Little Gangsters

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With a few exceptions, everything in this novel occurred during my early life growing up in East Vancouver.  Most of the stories happened to me, some to other people, but almost all are none-the-less true.  The only truly outrageously fictional piece of the novel is the Goddess of Speed – no such perfection of childhood automotive engineering was ever constructed by me, or anyone I know of.

Like Denny, I used to suffer from two odd ailments; Scintillating Scotoma and Alice in Wonderland syndrome, both of which are a form of migraine.  Also like Denny, those conditions made me think I might be crazy because I did have a cousin who tried to kill himself by jumping off the Lionsgate Bridge and an Aunt who did shoot her husband in a gin-soaked, vengeful rage, and both ended up in Essondale – the ‘Hospital for the Mind’.

I had to play with some dates to make this novel and the three sequels work within a timeline that touches down on the summers of 1959, 1969, 1999, and 2015.

I also had to switch some dogs around.  The Zombie Dog story is true and happened to the brother a friend of mine.   Butch on the other hand was my dog while I was growing up, but to include him in Little Gangsters I had to give him to Errol.  It just wouldn’t have made sense to have Butch spend the summer with me at Grandma’s house.  Nevertheless, every word about Butch is 100% true – he was truly an outlaw among dogs.  Butch did kidnap and execute a neighbour’s Boxer in vengeance for its attack on me, and yes, Butch used to pull meat heists at Buy Rite Market.  He did mug a neighbour kid for a string of wieners – that kid was named Stan and he was complete bully and gangster wanna-be asshole.

My dad made the mistake of slapping me around once in our backyard in front of Butch.  Butch attacked him with such savagery that my dad pulled away and ran for the safety of the house.  I remember the shock, fear, and confusion on his face as he ran with the sleeve of his shirt shredded above the hand he had been hitting me with.  From then on when my dad was on a drunken tear, I’d run outside to be with Butch and refuse to come back inside until dad calmed down.

Grandma’s house once stood exactly where I located it – snuggly pressed between Longo’s garage and the house next door on 7th avenue just off Commercial Drive on a lot so narrow you could spit across it.  You can visit that street still and see its replacement; a tall, modern house shoehorned into that small lot.

Almost all of the names have been changed, mostly because I don’t want people to be angry with me.  Those familiar with Vancouver’s history might recognize some of the larger than life characters despite the name changes.  So be it.  Let that be our little secret.

When I was growing up, I didn’t know that many of my parents’ acquaintances were criminals.  Some of the people I grew up around were dangerous people, but they weren’t dangerous to me or my family.  To me they were full of life, loved their wives and their children, and worked hard to make a good life for them.

All of the 7th Avenue Gang are real people that I grew up with.  Some may recognize themselves, and I hope they find delight in that.  Denny’s nemesis in the novel is an amalgam of assholes I’ve known throughout my life.  I named him Kevin, because every Kevin I’ve ever known has been a pain in my ass.  No offence to the vast majority of Kevins out there or the people who love them, it’s just that the Kevins in my life have never worked out for me.

Carrie Anne Gabler is also an amalgam of a number of girls and young women I’ve known through the years – and yes, one of them fell through a ceiling and broke her arm when she hit the television her brother and I were watching.  They were all gentle and sweet and loveable, yet at the same time vulnerable and tragic.  The world is a hard place for girls like Carrie, who only see the good in people and when evil is done to them, they internalize it as a failing of their own character.  Though Carrie only has a small role in Little Gangsters she plays a larger role in Denny’s life during the sequel, Bigger Gangsters that takes place ten years later.  Denny will carry her memory and his undying love for her through Millennial Gangsters and it haunts the pages of Gangster’s Girl, and will remain with Denny for the rest of his days.

A friend and I did witness the Vancouver Police ambush and kill an escaped convict named Boyd in a hail of gunfire just like it happened in that chapter.  I had to move the location of the massacre so it fit into the right neighbourhood for the story and the friend with me wasn’t Frankie or Donny; his name was Tom and his parents owned the grocery store where Boyd bought the groceries for a last meal that he never got a chance to eat.

So, I give you Little Gangsters – my thin slice of growing up in East Vancouver living on the fringes of the law.  Other East Vancouverites may hold vastly different memories, so your mileage may vary. 

Aaron D McClelland