D
I first heard this story a few years ago from a girl I had met in New York’s Greenwich Village. The girl told me that she had been one of the participants. Since then, others to whom I have related the tale have said that they had read a version of it in some forgotten book, or been told it by an acquaintance who said that it actually happened to a friend. Probably the story is one of those mysterious bits of folklore that emerge from the national subconscious every few years, to be told a new in one form or another. The cast of character shifts, the message endures. I like to think that it did happen, somewhere, sometime.
They were going to Fort Lauderdale –three boys and three girls – and when they boarded the bus, they were carrying sandwiches and wine in paper bags, dreaming of golden beaches and sea tides as the gray cold of New York vanished behind them.
As the bus passed through New Jersey, they began to notice Vingo. He sat in front of them, dressed in a plain, ill-fitting suit, never moving, his dusty face masking his age. He chewed the inside of his lip a lot, frozen into some personal cocoon of silence.
Deep into the night, outside Washington, the bus pulled into Howard Johnson’s, and everybody got off except Vingo. He sat rooted in his seat, and the young people began to wonder about him, trying to imagine his life: perhaps he was a sea captain, a runaway from his wife, an old soldier going home. When they went back to the bus, one of the girls sat beside him and introduced herself.
“We’re going to Florida,” she said brightly, “ I hear it’s beautiful.”
“It is,” he said quietly, as if remembering something he had tried to forget.
“Want some wine?” she said. He smiled and took a swig from the bottle. He thanked her and retreated again into his silence. After a while, she went back to the others, and Vingo nodded in sleep.
In the morning, they awoke outside another Howard Johnson’s, and this time Vingo went in. The girl insisted that he join them. He seemed very shy, and ordered black coffee and smoked nervously as the young people chattered about sleeping on beaches. When they returned to the bus, the girl sat with Vingo again, and after a while, slowly and painfully, he began to tell his story. He had been in jail in New York for the past four years, and now he was going home.
“Are you married?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” she said.
“Well, when I was in jail I wrote to my wife,” he said. “I told her that I was going to be away for a long time, and that if she couldn’t stand it, if the kids kept asking questions, if it hurt her too much, well, she could just forget me. I’d understand. ‘Get a new guy,’ I said – she’s a wonderful woman, really something – ‘and forget about me.’ I told her she didn’t have to write me. And she didn’t. Not for three and a half years.”
“And you’re going home now, not knowing?”
“Yeah,” he said shyly. “Well, last week, when I was sure the parole was coming through, I wrote her again. We used to live in Brunswick, just before Jacksonville, and there’s a big oak tree just as you come into town. I told her that if she didn’t have a new guy and if she’d take me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I’d get off and come home. If she didn’t want me, forget it – no handkerchief, and I’d go on through.”
“Wow,” the girl said. “Wow.”
She told the others, and soon all of them were in it, caught up in the approach of Brunswick, looking at the pictures Vingo showed them of his wife and three children – the woman handsome in a plain way, the children still unformed in the cracked, much-handled snapshots.
Now they were 20 miles from Brunswick, and the young people took over window seats on the right side, waiting for the approach of the great oak tree. The bus acquired a dark, hushed mood, full of the silence of absence and lost years. Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face into the ex-con’s mask, as if fortifying himself against still another disappointment.
Then Brunswick was 10 miles, and then five. Then, suddenly, all of the young people were up out of their seats, screaming and shouting and crying, doing small dances of joy. All except Vingo.
Vingo sat there stunned, looking at the oak tree. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs –20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds, a tree that stood like a banner of welcome billowing in the wind. As the young people shouted, the old con slowly rose from his seat and made his way to the front of the bus to go home.
15. At the beginning of the story, the young boys and girls __________.
A. neglected Vingo intentionally B. wanted to help Vingo
C. cared about Vingo too much D. paid no attention to Vingo at all
16. The underlined part “Howard Johnson’s” is most probably a __________.
A. restaurant B. railway station C. bus stop D. clinic
17. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The girl who spoke to Vingo had been to Florida several times.
B. Vingo was not willing to tell the others the true story all the time.
C. In fact, Vingo wasn’t sure of his wife’s attitude at all.
D. Vingo stayed in jail in New Jersy for four years.
18. What does the handkerchiefs stand for in the passage?
A. It stands for happiness and fun. B. It stands for tolerance and acceptance.
C. It stands for purity and innocence. D. It stands for excitement and surprise
19. The last paragraph shows us EXCEPT __________.
A. everyone was delighted at the flying handkerchiefs.
B. the flying handkerchiefs on the old oak was beyond Vingo’s expectations
C. Vingo was unwilling to go home at once because he slowly rose from his seat
D. Vingo’s excited feelings couldn’t be expressed in words.
20. The paragraphs following this passage would most probably talk about __________.
A. the conversation between Vingo and his family.
B. the travel of the excited young people to Fort Lauderdale
C. Vingo’s three lovely children
D. Vingo’s bad experience in prison
