The House at 412 Sespe

by S.L. BugBug Milliken

It was 1915, and the town of Fillmore was still young. Silky, a large black cat, sat on the corner of Central and Sespe, and looked at the activity going on. A new store was going up on the East side of Central, and new houses were being built on Sespe. There was a War going on in Europe, and many of the young men in town had enlisted to serve their country. But Silky’s friends, Harvey Solomon Patterson, better known as "Patt", and his good buddy Charlie Moon were too young to enlist. They were only 15. Now Silky watched as the two swaggered down the street from the local high school, and entered the pool hall. Silky followed the two in. It was dim and cool in the pool hall, and Silky liked to listen to the clack of the balls hitting one another. Ceiling fans whirred and a fly droned on the screen at the door. Behind the counter, Possum, the Proprietor started two combo burritos as soon as he saw Patt and Charlie come in. Then he mixed two sodas with a little of all the syrups in them. He called the drink a Suicide. Patt and Charlie sat down at high stools at the counter, and Possum placed the food in front of them. It was their daily fare. Silky jumped up on the counter and sat by Charlie’s plate. Soon Charlie gave him a bit of the burrito. It was his favorite afternoon snack. School would soon be out for the summer, and the two boys talked about what they would be doing. Charlie had found a job as an apprentice carpenter. He was very excited. He would be learning a great trade, and he knew carpenters were in great demand. They had just started building new houses in the 400 block of Sespe, and he would be working on 412. It was his first job. Charlie tried to get his buddy Patt to sign on too. But Patt had other ideas. Patt worked at the United Mercantile Store, but the Hickey Brothers were opening a new branch of their hardware store, and Patt had applied for a job there. He was thrilled when he received a letter the last week of school. Not only had he been hired, he was to be the assistant manager. Only 15, and an assistant manager. Wow! He couldn’t believe his luck. The summer flew by. Patt ran the Hardware store, and Charlie was a daily custumer, running in to buy everything from nails to paint to doorknobs. Soon the house at 412 Sespe was done. Silky watched a new family in town move into the house. The father had been a sea captain, and was now retired. The mother of course was a housewife. And they had a daughter named Arabella. She was beautiful, tall and slender, and with long silky ash-blonde hair, and green cat’s eyes. Silky liked the color of her eyes especially. He didn’t know, but they exactly matched his eyes. Soon after the family moved in, Silky adopted them, and moved in under the house with his lovely queen Silver Paws. That was where their babies were born, and that was where they lived happily ever after. Many years went by. It was now 1938, and the Hickey Brothers were quite old. Patt still worked at the store, and Charlie was now a well-liked and successful carpenter with his own construction business. The Hickey Brothers were ready to retire, and Patt bought the hardware store from them, renaming it Patterson’s Hardware. The Hardware store was located in the annex of Shere’s Clothing and Dry Goods Store, and in 1940 he too retired, and Patt acquired the whole building, and expanded his Hardware Store. He and his son, Harvey Jr. had a thriving and successful business. The house at 412 Sespe had changed hands many times, and many, many new houses and stores had been built in Fillmore. Silky and Silver Paws had long since crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but offspring of their offspring still wandered the streets of Fillmore, and frequented the pool hall. Another span of years went by. The town continued to grow, and people and cats came and went. In 1965 the house at 412 Sespe changed families one more time. And this was to be a very special family. For in it there was a young girl who loved cats and who could see ghosts. She moved into the house with her grandparents and two sisters, and her cat Bambi, a beautiful grey manx. The grandmother decided they needed to expand the house. An extra bedroom, bathroom and laundry room were planned, and she hired an old friend to do the work. It was none other than Charlie Moon, who had worked as an apprentice on the house in his youth. Now as it turned out, the family were very good friends of the Patterson’s, and the young girl was sent often to the store to buy everything from nails to paint to doorknobs. Soon the building was completed, and late one evening in that first summer, the young girl met Arabella. She often came and sat at the dining room table, and she and the young girl became fast friends. Arabella was delighted to have a new friend in her house, and was especially happy to know that the girl loved cats too. Well, the young girl has since grown up, and old Charlie Moon and her grandparents have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Young Harvey Patterson is now old Harvey Patterson. He still owns the hardware store, but his daughter Michelle runs it now. And the girl who has grown up still goes in to buy everything from nails to paint to doorknobs. And she still lives happily in the house at 412 Sespe with her many, many cats. Post Script – Most of this story is based on actual facts. H. S. "Pat" Patterson worked for the United Mercantile, and then Hickey Brothers Hardware store, which he purchased in 1938. His son Harvey Jr. took over the business after he returned from WWII, and he and his wife Emma still own and run the store. They are both in their 80’s and their daughter Michelle really does most of the work these days. Charlie Moon did apprentice as a carpenter and helped build the house at 412 Sespe in the year 1915. Mewmie’s grandparents purchased the house in 1965, and Mr. Moon built on the three room addition. Possum never worked at the Pool Hall. He owned and operated a Card House on Fillmore Street in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The old pool hall has been gone for many years, but the new pool hall in town still serves Combo Burritos and Suicides. Mewmie still shops at Patterson’s Hardware, and also still goes to the pool hall to eat burritos and drink Suicides. It is a local custom. And for the cats in the story? Bambi was mewmie’s kitty when she moved into the house at 412 Sespe Ave. Silky is one of our current porch kitties, and Silver Paws lives inside with her children, Charley, Sapphy and Loganberry. Mewmie called Emma this morning to learn the history of the Hardware Store.