The Fallen

by Paul Langan

  All was quiet for a second. I crossed myself.

  Then chaos.

  The door smashed inward as Frankie kicked it with his steeltipped boots, the same ones he used to cripple César.

  I swung Huero’s bat with all my might.

  It sliced through the air with a deep, hungry whoosh, sailing toward Frankie’s outstretched arm. I saw the pistol in his hand glimmer for a split second as the bat came crushing down.

  Boom!

  The air exploded with a blinding flash and the thunderous crack of a gunshot.

  In the blast, quick as a lightning strike, I saw the bat crumple Frankie’s right arm, bending his trigger finger backwards like a snapped pipe.

  Then the room filled with the sour sulfur odor of gun smoke. My ears rang from the blast, but I still heard Frankie’s screams, a sound that made the dark room seem like a torture chamber.

  “My arm!” he hollered, rolling on the floor at my feet. “I can’t move it. ”

  I turned on the light, the bat still in my hand. Frankie’s gun was on the ground next to him. I kicked it away as he struggled to get up. A hole in the floor next to my bed showed the harmless path the bullet took.

  Chago, Junie, and Jesus were at the edge of the hallway. They looked stunned at the sight of Frankie holding his arm and me standing over him with a bat. Their world was suddenly turned upside down.

  “You know what you gotta do,” Frankie grunted at them, wincing at the pain. “Do it!” They looked at me and didn’t budge. My ties with them were just as deep as his.

  Deeper. We were all the same age, kids who grew up on the corner together. Frankie was the older one, a dude who used to push us around when we were little, someone who still pushed too much.

  “Yo, homes, you need to get to the hospital,” Junie said to Frankie. “Your arm is lookin’ bad. ”

  “C’mon, let’s get out of here,” Chago said, reaching a hand down to Frankie.

  “No. He’s not going anywhere,” I said then. “You all can go, but me and Frankie got something to finish. ”

  Frankie turned to me, hatred in his eyes. I could see he was struggling with the pain. His arm was starting to turn blue.

  “You feelin’ brave with that bat in your hand, homes? Think you’re gonna finish me off just like that?” he hissed, spitting at me. “I always thought you’d be the one to challenge me. But you’re too soft. You don’t have it in you. ”

  Part of me wanted to finish it right there, the way it might happen on the street. A heavy swing of the bat, and I could end it all. His life. Mine.

  Maybe you’d read it in the papers or hear it on the news. Another gangrelated murder, the reporters would say, making me seem like a monster.

  “Don’t do this, Martin. C’mon, homes, just let him go,” Chago said.

  “Why, so he can come back and finish what he came here to do?” I said.

  Chago shook his head. He didn’t understand the lesson Huero’s death, César’s injury, and Mr. Mitchell’s story taught me. That I had to break from the street before it broke me.

  “Whatcha waitin’ for, homes? I ain’t got all day,” Frankie challenged, his useless, broken arm swelling by the minute.

  “The police,” I said, hearing the first siren in the distance. “I was going to call them, but in this neighborhood your gunshot took care of that for me. ”

  Chago’s eyes opened wide. Junie looked at me like I’d just spoken a strange language.

  “I told you he ratted us out. He’s a snitch. You’re dead, Martin. Dead!” Frankie said, spit falling from his mouth.

  “No, I’m more alive than you’ll ever know,” I yelled back at him, smashing the bat into the doorframe near his shoulder. The crew took a step back like I had a disease they could catch.

  “I never ratted on any of you. Not after you crippled that kid at the party last year. Not after I found out that kid was Hector’s brother and that’s why he was shooting at us. Not after I figured out your stupid temper cost my brother his life and put another guy in a wheelchair. Not even after you put me in the hospital. No, Frankie, I never ratted you out. But I’m gonna do it now. You’re going down, homes, and Hector’s going with you. Huero’s gonna have justice. ”

  Something new flickered in Frankie’s eyes then. It flashed for a second, and I’ll never forget it. Fear. He glanced over at Junie and Jesus, then at Chago. “C’mon, homes. Let’s get outta here. I ain’t waitin’ here for no cops. ” He moved toward the hallway when I raised the bat again, blocking his path.

  “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, Frankie,” I warned. “This is it. You’re stayin’ here with me. ”

  Chago backed away from him, looked at Huero’s picture and then at me, and nodded. Jesus and Junie shook their heads and started walking away.

  “You took it too far, Frankie. You always did,” Chago said. “Later, Martin. ”

  “Later, homes,” I said as they walked out.

  Frankie cursed, and in one swift motion tried to shove past me. But I jabbed the bat into his right arm, and he went down in agony.

  “I told you this ain’t done,” Frankie hissed as he heard the sirens approaching. “It ain’t never gonna be done between you and me. Remember that. ”

  “No, it’s done this time, Frankie,” I said, looking at Huero’s picture. “It’s finally done. ”

  For months, it had been a maze, but it all made sense now. I would tell Officer Ramirez what I saw at last summer’s party. That would point the police to César and show them why Hector was shooting at us. They’d finally have the case they’d need to bust him. I’d make sure of it.

  Huero’s killer would be off the streets. And Frankie would pay, too, for crippling a kid and for coming after me with a gun. He might also have to answer to Hector’s crew for what he did.

  No matter what, my mother and I finally had answers. We’d finally have peace.

  Frankie didn’t say anything when the police arrived, but I showed them the gun and the bullet hole in my floor. Told them I used the bat in self-defense. I told them the truth.

  My mother and Officer Ramirez rushed in as the police took Frankie away. For hours, I told them what happened, made sure Ramirez heard every detail. Watched him write it all down.

  Maybe you’d have handled it differently, I don’t know. But for me, there was no other way. If I didn’t act, there’d probably be more dead kids right now. And I would have been one of them. I may still be one day. But not this day.

  “Thank God I didn’t lose you tonight,” my mother said over and over again after the police left.

  “No, Ma. You didn’t lose me,” I said, feeling my eyes burn as the sun began to rise.

  The wounds from Huero’s death will never fully heal. The past will always haunt me. But there is a future too, a life I need to live—for Huero and for me. It’s something I can’t just toss away, not after all I’ve seen, felt, and lost.

  “I’m still here,” I said to her, feeling something new stir in my chest. A glimmer of hope.

  “Thanks to Huero, I’m still here. ”

  Mr. Gates grunts at the last words of my story, still hanging in the air like a prayer.

  “Thanks to Huero, I’m still here. ”

  He clears his throat. Overhead, the lights of the auditorium are beaming down. The room is crowded but suddenly very quiet. Even the rows of students, parents, and teachers are silent.

  “Mr. Luna,” Mr. Gates begins finally. “I want to thank you for having the courage to explain your situation to us tonight. I appreciate your honesty. This is a difficult decision. Does anyone have anything else to add on this matter?”

  I hear people begin to mumble. Mr. Gates raises his eyebrows in surprise.

  “Yes, sir. We do,” says a familiar voice.

  I turn back to see Mr. Mitchell. He’s standing with Vicky, Eric, and a small group of other students. Some are wearing Bluford football jerseys, teammates of Steve’s that I barely knew. I don’t understand what’s happening
.

  “Mr. Gates,” Mr. Mitchell says. “I join a number of my students in support of Martin Luna. We know this incident was not provoked by Martin. While he may not have handled it well, we feel—”

  “That won’t be necessary, Mr. Mitchell, but I applaud you and your students for coming forward,” Mr. Gates says, closing his folder.

  I brace myself for the words that are about to crash down on me like boulders.

  “In my time at this school, I have heard many stories from kids like yourself who are struggling in our school. It seems each year the obstacles our young people face get worse,” he says, shaking his head.

  “Now, Martin, I can see you are a sensitive and thoughtful young man. And I am sorry for your loss and the troubles you’ve had to endure these months. However, I cannot tolerate the behavior you have shown since you’ve arrived at this school,” he pauses.

  The auditorium is silent for a second. I know his next words will knock me out of Bluford for good. I can barely breathe.

  “But, given the details you’ve provided and what I’ve witnessed at this meeting tonight, I don’t think expulsion is necessary at this point. You can remain here at Bluford High School, provided you meet weekly with the school psychologist, Dr. Boyd. However, if there is another incident this year, I will reverse my decision. Understand, Martin?” He’s staring right at me, his blue eyes sharp and focused.

  I feel dizzy. Is it true what he just said? Is he serious?

  “Yes, sir,” I blurt out. “Thank you, sir. Thank you. ”

  The group behind me begins to clap, and I feel my mother embrace me, sobbing with joy. Over her shoulder, I see the people who came to the hearing and stood up for me. Snitches like Eric and Vicky, the bravest people I know.

  “Thank you,” I mouth the words to them, to Mr. Mitchell, and then to the sky for Huero. I know he’s up there somewhere watching, smiling down at me this very moment.

  Mr. Mitchell was right when he said life is about making choices. I finally made mine.

  I’m not perfect. I lose it sometimes, and I still have enemies at Bluford. But Huero gave me a second chance. For him, my mother, and me, I am going to take that chance and reach for the sky with it. That’s my choice.

  I tell Huero this as I look for him in the bright lights overhead.

  “Oh my God, Martin. You did it,” Vicky says as she runs over to me. I feel her hugging me as I squint up at the lights. “You did it! ”

  Tears start rolling down my face, and I let them fall away.