Chapter Text
April 23 1973
[Ben] Before we get into your involvement with uh organized crime we should go through your life preLackadaisy.
[Calvin] Well, I was born here in 1909 here in St. Charles where I’ve lived all my life.
[Ben] What was your childhood like?
[Calvin] Standard for the time in all honesty. I was raised catholic, liked baseball, got into shenanigans with my cousin.
[Ben] Your cousin, Rocky Rickaby right?
[Calvin] Yes, he uh, more or less lived with us until 1921.
[Ben] What happened in 1921?
[Calvin] My… My father died and my mother blamed Rocky. Sent him to live on his uncle’s farm, he wandered off, wrote a lot of letters and we didn’t see him again till 1925.
[Ben] What were your parents like?
[Calvin] Both my parents were from Ireland, my father Carroll was a stereotypically hard working type, but he had a real soft side to him. My mother Nina was the disciplinarian.
[Ben] Were they both Catholic?
[Calvin] Yes but my mother more so.
[Ben] Moving on from adolescence, when did you get involved with Lackadaisy?
[Calvin] In ‘27, must have been late May. Rocky picks me up to do some errands because I had just been kicked out of the police academy—
[Ben] You tried to become a police officer?
[Calvin] Yes but they did like my particular enthusiasm for firearms.
[Both] *chuckling*
[Calvin] So my cousin. So my cousin takes me out into the woods to this pig farm and he’s got me convinced he’s some sort of vigilante. So there’s bottles all over the place and we find a still in the barn. He tosses a, I think there called Molatoves, but it all turns into a commotion. Barn’s on fire, fire to a couple cars and Rocky starts sending them down into the barn and farm house. Whole place is on fire and the farmers start shooting so we flee.
[Ben] What happened after?
[Calvin] Well he told my mother he’d get me some lunch so we went to the Little Daisy Cafe. And while we’re eating the waitress takes a liking to me and gives me a club shaped pin and told me to come back at night.
[Ben] Who was the waitress?
[Calvin] That was Ivy.
[Ben] Oh so that's how you two met?
[Calvin] Yup. I ended up doing as she asked and when I got there she dragged me into the basement which led to the caves the speakeasy was in. Now I’m all confused because I didn’t want to believe it was a bar, Rocky and the band were screaming about a raid and everyone was talking a million words a minute.
[Ben] There was a raid that night? What happened?
[Calvin] I handled it. Took out three of them. First time I ever killed someone.
[Ben] What was that like?
[Calvin] I liked it, till it was over. Threw up while trying to start my car.
[Ben] If it had such an effect on you… why stick around?
[Calvin] My cousin, I wasn’t about to abandon him. Ivy too.
[Ben] Well… um– after that you started to work for Lackadaisy as an enforcer.
[Calvin] Muscle more generally. If it required fist or bullets they’d have me do it.
[Ben] No one else could do that work?
[Calvin] I was the only able bodied man they had who could shoot straight.
[Ben] So you worked there till–
[Calvin] About when prohibition ended.
[Ben] You had a sports column by then didn’t you?
[Calvin] Yes, and I just started commentating games as well.
[Ben] Why sports media?
[Calvin] One thing I could talk about with confidence.
[Ben] And that moves us into your life after.
[Calvin] Things were normal. Raising a family, kept writing, kept commentating.
[Ben] You didn’t keep the Thompson down for long though.
[Calvin] Yeah, in ‘41 I joined the signal corp.
[Ben] Any particular reason you joined the army?
[Calvin] Felt it was the right thing to do. Pope said that fascism was morally regressive so, I guess was trying to make right with God.
[Ben] Do you believe you did?
[Calvin] The father says I have, but I try to redeem myself everyday.
[Ben] What was the war like for you?
[Calvin] I like the camaraderie, loved combat, and hated the violence. A lot of good people died.
[Ben] After the war?
[Calvin] After the war things were about the same as before. Everyone was four years older but that would have happened anyways.
[Ben] Anything interesting recently?
[Calvin] My granddaughter started working at IBM and I just finished a manuscript about the Cardinals.
[Ben] That's good to hear.
[Calvin] My granddaughter or the book?
[Ben] *laughter* Both I guess. Well, that should be good. Anything you want to say.
[Calvin] Nothing I could say that they haven't already heard.
[Ben] Right. I gave you my card, didn't I?
[Calvin] You did.
[Ben] If you–
End of audio