Memory Corner 4

"Hercules"

Growing up in the projects on the Eastside, we had our heroes and our villains. Bad guys were easy. The cops, because they hated the projects. And even though we were right next to a community college and down the street from a state university, that didn't matter. The projects were trouble. There was this older man, dressed clean and sharp, like a waiter or a banker, had a head full of bushy curly hair and a thick dark beard that was always trimmed neatly. We called the man Hercules because he looked like a movie version of the Greek myth. 

He was always hanging around the park. Now the park was made up of a gymnasium, where kids played basketball and adults had talent shows. It was also the place where the doctors and nurses set up tables and lines formed for our vaccinations. Behind the gym was a handball court. To the right of the court was the baseball field, and left of the gym was the soccer field, where Sunday the park filled with soccer fans and taco trucks, snow cone vendors, and tamale carts. Behind the baseball field was the playground, with the merry-go-round, the swings, the slides, the sandboxes, and the main office of the park attendants. And at the opposite end of the park, opposite the gym, was the community swimming pool, which we called "The Plunge". The pool was fenced in and surrounded by bushes and trees to keep the lookie-loos away. Hercules took turns hanging around each of the parts of the park, but especially liked the pool.

We kids loved trailing Hercules around the park. We always got him to pick up heavy things, like rocks and trash cans. He seemed to like entertaining us, or at least, getting attention from admirers. He lived in the projects with his brother and father, who both had jobs. Hercules said he didn't need to work. He got a government check for serving in the military. That must be where he got his muscles. He always stayed home when his family was working, and when they got home from work, he took to the park. We knew his routine, waiting for him to leave his house, then followed him into the park. He always hit the gym first, shot some hoops, and then moved on to the baseball field bleachers, but only if there was a game on; if not, he headed for the playground. Even though he was too big, he loved the swings. It took three kids to push him till he was swinging high into the air. He swung back and forth until the lifeguards walked by heading for The Plunge. Then he jumped from the swing and said Hi to the lifeguards, especially to Tina, who the two male lifeguards called Tiny because of her small size. 

"Aren't you too old for swings?" asked one of the boy lifeguards sarcastically.

Hercules just gave him a dirty look and watched him until they entered the pool building, where a long line of kids were waiting in their swim clothes and carrying towels. They always cheered when the lifeguards arrived. When Tina turned and waved to the cheering kids, Hercules dropped his angry look and smiled. That's when he headed for the bush and tree area surrounding the pool. And that's when we kids parted ways with him. It was weird to us to be hiding in the bushes just to watch the swimmers in the pool. 

And that was the routine of our hero Hercules. 

A week or so after our last hangout with Hercules, he was arrested. The story goes that he was naked in the bushes behind the pool and he dragged Tina into the hideout he had created inside the bushes. She fought him off and screamed for help. The other lifeguards arrived in time to save Tina from harm. They beat Hercules almost to death. Cops didn't care. They were glad to arrest a project dweller, as they called us who lived there. Hercules went to prison. We heard that the other prisoners beat him up all the time when they found out he tried to harm a young girl. Even his father and brother moved out of the projects because gang members kept breaking their windows. 

When we were old enough to leave the projects to go to college, Hercules was still in jail, we thought. Some say he was dead. Some say he got out but moved to another state looking for his brother and father. Others say he haunts the park. The new kids from the projects even made a song about staying away from the bushes or Hercules will get you. I guess that's how urban legends are born: Part truth, part Boogeyman. But I know it's all about heroes and villains and not knowing how or when to distinguish the difference.