There was a very large prison on the outskirts of my hometown, and my father felt it humane to occasionally visit with the three incarcerated Jewish inmates. Usually, he would drag a few reluctant men from his congregation along with him, but it was difficult to find volunteers, as most people want to stay out of prison rather than to go in.
Two of the inmates were brothers, who, when they were nineteen and twenty years old, decided to hold up a bank in a small town situated on the commuter railway line. Since they didn’t have a car, they got off the train, held up the bank, and caught the next train back. The police at the other end picked them up. Proving that no matter what their mothers think---all Jewish children are not gifted. The other inmate, “Boom Boom” Julius was a reputed bagman for the mob.
Before we became engaged, W.S. thought it would be a nice gesture to ask my father for my hand in marriage. When he rang the bell, Dad answered the door, grabbed W.S. by the arm, yanked him inside, and shouted, ”Congratulations, Son! Do you want to go to prison?” That took some explaining, but W.S. did agree to accompany his future father-in-law. It was, as the boys inside would say, “an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
The three prisoners congratulated W.S. on our engagement and asked if they could come to the wedding. Dad, said, “If you can get out, you can come.” I was later told that an announcement of our forthcoming nuptials made it into the prison newspaper.
When Boom Boom discovered that he and W.S. came from the same hometown, he asked, “Do you know Morty Ross?” W.S. came from a very small town in Indiana. Everyone knew everyone else, Morty Ross had gone to school with his uncle, but how should W.S. answer this question?
This posed a dilemma. If W.S. answered, “Yes,” would Boom Boom kiss him on both cheeks or on the lips? Boom Boom was a scary guy. The tip of his nose touched his cheek. Someone must have put it there. And how did Boom Boom get his nickname? Did he play the drums as a child---or---was it something much worse? W.S. did not want to find out, so he said, “No, never heard of Morty Ross.”
Losing interest, Boom Boom shrugged, smiled and said, “Well, maybe the son-of-a bitch is dead,” as he walked away. I don’t know if the bank-robbing brothers ever got out of prison, but I heard years later that Boom Boom had been released and returned to his hometown. I never did find out what he did in his retirement.
Esther Blumenfeld (You think you have connections? I have connections!)
CROSSING WITH THE BLUE LIGHT, Blumenfeld c 2006