The second chapter of a six part series.
Aunt Nellie and Uncle Todd were great. They were the couple Kelly wished his own parents could have been. He didn’t know how much his mother had shared with her sister, Kelly’s aunt. But he assumed they knew that his dad had disappeared. He thought they probably knew what had taken place in the years before that, as well. They never asked about it.
Kelly had no idea what it would be like to have a brother, what with him being an only child and all. But it didn’t take long for him to feel like it was probably a lot like the relationship between him and Toby. Toby, his cousin, was only 18 months older than Kelly was and they had a lot more in common than just shared genetic material.
Toby had worked at Six Flags since the park opened two years earlier and had worked his way up to Shift Supervisor. “It just means I get to pick my own hours,” he explained to Kelly that first night he got into town. The two of them went to a place called The Bull Pen for burgers and to get caught up. “And it means the girls have to show me a level of respect they might not otherwise,” he laughed. “I pick their hours, too.”
The interview Kelly had to have with the Personnel Manager was only a formality. Toby’s word as an original crew member and current Shift Supervisor was enough to get his slightly younger cousin hired.
“I told them to put you on the Happy Motoring ride. It’s about the best duty there is. You make sure kids are strapped in before each car takes off on the track. At the other end, you jump on the car as it comes back in at the end of the ride and make sure the little shit behind the wheel doesn’t ram into the car in front of him. They all think that’s really funny, for some reason. And that’s how people get hurt.”
Toby seemed to be an expert on amusement rides. Kelly nodded along, just trying to be sure and remember all the details. This was a lot more professional than bagging groceries at the Piggly Wiggly had been.
“Some of the young moms riding the cars with their little kid seem to just be begging you to look down their halter tops when you jump on the side of the car to bring them in for a soft landing. Makes the shift go by quicker, that’s for damn sure,” Toby noted.
The Six Flags amusement park had been the brain child of a real estate investor by the name of Angus G. Wynne in 1957. Construction of the park began in 1960 and it was open for its first guests a year later. “The park has six sections,” Toby explained. “Each section is named for one of the six flags that have flown over the state during its history: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. When you go to each section, it is themed in the style of that flag and period of Texas history.”
Kelly took in the concept as Toby gave him a quick tour of the facility.
“The girls in the French section are stuck up. The girls in the Mexican section make up for them, though. That’s the Southern Palace over there,” Toby pointed. The building looked like a big southern plantation home with big columns out front. “They do shows there all day, every day. Pretty good local talent.”
Toby took his cousin over to the Happy Motoring ride. “This is where you’ll be. It’s pretty cool, really.” There was a long winding concrete road that motorized cars drove on, a metal rail in the middle of the road keeping the cars from wandering off the path. “Every once in a while we’ll take a few of the cars off the road with the rails and race them through the park after hours. That’s when the fun starts!” It gave something to Toby to look forward to other than just the halter tops.
The cars themselves were built by Arrow Development of Mountain View, California. While not supposed to be a scale model of any specific car, Kelly thought they looked like VW Karmann Ghias. “They’ve got little Kohler engines in them. About 7 hp each. They’ve got governors on them to keep them from reaching their full potential,” Toby said as they walked around the Happy Motoring area. “That little step right under the ‘door’ is where you’ll jump on as they come in after their turn around the track. That lever just ahead of the step is how you control the car so little Johnny doesn’t kill the family in front of his car.”
Kelly didn’t see anything he thought would give him any problems.
“There’s a railroad that goes around the whole park. That’s the fastest way to get from one side to the other.” Toby continued the tour. “Over there is LaSalle’s River Adventure. The guys that run that ride claim to get more butt than any other ride crew. The ones that have been here a while really play up the whole French accent thing. Chicks dig it. There’s a stage coach ride and Wild West show over in the US section. Those guys have it made. Over there is Skull Island. It’s best at night when it’s all lit up. It’s even better after hours,” Toby winked. “Best place in the park to go make out at the end of the last shift. Hell to pay if you get caught, but worth it.”
Toby showed him where the employee restaurant was located and then they walked past the gate behind which there was actually an employee swimming pool. “One of the benefits. After hour parties. You’ll see.” The two of them walked along the blacktop road, Kelly somewhat dumbfounded by everything he was seeing. “I was excited the folks all went for it when I suggested you come up here for the summer and work at the park.”
“You mean this whole thing was your idea?” Kelly was surprised.
“I thought it might be good for you. I know things haven’t been easy for you down there in Fort Stockton.” Toby replied. Neither of them said anything after that, but Kelly figured that Toby must be aware of all the drama that had taken place with his dad.
“Well, there’s certainly nothing like this in Fort Stockton.” Kelly said.
“It’s like a mini-Disneyland, right here in Texas!” Toby said. “Damn good place to work for guys like you and me.”
On the other side of the employee pool, hidden by structures and carefully placed landscaping, was the wardrobe building. Kelly was shown where to pick up his uniform before each shift, a locker to stow his gear in while he worked, and where to drop off his uniform at the end of the shift so it could be cleaned and re-worn by someone else for another shift. “Here’s where you can change,” Toby pointed out. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Over there, right around that corner is where the girls change. A lot of them will make a little show of it if they know someone is looking. Better than the shows at the damn Southern Palace, let me tell ya!”
Kelly had 30 minutes to get his employee badge, his uniform, and get back to the Happy Motoring ride for his first shift. Equipped with his badge he was midway through getting his Happy Motoring uniform on when a young lass that had to be every bit of 21 years old was making noise around the corner. One of the dancers who put on shows four times every day at the Crazy Horse Saloon in the Confederate America section, she was forcing her bosoms into the tight black bustier that passed for her costume as a saloon singer. Fishnet stockings completed the little costume. She slid her left bosom out and repositioned it for a better fit before sliding it back into place and looking up to Kelly a wink.
“Happy Motoring,” Kelly thought to himself as he jogged over to the USA section for his very first shift. “Happy Motoring indeed.”
3 responses to “HAPPY MOTORING, Chapter II”
Six Flags – we never knew the real reason why ours in Houston closed, there was lots of speculation, based on real life experiences going there in the final years, but who knows. That land on the South Loop may still just be sitting there. I haven’t been by there in quite awhile.
But, here’s my story! After Six Flags, Houston, closed there was an auction to sell items in their “Bone Yard,” things that had not been sold or removed yet. I went!!!
I bought two of the Jungle Ride boats, and the road-legal, homemade trailer that they built to haul them around with. I bought a working winch truck, a working dump truck, the original Astros Golf Cart that had been used at the Astrodome, and a whole lot of other items that I can’t even think of now. Many of them the auctioneer started the bids, and no one bid, and I would say, Five Dollars. No more bidders, then, “Sold!”
We had a small lake at our place back then, and put one of the Jungle Boats on it, and I had a friend mount an outboard motor on it for putting around. The other one ended up in Leon County, and may still be there, eaten up by the Yaupon.
There actually was a time when people dressed up to go to an amusement park. Texas heat, Texas humidity, climbing into a little car in a dress? What you get today is a sweat-hog in a wife beater shirt.
I was 9 or 10 years old when we went to Six Flags. The images bought back a flood of memories. Thank you, Cappy!