The Ease of Finding Trouble

They were not really bad boys, but they seemed to have a knack for getting into trouble. The younger one was more prone to venture toward the wayward path than his older brother. Very early in life, at the age of 7, he began sneaking cigarettes from his dad’s store, and he developed an insatiable desire for nicotine. Many stories could be told about Mike Brady’s mischievous past as well as his older brother’s plunge into the pit of darkness. But for now only one short story seems appropriate.

Both of the Brady boys spent time working in their dad’s grocery store. By the time they were teenagers they knew the business and could do most anything that needed to be done. Their favorite area to work  was in the meat department. Cutting up chickens, slicing bacon and lunch meat, trimming various cuts of beef for packaging, and making hamburger meat and sausage kept them busy and out of trouble, most of the time. They loved running the beef and pork strips through the grinder to make the best hamburger and sausage in Logan County.

One day they had just finished making sausage. The pork had been cut up for the grinder, the spices had been added and the final product had been packaged, weighed and priced. The only thing left to do was to wash the greasy, spice covered lard bucket that had held that delicious sausage. Up to that point all had gone well-no fighting, not even an argument. But trouble loomed on the horizon.

I’m not sure whose idea it was. I am not sure if the older Brady boy suggested the act that was about to occur, but it was Mike who carried out the dastardly deed. I do remember that the day was Friday which meant that Doris, one of the employees, had gotten her hair done the day before. Thursday was her day off, and she always went to the hairdresser on that day.  Hair doo's, as that sort of thing was called in the 1960’s, were kind of tall and very popular. That was the hairstyle that Doris was sporting. As I have mentioned I am not sure who suggested sneaking up behind Doris and putting that greasy lard bucket on her head, but that is exactly what Mike did.

Well, what followed did not go well for Victor Brady’s younger son. Doris’ reaction was something like one would expect from someone who had gotten their hand caught in that meat grinder. She was a good Christian lady so she did not cuss. I had known her all my life, and I had no idea how mad that little lady could get. Mike looked like he had been trapped in a room with an angry bull. I think maybe he would have preferred the angry bull when he saw his dad barge through the door. Doris told him her side of the story, and Mike had no side to tell.

Doris went to the lady’s room, I suppose,  to pick out all the sage and spices from her hair and perhaps to cry. Mike, however, went with his dad to the storage room where he bravely received his very painful punishment. There was no screaming or loud crying, but the sound of a belt hitting Mike’s bottom could be heard all over the store. The Brady boys had learned how to take their punishment like men. They had had plenty of practice because finding trouble was easy for them.