“We could have taken them,” Sticky insisted, full of adrenalin.
“Yeah, but who knows what kind of weapons they had. They were looking for one of us.”
“Speaking of, who did jump that guy’s kid brother? I can’t see AJ just going out and jumping some kid for no reason, and unless someone went with him, Mark can’t mess nobody up by himself.”
“It had to have been AJ, but you’re right, it doesn’t sound right.”
AJ wasn’t the type to get a hold of someone without a reason. He was a model of self-control. It took a lot of pushing before he snapped.
“Well we know one thing; he must not have hurt him too bad or there would have been a lot more people in that car,” Sticky said, hopping in the passenger seat. I got in the back.
“What’re you doing wandering around this early in the morning? Shouldn’t you still be asleep?” I asked Sticky, knowing good and well he was never up before noon.
“My mom kicked me out. I snuck a bit of her whisky. She doesn’t need it anyway.”
“And you do?” I laughed.
“I got to live with her, don’t I?”
I decided I wanted to talk to AJ about what I’d heard. “Hey, Fry, let’s stop by the station. I want to ask AJ what happened.”
“You got it man.” Me and Sticky looked at each other, thinking the same thing. Fry was high as a kite.
AJ worked fifty hours a week at a little body shop that was a mile from the house. The guy he worked for was a mean old geezer who definitely didn’t pay enough, but that was the only job AJ could find. He had looked everywhere but times were rough.
“Hey, AJ!” Sticky called as we walked into the shop.
AJ waltzed in from the back room. “Hey guys,” he said, wiping the grease off his hands onto his coveralls.
“We heard you jumped some kid last night!” Sticky squealed. He was obviously eager for details.
“Yeah, the little punk tried to steal from the cash register while I was in the back. I didn’t hurt him too bad—just good enough so he wouldn’t pull it on me again. How did you all hear about it?”
“His older brother and a couple of his friends almost jumped me,” I said. We filled him in on what happened.
“This jumping thing has gotten way out of hand the past couple years. It just keeps getting worse. People didn’t get jumped all the time when I was your age,” AJ told us as he typed something into the computer on the counter.
“Well, they’re looking for you,” Fry said, lighting a cigarette.
“Yeah, well, they know where to find me. They better leave you two alone,” he said, meaning me and Mark, “or there’s going to be hell to pay.”
That’s what I loved about AJ, he would do anything for me and Mark. The night I got jumped he would have killed the guys that had done it, if he could have found them. I hadn’t seen them before that night, and I never saw them after either, which is a good thing because AJ might have killed them.
“AJ! Get to work!” Mr. Lance, the owner, yelled. “And get those hooligans out of here. They’re scaring all my customers.”
“You guys get going or I’m gonna lose my job. Clay, stay out of trouble.”
“Where you guys want to go?” Sticky asked once we were all in the car. He had somehow gotten the keys from Fry and was easing the car into Saturday morning traffic. The sun hid behind the clouds; it looked like rain. Birds littered the sky. I watched as they passed, wondering what it would be like to fly.
“Let’s go get something to eat,” Fry suggested.
“What’s the matter? You got the munchies?” I laughed.
He didn’t say anything, just grinned. We pulled up to our hangout, a Greasy Spoon on Main Street. The manager hated that we used his little cafe like it was a pool hall or something. But this was Local turf. No other gang ever went there unless they were looking for trouble. The manager seemed to think we scared off customers. Maybe we did, sometimes, but just for his benefit. He always gave us a hard time but I think he knew that without us he would have some real hoods running the show.
“Hey guys!” Slim said, sliding into the booth beside me. “I figured I’d find one of you here.”
Slim was the funny one. He could make you laugh anytime, anywhere. He was a tall, lanky guy which is, of course, how he got the nickname, Slim. His hair was never combed— dark, like mine and AJ’s— and he had baby-blue eyes. I always thought that was pretty cool, having light-blue eyes and dark hair. It looked real tight. He was eighteen, and had walked into the cafe one day and never left. Unlike us, he wasn’t a native to the area. He had moved around a lot until he was fifteen and took up with us. We were usually cautious about new people on the block. Not just anyone could walk in and join forces with us… but there was just something about Slim.
“What can I get you guys?” a young waitress asked. She had short, brown hair and long fingernails. She was hot, there was no denying it, and her smile could melt an iceberg.
“Hmm.” Slim pretended to look at the menu. “I’ll take one piece of paper with your number on it.”
“I don’t think that is on the menu,” she blushed, smiling. “How about you guys?”
“I’ll take a burger and fries,” Fry said without looking at the menu. We had been there so many times we didn’t need to.
“And you guys?” she asked, looking at me and Sticky.
“Nothing for us.”
“Hey, did you guys hear about Ace’s kid-brother getting jumped last night?” Slim asked in an excited voice— the only one he had. I was surprised the word had gotten around so fast, and wondered if Ace had found the guys.
“Sure did. Matter of fact, I had front row seats,” I said, antsy to tell my story.
“What’re you talking about?” Slim asked, puzzled.
“I happened to walk by the fight. I put the slummers in their place, too.”
“You stopped them?” he questioned.
“Sure did. Hell, the kid’s only, like, twelve. They had worked him over pretty good before I got there, though. He passed out on the way home.”
“Lucky you! Now you’re one-up on old Ace,” Slim pointed out. “You ever need out of something and he’ll do it. He’d do anything for that kid!” Kind of like AJ, I thought.
Fry just sat there looking at nothing in particular. He was higher than the heavens, and I wondered for a minute what he was on.
I had tried the drug thing just once. When I was thirteen I had gotten my hands on some Ecstasy from a girl I was dating. That was some crazy stuff. To make a short story of it, AJ happened to come looking for me that night when I was rolling. He knew as soon as he saw me I was sky-high. He pinned me against the wall in front of half the school, everyone at this party, and told me that if he ever caught me using drugs again he’d break my face. He threw me in the car and took me home. Of course, I laughed the whole way which pissed him off even more, and he slugged me a few times trying to get me to sit still in the cold shower he threw me in.
What a night. I hadn’t touched a speck of drugs since. I fully believed AJ would beat me to a pulp if he caught me using anything again. I know better than that now. I had watched a whole list of people get completely messed up on different things; some ruining their lives, others killing themselves.
“So what you guys wanna do tonight?” Slim asked.
“Let’s