ASK A VENDOR THIS COLUMN IS A PLACE FOR DENVER VOICE VENDORS TO RESPOND TO QUESTIONS FROM FELLOW VENDORS, OUR READERS, AND STAFF. THIS MONTH’S QUESTION WAS SUGGESTED BY DENVER VOICE VENDOR REA BROWN. Q In celebration of Halloween happening in October, what is one of your spookiest or favorite memories? REA BROWN A My age I don't know... I had to be 4 or so… My size a troll’s troll. My eyes made out of coal. My heart was still made of gold, even though we all were po**( Which was poor, now that I’m old and have been more educated on how to pronounce “R” and “O.”) Wasn’t smart, wasn't slow though slightly below. Just an average african american nemo with a nappy fro. The time was around the time parents told their kids to go. After the struggle with readiness, so many times every answer was no. So we pretended to go to bed, as we often did befo** Staying quiet moving in silence, like immigrants trying to escape patrol. “Go to bed!” she said before she cut the light off and shut the do** But we knew what she would do, just lay down and watch a show. Yet it was late we would escape, as long as we wait till her eyes were low. It was night, the moon shined mighty bright, which caused the room to glow. The breeze was but a slight like summers of long ago. To see if Mom was asleep, out of bed one went to peak without a squeak like a shadow. The T.V. drowned out our feet, moving lightly to and fro. Till the bright idea arose, we should play ring around the ro**. So we all joined hands to do the dance, before falling to the flo**. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down. When we hit the ground, the sheets rose and froze, with no toes or holes, yet a ghost pose like those with eerie clothes. But our reaction was slow, like we knew it was someone we know. “That’s Mike in the bed!" someone said. With hope to extinguish the dread, but instead he said “THAT’S NOT ME!” Which made us intensely count the heads. About 36 seconds passed before all the children fled LANDO ALLEN When I was three years old, I was home with my brothers, sister, and a babysitter, when two girls the baby sitter's age broke into our house. They were after my babysitter and were ready to hurt her. We were all scared. My brothers and sister went to hide, and I was on the couch watching them. I jumped on one of the girl’s backs. I was knocked out and wasn’t sure what happened to the girls after that. Years later, when I was older, I thought I saw one of those girls, but when I asked her about it, she didn’t answer. JASON MARTIN My favorite Halloween memory was when I was 18 or 19. I dressed up as Scream and went up a small tree in my neighborhood, where I waited for a friend to walk by with her kids. I jumped out of the tree and scared her and her kids to death almost. JERRY ROSEN When I was 18, I got a letter from the Draft Board, saying I had to report to the draft office. My father gave them a letter saying I was handicapped and going to special education. I also flunked the physical. I was classified as 4-F which means unfit for military service, so I was not accepted for the draft. I was really grateful. LARMARQUES SMITH One Halloween, many moons ago, a group of friends and I got together, dressed up in our best Halloween gear, and decided to go trick or treating … but not for candy. Instead, we collected canned goods for those less fortunate. We called it “Trick-or-Treat, so others can eat.” We collected so many non-perishable items that it got to be difficult to haul our precious cargo from the houses. The recipients of the food were very gracious. Even though this isn’t a spooky story, it made for a great Halloween night! CHARLES SPRING I worked as a security guard in a hospital. One night, I was making my rounds in the morgue, when a person, who was thought to be DOA, woke up. It scared the crap out of me! CONNIE GAITAN I grew up listening to my mom & grandma telling all these scary stories that actually happened within our family. This one gave me a terrifying nightmare. My mom said that when she was pregnant with me at her baby shower, my great uncle Lalo invited this woman he was with to the party. My grandma didn't really know her that well but always felt an evil presence about her. After some time, my mom gave birth to me and had since forgotten about the encounter with this woman. My mom was home settling in, and one night, she had a dream about this woman following her through the park and trying to kidnap me. She was laughing at my mom, who was crying. When my mom woke up, she felt like something was sitting on her, pushing down on her chest, and when she got up to put the lights on, she saw the bed had a dent in it like someone was sitting next to her. My mom & grandma described her as a Bruja, and my grandma thought that she had put a spell on my mom to take me away from her. That has stuck with me throughout my childhood. I don’t know what she looked like. All I know is my memory that this lady wanted to take me from my mom. 4 DENVER VOICE October 2024
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