by Tim Hennessy
Mr. Walters and I brush past each other. I’m going, he’s coming. He doesn’t look at me or say a fucking word as we pass.
If you have to be arrested, try to have it happen at three o’clock in the morning in the lobby of the Whitcomb. Nobody’s standing around staring. Nobody’s saying, Isn’t that—? No, it couldn’t be . . .
The police have their car parked right out front in the loading/unloading zone. Well, fuck, why not? They haven’t been more than ten minutes in the hotel, and they could have cut it shorter without the goddamn small talk.
The night’s cool and clear. The fog that’s been wrapped around this part of the city like gray cotton candy has lifted. Nothing to keep you from seeing for miles.
But I’m only looking across the street. Someone’s standing there, right where he can see the whole fucking show coming out of the Whitcomb.
The short cop has his hand on my arm, but barely, like I’m the controller for a video game, and it takes just a light touch to make things move the way he wants them to. Hell, I know where we’re going.
Lurch has the back door open, but just before I duck inside, I ask the short cop, “Hey, can you take these cuffs off me for a second? There’s something I need to do.”
“No can do, big guy. Sorry. No can do.”
“Can you do me a favor then? See that guy across the street? The smoker in the fleece vest? Would you give him the finger? Please?”
The short cop laughs. “Yeah,” he says, “I can do that.”
And he snaps off a bird like he’s flipping a cigarette into the street.
THE CLEM
by James E. Causey
Lincoln Creek
“What the hell happened to Becky?” Lou said to his best friend Jay.
“What are you talking about, Lou?”
“I had to get to school early because I couldn’t make up detention, so Ms. Reed let me do detention this morning, and I saw Becky go to the principal’s office, and it looked like she was in a fight or something.”
“Not Becky, she’s not a fighter.”
“Exactly. Maybe that’s why she looks the way she does,” Lou said. “I know you like her and all, Jay, but she looked like she went fifteen rounds with Muhammad Ali.”
* * *
All the excitement with whatever was going on with Becky had the kids riled up. Papers were strewn about their laminated school chair desks, paper airplanes whizzed past Ms. Reed’s perfectly coifed Afro. Lou popped a green husky pencil against Jay’s #2 blue rubber special.
“Class, I need for you to be quiet,” Ms. Reed said. “Lou, turn around in your seat before I add another twenty minutes to your detention. Or do you want me to call your mom?”
“I was just . . .”
“You were just what, Lou?” Ms. Reed said. “Remember what got you detention before?”
The fifth grade homeroom at Samuel Clemens Elementary School burst out in laughter because they’d all heard Lou bragging for a week about how he accidentally saw Vel’s mother in just a short robe when she was coming out of the shower. She’d had no idea Lou was in the living room waiting for Vel to find his homework assignment.
What had started as an innocent mistake quickly turned into Ms. Vel giving Lou the eyes and even blowing him a kiss and opening her robe to give Lou a full show. Of course, everyone knew this didn’t happen, but it didn’t stop Lou from making up the story anyway.
“I was talking about Vel’s mama,” Lou said. “I apologized, Ms. Reed. Vel knew I was playing.”
When Ms. Reed had heard Lou telling the story to several sixth graders, she quickly gave him ten hours of detention and made him write on the wall five hundred times: I will not lie about my classmate’s mother. Even worse, she made Lou apologize to Vel’s mom.
Vel interjected: “You called my mama a ho. And you said—”
“Vel! We don’t have to go there again!”
None of this mattered to Jay. He was worried about his crush, Becky. Who did she get into a fight with, and did she really get her pretty little face messed up? Jay loved how Becky’s freckles scattered perfectly across her rounded cheeks and the slope of her symmetrical nose. Her eyes, a piercing brown, were amplified by the curliness of her hair. One tendril in particular always found its way into her eyes. Jay found himself lost in them whenever he and Becky were around each other. Jay had had a crush on Becky since third grade. Becky had played the role of Pocahontas in the school play, and Jay had played the role of her love interest, John Smith.
When classmates teased them about being a couple, Becky would frown and say, “I don’t like that bucktoothed boy.”
Jay’s feelings were hurt, but it didn’t stop his burning desire.
“Ms. Reed, can I go to the bathroom?” he asked.
“Jay, you know I’m about to start class.”
“Please, Ms. Reed. I really have to go.”
“Can I go too, Ms. Reed?” Vel asked.
“Let me guess, you have to go really bad too?”
“No, I have to throw up,” Vel said.
“Okay, both of you have five minutes,” Ms. Reed said.
The boys headed into the hallway. They walked quickly past the bathroom and toward the principal’s office to see what had happened to Becky. There were two police officers—one man, one woman—standing in front of the door with their arms folded. The boss could see Becky crying and shaking her head behind the big glass window. She talked to a petite dark-haired officer and Principal Carl. The officer appeared to be comforting Becky; her hand was draped around Becky’s quivering shoulder. Principal Carl stood to the side of the officers, rounded at the shoulders, his large hands clasped in front. The frown flanked by his thick, dark goatee couldn’t hide the troubled look on his face.
Becky had suffered many misfortunes as of late. Her parents had recently split up, and her dad had relocated to California. Classmates acted like they didn’t notice, but Becky’s mom began to drink heavily after the separation. They also noticed when Becky’s hygiene started to slip, and her normally gorgeous curls had become dry and tangled. But Jay had on rose-colored glasses; none of that mattered to him.
As Jay tried to crane his neck to look past the imposing male officer, the man asked, “Can we help you?”
Vel nervously said no, but Jay asked what had happened to Becky.
“That is none of your business, young man. Shouldn’t you be in class?”
Before Jay could say another word, Vel grabbed his arm. “We are leaving right now, officer.”
Walking back to class, both boys could not believe how rough Becky looked. “I guess Lou was right,” Jay said. “I wonder who she got into a fight with.”
“Are you crazy, Jay? That’s more than a fight.”
Vel had a wild imagination. He was fascinated with movies, mostly horror. He loved Halloween so much that he went to see it three times but hid his face during all the scary parts. Jay preferred martial arts films, like Bruce Lee’s Game of Death or Jackie Chan’s Spiritual Kung Fu.
“They never have the police come up to the school unless someone got killed or something. I’m guessing she got beaten up by an adult, or maybe she got attacked by a wild dog.”
“I don’t think there are any wild dogs on 38th and Hope, Vel,” Jay said.
“Maybe not, but something got her.”
As they opened the door to Ms. Reed’s class, Lou was at the board writing, I will not talk in class.
Vel smiled and took his seat. Jay silently mouthed to Lou, What did you do now? Lou motioned his head toward Rachell, who was known for cracking on classmates and pulling just as many pranks as Lou.
Before Ms. Reed could tell Jay what he’d missed, the classroom phone rang. She took the phone and walked out into the hallway. While some of the kids tried to hear what Ms. Reed was saying, Lou started dancing wildly at the chalkboard while Rachell popped rubber bands at his head.
“Class, be quiet, please,” Ms. Reed said, ducking her head in the room. �
��Lou, sit your . . . down!”
When Ms. Reed came back into class, her smile was gone. “Class, I need you to please pay attention. Becky was hurt today on her way to school this morning. Her mother is up here now.”
“Who beat her up, Ms. Reed?” Lou asked.
“She wasn’t beaten up, Lou. A man in a black ski mask grabbed her.”
“Was he white or black, Ms. Reed?”
“I don’t know, Lou, and what difference does it make?”
“Well, I need to know who I need to be worried about on my way home. Was he a creepy black dude? A creepy white dude? A creepy Indian dude? A creepy African dude? A creepy—”
“That’s enough, Lou,” Ms. Reed said. “A letter is being drafted to go home with you tonight to give to your parents.”
Jay raised his hand. “Ms. Reed, is Becky going to be all right?”
“I hope so. But this is where we need you. All of you. To be a friend to her. I know that some of you have known Becky since she started going to school here in kindergarten—”
Ms. Reed was interrupted by the sound of the chime for the school announcements. Today wasn’t a second grader reading off the school lunch menu. Instead, Principal Carl came on.
The class looked up toward the dusty brown loudspeaker hanging in the right corner of the room. Principal Carl’s gruff voice instructed all students to walk in pairs to and from school and to pay attention to anyone and anything that seemed suspicious. He assured everyone that the police were confident about locating the perpetrator quickly and that there would be extra patrols in their neighborhoods until further notice. He firmly told them not to speak with media and to direct them to him.
“Ah, man, I want to be on TV,” Lou blurted out.
“Do you want to go see Principal Carl, Lou?” Ms. Reed said. “Before you leave here today, I want all of you in pairs. So please start partnering up now, because it doesn’t look like we are going to get any work done today.”
The students moved around in class like worker ants; Lou, Jay, and Vel linked up. Rachell tried to join, but Lou put a stop to that. “Where do you think you’re going?” he said to her, standing in front of the other two boys.
“I’m joining your group. Jay lives two houses down from me.”
“I don’t care. There are no girls in this group. Especially ugly ones like you,” Lou said, patting himself on his big belly. “On second thought, maybe you can join the group and scare him away if he comes after us.”
Rachell put her hands on her hips and made a loud smacking noise. “If some crazy man starts chasing us, you’ll be the first sacrifice since you’re fat and slow.”
Vel laughed and Jay told Rachell that she could join the group.
“Look, y’all, this is serious. I saw Becky, and she didn’t look good. We have to watch out for one another, and that goes for you too, Lou,” Jay said.
“Man, she started it. Because of her, I had detention added on top of my other two detentions,” Lou said.
“You got detention because you are always trying to rank on somebody. You need to stop with your tight shirt on. Your shirt is so tight that the General Lee car is stretched into a limo,” Rachell cracked.
“Forget you, girl, with your egghead,” Lou fired back.
“See, that’s what I’m talking about. I swear, you two crack on each other like an old married couple,” Jay said.
“That’s because they like each other,” Vel added.
“Like your mama likes me.”
Vel raised his hand and announced, “Ms. Reed, Lou is over here talking about my mama again.”
“Man, stop being a tattletale.”
“Lou, this is your lucky day. Due to the unfortunate circumstances, I’m going to have to suspend your detention. But you will be making that time up when this situation is rectified.”
Lou put on a sad face and then turned to Vel. “You see, crime does pay.”
“You are such a punk,” Vel said under his breath.
“But your mama loves this punk.”
* * *
Several parents came up to the school to pick up their children. Riding home in a warm car was a welcome treat for many children who otherwise would have had to walk home in twenty-five-degree weather. The North Side neighborhood of short ranch-style homes did little to shield them from the swift winds. When the weather was warm, though, the tall trees on both sides of the streets high-fived each other, shading their mischievous walks home.
Although it was a blended neighborhood, the whites and Germans didn’t like blacks moving into the area. They feared that their property values would go down, so they only talked to other whites. Becky’s parents were the exception. She was the first kid Jay ever met with a black mother and white father. Most of the kids at school didn’t have a problem with it, but many of the black parents did. Often, they referred to Becky as the “biracial girl” or “half-breed.” Jay’s parents spoke this way too. The only difference was they’d add the word “cute” in front of it, like that made it better.
When Rachell’s mother picked her up, she offered a ride to Jay, but he passed, electing to walk home with his friends.
“I can’t get a ride?” Lou said.
“We would give you a ride, but my mother said you need the exercise,” Rachell told him.
“Man, I hate that girl,” Lou said.
Walking home, the boys noticed police cars on nearly every other block. When they started passing the football around, an officer in one car honked his horn and told the boys to quit monkeying around and get home.
“Dangit! My mom’s probably going to keep me in the house all weekend,” Vel said.
“What you complaining about?” Lou said. “At least you’re an only child. You won’t be trapped inside with four older brothers and sisters bossing you around.”
“What about you, Jay?” Lou asked. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I’ll probably catch up on my homework, and if my parents let me, I may go to Becky’s house and see how she’s doing.”
“Look at you,” Lou said. “You hoping that you can comfort her and protect her from the boogeyman and maybe get a kiss or something.”
Jay just shook his head and kept his mouth quiet until he got to his block.
“I have it from here,” he said while reaching for his house key tied around his neck. “No need for you guys to come out of the way.”
“Nah, we should at least make sure that you make it home,” Vel replied.
“Man, forget that. It’s cold out here, let’s go,” Lou said, blowing hot breath on his cold hands.
“I’ll be fine,” Jay assured. “I’ll call you over the weekend.”
As the boys went in their separate directions, Jay detoured toward Becky’s block. There were three squad cars in front of her house. He hoped Becky would be okay. She’d been through so much lately.
When Jay reached home, he grabbed the bills out of the mailbox, then unlocked the door. He dropped his book bag on the floor, turned on the floor-model television set for background noise, and headed to the fridge. He pulled the red plastic ring from around the bologna before placing two slices in the skillet and coming into the front room to see what was on.
“We interrupt your program to bring you a special report. A Milwaukee public school student was attacked on her way to school this morning by a man wearing a black ski mask. The youngster, who attends a school on the North Side, escaped her captor by fighting and clawing herself to freedom. We will bring you more when information is available. Now, back to your regularly scheduled program.”
This is serious, Jay thought. The chime of the fire alarm snapped him from his trance. Jay rushed to the kitchen in time to salvage his burned bologna when the house phone rang.
“Hey, Jay, this is Mama. I heard that something happened at school today. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, Mom, I’m fine. It was Becky.”
“Are you talking about that cute little b
iracial girl around the corner? Oh Lord! Is she okay?”
Word around the neighborhood was that Becky’s father had left home to be with a younger woman. A white one. Becky’s mom was taking it hard from the looks of things. She was usually drunk on the rare occasion kids saw her getting mail out of the mailbox.
“She’s pretty shaken up, Mom, but I think she’ll be fine. At least, I hope so.”
“Anyway, I just wanted to tell you to be good. You father is working a double shift tonight, and I will be home after six. I need to stop by JCPenney on the way home. There’s bologna in the fridge.”
“I know. I’m making a sandwich now.”
“Okay, well, don’t be all up in that TV and burn the house down.”
“I’m not.” He opened the windows to let the smoke out.
“I love you, Jay.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
“Gotta get back to this assembly line now.”
* * *
“Over the weekend, Milwaukee police arrested eight men who they believe could be possibly connected to the attempted rape and abduction in Lincoln Creek. We will have more details during our noon broadcast,” a news announcer reported, breaking into Monday-morning cartoons.
“Well, I guess that’s good news,” Jay said while eating generic cornflakes in front of the TV.
“Jay, I’m going to drop you off at school this morning, because I don’t know if they got this guy yet,” Jay’s mother Ruth said as she was getting dressed for work. Jay couldn’t turn his attention from the TV. He was worried that this masked rapist was still on the loose. “Rachell’s mom told me that Becky was down at the police station this weekend and couldn’t identify any of those men they brought into custody.”
Over the weekend, Lou and Vel had stopped by Jay’s house. They all had their own conspiracy theories on what had happened. Lou heard that the man was preying on little kids because he was an escapee from the mental institution. His oldest brother had told him that the guy’s goal was to catch little kids, behead them, and place their skulls as trophies on his mantel made from human bones.
“I heard she’s coming back to school today,” Ruth said. “I sure would like to know why she was over by Lincoln Creek anyway. That’s five blocks out of her way to go to school.”
