Getting things straight ... six decades later

Odell Brady carried the burden for more than 61 years.

He called me last week because, at 89 years old, he was “trying to get everything in order before I die.”

The complete story goes back a year earlier, in May 1963. I had started working as a trainee at Leonard’s Drive-In, but just a couple of hours a day. Mostly, I watched David, a co-worker, fill orders behind the counter.

So that Sunday morning when Melvin Murray appeared at the front door of my family’s home, I knew something was up. I had filled out an application for work at Melvin’s Drive-In but hadn’t heard anything.

Not until Melvin showed up. He told me, “I have a job for you starting tomorrow if you’re interested. It’s 40 hours a week.”

It was a no-brainer for me, a 16-year-old. Now I could work full-time and earn money for college.

I went to Melvin’s at 4 o’clock on Monday afternoon and was given an order pad and a funny paper hat shaped like an upside-down canoe. As a curb-hop, I was stationed in a booth just off the kitchen.

A car pulled up and someone said, “Go get it, Larry.” With a bit of apprehension, I strolled out to the car and took the order before returning to the booth and handing over the order slip.

That was the first of hundreds of orders I took during the next year. I worked full-time during the summer then reduced my hours to just weekends when school started.

At some point during that year, I traded shifts with the day guy. Now I was working from 11 to 4 and Melvin continued giving me the same pay. And I had weekend evenings to do as I pleased.

As I approached the end of my junior year of high school, I began looking for a higher-paying summer job. I found it at the cotton mill in Franklinville.

When school ended in May of 1964, I said goodbye to my co-workers at Melvin’s and went to work on Randolph Mills’ first shift doing odd jobs. Soon I was missing my time at Melvin’s but needed the extra pay.

That job lasted through the summer when I went back to school for my senior year.

Then 61 years later, I got that memorable phone call from Odell Brady. He said he had seen a column of mine that mentioned 1964. 

“Can I meet with you?” he asked. “I have something to talk to you about.”

So we met and he got down to what had been bothering him for more than six decades.

“It was May 1964 and I bought Melvin’s,” Odell said. “We had a meeting of all the employees, about 10 or 11 of you. We said there would be no changes and the pay would stay the same.

“The next day everybody was at work except Larry Penkava,” he said. “That’s been on my mind ever since. Maybe I had said or done something you didn’t like.”

I looked at Odell and admitted that I didn’t remember being at that meeting when the employees were told of the sale. But he had always believed I was there.

“How did you know who I was?” I asked.

“I was at Melvin’s most every night after I got off work,” Odell explained. “I saw you working as a curb-hop. And Melvin told me about all the employees.”

I assured Odell that the only reason I left was for a higher-paying job. I had always believed that Melvin’s was sold after I left.

“Well,” he said, “I’m trying to get everything in order before I die. I appreciate you telling me that. I wanted to get it cleared up.”

For the sake of Odell and all my fellow workers at Melvin’s — Tommy, Darrell, Martha, Wayne, the other Larry and all the others — I wish I could have stayed a little longer.

At least until the day after that fateful employee meeting.

But at least now Odell is finally relieved of his 61-year-old burden.

■ Larry Penkava, is a writer for Randolph Hub. Contact: 336-302-2189, larrypenkava@gmail.com.