The Writer's Life 9/27 - Gehdellottah

My thanks to the elderly woman who purchased the Reader's Digest large print book. Here's a brief excerpt from an unpublished novel, Present and Past. It's about lifelong friends, Brooklyn Italian-Americans, one amoral, the other honorable. Their conversations form the bulk of the narrative. In this instance they reminisce about a neighbor. I love the way language evolves.

They cruised onto a street lined with bare trees. Freddie saw no signs of activity as they passed his parents' house. It felt strange to visit the block with no thought of going to see his mother. The sidewalks were practically deserted. He did not recognize anyone who passed. There’d been an unusual turnover of  residents lately. For many years the faces had remained the same. It seemed he was getting further and further from the street, at least physically. It frightened him, as did all change. He did not want his roots erased, although he realized they were lodged in his memory. He wanted the comfort of visible evidence.
"Know who died?" said Tony, eyes alive. "'Gehda.'"
Freddie noted a wreath on the front door of a house. "Wow. How old was he?"
"Ninety-one. Hard to believe the miserable bastid lasted this long. "
Freddie smiled. "I'll never forget the time you had him going."
Tony snickered.
"'Gehdellottah.” Freddie threw his right arm into the air in imitation of the old man.
"'Wha'? ' "
"'Gehdellottah .'"     
"'Wha '?'”
They followed the same pattern, reenacting the scene several more times before laugh ter stopped them. Freddie had tears in his eyes.
"It took the giuche long enough to figure out  I was yankin' his chain.  'Wha'?' ‘Wha'?’ 'Wha'?' What a moron."
"That cane just missed your head."
"I shoulda let it hit me. I'd'a owned his house."
Freddie mouthed the phrase, counted on his fingers. "He cram med six words into one: ‘Get the hell out of here.’ Language is so fascinating, even when it's bastardized. And memory's unbelieveab1e. That was more than twen ty years ago, and I can still picture it so vividly."
"Me too."

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