MARSHALL PULLS UP IN FRONT OF THE GATEWAY VILLAGE APARTMENT building in his royal blue '62 Comet, top down, breeze blowing through his short wavy hair. He digs in his shirt pocket and retrieves his cell phone, punching the number 2 on speed dial, which he has reserved for Clarice.
She answers on the third ring.
"Hey there. You here?"
"I am. Downstairs."
"Okay. I'll be right out."
Clarice bounds around the corner onto Trade Street where Marshall's car is parked next to the curb.
"Hey!" She says enthusiastically, as she slides into the seat next to Marshall, leaning over to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "It seems like forever since I've seen you."
"It's been a minute," Marshall replies. "How goes the next exhibit?"
"Good. Weird. But fun."
"Well," Marshall offers haltingly. "It's about to get weirder. Ready to have some fun today?"
"What are you talking about?"
"It's a surprise," he shoots back. "Let's just say I've found something that's going to work well with your exhibit."
"Marshall," Clarice whines, "Can't you just tell me?"
"Noooooooo," he says emphatically. "That would take all the fun out of it. First we're going to have lunch. Then I'll show you what I'm talking about."
Clarice heaves a heavy, somewhat annoyed sigh as she pulls a windswept clump of shiny red hair from her face and pushes it behind her right ear. She then plops back in the seat, as if to signal defeat.
"Alright, I'll accept my fate. I'm in for the ride. Nice day for a ride in a cool convertible. So what direction we headed?"
"Uncharted territory for you Clarice. The west side."
"Really? I've been over there a couple of times. There's a few good thrift stores over on Friedman Drive."
"Friedman?" Marshall chuckles. "Friedman? I think it's Freedom Drive.
"Oh. Yeah. You're right. Freedom Drive. I've found some cool stuff in those stores."
Marshall slides the car into gear and makes his way down Trade Street. At the next intersection he does a quick u-turn, heading back up Trade and then right on Cedar. At Fourth Street he takes another right, rolling past the massive parking deck for the Doubletree Inn. When the car comes to a stop at a traffic light, Clarice cranes her head around, surveying the sights.
"You know," she begins slowly. "I know we're only a few blocks away from my place but I don't think I've ever been over here. There are some great old houses."
"Don't consider yourself that much of an anomaly," says Marshall. "A lot of people who live here have never made it over to the west side. I discovered some of what it has to offer when I became friends with Niesha last year."
"Matthew's girlfriend, right?"
"Yeah."
"They still together?"
"They are. I had dinner with them a couple of weeks ago. Anyway -- she lives in Wesley Heights. Right up here on the right. On Grandin Road."
Early 20th-century homes and mature oaks roll past on either side of the little blue car as Clarice and Marshall make there way out Fourth Street, which eventually turns in to Tuckaseegee Road. Old houses give way to an industrial district and then more, seemingly older, and decidedly more run-down houses as they pass through a neighborhood called Enderly Park.
"Tuckaseegee is an odd-sounding name for a street, don't you think?"
"Probably something Native American, originally," Marshall muses. "There's some exceptional architecture over here, too. In another few years all of this will be snatched up and you won't be able to get one of these for less than what you're paying for a condo in uptown right now. Just wait."
In between the somewhat decaying Craftsman bungalows and churches with names like "City of God" and "No Walls Ministry," Clarice spies a little sign tacked on to the side of a house that's been converted in to a business.
Barbara's Hair Dynasty: Salon of Beauty
"My, my, my," Clarice chuckles. "That certainly is a grandiose name. I wouldn't expect to come out of there looking any less glamorous than Paris or Lindsay."
"A lot of churches and a lot of hair salons over here," says Marshall. "Must be a lot of sinning goin' on," he laughs. "But I bet they look damn good whenever they're doin it."
A few more turns and a long stretch past a cemetery and several fifties-style ranch houses, Clarice and Marshall eventually end up at the corner of Freedom and Little Rock Roads.
"Lunch time," Marshall announces.
"Where?" Clarice asks, as she turns her head from side to side, spotting a grocery store and a handful of other storefront businesses.
"Right there," he says, pointing at a green and white sign.
Tank Town Cafe
"Love the name," Clarice says with a broad smile.
"Wait'll you try the food. A-plus down-home."
A good-natured middle-aged woman with a head full of extraordinarily thick brown hair greets Clarice and Marshall at the front door.
"Hey honey!" She announces in a friendly southern accent." "You two gonna have lunch?"
"That'll be great," says Marshall.
"Sit wherever you want and Trina will be with you in just a minute."
They take a seat in a booth near the back of the restaurant. A few seconds later, a woman in tight faded jeans with crimped red hair shows up, menus in hand.
"Afternoon sweetie," she says in a honey-coated voice, directing her attention to Marshall. She nods in Clarice's direction. "Ma'am. Take a look at the menus and I'll be right back. Know what you want you want to drink?"
"Your sweet tea, of course," Marshall offers.
"Water will be okay for me," Clarice says sheepishly. "Don't think I could handle too much sugar and caffeine."
"I think she likes you," Clarice whispers.
"Na. She talks like that to all the guys," Marshall laughs. "See anything on the menu you like?"
"The Chicken Chipotle Wrap looks good."
"Haven't had that yet. I was thinking about the Beef Tips over Rice."
Forty-five minutes later Clarice and Marshall are back on the road. They come to a traffic light at Little Rock and Tuckaseegee just as Clarice loses all patience for her westside foray.
"Alright Marshall. This has been fun. Nice ride in the convertible. Lunch at the funky diner. Are we about to hit the final goal yet?"
"As a matter of fact, we're almost there," he says, making a left hand turn on to Tuckaseegee.
"Where's there?"
"It's 4928 Tuckaseegee Road."
"What is it?"
"C'mon, Clarice," he says, rolling his eyes. "Only a few more minutes and you're gonna love it."
As they round a bend Marshall points to the top of a hill where a stately federal style home sits, surrounded by ancient oak trees and a massive lawn.
"There," he says. "Recognize it?"
Clarice studies the house closely while Marshall pulls the car in to the long drive that circles around to the back of the house. Halfway up the drive he pulls the car to a stop and turns off the engine.
Clarice springs from her seat and dashes to the front yard, where she stands motionless for a moment before she begins to squeal and jump up and down.
"Is this what I think it is?" She asks excitedly. "I didn't even know it still existed."
Marshall nods. "It is. It's the old Owens family home."
"How did you find it?"
"By accident, actually. There was a notice about it on the Historic Architecture website. I was looking around to see what kind of new projects there might be out there for me to take on and this just happened to catch my eye. When I saw the history of the property, I realized it was the same family that's the center of your exhibit. I thought you'd like to see it."
"You thought right," Clarice says excitedly. Does anybody live here? Can we see the inside?"
"Nobody lives here right now," Marshall explains. "And I think I might be able to convince the firm that handles it to let us have a look inside."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah..But Clarice, there's something else I have to tell you."
"What?"
"There's a good chance it's going to be demolished for a housing development."
"You've gotta be kidding me," she says, the emotion rising in her voice. "It's over 150 years old. Why would anybody want to do that?"
She dashes back to the car, grabs her bag and retrieves a camera.
"I wanna get some pictures. "Then we'll talk about what we can do to try to save this place."
~ David Moore
* A mixture of fact and fiction, Elmwood Park is a serial exclusive to Uptown.
To catch up on previous editions, go to the archives section of this website.
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