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Fiddlinsue
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  • Register:11/11/2008 8:17 AM

Date Posted:12/08/2008 7:30 AMCopy HTML







"She could have brained somebody," Ray exclaimed. His
discarded cigarette sparked across the deck. Captain
John Streckfus, a stocky man, stared at the puddle of
champagne, then nudged the broken bottle with his white
shoe, examining his deck for damage. Ray shook his
head. "What's eating that woman, anyway?"
Streckfus pulled a kerchief from his blazer pocket. As he
cleaned his glasses, he squinted at the approaching storm.
Ray spread his arms behind him along the rail. His wide
tie fluttered in the wind.
Streckfus stared up at the bluff, now receding off the port
strern. "I think my flagship has just been christened," he
chuckled, "and ahead of time."
"Listen, Mazie is driving me nuts," Ray blurted. "I told her
we'd play her up plenty big as the designer. I showed her
the layout of the plaque we are having made with her in the
citation. Told her we'll mount it on the damned bulkhead,
if she wants."
The Captain stared over his glasses at the brash, young
President of the Advertising Club of St. Louis. "And her
reaction?"
Ray Maxwell took a deep breath. "She changed the type-
face from a nice script to san serif."
On Wednesday afternoon, June 12, the fifth consecutive
day of high humidity and scorching heat, Ray Maxwell
dressed as cicadas screamed in the trees outside his open
window. That was bad news for a man who would spend
the next twelve hours in a wool suit. But once Ray got to the
Washington Street Dock, he would hold court at the bar
on the air-conditioned B deck of the Admiral.
This affair with the St. Louis social set was to be an evening
cruise. Wednesday was chosen because the rapid German
invasion of Europe had cast an uneasy pall on celebrations.
Besides, even the coal yards, grain elevators and chemical
plants on the grimy East St. Louis side of the Mississippi
looked romantic at night. Ray's agency had decided to
award an eleven-year old boy the first ticket. Sprays of
orchids grown in Forest Park's Jewel Box would adorn
the head tables. And Ray Maxwell would have the first
dance with the beautiful, twenty-year-old Marie Kantjanis.
Captain Streckfus met Mazie at the gangplank. A large
gray boa was draped over her peach dress with Joan
Crawford shoulder pads. A vertical arrangement of small
flowers crowned her head. "Miss Krebs," he said, offering
her his arm as the flash bulbs snapped, "you look like your
own daughter."
"Merci, mon Capitan," Mazie smiled. "But if I had a
daughter, I would forbid her to wear this dress." Streckfus
led her along the main deck, past the untried merry-go-round
and the partially uninstalled coin operated games,
and a wooden cow, which would eventually dispense
chocolate milk.
"Not many kids tonight," the Captain explained. "But this
deck will be crammed with them come the weekend."
Except for the two giant rods that turned the side wheels;
Mazie didn't much care for the eclectic "amusement deck."
She had left that part of the design to a series of local vendors
who knew how to cater to the tastes of children.
They went up the stairs, Streckfus pushed back the double
blue doors and they stepped into the cool ballroom. On the
bandstand, Ken Moore and his eighteen Haymakers were
playing a run through of "I Only Have Eyes For You." They
made a nostalgic echo in the vast oval dance floor.
As Streckfus led her to the Captain's table, someone
touched her shoulder.
"Hi Maze." Buddy Aufberg, a reporter for the St. Louis Star
Times held a bottle of Griesedieck in one hand and an
orchid in the other. Buddy offered the orchid which he had
plucked from the table arrangement. She raised up on her
toes to kiss him on the cheek. "Listen sweetie," he said,
"I can't stay for that dance you promised me. We're working
on a big story for the morning edition. But believe me, I'd
rather be here. Tell you what--if we get the story to bed,
I'll get out to the Admiral, even if I have to take a canoe."
"A promise is a promise," she said, taking a swig from his
beer bottle before leading him to the dance floor. She
tossed the boa onto the table. The Haymakers had swung
into "St. Louis Blues," so Buddy spun her out, her skirt
an inverted peach blossom in the cool light. He was delighted
that her dress had no back whatsoever. She threw her head
back and gazed at the reflective zodiac signs she had in-
stalled around the ballroom ceiling. If you danced in a circle,
ballroom style, the signs always changed.

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