Mr. Moody

I think I must have been around eight or nine years old when I learned how to swim. My brother and I would go over to this mans house who weighed close to 300 pounds. His name was Mr. Moody and he was a one legged organ player at Moonshadows on PCH. His wife always wore moo moos, had a drink in her hand and often lost her balance. I don’t remember how he lost his leg but he had the nicest pool in Santa Susanna. It had a black bottom and was trimmed with rock. He was a great swimmer even just having the one leg. His wife would serve us punch and cookies as we lay on lounge chairs in the sun while Mr. Moody played some up beat tune on his Wurlitzer inside. One day when his wife had returned from her daily visit to the liquor store for her bottle of Vodka she found him with his head down on his Wurlitzer. He had a single gun shot wound to his head. She went and made herself a drink before she called the cops. I heard my parents talking one night about how they thought his wife had really murdered him. After collecting the insurance money she sold the place and moved in with some barfly named Mick. She had met him at this bar not too far from her house called The Sip and Sub. I remember seeing the Wurlitzer on trash day out in front of their house with a sign that said free. I felt really sad after that and never walked by their house again.