Author: Don Morgan

After the Show

The air always smelled like Carmel Corn.

Early in the morning, after the last car honked its way out of the parking lots, Tick and Hwy 1 were finally still.

The street lights sizzled, traffic lights switched green, switched yellow, switched red and, occasionally, a night watchman’s dog barked, and there was a cricket.

Saleh’s porcelain white laundromat stared sternly, sleeplessly, lonesomely into the darkness.

Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk’s bar winked off as the bartender closed its door and pulled on his jacket to head home.

In the Garden of Love tattoo parlor, there might still be smoke and loose talk. Cigarettes that hung slackly from lips that could not find the words to call it quits.

The darkness ebbed imperceptibly as the new day rose.

The lost and hungover were still stumbling home, smelling rue in the dim lifting light.

The smell of coffee, somewhere.

By seven, people began to arrive, some unwillingly, almost all hopefully, at work. Tan windbreakers, sunglasses, clean hands broke the ice of the locked doors, wheeled up the awnings, started the motors and jumped on board to start the day again.

LUK Entertainment Opens the Park

Six months later, the big ferris wheel went up, the lights went on and LUK Entertainment opened the first half of the new amusement park.

The Dilmacs and Ortrars were watching, and there were cheers on the streets outside the park as the bright lights opened up a whole new section of the sky.

There were huge ponds of water for kids to play and paddle around in. A giant water slide and an enclosed area of the ocean where supervised snorkeling was allowed.

Dizzy couples, kids and families exited rides giggling and panting.

There were lots of plush and slum concessions that ate nickels, quarters and dollars in exchange for a chance to  win a prize popping a balloon with a pellet gun or dart. Or, go ahead, choose a number and win some money or have your weight and age guessed.

When night came, the excitement and titillation crackled like handfuls of cellophane.

Electricity passed with a simple glance. Lights danced with an accidental touch.

Exhilaration and fun rose and fell with the spinning wheel and screams of exhilaration passed through the park like howling banshees.

A few months later, the combination race track and outdoor concert theater opened, featuring Johnny Cash, June Carter and Chuck Berry, with the Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk himself, along with his new girlfriend, Serena, as M.C. And host on the first night.

The neighborhood was no longer the same.

The Pier

The first major attraction to open on Tick was the Old Fishing Pier. The rundown stringy pier was re-built and re-enforced with concrete and steel. There was a brightly lit sign over the entrance, and there was no entry fee.

But there were places to buy mustardy hot dogs, pickle, lettuce, tomato and onion topped hamburgers, a small clothing store with shirts imprinted with “The Pier in Long Beach”, shorts and fishing accoutrement.

A bait store, called Captain Hook’s, offered a selection of fishing gear, including rods, live bait, hooks and sinkers.

At the very end of the pier was a lookout with telescopes and sun chairs. Behind this, a small stage for live musical performances.

Close by was an excursion business that offered all-day fishing trips. And all long both sides of the pier were places for people to fish, with a special place for the children.

Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk turned the lot where the family grocery had been into a parking lot and there was a brightly lit sign that spanned Tick announcing and recommending the new attraction.

Tick itself was replaced with a broad and pedestrian only promenade. Just beyond the entrance was The Old English Cedar that now had a well lit salon and a neon sign proclaiming Madame Yasdi’s Reading Room.

A short space from there was the small five store strip mall with a newly renovated Aata Bakes that offered ice cream, in addition to her bakery.

There were concessions on both sides of the walkway leading to the pier, including a handwriting analysis booth manned by Orguz’ brother Mehmet.

On the left, between the strip mall and the Old Fishing Pier was a tall wooden fence where the entrance to the still-under-construction amusement park would be.

The Second Visit

Judge Murty wiped his chin self-consciously as he left Orguz’ office. He felt self-conscious, God was watching. He had to do the right thing.

At the city council meeting, the following Monday evening, Judge Murty spoke in favor of LUK Entertainment’s plans for an amusement park in the area.

It would help stimulate the local economy and provide jobs. It could provide a healthy place for families and children to go and have fun together. Others on the council were in agreement. Following a vote, the area was re-zoned for commercial enterprise.

That night, Judge Murty drove home feeling good about himself. Like Christ, the Deliverer, he had become a mediator and found a way for all the parties to work together for the common good.

Robbie the Robot

When Judge Murty got home from the aborted city council meeting, there was a plastic Robbie robot with flashing eyes and moving arms on his door step.

Along with the robot, there was some stale water taffy and a sheaf of photographs in a manila envelope of Hijo’s sister Lisa and a man who looked a lot like Judge Murty.

Pictures of the Mayor

The following week the papers were full of pictures of the mayor of Long Beach photographed with a woman other than his wife on a recent trip to Guadalajara. A defiant mayor denied any wrong doing, he even denied knowing the woman in the pictures.

Regardless, business was not as usual. A representative for the East Side Longos revealed that they had pictures of more city officials.

The city council meeting in which the order of eminent domain was to have been executed was disrupted, then canceled because of interruptions by the press and citizen protestors over the mayor’s photos.

The News

In the handful of years that Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk had been in the US and Long Beach, he had become well known for his loud parties and untamed ways.

He was tolerated by family and carnies- some even said loved- whether it was because they owed the Loathsome Uncle for something or because he had carnie roots, they supported him and defended him.

Outside their community, however, he was not defended and was what some called notorious for his ways. Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk had no friends on the city council.

Judge Murty was there to inform Orguz and Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk that the Long Beach city council was planning to exercise its right of eminent domain and condemn the area along the beach that included the properties owned by LUK Entertainment.

When Judge Murty was done speaking, he paused. Then he waited. Orguz and his Loathsome Uncle exchanged glances once and then they, too, sat waiting.

After a few moments, Judge Murty decided that the pair had heard and understood what he said. Rubbing his hands together, as though washing them, he got out of his chair and left, feeling that he had done the right thing.

As soon as he was out the door, both Orguz and Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk were on the phone.

The news spread like wildfire. Both the Ortrar and Dilmac families were stunned by the news, all of them wondering what would happen next.

That night, dressed in his gray suit, Orguz and Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk got into his black Mustang and drove into town.

The weather changed. Syeira worried. Hormat sat with her cards.

The First Visit

Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk incorporated as LUK Entertainment with Orguz as general manager.

He was the go-to man for anything regarding the Loathsome Uncle. He spoke with vendors, employees and handled LUK’s re-zoning efforts at City Hall.

Orguz now drove a shiny black Ford Mustang.

It was about this time that the head of JM Investments, the group that built the small 5 store strip mall on Tick, paid his first visit to Orguz at “The Pier” office in that same strip mall.

Everyone knew something was up when they saw the bright red Ferrari parked out front.

The Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk

Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk was not a handsome man.

His long black hair was completely independent. No matter how much water or pomade he used, it stood straight up like an electric shock.

And there were moles on his face.

On his arrival in the US, he was a middle aged, short, pudgy ball of thunder with an open mouthed bar room grin that not only showed off his healthy pink gums and widely spaced teeth but intimidated people.

In spite of his wealth, he never married. He told himself it was because he couldn’t keep his hands to himself, his heart was a wanderer. But the truth was, women did not feel comfortable around him.

It was no wonder that Orguz and Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk got along so well. Orguz was handsome, energetic and smart. He had a steady hand and alert eye, he was friendly and determined. He got things done and he liked to have a good time.

People liked Orguz, they were wary of the Loathsome Uncle. The two made a good team.

On the day that Orguz got his real estate license, he put on the new crisp dark gray suit Leila made for him, a black tie and patent leather shoes, then he and Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk took everyone out to eat.

The Loathsome Uncle got drunk, grabbed the buttocks of one of the waitresses and passed out on a sofa in the restaurant lobby. Orguz dropped him by the compound before taking Syeira out dancing.

Leila and Farid join Bilko and Hormat

Hormat flew to San Francisco where she was picked up and driven to Russian River to see her father.

Within a few weeks, Bilko , Saleh and Orguz were on their way up the coast on a bus to bring Leila and Farid down to Long Beach. Bilko and Orguz drove the trailers, Leila and Hormat were brought Farid back by air.

The trailers were parked in the Loathsome Uncle’s compound, Leila and Farid moved in with Syerira on the upper floor of the Old English Cedar and Hormat joined Bilko in their trailer.

In an odd and uncertain way, things were returning to normal. Both Hormat and Bilko bore a more cheerful countenance and Leila was clearly relaxed as she turned to tailoring at one of Saleh’s laundries and Hormat resumed her fortune telling duties at Madame Yasdi’s.

More carnies from Jubilee! followed, waiting to be part of the new Pier Amusement Park, but Loathsome Uncle Kusmuk was not quite ready.