One day when I was about 10 years old, I was visiting my friend Dee Yates. He was crying with a toothache. His Uncle Joe Willis lived in a one-room cabin that he bought from "Hawkins Trailer Park" because they were closing the park. He moved it next to the Yates' home. Joe and Dee's mother, Delta, were brother and sister. Because he was a bachelor he ate his meals with the Yates' family. He was a Tinsmith and his shop was nearby. Joe was a very large man. He smoked because he heard that it would help him loose weight. This did not help him because his sister was such a good cook. He was very kind to the family. When he came out of the shop and saw Dee crying he said, "Come on Dee, I will take you up to see the Dentist. The Dentist office was on the 2nd floor next to the Venice Theater(which was located over the Salt Creek-next to the present The Times News building in Nephi).The Venice showed good westerns every Friday and Saturday nights(all westerns are good). They also had serials with Buck Rogers in far out space adventures. There were wooden stairs that went up to the Dentist office. They were next to "Charley Footes Cafe" (When this writer was a teenager, he was the assistant projectionist working for Bob Anderson and had the opportunity to clean those stairs and the cafe was like going back in time, as everything was left as it was when they abandoned it. (They later made it into a Pizza place). The cafe was a one-man operation. They sat on stools next to a bar like counter and back far enough that you could hardly see the through the window. In the back room they played cards and drank beer. The smoke was very heavy like an early morning tulle(soft silk looking veil) fog. I heard many stories of winners and losers at these card games. The stairs were old, brown and uninviting. The little hallway was with a chair and a bench that would seat three or four people depending on their
size. The door to the operating room was on an angle so you would not see right in and get a clear view of him an who was in his chair. The Dentist was considered to be "old". He walked with a shuffle, with both toes pointing out and a slouch in his posture leaning forward. He had no assistants. I could see a brown dental cabinet with many little drawers full of sharp instruments. I doubt if he sterilized his instruments or needles. Probably wiped them on his gown or pants. He did have a tall jar with fluid in it, like the barbers put their combs in, and there were tools sticking out. As we sat in the hallway outside the door I could hear him talking to someone in his Dental chair. Then like a gale of hen manure these words came flying out of the room, "Good hell, if you shoot me with that you will freeze me clear to my ass". Dee looked at Uncle Joe and said, "The tooth don't hurt no more, let's go home."
That is the end of the story as written by Dean Bowles. This writer took the liberty to exclude the name of the Dentist, and some of his habits, as he has a variety of family members still alive. And where there are punctuation marks or brackets or whatever Mrs. Lomax taught me, I put in my own words. I do remember Joe Willis, as our family had called on him to do some plumbing work on our 1885 built home, and we all had a likin for him, and yes my mother cooked him a lunch! It should also be noted that as a kid our Dentist was Dr. P. L. Jones, and he came to Nephi from the Dixie area of Utah. When he arrived in Nephi, he was one of those true leaders who helped get the Ute Stampede started; build the Nephi Airport and put together the infrastructure for Nephi. He was not an original Nephite, but his love for our history and culture was very much admired, but took no credit for it. And yes, he had a wooden stair case up to his office, and with his two big hands in a kids mouth, he scared the......well ....Dickens out of us and the nearby liquor store owner or "Aunt Emma" could hear our knees shakin as we walked up the stairs.
No comments:
Post a Comment