Different Hearts Walk Longer Miles
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The thread-bare Model-A Ford stopped at the curb, the slight drizzle giving it a false shine. Getting out on the curb side a young woman hurried a small boy and a suitcase up the steps of a house - it was mid-night as she rang the bell. The child just stared at her. When you're three years old you don't make decisions, but, you do have instincts. Little Jerry Foley was experiencing a very basic instinct - fear! The door opened a crack, then, on recognition, all the way. "Carol! What are you doing here at this hour?" Knowing her sister, Mary Waters knew another human sensation - dread! "Mary, keep Jerry here for a couple o' days, please, I have a chance for a good job as a hostess but I have to work late night hours. The money is good, Mary, I'll be able to have someone in permanently as soon as I can set it up." Her voice was urgent and insisting and something sensible was telling Mary to say no - she never really had the chance. In one moment Carol was out the door with a "call you tomorrow" thrown over her shoulder. She didn't even kiss her child good bye. It was goodby; they never saw Carol again. Mary's husband never wanted children of his own; he damn sure didn't want someone else's bastard! It was an uphill fight for Mary, she suffered in every direction and after a year and a half of agony, she had to give in. Finally, taking Jerry to a Catholic orphanage the nuns relieved her of her burden, physically, but she never could erase him from her mind. Many years later Mary made the effort to track him down and he did not remember anything about her.
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About the Book
Jerry Foley was only three years old when his mother left him on his aunt’s doorstep; he never saw his mother again. Although he grew up in an orphanage, Jerry’s life began when he enlisted in the Army in 1941. Released from service in 1944, Jerry relocates to New York City and becomes a motorcycle policeman and later a detective in vice. What sets Jerry apart is his ability to lead men and an unquenchable appetite for alcohol. On one of his nightly forays into Tony’s Place, owned by Tony Castaldo, Jerry meets Brian McHugh. Jerry, although intrigued by this fellow, is instantly uncomfortable around him when he learns he is a hair stylist. He assumes all hairstylists are faggots. Unfortunately for Brian he holds a secret desire for Jerry. Their lives become interwoven with Eleanor, a lovely Titian-haired young widow and Edith, a voluptuous blond; who work with Brian in an elegant salon owned by Cleo, a very savvy business woman. She has a wealthy lover who keeps her in luxury. Jerry has a detective partner who is married and in a loving marriage with Lucille; there are vain attempts to lead Jerry into marriage. He is very contented living with Nora, a widow he befriended when doing her a kindness seeing her home and eventually moving into her home and her heart. She had never had a child and he became a loving son. They are all woven together into each other’s lives and though ordinary people; the passion and drama bring out the worst and the best in each of them.
About the Author
V. AUSTIN KOCH served three years in the Army and lived most of his adult life in East Hampton Township. Koch now lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.