THE MIDNIGHT SKULKER 4
Schaumburg, Illinois
February, 1974
Sammy…
A conglomeration of genes: facially more so resembling his father, Sammy had a round face with – though Mitchell’s eyes were green – Sammy had startling blue eyes which he’d inherited from Myra, his grandmother on his father’s side. Coming from his mother, Sammy had tightly curled, dark brown hair. At age ten and a half, Samuel was about the proper height for a boy his age however, inherited from Eli, his grandfather on his mother’s side, stockily built, he had a wide chest and noticeably broad shoulders giving him, certainly for a boy his age, uncommon upper body strength.
Trouble? Oh, yeah, Sammy did get into trouble, but it wasn’t bad kind of trouble, more so mischievous kind of trouble.
Sammy could tell a ‘tall story’ or a downright lie or argue his innocence and most people, looking at his sweet face and innocent blue eyes were prone to believe just about anything the boy said.
Des Plaines, Illinois
As For Sammy…
In 1972, when Sharon was six, Sammy nine and his brother Michael, then fourteen was, so his parents thought, old enough — with the help of then twelve year old Ellie — to ‘babysit’.
Coming home from the movies at 8:50 p.m., “Mommy,” Ellie said, “Sammy did something bad.”
Thinking, Uh-oh! “What did Sammy do now,” Marsha asked.
“He put sea shells into the oven.”
Thinking, ‘He put sea shells into the oven’? She asked, “ ‘He put sea shells into the oven’! How?”
Taking her mother’s hand, leading her into the kitchen, “See,” Ellie said pointing to…
A built-in double oven, there was a half inch wide air slot between the upper and lower ovens and, as though this long narrow place was ideally made for them, because easily seen…
About three years earlier, Marsha had received a very moderate inheritance and because she thought her family deserved it and because she thought it would be something they would never forget, Marsha paid for a ten day vacation in Miami Beach, Florida and, of course, a lot of time was spent walking up and down the beach with a plastic bucket collecting all sizes of…
“Sea shells?” Though it was near an hour past his bedtime knowing he was still up, “Sammy! Get up here!”
Wearing inherited pink bunny pajamas, his eyes downcast, “Yes, mommy.”
Pointing to the oven, “Why did you do that?”
“What, mommy?”
“ ‘What, mommy’?” Pointing to the slot. “Why did you put those little seashells in there?”
Looking up now, his eyes shiny with barely contained tears, “I d’know, mommy.” Thinking…
Almost able to see the wheels turning in his brain, “So! I’m waiting, young man! Why did you put those shells in the oven?”
“I didn’t do it, mommy!”
“You ‘didn’t do it’? Well, if you ‘didn’t do it’, who did it, then? Who put all those seashells in the oven?”
Looking at his mother, his glassy eyes open to their full extent, their four eyes locked, “Sabra did it.”
Almost choking, “The puppy did it?” Looking at that innocent face, looking at those beautiful, innocent eyes, “You say ‘Sabra did it’?”
“Yes, mommy.”
Looking at Mitchell, whom, holding back laughter, had his lower lip firmly held between his teeth. Fighting to hold her laughter down, other than strangling him, not knowing what to do, “Go to bed!”
As for Sammy…
A month or two later…
Coming home from the movies at 8:50 p.m., “Mommy,” Ellie said, “Sammy did something bad.”
Thinking, Uh-oh! “What did Sammy do now,” Marsha asked.
“He ate Sabra’s worm pills.”
“Huh?”
“See, daddy, here.” Handing her father the near empty box, “Sammy ate Sabra’s worm pills.”
Looking at his wife, “Why would the kid eat dog worming pills?”
Shrugging her shoulders, “I have no idea!” Taking the box from her husband, “Sammie, get up here!”
Holding the near empty box of ‘Sargent’s Dog Worming Pills’ before his face, “Sammy, why in the world would you do this; eat Sabra’s pills?”
The cogs in his brain turning…
Stated as a question rather than an answer: “I was hungry?”
“ ‘You were hungry’?” Grabbing him by the shoulders, “That’s why you ate dog worming pills?” The mother’s face bare inches from the son’s face, “If you know what’s good for you,” she said angrily, “you’d better have worms!”
Leaving Mitchell home with Michael, Ellie and Sharon, Marsha, not too gently, took Samuel to the emergency room of the nearest hospital where the doctor on call said that, “Other than a bad case of diarrhea, there was nothing in the pills that would hurt Sammy.”
Sammy didn’t have worms.
****
As for Sammy…
As his parents were in love, Sammy was conceived out of love, and also he became child number three of his mother’s desire to have four children before the age of thirty.
Whereas Ellie was conceived to give Marsha’s father ‘a name’. As the death of her father was a personal tragedy, the birth of Samuel was at a time of potential global tragedy.
As on….
Monday, October 15, 1962: A U2 high altitude reconnaissance jet recorded pictures of nuclear missile sites being assembled in Cuba.
Tuesday, October 16, 1962: Military advisors and President John F. Kennedy discussed two options: air strikes and a blockade.
Wednesday, October 17, 1962: The military discovered that the Cuban missiles could reach as far as Washington State.
Thursday, October 18, 1962: The Soviets completely deny that they have nuclear missiles in Cuba.
Friday, October 19, 1962: The president meets with the secretary of defence and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before leaving on a scheduled campaign trip to Ohio and Illinois.
Saturday, October 20, 1962
The public unaware, under the public guise of an “upper respiratory infection,” President Kennedy returned to Washington from Chicago after being convinced that he must meet again with the Joint Chiefs to discuss, among other things, the discovery of additional Soviet missiles in Cuba.
Also on Saturday, October 20, 1962
As the world tottered on the brink of nuclear war, of slightly less significance, named after Eli’s younger brother, Samuel, who was killed in the early days of World War Two, Samuel Cole Lipensky, weighing seven pounds four ounces, came into the world at 3:21 a.m. on October, 20, 1962.
****
On the evening of the second day following the birth of her third child, enjoying the scent of a newborn baby and the warm, pleasant sensation, her eyes closed, Marsha Lipensky lay with her son to her beast. In the background, the droning tone of the television changed to: “We interrupt our scheduled programming to being you this message.”
Marsha’s attention drawn to the television as:
“Good evening my fellow citizens,” the president of the United States of America said. “This government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military build-up on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere.
“Upon receiving the first preliminary hard information of this nature last Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m., I directed that our surveillance be stepped up. And having now confirmed and completed our evaluation of the evidence and our decision on a course of action, this government feels obliged to report this new crisis to you in fullest detail.
“To halt this offensive build-up, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba from whatever nation or port will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948…
“It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.…”
The president’s speech concluded with:
“My fellow citizens, let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can see precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred. Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead—months in which our patience and our will will be tested, months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.
“The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are, but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world. The cost of freedom is always high and Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission.
“Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right—not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved.
“Thank you and good night.”
Tuesday, October 23, 1962, 6:30 a.m.
“Mitchie, come and get us. I want to go home!”
“Baby, you’re supposed to be in the hospital for five days and it’s only been…”
“I don’t care!” Verging on hysteria, “If we’re having an atomic war I want to be home!” Shouting into the phone, “Come and get us!”
“Sure, baby. I’ll drop the kids at my mom’s and we’ll get you checked out of there.”
“Hurry, Mitchie! I want to be with my kids.”
****
On October 22, 1962, after reviewing newly acquired intelligence, President John F. Kennedy informed the world that the Soviet Union was building secret missile bases in Cuba, a mere 90 miles off the shores of Florida.
After weighing such options as an armed invasion of Cuba and air strikes against the missiles, Kennedy decided on a less dangerous response. In addition to demanding that Russian Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev remove all the missile bases and their deadly contents, Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine, a blockade of Cuba in order to prevent Russian ships from bringing additional missiles or construction materials to the island.
In response to the American naval blockade, Premier Khrushchev authorized his Soviet field commanders in Cuba to launch their tactical nuclear weapons if invaded by U.S. forces.
Deadlocked in this manner, the two leaders of the world's greatest nuclear superpowers stared at each other for seven days…
Until Khrushchev blinked.
On October 28, thinking better of prolonging his challenge to the United States, the Russian Premier conceded to President Kennedy’s demands by ordering all Soviet supply ships away from Cuban waters and agreeing to remove the missiles from Cuba's mainland.
After several days of teetering on the brink of nuclear holocaust, the world breathed a sigh of relief.
