Outburst — 5: Fitch’s Dream

“Where are you taking me, Fitch?” Just before the dream ended, he looked ahead in time to watch the sun explode.

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND

Violet is the common name of some members of the Violaceae. Of these, Fitch Eddy preferred the common pansy. Within the glass hothouse that occupied central position in his large backyard, Fitch cultivated row after row of the irregularly shaped, variously colored flowers, each of which possessed five velvety petals that he found more striking than the finest of roses.

Dewayne Fitzgerald Eddy enjoyed living on Aquidneck Island. Its palatial mansions attracted rubbernecking tourists, but Fitch loved the old places, too. He’d worked as a civilian employee at the naval base before it closed, then stayed on, opening his own business with the lump sum retirement pay.

It was at the old Newport Jazz Festivals that Fitch earned his moniker. All the bands sounded hot when Fitch Eddy sat in on sax. He was offered top contracts to go on the circuit, but he didn’t want to leave Newport for the months at a time it would require. So it seemed natural to open a local music store. At first, he only sold instruments but eventually he broadened his market by offering lessons and selling difficult to locate jazz and bluegrass CDs.