to the Ridge and look for girls. McDonald’s has this thing called a McDLT. We could see what that’s about. It sounds like a normal burger but they wrap it differently in this really big piece of styrofoam. We need a ride because my bike is destroyed again.” 

“Don’t try to talk me out of this. You want to be my friend? Don’t stop me.”

“I’m your friend,” Mix whined. Why do you want this so bad? I looked for it first. I should see what is involved. Who brought this here?”

“Popcorn. This will stop that stupid name.”

“It’s your Dad’s card. You’re using your Dad’s credit card. Your Mom will flip.”

“No, she doesn’t care.” He blocked the door. “You can’t say anything because he gave me the card. Leave me alone,” he hiccuped. “Will you leave me alone?”

Mix stood up and clapped his hands like they were dirty, and then ran into Orville and bounced off his flabby body. “Oh a tough guy.” 

Orville grabbed him and swung him into a toilet stall door. He tackled Mix and forced him toward the toilet. Mix grabbed the top of the stall wall and pushed back with his whole body. They fell back to the sinks. Orville twisted and landed on top of Mix.  

“You don’t understand,” Orville yelled. “You’re popular. You have friends.”

“Let go, freak,” Mix yelled.  He made a fist even as Orville held his hands to the ground. Orville lost his grip and Mix punched Orville in the eye. 

“I’m blind.” 

“Good.” Mix fixed his shirt and stood. 

Orville held his eye with his left hand and reached out for Mix with his right who swatted his hands away.  

“You’re really annoying.” 

“Don’t go out there.” Orville ducked to avoid a punch Mix threw. His arms hurt and red marks covered him. He swung his open hand, but Mix ducked and kicked at him. 

 “Stop,” yelled a male voice. A guy with a blue suit slammed open the bathroom door and stood over Orville and Mix with his hands at his hips. His worn wrinkled faced turned red as he bit his lip. “What do you think you’re doing in this bathroom?”

“None of your business,” Orville yelled back. He stood about a foot shorter than the old man. “I have an auction to go to.” 

Mix leaned against the sinks. His side bled again. 

“You’re leaving this building now.” The old man held the door while two more men in blue suits pointed the way out. 

“I’m not leaving.” Orville turned to the auditorium, but the man grabbed his collar. “Leave me alone. I’ll call the cops.”

“The cops already know. You don’t leave, they’re coming,” the old man said. 

“I want to bid. You can’t stop me.”

Another guy grabbed Orville’s shirt and pulled. Orville grabbed the door to stop them. He didn’t want to kick these geezers. A fourth guy pried Orville’s hand away and Orville slid down the hallway. People watched. Orville screamed, “I’ll sue,” as the men pushed him out of the building. Mix followed on his own. 

“Don’t ever talk to me again,” Orville told Mix before he ran away outside. 

http://www.amazon.com/Mix-Tapes-Stuff-JJ-Lair-ebook/dp/B00KFTKCKE/

What Happens Next? 

You can purchase Mix Tapes and Stuff at Amazon.com. The link is above. 

I'll have a new post next week from Schuyler.