Sure, little lady, you can come aboard. Deelighted ya stopped by, whatever it's for. Let me give ya a hand. Nice day, isn't it? May get a bit rough tonight when the storm blows through. Can I offer ya something to drink? Now, now, I've got all kinds of stuff here: bourbon, Scotch, gin, vodka. Even got some craft beers from the monastery, Belgian stuff young folks like you seem to like. Oh, all right. I'll get ya some water. Think I got a bottle below. C'mon down, your price is right!
Here ya go. No, don't drink much anymore myself. Just a belt around happy hour, only somethin' good. Don't ever settle for riding second class, I always say. Well, haven't been doin' it alla 96 years, just about 7 decades, more or less. Yeah, I'm George Payne: welcome to my yacht. No, lotsa people tell me I don't look my age.
So you're a Harvard student? Deevinity school and everything? So what brings ya to Scarecrow Island, Connecticut? Doing a cultural study on old people and their memories, especially how faith has affected their lives. Well, you've come to the right place: I got an excellent memory and glad to tell you everything I can about this place, been here a long time. Got a little faith, just a little, no more. I know He's up there, just hope He's not lookin' this way too often.
Where do I come from? What, don't ya believe I'm a Yankee? Oh, hell no, not ashamed of where I come from: Wesley Island, Georgia. Off the coast a ways, just like this little spit of land. Bein' up North has rubbed most of the accent out, but not all of it. My Dad was a soldier in World War I, the Great War, but didn't make it back home, they said he died of Spanish Influenza in Iowa. Never knew him, even when I was in diapers. Mom and me were pretty much alone. Mom died when I turned 15, and I worked my way up the coast. Nope, never finished High School, but I've got a super memory, almost freaky.
By the way, you look like somebody I knew way back. She was a little on the tall side, like you, blonde hair, blue eyes, curvy. You musta played volleyball in high school. Thought so, aha! No, her name doesn't come to me. What's your name, darlin'? Lucy Winkler. Wow, that rings a bell, too. You didn't just get out of a time machine, didya? Oh well, I'm a sucker for ponytails, especially one on each side.
So ya want me to tell you stories. There'll be a price. Oh, Gloria told you. Ooo, she's askin' for it, that one, she might get a paddlin'. And that didn't stop you from comin' down? You got no problem...I imagine since your gonna be a minister, a man of the-whoops, woman of the cloth-all right, suits me fine. Make it worth my while and I'm happy to spend time with you, particularly since you've got such nice tits. Thanks for smilin', you're a pretty girl.
No, don't know why I'm still here. Like I said: keep my distance from Him; maybe He's forgot 'bout me. Now I've been to church a few times, I'm not an atheist. I can be pretty moral at times. Well, I always eat oatmeal in the mornin', like my greens, catch my own fish, usually eat what's fresh, unless the harbor's frozen over and I have to take the boat out of the water. Then I stay up at the old lighthouse, keep a cot up there. Oh, Winter slows everythin' down here, most people leave, the rich bastards. Used to sail down the coast myself, even far as Cuba, to get away from the cold, but can't do that anymore. But I keep pretty active, always doin' something or someone, Aha! Well, thank ya for saying I could be in my seventies, that's right nice of ya. It's not the years that matter, it's the milage. Sure, I don't go up ladders anymore, I'm not stupid, but I don't sit around too much neither. Nope, not much in the way of aches and pains, I'm still pretty limber. You'll see...
Summer of '58? Hell yes, I remember it, remember it well. It was a good summer for me in more ways than one. Why d'ya pick that one? You had to pick one over 50 years past for your project. Oh, Gloria told you big changes started that year, things were never the same after that. OK, I get it. Oh, you're gonna record me on your iPhone? Shit, what's the world comin' to? No, I don't mind. Can't embarrass me, always said what I wanted and didn't give a shit what anybody thought 'bout it.
Oh, I been here since after the War, WW2. Did a spell in the Merchant Marines. Caught on here as a handyman, by '58 I was called the Caretaker of Scarecrow Island. Well, it made sense, I like to get around, do a lot of different stuff, like to walk the beaches, see what's comin' over the horizon, and I only sleep 'bout 2 hours at a time. Oh, I sleep 'bout 3 or 4 times a day, that's enough for me. Nope, always been that way. Well, mostly I just kept my eyes open, you know, in case a strange boat came over the horizon or a gnarly weather forecast came over the air and spread the word when I needed to. Had a radio for the Coast Guard if I needed it, and the State Patrol. Only 'bout 12 families ever lived here, even now.
Was a mechanic in the MM: a radio man. Could fix pretty much everythin' that broke round here, still do. Still run over to the mainland in my launch one or twice a week, sail if it's nice, or I used to. Girl in every port, in the old days. Oh, you don't believe that? You'll see, Lucy, you'll see. Think you what want to, aha!
Oh, that summer was a beautiful one, '58. I remember the day when the yacht came in with the Halstrom family, a little after Memorial Day; that's what started everythin'. Lots of big hopes rode in that day. Mike Halstrom was in oil, big oil, high up in the company. No, which one doesn't matter. Good guy, average build, blue eyes, dark hair, pushin' 40. He'd been here as a kid, working the grounds at the Barclay Inn one summer. Almost local boy makes good, that story, rich man comin' back to his roots. Nope, he didn't come from here. His wife Betty was a bitch: tall, pretty thin, massive tits and hips, usually had a look on her face that could curdle milk. Matronly, wanted to rise high in society. Don't think I ever saw her smile, well maybe a time or two but we're not at that part of the story. Daughter Anna: 18 year old perfection. If she'd been one of the summer workers I woulda taken a crack at her.
No, Teddy Barclay spotted her on the way in, never got a chance. She was running around deck in a bathing suit when they came around the point, changed for when they docked: dressed in a silly sailor suit like a 12 year old. Yeah, you're right but we're way ahead of the story. Let's take this in order. I saw Teddy up on the hill with his binoculars that morning, well he was there a lot anyway, looking at the ships or at the beaches. A good lookin', red blooded boy, hard-workin', just done with High School and saving money for college. Tall, dark and handsome lad, nothing like his father. His father Edward was a fat, dorky smartass who came from a good family and picked up the family taste for booze. Damn near drank his way out of that Inn, but that's getting ahead of the story, too. Teddy's mom Brenda was a looker: average size, weight and everything, but my, how hot! That face could not only launch a thousand ships, it could stop them dead in the water, too. Had her bedroom window in my telescope many a night.
Now, did I say I was a good person? I still get some action, once or twice a week. There's a couple of ladies like Gloria who stop by, old widow ladies who don't give a rat's ass 'bout their reputations; I help make the world a better place for them, put some motion into their ocean. Like reputation matters these days! Hell, it sure did back then. Was I cruisin' for chicks in those days? Back then I was after it every time possible, every day if I could, but discreet. No, always been pretty careful, at least, far as not getting too greedy. Never slept with one of the highbrow locals in those days, nor their daughters, never. Sleep with somebody important here and everybody knows in a week, sometimes a couple of days. Also meant I wouldn't be trusted, and trust is important. Burglar shouldn't steal from his neighbors, if he's smart; wild animals generally don't shit where they eat. I was the kids' bus driver, so to speak, ran them from the island into school and back every day. Never laid a hand on any of 'em, they though I was a dutch uncle. We got along all right, never had to feed any of 'em to the sharks. Aha! Used to threaten the little ones with that, just to rile them up or keep 'em in line. Residents here trust me and that makes a big difference, I keep that trust.
God, woulda loved to tap Brenda Barclay myself but her crazy husband probably woulda shot my ass. Since Anna's mom was angling to join local society, the Halstrom girl was off limits, too. I stuck to visitors and working kids here for the summer for the most part. Oh, I can be a silver tongued devil when I want to be. Also good at getting hold of stuff, stuff folks don't normally have access to round here, some of summer workers called me the general store of Scarecrow. No, don't deal weed anymore, used to. Won't matter soon, will it?
