Jimmy was the oldest of 10, I was second and then there was a twin girl and boy, Joan and Johnny. Johnny is and always has been the funniest sibling of the family. Everyone looks forward to reunions with Johnny because of the unexpected hilarity that is bound to take place.
Being the youngest of the three oldest brothers he was always the one we abused in many ways. I loved having him around as a brother and today he is certainy one of my favorite sibs. But, I have to admit I did some pretty awful things to him growing uo, just because I was older.
I had my own friends as a kid and Johnny always wanted to do everything we did. Occasionally we included him. One time about 5 or 6 of us climbed up History Rock for a day of mischief and outdoor discovery. They were paving the fork in the road of Rockland Street and Farwell Street.
Here's Johnny!
There was a very heavy man without a shirt driving the giant roller machine to compact the tar just below us. He couldn't see us but we certainly saw him. It was late summer because I remember the heat waves floating above the pavement. He was hot and sweaty.
Creatively we were looking for something to do....anything. The idea was proposed (I don't take credit or blame) that we throw rocks to see who could hit the big guy in the belly. I don't recall who hit the target but we all saw the man abruptly stop the roller and immeditaley look up on top of History Rock where we were all standing speechless looking down.
Even though he was extremely overweight he took off climbing the steep hill to get us. We turned and ran away so fast that Johnny, standing closest to the edge, didn't even notice. About 500 feet later we squatted down to see if the man would make it to the top. When we looked back we saw Johnny standing all alone, shivering in fear just as the Jolly Green Giant appeared over the rest ofthe hill.
Johnny started to turn away when the big guy said in his loudest, most intense voice, "Stop!!" Well, Johnny stopped and as the man walked over to him we noticed a puddle forming beneath Johnny's right pant leg. He peed his pants right then and there.
He stood there in shock while the man tried to coerce him to give away our whereabouts. Johnny didn't know and was probably more shocked when he discovered he was alone. So, he remained silent and after the guy scolded him he let Johnny go and returned to his work.
We went back to retrieve Johnny and then all went home, narrowly escaping what could've been a much worse consequence. Johnny had taken the fall for us. Poor kid. I wish kids were less cruel to each other. We loved him but were glad he took the fall and not us at the time. He's a great guy and to this day has never held anything we did against him. That's a lesson I learned on my own because of him. It is what it is. I plead guilty and have sincerely apologized.
When we started the band we included Johnny right from the start and he provided some of best entertainment around, to the audience and to us back stage and in hotel rooms. He wrote some memorable songs and sang both high harmony and the deepest baritone parts. I've placed an audio player on top of this post so you can hear his awesome version of Neil Young's "Old Man", accompanied by me and Jimmy in the harmony parts.
Johnny holds a very dear place in my heart these days and always will.