Little Beasts

by Matthew McGevna

  “Come on, boy,” coached James. “Come on. Don’t be scared.”

  Finally, he crept within a foot of James’s outstretched hand and James took him into his arms. All three boys converged and started to pet him, as his tail relaxed and wagged freely. He licked James’s hand and James scratched under the dog’s chin, allowing his floppy left ear to drag across the back of his fingers. As he moved his hand to the top of the animal’s head, he noticed bright red blood smeared across his knuckles.

  “Aw, gross,” said Dallas, stepping away.

  “You cut yourself?” asked Felix.

  James looked at the blood on his hand. “No, I’m fine,” he answered, confused, staring at the dog. Clearly Spybot was favoring his left side, pulling away from James. James kept him calm and grabbed his left ear. The dog struggled. “Help me hold him.”

  The other two crouched down and each grabbed a part of the dog’s body to help hold him still. Turning the ear over to expose the soft, white flesh, James saw it had been bleeding for a while. Dried blood had crusted at the ear’s edges, and fresh blood had clotted slightly near the pointy tip.

  “What happened to him?” asked Felix.

  James shook his head. He reached with his two fingers and touched the wound. The dog jerked and tried to get away. James and the boys calmed him down, petting him gently. Once more, James reached for the wound, and felt a small ball under the skin, just below the raw cut. He squeezed on the dog’s ear, and as the dog yelped in pain, James caught a small silver ball that dropped from the wound.

  “Let him go,” said James. When the boys let go, the dog took off running. James stared at the object in his hand. He wiped away the trace of blood and exposed the shiny round pellet.

  “That’s a BB,” said Felix, who was leaning over James’s shoulder.

  Dallas nodded in agreement. “Someone shot him. Probably got into someone’s garbage last night. Pow! Took a shot at him.” The three boys looked at each other.

  “Where’d he go?” asked James, glancing around.

  Dallas shrugged. “Strays get shot all the time around here.Lucky he didn’t get shot with the real thing.”

  James dropped the BB into the dirt and stood up. He looked around for the dog, but he was gone. Dallas and Felix had already walked away and were continuing toward Nino’s. James stepped on the BB, pushing it down deep into the earth. He rubbed his hands clean on his shorts and ran to catch up with the others.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  DAVID STEPPED OUT OF NICK’S CAR and stood on the empty curb. A slender arm reached out from the backseat. David knew immediately what Krystal wanted. He huffed slightly and took her soft hand into his. He pulled her out of the car the way a fisherman grabs the lead and yanks the great fish over the side of the boat. She noticed, but thanked him anyway and linked arms with him on their way into the deli.

  “I’m just picking up some stuff for my dad,” he told her.

  “I’ll walk with you,” she said.

  Nick and Matthew trailed behind as they rounded the corner of the building and David pulled open the door. Three kids spilled out of the store and brushed past them with cans of soda and candy bars loaded into a small brown bag. Matthew Milton looked down at them—the same three who’d been yanking that dog around the other day. The one carrying the bag had a bruise on his neck. A devilish grin stretched across Matthew’s face. He made a sudden false lunge at the kids, and they jumped back.

  “Aaaaaaaarghhh!” Matthew screamed at them. The three boys took off around the corner and ran past Nick’s car. They kept running down Pinelawn Street and disappeared into the woods, near the back of Nino’s parking lot. Matthew laughed loudly, and held the door open for Nick to walk in.

  “What is your obsession?” Nick asked as he leaned against the candy rack and watched David and Krystal disappear into the back by the refrigerators.

  Matthew shrugged. “Hate the little punks that run around here,” he said.

  Nino, the old man who owned the deli, popped his narrow, angled head up from behind the chest-high meat counter. He’d been cleaning the roast beef racks when the boys filed in. Nino was from old Europe. So was his wife. She worked part-time, helping out wherever she could. He leered at Nick and Matthew. Two lazy troublemakers, in his opinion.

  “Boyce,” he said, snapping his fingers at them, “get offa da candy rack. This is no playground, this is biziniss.”

  The two boys stood up straight and stepped away.

  “Relax, we’re waiting for David. He’s in the back,” Nick said.

  “What’s he doing in the back?” Nino leaned over the large counter and strained to see down one of his aisles. The boys could more clearly see the bird shape of his head, as if he’d squeezed it through the bough rails on the boat that had brought him to America as a young man. An arm was missing from his eyeglasses, and they kept sliding down his bony nose and away from his wrinkled face; he had to keep reaching up to right them. He stared back at the boys who were on the verge of laughter. “It’s not funny,” he barked. “Many a things go missing from here. My wifey says she sees you and de odder boys sneaking around.”

  “We never stole a thing in our lives,” Matthew said, holding his hands out in earnest.

  “So you say, but I suspeck different. My wife, she watcha you like a hawk.”

  “I don’t know what she’s seeing cause I never took a thing,” said Nick.

  “Just know. In the future, I watcha you boyce like a hawk. And if I see anything missing,” he waved his finger at them menacingly, “I’ll mayka you pay faw times as much. Faw times,” he repeated, holding up four fingers, before reaching up to catch his falling glasses.

  David came back from the refrigerator with a tub of butter and a half gallon of milk. He looked at his friends, and then at Nino. Locked in a duel of scowls.

  Nino slowly peeled his glare off the boys as he rounded the counter and stood behind the register to ring up David’s items. Even while he pressed the numbers on his old-fashioned register, he darted his hazel eyes up at the other two. They stood there like wooden soldiers. Nino’s narrow face had reddened from the argument. Even as he read David’s price aloud and bagged the two items, he kept his eyes on Nick and Matthew. They flinched, and left before David had received his change.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  AT THE PINELAWN STREET ENTRANCE to the southern path that led to Zambrini’s, the three boys ducked into the trail and looked back. Matthew hadn’t chased them.

  Panting, Dallas peeked through the trees. “Coast is clear.” They stepped further into the woods, but Dallas stopped short. “Check to see if you dropped anything,” he said to James, who was holding their bag of food. He rooted through it obediently.

  “Don’t think so,” he said.

  “What about my PayDay, check for my PayDay,” ordered Felix, who had nearly tripped over his shoelaces when he ran with the others. He was kneeling down to tie them finally. James checked again.

  “It’s in here,” he said while they continued down the path.

  Dallas was grinning, as if he held a secret he was struggling to contain. “No worries, even if you did drop some stuff,” he said as they emerged from the short path where Zambrini’s yard opened up. He reached back to the elastic band of his shorts and pulled out two Milky Way bars, holding them up and then dropping them into the bag.

  “Man, that’s like your fifth time doing that and getting away with it,” said Felix.

  “Piece a cake, the old man’s cleaning his shelves, he’s the only one in the store, and boom. It’s better in wintertime, I got more pockets.” The other two laughed in awe.

  As they trekked into the sand of Zambrini’s yard they could see the back of Nino’s Deli—a dull gray box—through the trees, and the chain-link fence that bordered the parking lot. Straight ahead, about sixty feet away, they glimpsed the broken-down bulldozer where Spybot had been shivering. Dallas reached blindly into the bag and pulled out the Milky Way he’d stole
n. As they passed the back of Nino’s, he was about to rip the Milky Way open with his teeth when he saw Matthew and his friend leaning against the building. They looked agitated. Dallas immediately thought it was because of them. He dropped down, and the others followed suit.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  NICK AND MATTHEW leaned against the wall and waited for David and Krystal to come out of the store. They couldn’t stand to be there another minute, being accused by some old man of something they didn’t do.

  Matthew shook his head with anger and spit. “I don’t give a crap what his wife sees, she’s as blind as him.”

  “Screw that bastard and his fat little wife, I didn’t steal anything.”

  “They figure, Oh, they’re teenagers, look at ’em; they must be criminals. Pisses me off.”

  “We got to get out of this town,” said Nick as he stepped away from the wall and stood up on one of the concrete parking curbs bolted into the lot. He pivoted, doing a balancing act, and lost his balance when Krystal appeared before him. Nick stole another look at her short green shorts, the way they exposed her slender legs. Her tight T-shirt. In the bright, sparkling sun, Nick could see the pattern of her bra through the thin material, something the back of his car hadn’t revealed. David emerged from the store and put his father’s groceries down on the ground. He looked at his friends.

  “What are we doing? Car’s on the other side,” he said.

  “You got somewhere to be?” Nick asked. “Let’s hang out awhile.”

  David frowned. “What about Phil Massa and the rest?”

  “Buncha fags,” Nick answered, leaning against the wall again. “They’re not going to do nothing.”

  Krystal whistled and David turned to her.

  “I can’t believe you took him out with one punch like that, holy crap!” she said, laughing. It wasn’t funny, but David started to laugh a little anyway.

  “It was the least I could do, I was getting my ass kicked.” The other two started to chuckle.

  “Bob Cassidy’s a jerk,” Krystal said. “Guy’s four years older than you, he’s got nothing better to do than hang at a high school party and pick on a sophomore?”

  David watched Krystal as she shook her head. He noticed how kind her face seemed when she smiled, genuinely indignant. Did he have the wrong impression of her all along? he wondered. He noticed the softness in her voice, but his face dropped when over her shoulder he noticed a Chevy Nova slowing down on Turnbull Road. It appeared to be pulling into the parking lot, but suddenly stopped, then kept going. David’s hand snapped quickly to feel the gun in the small of his back. He peered into the car window and saw Bob Cassidy driving, and lost all feeling in his feet when he saw Julia sitting beside him. The car peeled off, disappearing from view, and he whipped around to face Krystal.

  “Did you know about this?”

  “Oh, Christ, here we go again,” announced Matthew.

  David darted his eyes at him. “The hell’s your problem?”

  “Not everything is about you. Jesus, can’t we go one day without you moping over that stupid bitch?”

  David stepped toward him. “Call her that again, I dare you.”

  “Oh, knock it off,” barked Nick, stepping between the two. They glared at each other. Matthew was getting angrier.

  “You know, everybody’s got problems. We just got accused of shoplifting in there. You act like you’re the only person on earth and I’m sick of it. Let him come at me, Nick, see what the tough guy can do.”

  “Up yours. You want to go?” David held out his arms. Nick put his hands on David’s chest to hold him back.

  “Let him go, Nick,” Matthew taunted. “See what he can do. You’re such a tough guy, let’s see you be tough.”

  David pulled away from Nick and kicked a rock across the parking lot. His eyes were searching for some rational explanation. On the ground. In the lines painted across the asphalt. In the broken glass. She was in his car. She was sitting in his car, and she must have told him to drive off when she saw David. He glanced toward his friends. They were silent. Matthew wiped the back of his neck and stared at his sweaty hand in disgust.

  Krystal watched a change wash over David’s face, from an expression of outward rage, to one of calm, inner madness. David was standing near a disabled shopping cart lying on its side. He stared at the ground in silence. His mind was no longer racing, but in a flash he imagined Julia wedded to Bob. Their three kids; the family photo standing in a frame on their coffee table. It gave some sort of permission in his mind to wreak all the damage he could.

  His arms and legs bent obediently to the will of his rage. In one violent motion, he kicked his leg into the air and crashed his foot down on the side of the metal cart. The cart dented. Another wild stomp and it dented further. He picked it up, slammed it down. He picked it up again, and hurled it across the parking lot. He let out a guttural scream, grabbed an empty Budweiser bottle, and fired it against the wall of the deli. The bottle shattered into pieces. Then he was silent again, staring at the ground. The others didn’t move, but Matthew rolled his eyes. Nino stepped outside to see what all the noise was about.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  FELIX, DALLAS, AND JAMES were lined up side by side, watching the one kid throw his fit. It was nothing like the other day when he yelled at them about the dog. They saw the cart sail across the parking lot, and they ducked further down to hide. When the glass bottle shattered, the three boys looked at each other in fright. They knew it was time. Felix put his finger up to his lips to signal quiet, and began to creep away, staying low, but lifting his feet so they wouldn’t drag. Dallas followed after him, making long silent strides, until he reached the soft sand. The two turned around and looked at James. James glanced over his shoulder and saw the teenagers were sitting quietly now. Nino had come out to yell at them, and then had gone back inside. James took one step noiselessly, but on the second step, his sneaker came down upon a dead pine branch, which snapped loudly. James looked at his friends, his eyes wide with panic. Dallas and Felix started to run.

  “Little bastards!” James heard behind him, then dropped the candy bag and took off. Felix and Dallas were well ahead. In a matter of seconds, he heard heavy breathing behind him, and a firm hand grabbed his shirt, shoving him facedown into the dirt. He looked up from his belly and saw the bottoms of two pairs of shoes streaking after Felix and Dallas. Suddenly a knee dropped painfully down into the middle of his back.

  “Stay down, little prick!” David yelled, holding James fast to the ground. James rolled his eyes upward to see, in desperation, as Felix was dragged from behind by Matthew and Nick. Matthew rolled on top of Felix and rubbed his face into the sand, laughing. Dallas stopped running and turned to look at his friend, who was screaming when Matthew started to rake his knuckles hard across his skull.

  “You like spying on people?” growled Matthew. “You like spying?” He knocked on Felix’s head like a wooden door.

  “I’m sorry!” screamed Felix, clawing to wiggle away.

  Krystal had caught up and was standing in the space between James and Felix, both pinned to the ground. Dallas stood untouched. Nick was kneeling beside Felix, pouring sand in his hair. Dallas picked up a short piece of pipe and hurled it at Nick. The pipe missed.

  “If you’d hit me with that, I would’ve killed you,” Nick said, with a mildly suppressed laugh.

  James had his eyes turned up the whole time. His heart was exploding. He couldn’t breathe. He was choked with fear. Run, Dallas, he thought. Run for help.

  “Run!” he heard Felix cry out. Dallas turned on his heels.

  “You want me to go get him?” Krystal asked. Matthew nodded, and she took off.

  For a moment, James smiled inside. Though he was still fearful, he knew she would never catch Dallas. This was a kid who ran down a dog. She was only a girl. He knew the shortcuts. He’d escape the yard and get help.

  Dallas blazed across the yard and frantically searched for the ope
n spot in the fence. He had glanced back for a fraction of a second, and seen that he’d gained some distance. He kept looking for the hole, and finally found it. Suddenly his heart leapt. She was already on him. Krystal had her hand only a foot away from his shoulder. His soul deflated. He let out a whimpering shriek and crumbled to the ground. Krystal straddled him and pulled his arms behind his back.

  “You’re not fast,” she said. “Who told you that you were fast?”

  Dallas couldn’t believe he’d been caught. He was panicked for the first time in a long while. She wasn’t even out of breath.

  James let his eyes drop; their hope was gone. He felt as if he was crying, though his fright had stopped up his tears. His mind flitted over a thousand things. David pulled James to his feet when Krystal rejoined the group, holding Dallas’s arms behind his back. With a little force she threw Dallas away from her, and he put his hands up in a defensive stance. Matthew got up and circled behind him. Nick pulled Felix into the same circle forming around Dallas, then James was thrust into it as well.

  “What were you guys doing? Spying on us?” yelled David. “You want to get smacked around some more?”

  “Screw you!” barked James, though he looked as if he couldn’t himself believe he’d said it. David stepped toward James and smacked him across the top of the head. James took it and glared back. David shoved him angrily.

  “Yo, we should make these kids fight each other,” Matthew said, tapping Nick on the arm.