BILL CADY Word Count: 149,227 - At My Friend's Place

Bill Cady, The Early Years … by Bill Cady 108
I haven‟t spoken with, or heard about, Jerry in over thirty-five years. All I can do
is hope it was one of the truly happy marriages, a status more like fiction these days. If it
turned out she took him to divorce court, where she and her attorney economically raped
him beyond recovery, don‟t tell me. I‟d prefer to continue my fantasy.
Jerry was tall, over six feet, a good two-hundred pounds. Dark haired with real
dark eyes, well-behaved in all respects. He was pretty quiet, but had a sense of humor.
He‟d drink a few beers with us, but I don‟t think I ever saw him drunk. I also don‟t recall
him ever being in a fight. If he ever had one, I‟d‟ve sure hoped it wouldn‟t be with me.
Those quiet guys are the ones with the ugly surprises when you push „em too far. Worse,
as I said, Jerry was a big son-of-a-bitch.
Always cheerful, a ready smile, intelligent, fun to be around. That‟s Jerry, in a
nutshell. In short, if you have sons, he was exactly what you want your boy to be.
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“T” Townsend. “T” was from neighboring Everett High School, not our rival, not
an enemy school. That was Eastern High School, across town. The biggest difference
between Eastern and Sexton: Mexicans went to Eastern, blacks went to Sexton. My
school‟s student population was 30-35% black.
Everett was where the rather well off families lived, at least back then. It‟s also
the school that provided a tall, black kid named Irvin “Magic” Johnson to play basketball
at a quiet university known as Michigan State. He played rather well in 1979. I believe
Magic went on to play a little pro basketball. Feel free to correct me if I‟m wrong. He
was a nice kid and seemed reasonably talented.
“T” was different, in many respects. Six feet tall, 130 pounds, he could get lost
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