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THE KNIFE
He called himself “The Knife”.
Dressed in a white robe with a hood, he roamed our neighborhood and began marking our territory with his personal sign…. and we didn’t like it! And now he stood there just a few feet away daring Bill and me to make our move…and he had his knife slung around his waist.
How did we get into this mess? He was bigger, stronger and probably older. All of which never really mattered to a Midnight Midget. We were the best. This was our territory and we ruled. We dedicated ourselves to defend the USA against her enemies like most American kids living in Los Angeles in the forties. The Midgets were unique; at least we thought so. We wore capes and masks and carrying our shields we roamed the neighborhood at night looking for saboteurs. (Saboteurs always spy at night.)
We spotted this newcomer a few times several yards away on some fence or roof top. It was nighttime but he wore white and was easy to spot. He posed a threat to our clandestine adventures so we knew he must be unmasked.
This encounter started when we first saw his mark… a circle carved in the west side of the garage. In the circle were a series of knife stabs. We suspected Bill’s older brother, Wayne, of carving the mark because it was so expertly done. Bill and I were ten years old and we did a lot of carving but nothing as slick as that circle. Then one appeared on a fence down the alley. Later we saw some chalk duplicates on the asphalt behind the drug store. These were in our territory and like I said we didn’t like it.
When Bill approached his big brother about the marks, Wayne claimed it wasn’t him and he would prove it!
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“Meet me at nine o’clock tonight between the garages and “I will bring THE KNIFE in person.”
The Midnight Midgets never backed down from a challenge. The Knife had made his first mark at that spot and now we were standing right there just a few feet away. Wayne was off to one side and I surveyed our escape routes if we were forced to run. We stood between our garage and Mr. Hansen’s garage. Behind me stood a massive incinerator and a fence without a gate that lead into the alley. I figured the safest place was on top of the garage, but to shimmy up the incinerator would take just seconds too long and we would get caught. To get into the backyard meant passing these intruders, so the alley would have to be our escape.
Bill was inching towards “The Knife”.
He turned to me and said, “Ig Na ta hana waa”. The Midnight Midgets had their own language. It didn’t mean anything to anybody else, but we had figured out a long time ago if you chased spies you needed an edge. I knew Bill was about to make his move so I replied, “Apa no Na ta”, meaning I’m ready to get out of here fast. When you live as close as Bill and I you just get to know what to expect. Bill had more guts than Dick Tracy and a knife made no difference.
Suddenly Bill made his move. With super speed he reached for the hood and yanked it off.
We froze in disbelief.
The Knife wore another mask under the hood!
We split. As fast as we were running we could hear Wayne and The Knife laughing behind us.
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We never found out the identity of The Knife. Some said it was skinny Jimmy up the alleyway, but I didn’t think he was smart enough to out fox a Midnight Midget. Anyway that’s just one of our adventures the Summer of 1943.
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The Beginning
Being a Midnight Midget was special. Bill and I were best friends living in Southwest Los Angeles in an old neighborhood during the 1940’s. Our yard was made for fun. There was no TV, no cell phones, no computers, only radio and movies. If you had imagination there was no limit. On our lot were two houses…Bill’s family lived in front; our home was in the rear. Both houses were old and rundown. Behind them was a four car garage complex along an alley. Nobody parked in the garages because the alleyway was so narrow it was a difficult task. Our landlord, Mr. Picket, lived across the street, but he was old and didn’t bother us. He did collect the rent…$8.00 a week; Bill’s family paid $9 (it was a bigger house).
We had two scrawny fig trees about fifteen feet high, no grass… just dirt. Nothing ever got watered. There was a lawn out front of Bill’s house along 84thstreet. As I remember the only water faucet was out front. That lawn was yellow most of the year.
For two boys this was a paradise. No yard chores but we did burn the trash. Boys like to play with fire so this was no chore! Every house had an incinerator for burning trash back near the alley. We used them for mostly hiding and climbing. Ours was very large and made of brick. With practice you could scoot up the bricks and back fence and be atop the garage in about 3 seconds. This proved to be a big advantage for the Midnight Midgets.
Our adventures got started when be began sleeping outside in the summertime. I didn’t like sleeping in the same bedroom with my two sisters. The ground was no problem because we had cardboard to place under our outdoor bed. Five houses up the street was Vermont Avenue where all the stores were located. Today we have shopping malls. Back then we had Vermont Shopping District. Behind each store were
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trash bins with plenty of clean boxes. The larger the better…like refrigerator or washing machine crates. Cardboard became our standard resource, as you will find out.
Somewhere we found an old mattress to put on our cardboard groundcover. This was really plush. Outside every night we enjoyed freedom and excitement. We made capes and masks and shields and roamed the neighborhood in our shorts and bare feet. We called ourselves the Midnight Midgets.
After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, things got serious. In addition to protecting our turf and enjoying the fruits of the neighbor’s yards, we kept our eyes out for foreign saboteurs. Our club was dedicated and loyal to the U.S.A.
Boys in 1940 