Saturday Afternoon Matinee

The building stood there unimpressive painted all brown as if the owners had picked up gallons of bargain mud brown paint. One night when no one was around a painting crew came in, loaded their spray guns and painted away. Hoping, one would guess, that the brown paint made the building look less obvious among the high clumps of weeds, unkempt shrubs and tall grass. The holes for windows were boarded up with ill-fitting pieces of plywood pieced together like some carpenter’s nightmare jigsaw puzzle. A pair of “No Trespassing” signs were stapled to the big window holes on either side of what was once the front door. The red letters of the signs fading from time, the rain, the snow, and the sun. Out back two similar signs were posted by a door that was clearly once marked exit, the brown paint having covered over the sign but leaving the impression of the letters.

The only sign of its former glory, if indeed it had any former glory was the painted over marquee that still hung on for life above the front door. It all seemed out of place, the building, the marquee the fact that this was once a movie theater. It sat there unwanted, set back away from the street. Most of those who drove by now just passed, not noticing that there was a building there at all. Not so for the members of the new and soon to famous J&W Salvage Corp of which Johnny and William were both founding members. After spending the week watching the first man walk on the moon the boys were bored. The two of them decided that on this particular Saturday with nothing to do, that sneaking in and claiming right of salvage in an old abandoned movie theater would be fun and profitable.

At precisely twelve fifteen the two of them synchronized their watches as they had seen so many times in so many war movies. William led off counting down "five, four, three, two, one, mark" and with that they smiled at one another, hopped on their bikes rode the half mile or so from William's back yard. Through town, over two cross streets and then down one long alley overgrown with low hanging trees until they ended up at the back of the old movie theater. It was here that they had noticed on one of their many excursions that a hole had opened up off to the left of the back door. Small enough to go unnoticed, but large enough for the two of them to squeeze in and enter the inner sanctum and claim salvage rights. Law of the sea.

The two of them had become friends when they had both tried to take out the same book from the library, “Robinson's Historical Narrative on the Lives and Treasures of the Caribbean Pirates”. A subject they both were interested in. The two of them took turns studying the book for the off chance that here might be a clue to pirate treasure hidden within its pages. Since that day a year ago the two of them spent hours discussing pirate lore and the possibility of someday finding lost pirate treasure. Swearing to one another that any treasure they find they would split while day dreaming of finding gold doubloons, cashing them in and buying new bikes and all the candy they could eat.

Now the two of them were embarking on their first salvage treasure hunt, not pirate plunder, but the promise of diamond chandeliers, gold leaf on the walls, and yards of priceless red velvet cloth, like William had seen during his visit to movie theaters in New York City. “The old movie theaters had diamond chandeliers, gold walls and red velvet everywhere. If it’s in a movie theater it must be valuable.” He convincingly told Johnny.

Firmly believing that inside the old movie theater they would be able to claim first right of salvage they peered in to the hole. The two of them had no doubt they were about to claim a fantastic treasure. It was as they had expected, a tight fit.

“It smells.”

“Yes, it does, just keep pushing forward. Can you see anything?”

“No. It smells like my brothers PE clothes.”

“Feces and micturition I would think. Your brother's gym attire probably smells more of perspiration.”

“Give it a break, professor.” Johnny had little patience for when William went on and on. William called it exercising his brain. “Showing off,” Johnny would reply.

Finally after burrowing through the wall for what seemed like forever the two of them fell in to a large open space. In the dark, streams of sunlight pierced the roof and ceiling through holes, cracks and fissures. The contrast of the bright light and the darkness made it impossible for their eyes to adjust properly for them to see. Catching their breath Johnny took a long drink form his ex-military issue canteen and then passed the plastic canteen over to William.

“Flashlights?”

“Flashlights do seem to be in order for this operation.”

“Let there be light.”

The two of them flashed their lights around the walls. It was Johnny who broke the silence. “It smells bad in here.”

“Probably a dead animal.”

“Think we will be able to see it?”

“Just bones and rotted flesh I would imagine.”

“Someone else has been here. Look, this looks like someone had a campfire.” Johnny kicked at some charred pieces of wood and piles of half burnt papers.

“Obviously someone doesn't know anything about fire safety regulations. Never have a campfire inside.”

“Okay mister fire safety. You think some bum lives in here?”

“How could he get in? We barely fit through that hole we found.” William poked at some garbage lying on the floor, a rat stood up and stared at him before running through a hole in the wall.

“I don't see any diamond studded chandelier or yards and yards of priceless red velvet or gold leaf on the walls. All I see is garbage and junk and the place smells like, well like sewage.”

They made their way in the dark through the auditorium with its ripped up seats, tripping once or twice on the curled edges of the now ancient rotting carpet. Finally they found their way in to what was once the lobby.

“This place is a dump. You know what, I bet that when it was open it was a dump. Just a crappy excuse for a movie theater. Did you hear me William?” Silence. “William?”

And then what will go down in the histories of their short lives as the loudest ear piercing, shattering high pitched scream anyone has ever heard came from William's mouth. Johnny turned his flashlight toward William. The pale green look of his skin in the glow of the dim light and the look of horror on his face as he pointed behind Johnny's back told him that this was trouble.

Johnny slowly turned perspiring and shaking with his eyes half shut expecting some horrific monster to be standing behind him. A boy can imagine quite a lot in the brief time it takes it turn around. Johnny envisioned a complete set of movie monsters ranging from deranged aliens to the traditional werewolves, ghosts, vampires and of course Frankenstein. He turned, looked up and unable to control his young body, he puked. Streams of whatever was in his stomach poured out and once that was done he dry heaved until his sides felt like they were bruised.

There was no doubt, it was a body hanging and swaying in front of them. The flesh was being eaten away by all kinds of scavengers and bugs that do that sort of thing. Half of the skin and flesh on his face was gone, down to the bare skull. The eyes were now just deep black sockets. The body, once a man swayed with the help of a very large rat that climbed up the man's torso with a chunk of flesh. The rat moved up the rope and leapt to safety on a now exposed beam from the ceiling. Its jump providing the momentum for the dead man to swing in the darkness. The dead man’s right hand, stiffened through rigor mortis had mummified with its index finger pointing straight out as if it were admonishing the two of them.

“Dead men tell no tales.”

“What?” Johnny was wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “You got any gum?”

“Yeah sure. Who do you think he was?”

“Makes no difference. We got to tell the cops.”

“I told you there was treasure here. This proves it. I will bet that he was hung here as a warning to keep people away from the treasure. I wonder if they cut out his tongue.”

“Not everything is a pirate tale.”

“I can't believe that you puked.”

“Well, you screamed like my sister when she sees a mouse.”

“Fresh air,” were the first words out of Johnny's mouth as they made their way back through the hole to the parking lot.

“A little help.” William was stuck his arms sticking out Johnny braced himself and pulled his friend free and clear. The two of them sat for a moment staring back through the hole in to the building.

“We have to tell someone.”

“Yeah, I know. Flip you for it.”

“Nah, I think we need to go together.”

“You're right, Johnny. Don't tell anyone I screamed, okay?”

“If you don't tell anyone that I puked.”

“Deal.”

They hopped on their bikes and headed down Main Street toward the Town Hall and the police station. Johnny did most of the talking until he got sick again when he came to the part about the body. William finished the story while his friend ran to the bathroom.

The two of them rode in the backseat of the police car back to the old theater. There they showed the police officer the hole that they had climbed through. The police officer walked around, “Looking for any signs of break ins,” he told the boys. He had been angry at first and told them that what they had done had been rather stupid and was against the law despite William claiming right of salvage. The officer politely explained that he believed that the salvage law applied to ships at sea and not to abandoned buildings. The three of them sat waiting for the county detectives to come with a warrant to enter the building.

The secretary back at the town hall had made some calls and located the previous owner of the property. Her voice cackled over the radio, “The guy now lives down in Miami and claims to have lost the property to the bank, when it foreclosed.”

The county detectives came armed with a warrant and quickly interviewed the two boys while they waited for the Fire Chief. Johnny confessed that he had puked, this being his first body and all. He hoped to do better next time. The detective interviewing him, a tall man with a pot belly stifled a laugh and remarked that he hoped for the young man's sake that there would not be a next time.

The fire chief showed up with an axe and with the help of the detectives they broke through the front door. Then the detectives and the police officer escorted the two boys inside. One of the detectives slipped in the vomit on the floor and gave a stern look to Johnny who stood there holding his breath.

“It’s a dead body alright. Hanging and swinging just like they said.” The potbellied detective then spoke something quietly to his partner who ran out of the building.

With a quick head motion from the potbellied detective the police officer brought the boys back outside. By now a rather large crowd of onlookers had assembled which included the parents of the two boys who split their time looking concerned, disheveled, worried and angry like parents do.

Police photographers arrived along with a man driving a large black station wagon. The coroner, the detectives, and the photographers all went inside and began examining the inside of building using large flood lights that were brought in by the fire department. The boys were ushered to their waiting parents. The officer explained what had happened, what they had done, what they had found and that under the circumstances the police department was not going to press any charges against the two of them. However, that did not mean that the police department would stand in the way of any parental punishment that they would see fit to administer.

The body was cut down and wrapped up before being brought out to the waiting spectators. Rumors flew that the body was either a homeless drifter, the ex-owner, a Satanist sacrifice, a cruel lover’s triangle murder, a hoax or the local banker who ran away after it was discovered that the bank was missing a rather large sum of cash.

Two months later the building was demolished to make way for yet another empty lot. Despite a nice clear print from the right index finger the body was never identified. Popular opinion was that the body was a homeless man who at his wit's end and with nothing left to lose decided to take his life. The death was ruled a John Doe suicide and went in to the unsolved file. The boys disbanded the salvage company idea and formed an Explorers Club after buying new bikes. No one ever questioned how the dead man got in to a sealed building or what he was pointing to as he hung in the lobby. No one ever asked if Johnny and William took anything from the building. Since no one asked they never shared the details of what was in the black bag laying on the floor.

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