Mr. Hartley said, "I'd like some quiet, please, in the back of the room."
We sat still, and when Mr. Hartley looked back down at his notes, I whispered to Turk, "Just leave him alone."
Mr. Hartley looked up again and saw Turk and me looking at him innocently, eager for knowledge.
Chapter 38
The low buildings of the Back Bay were dark. They looked, with the effusive sunset behind them, like a stage setting.
Standing on the little bridge, Susan and I turned and rested our hips on the bridge bulwark and looked at it.
"That's very pretty," Susan said.
"And it happens every day," I said.
"I've heard that," Susan said. "Was Aurelio really gay?"
"Don't know," I said.
"You didn't ask him?"
"No," I said.
"You didn't care," Susan said.
"No," I said. "Didn't then and don't now."
"Mexican either," Susan said.
"Nope," I said. "Mexican either. I never cared about that stuff."
I grinned at her.
"Besides, I was a little hazy on exactly what it meant to be gay," I said.
"Did they keep bothering you?" Susan said.
"Not bad, for a while. They teased us a little, but I didn't have to fight anybody."
"Were they scared of you?"
"Maybe a little scared," I said. "They knew I could fight. But, you know, I played ball with a lot of the guys. I knew most of them. They all knew I'd punched out Croy Davis, who was two years older than I was. And I kept telling them to lay off Aurelio."
"And they listened?"
"Some," I said.
"So you were able to stop walking to school with him after a while."
"I was, until a bunch of Mexican kids beat the crap out of an Anglo kid and everybody started taking sides."
"Which, unless you were more different in those days than I think you were, wasn't your style."
"No, it wasn't," I said.
"You've never been a joiner," Susan said.
"I wasn't trying to solve race relations in town," I said. "I was just trying to help Aurelio, because he was a nice little guy and because Jeannie asked me to."
"When I was at Harvard," Susan said, "the concern was mostly with larger problems, saving the world, that kind of thing."
"How's that working?" I said.
Susan smiled.
"Since I've known you," she said, "you have actually been saving the world, one person at a time."
I grinned.
"I guess I work on a smaller scale than Harvard," I said.
"Thank God," Susan said.
Chapter 39
I was leaning against the brick wall on the sunny side of the school, talking to Jeannie and Aurelio at recess. Carl and Turk came over to us along with an older guy I didn't know. All three of them looked hard at Aurelio. But nobody spoke to him. I could feel Aurelio trying to shrink into the brick wall.
"How ya doin', Spenser?" Carl said.
"Good," I said.
"Hey, babe," Turk said.
Jeannie ignored him.
"This here is Leo Roemer," Carl said.
"Leo," I said.
He nodded. He looked at Jeannie.
"Who's this?" he said.
"I'm Jeannie," she said.
Leo nodded.
"Not bad," he said.
"Gee, thanks," Jeannie said. "You're pretty cute yourself."
"Maybe someday I'll show you how cute I am," Leo said.
"Maybe," Jeannie said. "Maybe not."
"You go to school here?" I said.
"I don't go to school nowhere," Leo said. "I dumped it after the eighth grade."
"Lucky you," I said.
"It's all crap anyway," he said.
I nodded.
"Leo's gonna help us with the spicks," Carl said.
I nodded.
"And we gotta know where you stand," Carl said.
"Stand about what?" I said.
"You with us against the spicks or you with them?" Turk said.
"I'm just looking out for Aurelio," I said.
"They beat up Sal Dusack," Turk said.
"Probably getting even," I said.
"Hey," Leo said. "You with us or not?"
"Whaddya do, Leo?" I said. "Now that you're not in school."
"I work with my old man," he said.
"What did you say your last name was?"
"Roemer," he said. "What do you care?"
"Roemer Construction?"
"Yeah, whaddya know about it?"
"My father is Sam Spenser," I said. "He and my uncles do a lot of work with your father."
"Yeah? Well, I don't care," Leo said. "I want to know where you stand."
"You know any of them?" I said.
"I don't work with the subcontractors," Leo said. "You with us or against us?"
"How about neither?" I said.
"We don't like âneither,' " Leo said.
He looked around at Carl and Turk.
"Do we?" he said.
"No," Carl said.
"Come on, Spenser," Turk said. "You known us all your life."
"How can you side with them?" Carl said.
"I'm not siding with them," I said. "And I'm not siding with you."
"You're American," Turk said. "Like us."
"I might not be exactly like you," I said.
"Aw, screw him," Leo said to Carl and Turk. "He's yellow. He won't even fight for his own kind."
My father always said there was no point in arguing about crap; when you got all through, the argument was still gonna be crap.
I made no comment.
The three of them turned away.
"Better watch yourself, Spenser," Leo said.
Turk looked back at me and shook his head. I shrugged at him. And they walked off.
Chapter 40
"What's going to happen?" Aurelio said.
"Don't know," I said.
"I think there's going to be a big fight," Jeannie said.
"Do you think so?" Aurelio said to me.
"I don't know," I said.
"I don't like that Leo," Jeannie said.
"What's going to happen?" Aurelio asked. "If everybody starts fighting, you can't protect me from all of them."
"They might not be so interested in you alone," I said.
"But you'll stay with me?" Aurelio said.
"Yes."
"I don't like that Leo," Jeannie said again.
"No," I said. "I don't like him either."
"How old do you think he is?" Jeannie said.
"Sixteen," I said. "Seventeen."
"You think he really works for his father?" Jeannie said.
"He didn't know my father and my uncles. If he did much in the business, he'd know them. They do a lot of work for Roemer."
"I bet he just hangs around the office," Jeannie said.
"Could be," I said.
"I'm scared about all this," Jeannie said.
"I don't like it much either," I said.
"Are you scared?" Aurelio said.
"Some," I said.
"But you'll stick with me?" Aurelio said.
"I will."
"What are you scared of most?" Jeannie asked me.
"It's gotten awful big," I said. "And . . . I never had a fight with a guy sixteen, seventeen years old. That's a pretty big difference."
"Maybe you won't have to fight with him," Jeannie said.
"Maybe," I said.
"But you think you will," Jeannie said.
"Yes."
"Why?" she said.
"Because he didn't scare me," I said. "At least not that he could tell."
"So?"
"So he was supposed to, I mean, it's why he came over. The guys wanted me with them, and I wouldn't do it, so they bring in big bad Leo, and I still won't do it."
"But," Jeannie said, "I should think if you weren't scared of him, he'd less want to fight you, y
ou know?"
"Guy like Leo, there's a reason he hangs around with younger guys," I said. "Maybe the guys his age don't think he's such a big deal."
"Like the guys at the construction company?" Jeannie said.
"Maybe," I said. "Maybe he needs to be a tough guy and they won't treat him like one."
"That doesn't make any sense to me," Jeannie said. "Is it because I'm a girl?"
She looked at Aurelio.
"Does that make any sense to you, Aurelio?" she said.
He shook his head slowly.
"No, but I know a lot of boys need to be macho," he said.
"Are you like that?" Jeannie asked me.
"I suppose," I said. "Some."
"But you don't pick on people," Jeannie said.
"No," I said. "It doesn't make me feel brave."
"Is that what it's about?" Jeannie said. "Feeling brave?"
"Maybe," I said. "But you can only feel brave if you face up to something that you need to be brave about, you know?"
"Like with my father?"
"Yes."
"And like trying to protect Aurelio," she said.
"Yes."
Jeannie shook her head.
"You are not like any other boy I know," she said.
"I was brought up a little different, I guess."
"Because you didn't have a mother?" Jeannie said.
"I don't know. I never had a mother; I don't know what that would be like. But being brought up by my father and my uncles, the way they treated me."
"Which is how?" Jeannie said.
"Like I wasn't a kid," I said. "Like I was a person."
"And they're all brave," Jeannie said.
"They are," I said.
"Is it so important feeling brave?" Jeannie said.
"I guess it is," I said.
"God," Jeannie said. "Being a boy must not be easy."
"No," I said. "No easier than being a girl."
"Being a kid," Aurelio said, "is especially not easy."
Chapter 41
A kid named Petey Hernandez stopped me in the corridor when school was letting out. He was fifteen and already had a scar on his left forearm where someone had cut him with a knife.
"Got a minute?" he said.
I said I did.
"We know how you been looking out for Aurelio Lopez," he said.
I nodded.
"Aurelio ain't much," Petey said. "But he's Mexican, and I figure we owe you for it."
"You don't owe me anything," I said.
Petey shrugged.
"Anyway," he said, "Aurelio ain't the only Mexican they been beatin' on."
"Who's âthey'?" I said.
"Roemer and his pack," Petey said.
I nodded. Croy went by us without making eye contact.
"How 'bout Croy?" I said. "He in the pack?"
"Yeah," Petey said. "Wouldn't you figure?"
"Seems the type," I said.
Petey nodded.
"Gonna be a rumble," he said.
"Yeah?"
"Down back of the Y," Petey said. "Roemer and his buddies like to hang out there. We gonna go down there and settle things."
"When?" I said.
Petey shook his head.
"You don't need to know," he said.
"Why you telling me at all?" I said.
"So you'll stay away from those guys," he said. "Don't want to see you get hurt."
I nodded.
"I don't hang with them," I said.
"Good idea," Petey said. "You gonna tell anyone about this?"
"Nobody you'd care about," I said.
"Nobody at all," Petey said.
"Might talk about it with my father and my uncles. They won't say anything if I ask them not to."
"You can trust them?"
"Certain sure," I said.
"You gimme your word?" he said.
"It ain't about me," I said.
"Your word?" he said. "Nobody tells Roemer?"
I nodded.
"My word."
"I think your word's good," Petey said. "It ain't, you'll hear from us."
"It ain't my fight," I said. "I got nothing to say about it."
"Make sure," Petey said.
"I'll do what I can," I said.
Petey nodded and turned and walked away. I watched him go.
Tough kid, I thought. Lot tougher than Leo Roemer.
Chapter 42
"Sun's down," Susan said. "And it's getting chilly. I think we should go across the street and have a glass of wine at The Bristol Lounge."
"What a good idea," I said.
We walked off the little bridge and headed past the last of the cruising swan boats toward Boylston Street.
Susan took my hand as we walked.
"Was that Mexican boy's name really Petey?" she said.
"Pedro," I said.
"Did they fight?" she said.
I smiled.
"Yep," I said.
"And?" Susan said.
"The Anglos got outthought," I said. "The Mexicans sent one of their smallest guys down back of the Y. He let Roemer and his group see him, and he fired an apple at them and ran. Of course they chased him. He ran across the street to the Public Works parking lot, full of trucks and plows and tractors, and hid in there. Leo Roemer and his troop come after him and start looking for him, which causes them to split up into small groups looking in and around the heavy equipment, which is parked in rows with an aisle in between. The Mexican kids are in there waiting. When the Anglos get in among the trucks, Petey's boys jump them, and, because the Anglos are split up, they are always outnumbered by the Mexican kids, and they get their tails whipped. The fight ends with Leo, with a bloody nose, leading his troop out of there at a dead run."
"And you think Petey planned this out before it happened?" Susan said.
"Down to the apple," I said. "If it was a stone or something that would do damage, they might have been scared to chase him into the lot. But an apple doesn't scare anybody, just annoys them."
"And he knew when they got to the lot, they'd split up and start looking up and down the aisles."
I nodded.
"And how do you know about this?" she said. "Did you attend?"
"No," I said. "Aurelio told me."
"Did he attend?"
"Nope, but some of the other Mexican kids told him about it," I said. "And pretty much it was all over town by the next afternoon . . ." I grinned at the memory. "And Leo was seen around town with a black eye and a fat lip."
"You seem glad the Mexican boys won."
"I didn't care who won," I said. "I never got that whole business about racial loyalty, or gender loyalty, or age loyalty. I always, even when I was little, tried to take things as they came and like or dislike them on how they were."
"You still do," Susan said.
"Yes," I said. "But even now I still kind of admire how smart Pedro was. Gang for gang, I think he was outnumbered."
We went into the Four Seasons hotel. Both doormen spoke warmly to Susan. We walked to the lounge in silence and got a seat at the bar. Susan ordered a glass of pinot grigio. I had a beer.
"Was that the end of it?" Susan said.
"Not quite," I said.
Chapter 43
It was overcast and kind of cold, and there was no one else in the school yard. I was working on my jump shot, with Jeannie retrieving the ball for me. Catch the pass, take a dribble, square up, shoot. Catch the pass, take a dribble, square up, shoot. Jeannie's passes were not always really good, but it was better than chasing it after every shot. I was good with the dribble. I could pass, and I was tough on defense. But my outside shot was weak and so I tried to do a hundred jumpers every day.
I was on number sixty-seven when Leo and his troop came around the corner of the school. Croy was beside Leo.
Leo shouted at me, "You're in trouble now, Spenser."
I sank jumper number sixty-eight before I looked at him. Jeannie retrieved the ball an
d held it for a moment, then she dropped the basketball and ran away. Leo watched her go and turned and looked at me.
"Smart girl," he said.
"What's your problem, Leo?" I said.
"You knew the Mexicans was gonna ambush us, and you didn't tell us," Leo shouted.
"Nope," I said.
"Don't lie about it," Leo yelled. "Croy seen you talking to Petey Hernandez right before the fight. You betrayed your own damn kind."
"You are my kind?" I said. "I don't think so."
"You admit you knew it?" Leo said.
"Nothing to admit," I said. "I didn't know what they were planning."
Leo and his gang moved closer. I noticed Croy stuck pretty close to Leo.
"You think you can fight us all?" Leo said.
Besides him and Croy there were about ten other kids. The answer was obviously no. But I didn't care to say so.
"You ready to get it handed to you, backstabber?" Leo said.
"You first?" I said.
"All of us first," Leo said.
The gang spread out and formed a circle around me. They didn't seem in any hurry. I think they wanted me to be scared. I was scared. But I did everything I could to keep them from seeing it. I kept facing Leo, the leader. And as the circle formed, I took a step closer to him.
I said, "You and me, Leo? One-on-one?"
"Why should I do that?" Leo said. "There's twelve of us. Why should I do all the work?"
Everyone was quiet. It felt thick and strained, like it does just before a storm breaks. I was debating whether to hit Leo first. I had just decided to hit him when my father's gray pickup truck pulled into the school yard and my father and my two uncles got out. I felt all the tightness go out of my stomach. My back loosened. My breathing slowed a little. My father and my uncles pushed through the circle of boys as if they weren't there, and walked to where I was, and stood in a semicircle behind me.
Nobody said anything.
Finally Leo said to my father, "This is just us kids fooling around, Mr. Spenser."
"Lot of you," my father said. "Just thought there should be a few more with him."
"What are you gonna do?" Leo said.
My father ignored him.
"You think you're gonna have to fight him?" my father said to me.
"Yes," I said.
"Now's a good time, then," my father said.
"Oh, sure," Leo said. "And when I kick his butt, you big guys jump me?"
"Nope," my father said.
"What'll you do?" Leo said.
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