Chapter 10 Sonny's New Pop

Within three months of their meeting and after an intense courtship that lasted seemingly for an eternity, in a simple but touching civil ceremony, Sarah Williams, divorcee became Mrs Enas Broadway.

          And so, Sonny settled into a peaceful and happy family life with his mother and her new flame. He absolutely adored his stepfather who gave him the solid companionship and guidance he had lacked in his life so far. He was there for him on his first faltering ride on a tricycle, when he was scared of the dark and needed comfort, when he wanted a bedtime story – it was Enas who was there more than his mother. As the years wore on and Sonny moved from childhood to his turbulent teens, he found immense comfort in the secure and understanding relationship he shared with his stepfather. He would sit down at his side and listen in awe to the tales of heroism and unsung bravery that flowed effortlessly from his stepfather’s lips. World War II became very real for him as he listened to Enas’ stories about his combat days in Europe – the dangers and fears of being on the frontline, the many touching stories of comradeship among the soldiers that brought tears to his eyes. Sonny’s imagination was stimulated and his spirit was stirred by feelings of patriotism kindled by Enas Broadway and his eloquence. He was impatient to grow up and join the army himself, the years could not fly fast enough for him.  

            The greatest thing that Enas Broadway did to Sonny was to give him every child’s birthright of a good and peaceful home life. The tempestuous days marred by violence with his birth father became a distant nightmare and Sonny settled down to a fairly uneventful normal life. He made friends with neighbors and became one of the regular youngsters who reveled in a game of softball in the mild and softly blooming spring weather. As Sonny casts his thoughts back to those carefree days, he remembers how it was then, when he was studying at Samuel H. Armstrong High School in Washington DC where he proved himself in sports, especially basketball and football. Armstrong High School on P Street, NW, near 1st Street, was built in 1902 and it served as a high school until 1958. The school was named in memory of General Samuel Chapman Armstrong, a Civil War regimental commander and founder of the Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute in Virginia, chartered in 1870 as one of the first colleges for blacks.  It was a school that taught practical, manual skills, following the educational philosophy identified with Booker T. Washington.  One of several Veterans High School Centers was located in the school from 1946 to 1964 when it became an adult education center until it was closed in 1996. Sonny boasted that Duke Ellington, too chose to follow a course of commercial art at Armstrong Manual Training School before abandoning it for his musical career. 

Dunbar High School, which was named in honor of Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African American poet, became the first high school in the nation to accept African-American students. The new Dunbar school building was erected in 1974 and today, Dunbar High School holds the prestigious distinction of being a Blue Ribbon School.  Even at the time that Sonny remembers it was a school that rated very highly in the community and it was the well-off blacks in the neighborhood who got the opportunity to study at Dunbar. It was also the only black high school with a football field. Low-income kids like Sonny were sent to Armstrong where Sonny graduated in the middle of his class in January 1948.

  Sonny has good memories of sports during his teenage years. “There were a lot softball back then and there were negro leagues.  Mostly one project vs another project.  Barry Farms vs Gainesville or Condon Terrace and so on.  There was rivalry back then, but it was all competitive friendly, not like the gunning and fighting that you see today."  Being a six-footer of athletic build, he loved sports, especially football and basketball.  On lazy Saturday afternoons he was always out in the playground, donned in his sportswear and good sports shoes, practicing the finer points of the game with his friends.  He learnt to love the outdoors, the thrill of the game, the pride of being in a team, the joyful leap to victory, the dampening regret of losing – all of them helping in subtle ways to build Sonny’s character and personality. 

There was also a very domesticated side to Sonny, nurtured by the love he had for his mother. As he grew older, he helped her out by taking on numerous chores. He used to cut the grass and weed the flowerbeds on the weekend, taking care of all the colorful flowers his mother enjoyed planting. They had flowers all through spring and summer, one after the other, abundant, vibrant splashes of color that added nature’s joy to their own. As he watered and nurtured them, Sonny would now and then pick a choice bunch of freshly opened blooms and present the bouquet to his mother. With tears of joy, Sarah would kiss him and arrange the flowers in a crystal vase and place it in their living room. Saturday for Sarah was the day to cook for the two men in her life. She baked pies and made roasts and stews that she knew Enas and Sonny loved. As Sonny thinks back on those days, he remembers how he helped peel potatoes and carrots, cut onions with tears streaming down his cheeks and washed the pots and pans once his mother was done. On Sunday afternoons, Sarah would take out all her silverware and Sonny would take over polishing them. He enjoyed watching the brilliant shine spring from the silver candle stands, the silver dishes and cutlery as he polished off the Silvo on them with a soft polishing cloth. As his mother smiled in delight, he would, almost with reverence, replace the silverware in the beautiful glass cabinet and watch the mellow golden rays of the evening sun kiss the silver sheen into rainbow-hued loveliness.