Secret Saturdays

by Torrey Maldonado

  “We should kick it after class,” I said.

  He nodded. “Yep,” and smacked his lips on the p. Like Yep-puh! All obnoxious.

  What he did that for?

  Ms. Feeney made her peace sign and walked into the middle of the circle. Today, her outfit was fancier than normal. Dark brown suit, skirt plus blazer. Light pink blouse. Shiny high heels. Maybe she was going somewhere nice after work.

  “Class, you remember today’s guest speaker,” Ms. Feeney said. “I think we need to hear what Jay has to say. Months ago, he was here but you interrupted him.” She looked at Manny and Manny smiled, all devilish. Sean was clueless that Ms. Feeney stared at him too. He was leaned over, wiping a smudge off his brand-new white kicks. “Since then, Jay has been to schools all over the United States sharing his message. I invited him back for a second time and we’re lucky his schedule allows him to visit us again. Please be more respectful this time.”

  Jay stepped into the circle. He was dressed again for work or church. “I just want to see how good your memories are. The last time, what did I start talking about?”

  Manny snorted. “Family.”

  “Good,” Jay said. “Let’s pick up there.”

  Manny raised his hand and, out of nowhere, said, “Was your father gay? Boys with fruity fathers grow up to be fruity.”

  Jay and Ms. Feeney looked like they had plugged their wet thumbs into electrical sockets and gotten zapped.

  “W-what?” Jay stuttered.

  “Was he fruity?” Manny said. “Like gay. Because Sean’s dad’s fruity and Sean came out fruity.”

  Everyone’s eyes popped out. Even mine. We knew Manny was crazy and sometimes said wild things, but I couldn’t believe what he had just said to our guest speaker.

  “You have detention,” Ms. Feeney snapped at Manny.

  Manny shrugged and grinned. “I don’t care. What I said is true.”

  “Manny, you the gay one,” I said. “That’s why you always riding Sean’s jock and dissing him.”

  Sean raised his hand before I could say anything else and Ms. Feeney could slap me with a detention. “Can I go to the bathroom?” he asked real polite.

  Ms. Feeney looked at Sean, proud. “Yes.” I think she was happy Sean chose to leave the room instead of staying and dissing on Manny. Kids probably thought Sean was butt for bouncing and not beating up Manny with his words, but I was proud of Sean too. I didn’t want him getting into trouble with Ms. Feeney.

  Sean stood up and tugged at the bottom corners of his navy blue shirt. He made sure he was crisp. He brushed some lint off his shoulders and went to leave the circle. Manny was sitting right by the door. “Excuse me,” Sean said nicely. Manny didn’t move his leg to let Sean pass.

  Out of nowhere, Sean punched Manny in the face. Hard! He rocked Manny with a left punch, then clocked him with a right. He just kept snuffing Manny and snuffing him. Manny grabbed Sean’s waist and tried wrestling Sean to the ground, but Sean started dropping elbows on him.

  Most of the class jumped up and pumped their fists, screaming, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Some stood on their seats and shouted. A few kids were like me. Stuck on stupid. Shocked and watching.

  The guest speaker and Ms. Feeney rushed Sean and Manny at the same time. Without realizing it, I got up to help too.

  They pulled Manny one way and I yanked Sean in the opposite direction, but then Sean swung around and shoved me.

  “Back up!” he yelled. “I’m good! I’m good.”

  He looked down and fixed his shirt. He examined his white kicks for marks. He found nothing there so he walked all hard toward the door.

  “Sean! Get back here!” Ms. Feeney demanded.

  Sean turned to see Manny holding his bloody nose. Sean stuck his middle finger up at him, flung open the door, and left.

  Ms. Feeney chased after Sean and popped her head out the door. “Security!” she yelled.

  A security guard who was as fat as The Nutty Professor and as dark as a Snickers bar was down the hall, playing with his cell phone. The guard looked up at screaming Ms. Feeney, then at all-relaxed Sean.

  “Take him to the principal’s office,” Ms. Feeney shouted. “His name is Sean and he just fought in my room.”

  “Come on, son,” the guard said, all friendly, putting a hand on Sean’s shoulder. Sean shook his hand off like a pit bull that didn’t want to be chained.

  “Don’t touch me!” Sean barked. “I’ll come. But don’t touch me.”

  “Whatever.” The guard held up his open hands in “I surrender” style. “Send me the other kid who fought,” he told Ms. Feeney. She sent bloody Manny to catch up with Sean and the guard.

  “Let’s go,” the guard said.

  Sean pushed the swinging exit door open and him, the guard, and Manny disappeared into the stairwell.

  Somebody patted me on the back and said, “Yo, your best friend laid Manny out.” But all I could think was that the Sean who had just left wasn’t my best friend. That was the new Sean. The old Sean never lied and never fought. This new Sean was a liar and let a dis faze him so much that he made Manny’s nose bleed.

  Dissing was about finding something wrong with someone and blowing up their spot. Did Manny find the right thing wrong with Sean? Because Sean had exploded. Was Sean gay? Was his father gay? Suddenly I realized something. Lately Sean’s disses were almost always about kids’ dads.

  What happened with Sean and Manny got Ms. Feeney so angry, she grabbed a red Sharpie marker, pointed it at three trips on her wall calendar she had planned to take us on, and said, “Class, you see this trip, this one, and this one? They’re all canceled.” She X’d each one out. Most kids got mad because they couldn’t wait to go on those trips. Big deal. I was thinking about Sean.

  “After what I just saw here,” Ms Feeney said, “forget trips and guest speakers. You want to jump on chairs, yelling, ‘Fight, fight.’ ”

  She called the names of the kids who had done that.

  “You all have after-school detention today and we’re calling your homes.”

  Then she made them get their loose-leaf binders and write two-page apology letters to the speaker.

  “Make sure you explain what was wrong about what happened, how you should’ve behaved, and what’s the right thing to do the next time you see a fight.”

  She complimented the few kids who hadn’t done anything bad, then told the whole class to read for the rest of the period. Then Ms. Feeney and that gang guy sat at her desk and talked quietly for the rest of the time. About what? I couldn’t hear and didn’t care. Before his fight with Manny, I told Sean we needed to speak because I wanted me and him to get right with each other. I wanted to tell him I was angry at him but he was still my boy. That I still had his back. No matter what, I needed to show him that now.

  Even Crazier

  ADVISORY ENDED and I rushed to my homeroom class for my coat, then jetted to the main office. It was packed with kids and adults. The secretaries were busy giving bus cards to students and speaking with teachers.

  I snuck past the busy secretaries to Principal Negron’s office and peeked in. Sean and Manny were at his conference table. Principal Negron was yelling at them. His face wasn’t sad for Sean anymore. It was hard-cop mean. Even more now that Principal Negron had shaved off his white beard. The only thing left was a white goatee that made him look like evil Santa. Sean and Manny had their arms crossed, and their tight faces looked at the floor. From the corner of his eye, Principal Negron spotted my head poking into his doorway.

  “Justin!” he said. “Come in.”

  I walked in feeling dumb because he had busted me peeking. But at the same time I was happy too. Maybe I could talk to Principal Negron and get Sean out of trouble.

  “Remember what I said the consequence was if something happened with Sean again?” Principal Negron asked me.

  I nodded.

  “Well, I just handed Manny and Sean suspensions for the week after Christmas break. Their parents
are coming up to get them.”

  I talked fast. “Can I say something? It’s not fair that Sean gets the same punishment as Manny. Manny disses on Sean every time we in Advisory. Plus, today, Manny started first.”

  Principal Negron smiled at me, half hard and half soft. I didn’t know what that meant.

  “Justin, you’re absolutely right. That’s where fights begin, don’t they? With disses. So maybe I should double Sean’s suspension?”

  Sean looked at me like, “Stupid. Get out of here before you get me into more trouble.”

  “From what I’ve heard,” Principal Negron continued, “Sean disses on kids a lot. Should I punish him for those times? You said it yourself. Fights start with disses.”

  I couldn’t respond. Principal Negron was right.

  “I like you, Justin. You stick up for your friends. But I told you I mean business, and I asked you in here to show you I do. You can leave now.”

  The hallway outside the main office was filled with loud students in coats, scarves, gloves, and hats. All flowing toward the exit doors. I joined the crowd and was soon outside with the cold air on my face. Kyle and Vanessa were on the sidewalk waiting for me.

  “I heard,” Vanessa said.

  “How long he suspended?” Kyle asked.

  We all started walking downhill to our bus stop.

  “The whole week after break,” I said. “I hope his mom doesn’t OD and ground him for the break and the next week too. Then we might not speak to him for two weeks.”

  “Now what?” Vanessa asked.

  “You should stop by his apartment to see him,” I told her.

  She bit her lip and thought it over. After two seconds, she said, “Even if his mom lets me in, I don’t think Sean’ll just tell me what’s been going on.”

  “All this is because of his secret Saturday trips. I can feel it. Maybe he has things lying around that show where he’s been. A bus ticket. A souvenir. If you see it, point it out. Say something like, ‘Sean, where you go?’ That might get him to open up.”

  Vanessa watched some boys play tag. One ran into the street and almost got hit by a car. The driver screeched to a stop, shot his head out, and yelled, “Animal!”

  “You think Sean’s bugging from his trips?” Vanessa asked me. “Maybe it’s from something else. Like what Manny said. Sean only flipped on Manny when Manny joked on both Sean and his dad being fruity. Maybe they gay and we never knew.”

  “Yeah,” Kyle said, changing his mind. “Maybe he lives in Puerto Rico with his gay boyfriend.”

  “Sean does stay getting little tiny, shiny things from his father,” I said. “Grown men aren’t into that. Females are. And gay guys probably.”

  Suddenly I wished me and Sean had talked more about his pops. I never pressed him about his because I didn’t want to hear him brag when mine was a jerk. I knew one thing. When we were little, Sean never went to see his dad in Puerto Rico. And his pops didn’t visit him. I didn’t think anything of it because it was the same with me. I never went to see my father and he stayed ghost too. Maybe now Sean’s mom had come into some money and started taking Sean to visit his pops in PR.

  I snapped my fingers and said to Kyle, “Remember they had that suitcase? I wonder if Sean and Jackie went to the airport.

  “Vanessa, you been to PR,” I said. “Can you leave early Saturday and be back for school on Monday?”

  “No doubt. When we flew there, it took two hours. You can go and be back in a day.”

  “Dang, son.” I punched my fist into my palm. “Sean didn’t tell us he was visiting him because he probably thought we’d ask questions.” I paused. “None of Manny’s other disses made Sean want to fight.” I looked at Vanessa. “That’s even more reason to pop up at Sean’s. See if it’s true.”

  Vanessa nodded. “Okay,” she said. “But you think his dad really gets down like that?”

  Vanessa Goes Spying

  AT FIRST, I felt Vanessa spying in Sean’s place was a good idea, but that night, the idea seemed wack. Why’d I even ask her to do that? If Sean busted her snooping, she probably would snitch and say I made her do it. I checked the digital clock on my dresser. It read 10 P.M.

  “You missed it,” Kyle said. “Didn’t you?”

  Kyle was on the floor playing Hunt or Be Hunted again. I was so busy picturing Sean busting Vanessa, I had missed Kyle zapping the biggest alien at the highest level. When I looked at the TV screen, a pile of ashes with two eyeballs blinked back at me. Kentucky Fried Alien.

  “You think Vanessa is at Sean’s?” I said.

  “Most definitely,” Kyle said. “She hasn’t called. That means they together. Relax.” Kyle pulled out a 50 Cent album from my stack of CDs and pointed at 50’s pissed face. “This how you look. Calm down.”

  I rolled my eyes at him and restarted the video game. When I reached Level 2, my cell rang my favorite Black Bald song. It was Vanessa calling from her house phone.

  “Hello?”

  “You guys were right,” Vanessa said. “Sean and his mom been breaking out.”

  “Kyle’s here,” I said. “I’m putting you on speakerphone.” I was amped. Seven hours ago, Sean had gotten suspended. Since then, Vanessa had found out something. Crazy fast.

  “Go ahead.”

  “When I went to Sean’s apartment, his mom was happy I came because I brought Sean’s schoolwork for our break. His mother said his teachers didn’t make a homework packet for him.”

  “Good move with the homework idea,” Kyle said.

  “Thanks. Jackie pointed me to Sean’s room. I knocked and he rushed me in, slamming his door hard like him and his mom were beefing. I said why I came. When he sat at his computer, I saw these CDs on his desk. Underneath them an envelope stuck halfway out. ‘I LOVE YOU, SEAN’ was written everywhere on it in different colored pens. Red. Green. Blue. Letters so big I saw them from where I stood. Whoever wrote that really wanted Sean knowing they loved him. Anyway, Sean’s mom all of sudden yelled for him. He flung his door open and said all mean, ‘What?’ Jackie shouted back, ‘Keep talking back to me and watch you get nothing for Christmas.’

  “Sean went into the living room and slammed the door behind him. Maybe he did that so I couldn’t hear them arguing. But I heard them shouting through the door. She’s pissed at how he’s behaved in school lately. Anyway, I rushed and looked under that stack of CDs. The envelope had a Polaroid stuck to it.”

  “Was it a picture of Sean’s dad with his gay boyfriend?” I asked.

  “No!” Vanessa said, disgusted with me. “Sean’s father definitely was in the picture, though. The Polaroid had writing in blue ink at the bottom saying, ‘Thanks, Sean, for the visits. When I’m home, I’ll show you the type of dad I can be.’ And Sean’s father didn’t seem gay. He looked thug. His face was harder than Principal Negron’s. He had a baldie cut and rocked a wifebeater with green pants. Around him were diesel dudes just as gangster as him. They wore green pants too. I couldn’t read where the envelope came from because the address was torn off when it was opened. Only two words were left. Clinton Co. That’s it.”

  I heard Vanessa’s mom say, “End that call. It’s almost time for you to go to bed.”

  “I need to go,” Vanessa said, then paused. “Another thing. I . . . I . . . I think I did something stupid.”

  “What?” me and Kyle said at the same time.

  I felt my heart thump hard in my chest.

  “Sean’s rhymebooks were under a stack of textbooks. From how it was under all that, I thought he hadn’t written in it in a while. So . . .” Vanessa stopped speaking and was quiet for two seconds like she thought about not finishing her sentence.

  “So what?” Kyle asked.

  “I grabbed one of his rhymebooks and stuffed it in my bookbag,” she said fast and nervous. “I have it right now. That was dumb, right? You think he’ll miss it? I don’t think he’ll miss it. I mean it was buried under all that stuff. Then again . . .”

  “Nah,” I sai
d real slow to calm her. “Nah. It wasn’t stupid. We got his thoughts right there. He might’ve written what’s going on with him. We don’t have a lot of time with that book, though. Bring it over first thing tomorrow. Let’s read it, then sneak it back into his room.” I was trying to sound confident and convince Vanessa that grabbing his book wasn’t stupid. But yo! She was dumb for doing that. I mean, she might be right. Sean probably wasn’t writing lately. But still! I didn’t want to risk us holding his rhymebook for too long.

  “End that call,” Vanessa’s mom said again.

  “I need to go.”

  “What you think is in Sean’s rhymebook?” Kyle asked, slumping back in his chair. “I can’t believe she took it. How’s he not going to miss that?”

  All I could think was that we had Sean’s rhymes! We could figure this all out! That was more than I had wanted her to find.

  “We really going to read his rhymebook?” Kyle asked.

  “No doubt,” I said.

  “This is crazy.” Kyle ejected his video game and grabbed his hoodie. “Tomorrow then.”

  “Peace.”

  Two Criminals and a Short Convict

  THE NEXT MORNING, I PHONED SEAN’S HOUSE AT NINE.

  “Hello?” Sean’s mom answered.

  “Hi, it’s Justin.” Christmas music was playing in her apartment. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

  “You not calling to ask if Sean can hang out, right?”

  “No,” I said.

  “Good. Because he’s on punishment. And he’s not getting on the phone.” She sounded heated. “He’s not coming out either.”

  “Okay.”

  She got quiet for a second. “Justin. Can I ask you something?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Where were you when Sean was getting into all this? You’re his best friend. You should’ve stopped him.”