Birds my Mother Knew

In the continuing effort to unearth Lauretta’s gangster moll past, I revisited her wedding. She’d married Presbyterian on a Tuesday and to an empty chapel. Just Barney and her, and two people I’d never heard about: John Cismus and Jean Johnston. Once I started digging, I hit sketchy straightaway. The Best Man, a 23-year old petty criminal, had a string of crimes including theft, smuggling, and assault. But it was when he was arrested for running a brothel that we meet someone named Jean. She was the whorehouse’s Weather Eye. She was the Lookout, alright, just not for my mom.

Inspired by Spring Rituals. Clipping from The Windsor Star, March 15, 1946.