Major Matt Mason sleeps with the birds


By late June of 1973 , it was noticeable to everyone that the temperature had fallen in the room I now shared with Geno. The remarkable thing about it was the only one spooked by this was Mom. Geno was delighted to have a nice cool room in the middle of summer. Rose was jealous over it and John was upset about his room not being cool any longer. Dad ignored it all together. Whenever it was brought up to him he just muttered under his breath that we were all nuts.
I wasn't even bothered by the coolness of my room. It wasn't as if it were so cold that you could see you're breath or anything. In point of fact I barely even noticed it after a while. My only problem was Duke was once again no longer sleeping in my room. He had taken to sleeping downstairs on the couch.
I wasn't too bothered by it because I was still very obsessed about finding those dimes. I had even broken down and asked Geno if I could "borrow" some money. He told me he didn't have any money.
"What about all those dimes?", I asked.
"What dimes?"
Not about to give up, I kept looking. My only hope of getting that bear was to find the money. John was no help. I asked him and he told me he didn't know where the money had come from. Geno had showed up with it one day ,and asked John to hide it. After I had stumbled across it , he had hidden it again. This time where even John could not find it.
While I kept looking, I kept scrounging up any loose change I could find. If I saw any money at all I would scoop it up , and hide it in the attic. By the first of July I had close to $2.75. My main worry was that by time I had all the money the last stuffed bear would be gone. My heart was set on getting one of those bears for my new baby brother or sister.
I was so desperate that during the last weekend in June, I took Dad's metal detector and looked for lost coins outside. I was taking a big risk. Dad was very protective of his "toys". If he had saw me using it, I would have ended up mowing the yard once again. So far that morning all I had found were bottle caps and some old nails.
Geno and John were still playing their swordplay game. They were now using old broom sticks for their swords. Geno and John preferred them to the sticks they had been using as they didn't break as easily. They kept offering me a chance to play with them. Not being a complete fool , I kept declining. During my hunt with Dad's detector I made sure to keep a wide distance between myself , the electric fence and my two brothers.
It was sometime around this that Billy first came over.
Billy was the grandson of the elderly couple who lived next door to us. (A mere 3 football fields away.) He had come to spend a couple weeks with his grandparents. He did this every summer , and every summer he was bored out of his mind within a few days. Billy had just arrived expecting another dull visit when he saw to his astonishment, my brothers and I. Billy was so excited when he saw us he grabbed three of the gifts he had gotten on his twelve birthday , and headed our way.
I was so focused on my hunt I didn't see Billy arrive. The first I knew he was there was when Geno and John began yelling at me. I looked up and saw our new neighbor. My brothers were waving me over to meet him. I sat the detector down and walked over to greet him.
John introduced me to him. "Tom this is Billy. Look what he brought with him." To my horror I saw that Billy had brought with him a BB Pistol , a BB Rifle, and a sling shot. I knew nothing good was going to come of this. Geno and John were smiling broadly at me. "We're going to shoot at targets," John said.
Not wanting anything to do with this mess , I backed away from them and returned to my detector. During my hunt I always kept a wary eye on my brothers and their new friend. Within just a few minutes I felt a sharp sting as Geno shot me in the back with the sling shot.
I heard Billy very earnestly tell Geno and John,"Oh no. We aren't allowed to point these at people. We might hurt someone." This poor kid had no idea just what he had stumbled into. I remember thinking why the hell couldn't this kid have G.I. Joes , or anything that wasn't destructive in nature.
Not wanting to be shot at all day , I moved my search slightly behind the barn. All the while I could hear the pops of the two weapons Billy had brought my brothers. They were shooting at some bottles Geno and John had gathered up. While I was doing my best to stay out of their way I heard John shout out my name again. Cautiously I peeked out from behind the barn.
"Hey see if you can find any cans or bottles back there for us to shoot !"
Still not trusting my brothers I nodded .I looked around but didn't see anything. About 30 feet behind the barn was an old shed. I sat down the detector and walked over towards it. There were no cans or bottles around it either. I opened the old door and glanced inside to see if there was anything for my brothers to shoot inside of it.
Inside the old shed, piled high up on the floor were the tops of parking meters. They all read "Time Expired". They didn't look old. I wondered how they all got there. I picked two up and carried them over to my brothers and Billy.
"Will these do?" ,I asked.
John and Billy walked towards me with confused looks on their faces. Geno's eyes grew very large.
"Where'd they come from?", John asked.
I pointed over towards the shed. John held one in his hands. He looked up and slowly turned to Geno. "Parking Meters?"
Geno still looking very nervous just shrugged.
"Put them back", John said. "We can't use them. They're too tough. We need things that can break."
Still confused I carried them back and tossed them in the shed. Something was going on here but I wasn't sure what. I threw them back in the shed and restarted my search for coins. It was a few minutes later when I heard John call me again. Still cautious I peeked again from the side of the barn.
Geno and John had found a new game to play.
John was standing with Billy's sling shot pulled back as far as he was could , pointed straight up in the air. Instead of using a rock or pellet , he had my Major Matt Mason in it. Geno stood a little back holding the BB Rifle. Billy stood next to him holding the BB Pistol. Before I could move Geno shouted ,"Pull!" John shot Major Matt Mason straight in the air. The force was so great his head fell off( As cool as they were, they were cheaply made.) The body flew though the air. Both Geno and Billy took aim and shot at it. I don't believe either hit it.
However the body's flight path took it towards a tree, where it got stuck on a high branch.
I ran over and shouted at the boys,"What the heck did you do that for?"
John looked at me like I had just asked an incredibly dumb question. "Target practice. Didn't mean to get it stuck though. Maybe we can shoot it down?"
For almost ten minutes the boys tried in vain to dislodge the body of Mr' Mason. I held the head of my dismembered astronaut in my hands. A growing anger began to swell up in me. Finally John looked at me. "Well we tried. He isn't coming down. Next good storm should knock him down."
I was becoming livid. "Climb up and get him!"
John laughed. "I'm not climbing up there." Geno nodded. Billy just said, "I'm afraid of heights." (Sadly this was around 6 months before I was to meet Mark. Even at that young age he probably would have climbed up that tree like a monkey and retrieved the body) Being afraid of heights myself ,I didn't press the issue.
John went over and grabbed their next target, one of Rose's Barbie dolls. He got ready to pull her back when I asked,"Can I try and shoot it?"
Thinking that if I engaged in shooting at Barbie, I very well couldn't tell on them for shooting at Major Matt Mason, they happily agreed. Geno handed me the BB Rifle. I stood about twenty feet behind and to John's left. Geno stood next to John. Billy stood next to me.
"Tell me when you're ready", John said.
I aimed at my target and shouted ,"Pull!" John released Barbie and she flew though the air. Unlike my action figure her head stayed on. I took dead aim and shot John in the back. It hit him hard. To my disappointment it didn't penetrate.
He screamed loudly and dropped the sling shot. Geno laughed until he saw me aiming at him. John and Geno both started running away from me.
All the while Billy was yelling, "You're not supposed to aim at people!"
Geno was so intent on running away from me he ran straight into the electric fence. It was only a glancing blow but it was still enough to make him scream a little. I fired a second time and missed. By this time John had gathered his wits some. Before I could pump the rifle up a third time he ran over and yanked it from me. John angrily finished pumping it up and took point blank aim at me. I just stood there glaring at him.
Before John could pull the trigger we all heard my Dad's very angry voice. " WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT HERE?" Poor Billy just stood there too afraid to move. Both Geno and John looked like they saw the devil himself charging at them. I smiled.
Running over to Dad I began sobbing, "Daddy they were trying to shoot me!"
Dad reached John and yanked the rifle out of his hands. "Are you two brain dead? I haven't finished paying for the last time one of you nitwits shot him!"
John said ,"But he shot me first!"
Billy agreed with John."He did sir. Also he chased the other one there into the electric fence!" Geno nodded furiously.
Dad looked at Billy. "Who the hell are you?" At that point Billy just broke down crying. Dad looked at the rifle, and pistol. He didn't see the sling shot laying where John had dropped it. "Where the hell did these come from?"
We all pointed at Billy. Dad shouted at Billy, "Go home. And don't ever come back with anything that can shoot anyone again!" Billy ran away so fast he tripped several times. ( The remarkable thing was he came back a few times to play with us. His weapons remained at his grandparents) Dad turned to me.
"Did you really shoot at them first? Did you chase Geno into the electric fence?"
"Yes Dad. But it was after they had broke my Major Matt Mason !" I showed him Matt's severed head.
Dad gave a little sigh. "Tom you're going to be a big brother soon. You have to start acting like it. Is this how a big brother acts?"
I didn't answer right away. Was this a trick question? I stared at Dad wondering what he wanted me to say.
"No?' That appeared to be the right answer. Dad turned his attention to my brothers.
"And what the hell were you doing out here shooting with those things to begin with? You know your mother would have a fit if she saw you!" Geno and John both began trying to answer at the same time. They seemed to be trying to blame the other. Finally Dad just yelled for them to all shut up.
"I want you all to mow the yard. Maybe that'll keep you busy enough to stop trying to kill each other!"
Geno looked like he was going to cry. "But Dad, I just mowed the yard yesterday."
Dad turned to walk away. "And you're going to mow it again today. And whoever left my detector laying on the ground put it back before I get really mad!"
Between the three of us we got the mowing done pretty fast. As I went in I saw John had picked up Billy's sling shot that he had left behind. Geno tied Rose's Barbie doll to a tree branch and they were using it as a target. Naturally I went in and told Rose. Rose ran out of the house screaming.
Within minutes they were mowing the yard again. This time Dad had them mow untill the sun went down.
I put Matt's head in the cigar box that contained all the G.I. Joe stuff I had found to date. Matt's body never did come down while we lived there. As far as I know it's still sitting up there.