— Chapter Four —

Sports are for Suckers

F

elix walked into O’Hannagain’s from the hot, bright sun and into the dimly lit restaurant. His eyes were still adjusting as a male host asked him if he wanted a table. Felix relayed to the man what JB had told him. The host led Felix to the back of the restaurant and opened a door to the basement. Felix went downstairs without him and came to a large wooden door. He knocked, and a small sliding door opened at head height.

A man behind the door looked at Felix, closed the slider, and opened the large door. Inside the room was a full-size bar that would hold over a hundred people. But during the middle of the afternoon, only a dozen men were drinking. Felix saw Jones at the end of the bar counter. He walked over to him and sat down next to Jones. —Jones looked at him and said.

“You’re that new kid, —Kendell?”

“Yep. —JB wanted me to see you,” said Felix, as he signaled to the barkeep.

“Oh, yeah? —Well, you can go back to The Herald and tell JB to take a long walk, off a short pier,” said Jones.

The barkeep walked over and asked what he could get Felix.

“Yeah, bring my friend here a beer,” said Jones. He turned and told Felix. “Some of the guys who worked for Pabst jumped the lake into Canada and started making beer on their own. —It’s not bad,” said Jones.

“JB wants me to help you find Jack Tate,” said Felix.

“Is that right? Well, you’re wasting your time, Kid. —I don’t need your help because I’m done at The Herald. I’m done working for JB. And I’m done with sports reporting. —You can have it,” Jones said as he pulled out his report’s notebook.

The barkeep set a beer in front of Felix. As Felix watched Jones crawl out the words, ‘I quit, Robert M. Jones.’ He signed it, ripped it out of his pad, and handed it to Felix.

“You can hand this to JB. —And here’s a word of advice. Sports are for suckers!” said Jones. He finished his beer in one long gulp, slammed the glass mug down on the bar, and walked away.

Felix sat at the bar alone with his thoughts. It wasn’t long before he finished his beer. He stood up, paid and tipped the barkeep, walked out, and returned to the paper. As he walked up to the front doors of The Herald, he stopped and thought about what JB said to him.

“—I don’t want to see you until you find Tate and have a story for print. Got that?”

Felix turned around and headed to the parking lot to get his car. He was going to find his old college roommate and friend, Jack Tate.

Felix walked back to his parked automobile. It sat in a private parking lot adjacent to The Herald. His vehicle was a Daniel D19 Speedster.

Designed with German silver for the radiator, headlights, and front bumper. The D19 was a ragtop convertible with baseball-glove leather seats and a high-gloss wooden dashboard. The trim on the crystal dials of the D19 was of German silver. The V-eight engine produced ninety horsepower.

Its hardwood frame provided a strong internal structure while remaining lightweight and road-fast. Its sheet metal was overlaid on the frame and painted candy-apple red. This construction method was typical of the Submarine Speedster in the 1920s. The Daniels company built only 100 of these D19 Speedsters.

Felix drove to Jack Tate’s family home in Evanston. He found their housemaid, who answered the front door. The maid told Felix that she hadn’t seen Jack for over two weeks and had no idea where he was. She then told Felix that Jack and his Father got into an argument. That same afternoon, Jack left and has not returned home.

Felix drove back to downtown Chicago to the Corinthian Yacht Club. Both Felix’s and Jack’s families belong to the club. Felix knew Jack enjoyed being on the lake during the summer. More so than going golfing in the sun. When Felix walked in, the manager spotted him and greeted him.

Felix asked about Jack and whether he had been at the club. But the manager said Jack hadn’t been there since the beginning of Spring.
Felix drove back north of Chicago to Skokie to its private golf club. He knew Jack liked to golf, but not in the summer sun. He did most of his golf in the Spring and on Sundays during the fall. Still, Felix needed to go there to turn a stone over before crossing it off his list.

He walked into the clubhouse and went straight to the pro shop. A man named Emil worked the counter and caught every roomer in the country club. Men of the club would go to the shop to gossip with him. Emil told him that Jack and his Father had an argument, and Jack got up and left the family home. Jack had his mail sent to the club soon after he left his house, but two days ago, someone from the hotel came to pick it up for him. —Emil did not know which hotel the person came from.

Felix thanked Emil and tipped him, then got back into his D19 Speedster to head back to the city. He was going to a hotel that was only a few blocks away and within walking distance from The Herald. Felix had a hunch that his friend Jack was at the same hotel where he had stayed during his first year in college. Jack and his Father had gotten into an argument.

So, during the winter break, Jack spent his time at this hotel. Once the spring semester began at Northwestern, he finally checked out.
Felix pulled up to The Blackstone Hotel and turned the car over to the valet. He walked to the concierge’s front desk and asked to be connected to Mr. David Davis’s room. Let him know that his friend, Felix Kendell, was here in the lobby to see him.

After the concierge hung up the hotel phone, he gave Felix a room key. He told Felix that Mr. Davis was unable to come down. But instead, he should go up to the suite and let himself in.

As Felix was getting off the fifteenth floor, a man was walking on. He wore a cream button-up shirt with a wide club tie, striped in sky blue and spring green, and light wool golfers’ trousers tailored to a plus-fours. In his teeth was a Rhodesian Briar smoking pipe topped by a dark green golfing cap. Felix held the elevator door open with his arm as he was walking off. The man thanked him, and Felix continued down the hall. He walked up to his friend’s room door and used the key to open it. Inside the suite was his old roommate, Jack Tate.

Jack Tate was wearing only a smoking jacket when he came to the door to greet Felix, as he said.

“LEX. How the Hell did you know I was here?” asked Jack.

“Well, it did take a little digging to pop you up from the earth,” said Felix.

“My God —how long has it been since we last saw each other?” asked Jack.

“We haven’t seen each other since you dropped out of school last Fall after football season,” said Felix. He walked into the hotel suite, and he stepped on an envelope on the floor while closing the door.

“Well, old Pal of mine, a lot has happened since,” said Jack. “I got a contract with O’Brien’s professional football club on the South Side. So, I’m going to start playing on the gridiron again. —WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?” he asked.

“That’s the cat’s meow, my friend,” said Felix. “But why are you nesting up here?” he asked as he picked up and read the front of the envelope, which came from under the room door.

“Because I didn’t want to be at home, my old man got red under the collar about me playing football again,” said Jack. “AND this time, I’m playing with a bunch of knuckle draggers —nonetheless. My old man said our type shouldn’t work for people like O’Brien. This whole deal has been a kick in the teeth for my Father. But I don’t care. For me, it’s about the game. The game is the only thing that makes me feel alive. —Do you know what I mean?” he asked.

“I do know what you mean. —Here’s a letter, it was on the floor, addressed to you,” said Felix.

“Thanks,” Jack said as he put the envelope in his smoking jacket without looking at it. “So, how’s my old roommate been? What are you up to since Northwestern?” he asked.

“Well, I finished a couple of weeks ago,” said Felix. “And I’m working for The Herald now as a sports reporter.”

“HA. Well, call me a monkey’s uncle! —HEY, you can do a story on me someday,” said Jack.

“Funny, you said that. I want to do a story about you,” said Felix. “I can even have it in print for this Sunday’s morning edition. —What do you think?” he asked.

“Sure! We’ll do that! It will be a gas,” said Jack as he slapped Felix in the chest with the back of his hand.

“Well, there’s no time like the present,” said Felix.

“Oh no, —I’m afraid not now, my friend,” said Jack. “This is my last weekend before I report for practice on Monday. So, I’m getting ready to go out to paint the town red. I’m heading to an Elephant Tent event this evening. —HEY. Why don’t you come along? It’s been a while since we’ve painted the town together,” he said.

“Sounds great —as long as you give me your story before I leave in the morning,” said Felix.

“Why sure I will, my old roomie, sure I will. —Hey, by the way. How did you catch on to which room I checked in?” asked Jack.

“David Davis. The only Supreme Court Justice from the state of Illinois. It isn’t the first time you’ve done this or used his name,” said Felix.

“No one can get one past you, Lex,” said Jack. —”So, what do you say? Are you ready for a night out with your old roommate?”

“My dear sir, will you please point me to the Elephant Tent? I have some peanuts to feed the pachyderms,” said Felix. —Then Felix pretended his arm was a truck and started making elephant sounds —Jack joined in.

The Elephant Tent was a nickname the townies gave to this illegal event. It was a party with alcohol that happened during the prohibition era. Seeing pink elephants meant you were drunk. The ‘tent’ name implied it traveled like a circle, never being in one place for too long.

Jack had room service bring up sandwiches, some fruit, dessert, and iced tea. Jack turned the iced teas into Manhattans. They ate and drank while talking about their college days. Jack announced that he needed to clean himself up and put on a new suit he had received earlier from the hotel’s bellhop. He jumped up from the couch and walked to his bedroom. In one fell swoop, he took off his smoking jacket and threw it into his bedroom.

—From the bedroom, Jack hollered out to his old roommate Felix. “Hey Lex, do you have a lighter on you?” asked Jack.

“I’m afraid not, ol’ Boy,” answered Felix. “I don’t smoke like you.”

“Yeah —you were never much of a smoker. Were you?” asked Jack.

“Only at night when I’m socializing,” answered Felix. “Why do you want a lighter from me? Where’s yours?”

“The most damn thing,” said Jack. —”I don’t recall. Can you be a pal and grab a box of matches on the desk where you’re at?”

Felix walked over to the desk and looked at the mess. Jack’s old drinks and some clothes were on it, along with newspapers, old mail, and an ashtray full of Luck Strike cigarette butts.

“On the desk, you say?” asked Felix. “Under which pile of crap?”

“Check in the top drawer,” said Jack from the bedroom.

Felix pulled the top drawer and noticed a box of hotel matches, and said, “Found them!”

“Excellent!” said Jack, coming out of the bedroom half-dressed. “Toss them to me —would ya?”

Felix flipped the matchbox to Jack, picked up the day’s Tribune, and started reading it. Jack lit the match to his cigarette, picked up the room phone, and called a woman asking if she wanted to go with them for the evening. When Jack hung up, he asked Felix if he had driven. Jack said his automobile was still at the service shop after he wrecked it a week ago. He wasn’t sure if they had yet fixed his vehicle.

Felix agreed to drive, knowing he wouldn’t be drinking hard that night. Felix tried to get Jack to talk about his article as he got ready. But Jack told him there would be no interview until the morning. He also promised Felix would have the executive.

They went to the lobby. Felix booked a room for the night at the Blackstone Hotel. Felix suspected his night would turn into a long evening, and going back home didn’t make sense to him. He got a single room on the third floor, along with a wake-up call at seven o’clock in the morning.
Felix requested that soap, a toothbrush, and toothpaste be sent to the room.

He also wrote a note saying that he would be home that night. He gave the message to the front desk and asked that it be telegrammed to his home. Felix knew his mother would worry, and he sent the message to let her know he wouldn’t be home until the next day.

Jack and Felix had the D19 Speedster brought to the front doors. As the two walked outside, an upset man from behind them shouted out to Jack.