Charlie and I grew up together,
and I wish t'heck I knew what happened to him. His dad
was my dad's age, and pop really liked him - but I didn't
care for Charlie's old man. Charlie had a couple other
friends that were always around and I liked them all,
but Charlie was my favorite. I especially hated Charlie's
dad when I heard the story. He was the one who decided
to kill Charlie.
It all happened when Charlie
was pretty young. His dad was under a lot of pressure.
The guy that told me this story said, "He was struggling
to make a name for himself and Charlie was holding him
back." I don't think Charlie was holding his Dad back
at all, he was just a hardheaded kid that didn't always
do what he was told.
I remember once when Charlie
was just sorta acting up, his Dad threw him across the
room and hurt him real bad. I just stood in the corner
of the garage where they were working together, and kept
quiet so he wouldn't grab me 'n do the same thing. He
ran over and grabbed Charlie and started crying like a
baby - saying how sorry he was. I was pretty scared so
I slipped out and ran home.
The guy who told me the
story said he was there when it happened, and this is
how he told it.
"Charlie's dad was trying
to get him to behave so he could get his work ready. He'd
already told Charlie's buddy to shut up and sit quietly
in the corner, and that's exactly what he did. I just
kept my mouth shut and kept sewing the uniforms. It wasn't
long before his dad started yelling at Charlie, but you
know how ol' Charlie could be. He just kept his mouth
shut and stared at his dad. Next thing I knew his dad
had an axe in his hand and was swinging it at Charlie.
It hit his leg and caused a terrible wound. He stepped
back and just looked at poor little Charlie lying there.
I don't really know to this day if he was gonna swing
again, but the voice of Charlie's best friend kinda broke
the tension."
"Edgar," the odd, snorty
voice said, "if you kill Charlie you'll either be back
on the streets of Chicago selling newspapers, or me 'n
you'll be doing 'schtik' again on the comedy circuit."
Edgar Bergen turned to
Mortimer Snerd then back to Charlie McCarthy. "You're
right Mortimer."
He had Charlie's leg fixed
and the rest is history, but I'd sure like to know whatever
happened to ol' Charlie.
About
the Author
|
Bookstore
