Charlie Paddywagon - An oral biography [1/2]

[DMaximus 1,046]

An oral biography on the young life of Charlie Paddywagon

 

Narrator (DMaximus): I spoke with people that have played a part in Charlie Paddywagon’s life to compile an oral history of how he got to where he is today, a newly drafted hockey professional hockey player. The quotes have been cleaned up to remove unnecessary interjections and crude language.

 

Donnie Paddywagon (father): We grew up in an affluent suburb of Buffalo, NY. We’re a family with a long lineage of policemen.  Charlie’s great-great grandfather, Charles, was the first Irishman to be named police commissioner in Buffalo. From then on, if you were a male Paddywagon, you were a cop.

 

Finn Paddywagon (brother): Charlie was the youngest of 4 brothers. He always displayed a defiant streak from birth.

 

Dolores Paddywagon (mother): Charlie grew up questioning everything, even as a baby he turned his nose up at our beloved family potato soup recipe. As a kid he’d always be asking why we did this or why daddy sought fit to beat unarmed citizens. He was a handful. All his brothers were so compliant. I never understood why Charlie never fell in line like the rest of them. Probably because he was the youngest and we were kind of sick of kids by that point.

 

Finn: We all loved hockey. I think we had Charlie in skates before he was walking.

 

Dolores: When the pond out back froze, Charlie would skate outside night and day. We had to create a dinner bell loud enough for him to hear. Or he’d have starved to death.

 

Donnie: Charlie was a natural, he was already skating circles around everyone on the ice, then we put a stick in his hand and he was unstoppable. My police force sponsored a kid’s league, it was only natural for Charlie to join and start playing. We signed him up at 7, even though you needed to be 8 or older to join. I was able to pull some strings with the boys and got him in.

 

Joseph Paddywagon (eldest brother): Charlie was so funny when he first started playing, he never understood line changes. He just wanted to stay on the ice for the whole game. Coaches had to go out there and drag him off the ice.

 

Dolores: Charlie was doing so great, he was MVP of the police league his first year! By the end of the 2^nd year, he was picked to join the all-sectional team.

 

Paul Debenar (Western New York sectional team coach):  We heard a ton of people talking about this Paddywagon kid. I went and checked out a game. He was fantastic. Not too many kids play with his level of awareness. Plus he could skate better than anyone I’ve seen at his age. Of course we recruited him to the sectional team and he was all set to join, then the accident…

 

Chet Lowery (policeman, Donnie’s partner):  Our cop parties got pretty wild. You work a job like ours, you need to blow off steam. Donnie sure knew how to blow off steam. That September night was no different than any other. Heck, I was just as drunk as Donnie when we left.

 

Franklin McCullough (ex-mayor Buffalo, NY): My son, Thomas, was killed by a drunk driver, Donnie Paddywagon, on September 24^th 2009. May God rest his soul.

 

Chet: Normally we’re able to shield our cop brethren from getting in trouble for minor offenses. But this was the mayor’s son. This was a big deal. There was nothing we could do for Donnie. He got convicted and sentenced to 15 years, vehicular manslaughter.

 

Donnie: There’s nothing good about prison, especially for a cop. I’d take it all back if I could.

 

Dolores: Our family was absolutely devastated by Donnie’s guilty verdict. Who wouldn’t be? Everyone reacted in their own way. Charlie chose to absorb himself in hockey. All hockey, all the time.

 

Joseph: You had to admire Charlie. Dad’s stuff really shocked us, but Charlie kept his nose clean and kept doing what he loved, hockey.

 

Paul Debener: I remember after it all went down, Dolores brought Charlie to me and asked if he could try out for the sectional team. I asked to talk to him alone. I said Charlie “do you want to do this?” He looked at me and nodded yes. He said as resolutely as I’ve ever heard him talk, which isn’t much, “I want to play hockey.” I knew from that moment on, he was a kid destined for hockey greatness.

 

Finn: Charlie was almost too good they didn’t know what to do with him. They played him at every position, including goalie. He could do it all.

 

Paul Debener: Eventually I said “look kid, you gotta pick a position.” He said he wanted to play defense. And that was before his growth spurt. I guess defense is in his heart.

 

Dolores: Charlie grew about 7 inches when he was 13. Shot up like a beanstalk.

 

Finn: Charlie was so uncoordinated that year, we used to sneak up behind him and table him. He’d get so mad. I think he got sick of us knocking him over, so he started hitting the gym. I don’t think we, or anyone else, messed with him too much after that.

 

Bruce Angler (coach, high school): Charlie was big and strong before he was even in high school. We petitioned the high school league to get him to join our team before he was in high school. They denied it. Probably because the board was stacked with alumni from our rival school, the Houndscroft High Hooligans. That jerk would slap his own mama if it meant getting a win.

 

Brandon Lawrence (high school teammate): Charlie was a quiet guy. Didn’t really say much. I don’t think anyone on the team was his best friend. He always kept to himself. But none of that mattered when he stepped on the ice. He was a man possessed out there.

 

Bruce Angler: His performance on the ice was second to none. Best player I’ve coached. He would just dominate out there. Sometimes I thought about pulling the goalie when he was on the ice. I know he’d keep things under control on our half of the ice. We wouldn’t even need the goalie.

 

Robbie Duval (high school goalie): Sure it was great playing with Charlie. I got to check out all the babes in the stands during the game.(laughs) I think one game he blocked every shot the other team took when he was on the ice. He’s fearless. And that’s coming from a goalie, I’ve don’t even know what fear is.

 

John Henson (coach, Clarkson University): We started watching Charlie since he was about 14. After learning about all he went through as a kid and seeing him play, we knew he fit our program perfectly. We offered him a full scholarship, fully expecting he would go professional before completing his 4 years here. He joined our team, had a great freshman year, winning conference freshman of the year. And now he got drafted by Philly in the VHLM. We all wish him the best. Great kid coming from a tough situation. Everyone’s rooting for his success.

 

Dolores: Charlie has been able to create so many moments of joy for this family. He's brought all of us together when times have been rough. He deserves all the success he's going to have and hopefully Buffalo will remember the Paddywagon name fondly.

 

Donnie: One thing I promised to my son many years ago was that my first activity as a free man will be to watch him play hockey professionally. He did all this work to hold up his end of the bargain. I’m counting down the days to hold up my end. My actions may have torn this family apart, but Charlie and hockey will bring us back together.

 

 

[BladeMaiden 1,807]

@DMaximus I have never seen a biography done in this stule. Not only did this meet the word requirements it was east to read and had some interesting character plot points. I like the background story on Charlie’s dad it really adds depth to your character. 10/10 for a fun read that was well articulated!

 

-Blade 

Edited February 20, 2019 by BladeMaiden

[uphillmoss 134]

@DMaximus Review: This was incredible, easily the most entertaining thing I’ve ever read on here. I think that your decision to make it a series of interviews worked perfectly. I like the dynamic between Charlie and his brothers, makes the story more relatable. 10/10 for one of the best things I have ever read on this site.