Mr. HOLLIS AND THE APPLE TREE

Mr. HOLLIS AND THE APPLE TREE

It was a warm summer day about 1960, and I was 10 years old. School had been out about 2 months and I was running out of fun things to do. My mother decided to drive me across town to spend the day with a friend. When I arrived, my friend and another boys were playing in the yard. Later several other boys arrived and we all played and had lots of fun.

Several hours later we all were bored and tried to figure out something fun to do next. Each boy offered an idea of something fun to do, but nothing sounded interesting enough to do until someone mentioned "Let's go steal some apples off of Mr. Hollis's apple tree!" "Yeah, that sounds like fun."

Since I was new there, all the boys started telling me stories about how mean Mr. Hollis is and what Mr. Hollis does to boys that steal apples off of his tree. One boy said, Mr. Hollis will cut off all your fingers if he catches you stealing his apples. Another boy said, Mr. Hollis will take you to his dungeon in the basement of his house and torture you.

I had never stolen anything and didn't much want to steal apples from Mr. Hollis but I went along anyway. We walked several blocks, through some yards and came up behind Mr. Hollis's house. We all gathered next to the wire fence that ran around Mr. Hollis's yard. It was time to make a plan. The plan was for everyone to climb over the fence as fast as we can, grab as many apples as you can and then run for your life.

Everyone climbed over the already smashed down fence and started grabbing apples off the tree. Everyone had picked several apples and had all they could carry when we heard Mr. Hollis yell out. "You boys stop picking those apples, leave those apples alone, get out of my yard, put those apples down". We were all in such a hurry to climb back over the fence and get away I didn't hear all the other things Mr. Hollis was yelling.

We ran through the next yard and over into the next block to another yard where we all stopped to rest and eat the apples. Everyone ate the apples like they were the best apples they had ever eaten.

Several years later on a summer day my Grandfather took me to the barber shop to get a hair cut. After we both got our hair cut we got in this truck and left. We were driving down the street and Grandfather told me "I have to stop at a mans house a few minutes and take care of some business".

We stopped at someone's house and walked to the front door and knocked. An old man opened the door and we went inside. Grandfather and the old man spent a lot of time talking. I just waited around wishing we would hurry up and go. Some boys in the back yard caught the old man's attention. The old man told us to be quiet, watch and wait. We all stood and watched and waited a few minutes while the boys picked apples as fast as they could then the old man opened the back door and yelled out. "You boys stop picking those apples, leave those apples alone, get out of my yard, put those apples down..............."

The boys in the back yard ran to the wire fence and hurried to climb over with an arm load of apples. The boys ran through the other yard behind the house and disappeared out of sight.

The old man came back into the house from the back porch and said to us. I used to try and give those apples away but no one would take them. I hate to see all those good apples fall on the ground and rot. If I yell at the boys for stealing the apples they return several times a week to get more. When the apples start to get ripe several different groups of boys from different parts of town come to steal apples every day. It won't be long all the apples will be gone.

When me and my Grandfather were leaving the old man handed me a quarter and said, "Here you go, young man, buy yourself a candy bar and something to drink." WOW, in those days a quarter would buy a candy bar, root beer, several pieces of candy and bubble gum and a penny or two left over.

When we were driving down the road I asked my Grandfather, "who was that old man?" Grandfather said, "that was Mr. Hollis."