“Yeah.” She said. “Are you?”
I noticed that my head was starting to clear a bit, like the curtain was beginning to rise, or something. “Yeah, I am. I feel like we’re on vacation up here, you know what I’m saying. Like we’re on some tropical island.”
Angela smiled at me. “I wish.”
“Just close your eyes and click your heels together.” I said, doing just that. “And when you open them, well, you’ll still be here.”
“Good, because this is where I want to be. Here with you.”
“Me too.” I said. “You want a cigarette?” I asked.
Junior answered me. “I do.” He had his shirt off and he’d wrapped it around his head. The butt of the pistol was flat against his stomach and he looked like some wise guy showing off for the girls.
Marty just pursed her lips and shrugged when she saw the gun. Angela took it in stride too but considering who her father was, I wasn’t surprised. I could have easily been swept up in showing off too except for the fact that the little kid with the bandanna was back on the roof running around with his hands extended like airplane wings Marty yelled something in Spanish at him but he just ignored her.
She told Junior to go make him go downstairs. “And shut the door, you can lock it from outside, just slide that bolt thing.”
“Hey.” Junior yelled, without moving. “Get over here, you.”
The kid was spiraling and dive bombing in his conked-out head.
“Hey, are you listening to me, or what?” Junior was shouting now.
I found the whole thing kind of amusing. “You need to call him on his radio.” I said. “You know, otherwise he won’t hear you.”
“Very funny.” Junior said. “I’ll fucking shoot his plane down in a minute if doesn’t leave.”
Then, like in those war movies, the kid aimed his plane right at us and I guess the chew-chew-chew sound he was making was his machine guns blaring. As he passed me, his arm grazed the top of my head. I ducked a little and as he neared Junior, who tried to grab him, he rolled his wings and swerved out of Junior’s reach and ran right off the edge of the roof.
Marty screamed and it must have woken up Mathilda because she almost jumped out of her chair sputtering, “What? What?”
I’ve seen a lot of sick things but this really took the cake. I got up and went to look down to see what happened. Angela stopped me. “Don’t look.” She said, with her hand over her mouth.
“Just stay here.” I said. “I got to check on the kid at least.”
Junior and I walked to the edge of the roof and looked down into the courtyard. The kid was lying in a pool of blood that was lit by a circle of light. His feet were bent at an angle and were twisted over his head like a broken tree branch.
Junior crossed himself. “Jesus Christ.”
Marty came and joined us before we could stop her. “Oh my god!” Was all she said, and she kept repeating it. No one had even opened a window to see what had happened, probably because everyone had music on and was partying and drinking.
“We got to get out of here before the cops come.” Junior said, holding his shirt in his hand. “Let’s bring everything downstairs and split.”
The girls grabbed the beer and cigarettes, and what ever else they could carry and Junior and I hauled the boom box down the stairs. We put everything in Marty’s apartment and then Junior sent her downstairs to make sure the coast was clear. I looked out the window and waited for her to look up at me. When she did, I said, “Let’s go.”
When we got downstairs, we didn’t hear any sirens and anything and all of us walked up to Angela’s car. Marty kissed Mathilida goodbye and we drove off.
“Shouldn’t we call the cops, maybe that kid is still alive?” Angela said.
It was like a move we had been rehearsing or something but the three of us shook our heads in unison like we were on Broadway or something.
“He’s not.” I said.
“Nope.” Junior shook his head. Marty didn’t say anything. When I looked back at her, she was crying. “This fucking neighborhood chews kids up. If they’re not getting shot or stabbed, they’re taking their glued-up brains and jumping off the roof.”
Junior started to say something but had the common sense not to interrupt her.
“And if you manage to survive it somehow, the cops will pick you up and send you upstate for some shit.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “Look at my brother. What did he do?”
“He’s no angel.” Junior said. “But I see what you’re saying.”
Marty just glared at him but Junior was oblivious to any signal she was sending him. “I mean, I thought the kid was just busting our chops, or something, maybe trying to steal a beer. I’ve seen some crazy shit go down, but…” He said something in Italian, which I didn’t understand.
“So where are we going to go now?” I asked, trying to shut Junior up and change the subject. Just thinking about what I just saw was almost making me shake. And the more I thought about it, the madder I became. Marty was right, not just about her neighborhood but the whole fucking place. It was like poison gas, you couldn’t escape it. Everywhere you went in this fucking city something bad was going to happen. And now what, are we supposed to go back home? Maybe get shot ourselves?
I was in the front seat and Junior reached up and grabbed my shoulder. “Let’s just go to Sheepshead Bay and get a room.” He looked around the car. Marty was just sitting there not saying anything. Angela looked at me while she was driving. “What do you want to do?” I asked her.
“At this point, I don’t care.” She said.
“What do you have for money?” I asked Junior.
“About seventy, eighty.” He said.
“I’m hungry.” Marty said, without any of her usual emotion. Her voice was flat and somehow her accent seemed thicker.
“Me too, now that I think of it.” Junior said. “There’s a diner right across the street from the motel. We can stop there and eat before checking in.”
“That all right with you?” I asked Angela.
“Yeah, I guess I’m hungry too.” She said.
“What about staying out? Can you?” I asked.
She nodded her head.
By now we were on Ocean Ave. “Just take this until we hit the water, then take a left. The diner and motel are down past everything. You know, all the boats. Down near where you get on the Belt Parkway.”
Then I looked back at Junior. “No chance we’ll run into our friend down here tonight?”
Junior looked serious. “Who knows where evil lurks.” He made a spooky sound and flapped his arms like a bat. “But if we see him tonight, we’ll put an end to this stupid shit, that’s for sure.”
“I just want to eat and go to sleep.” Marty said. “You two want to play cowboys and Indians, fine. Just leave me out of it. I’ve seen enough today.” Marty said.
“Hey, you should have been through what we been through.” I said. And maybe it was more forceful than I meant it to be.”
“Never mind all that. Don’t bore her to death.” Junior was giving me the eye.
“What? What have you been through that was worse than that kid jumping off the roof? And don’t forget my brother.” Marty said.
“You don’t want to know.” I said. “Leave it at that.”
“This the place?” Angela asked. “The diner here.” She was pointing.
“Yup, that’s it.” I said. “Home of the Lumberjack Special.”
What’s that?” Angela asked.
“Steak and eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, and home fries, and toast and coffee. Or anything else you want. This place will cure the munchies. They serve breakfast all day.” I said.
“Yeah, the Greeks, they own it. Italians don’t do breakfast. Everything else, lunch, dinner, but breakfast, forget about it. The Greeks, they handle breakfast. You’ll never see an Italian diner, don’t make sense.”
“Thank you, Julia Child.” I said.
“W
hat? I’m just saying. The Greeks own all the diners in the city. What’s the big deal with that?” He asked.
“What? We don’t live here too? You think we haven’t noticed these things? News flash, the Italians own all the pizza places. The Jews run the bagel shops. What else you want to know, huh?’ I lit a cigarette.
Anyway, we parked the car and I sent Junior across the street to get the room. I went into the diner with Marty and Angela and watched as every guy in there checked them both out. We got a booth by the window and a waitress brought us some menus. “Just the three of you kids?” She asked.
“Another one is coming.” I said. “He’ll be here in a minute.” I said.
“No problem, hon, we can feed you all. There’s enough food here tonight.”
When I sat down, the barrel of the gun that was stuffed in my pants was jabbing me in the nuts. I sort of stretched to adjust it. While I did it, I looked around the diner to make sure there wasn’t anyone there that was going to give us a problem.
“Look at this menu.” Angela said. “It’s almost as thick as the bible.”
“Get whatever you want.” I said. “But I’m only vouching for the breakfast stuff.”
Junior came in and like everywhere else he went he saw someone he knew. He stopped at a table where four guys were eating and patted one of them on the back. The guy looked up and at first he wasn’t amused but then he saw Junior and smiled. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about but they were laughing, all the usual shit.
Junior slid into the booth next to Marty. “Some guys I know over there. You order me a Lumberjack, or what?” He said.
“She didn’t take or order yet, so do it yourself. You get the key?” I asked.
He held it up in the air in the way that you hold up a fish you just caught. “What’s this?”
We just ignored him. I crushed the cigarette out in the ashtray and for a second thought about lighting another. I was smoking like my mother. I mean, inside I was really jumpy. Outside, I thought you couldn’t tell but I guess I was wrong. “You all right?” Angela asked me, gripping my hand on the table.
“Yeah, I fine.” I lied. “I should go call my house, tell them I’m staying out.”
So I went over to the pay phone by the bathrooms and dialed home. No one answered and I tried again. This time, someone answered on the first ring. It was Rainie.
“Hey, It’s me.”
“You O.K.?” She asked.
“Yeah, why? Why wouldn’t I be?”
“We just heard on the Eleven o’clock News that three guys were shot and killed outside The Pump.”
“I’m in a diner so I can’t stand here and talk about it, but yeah, I heard. Junior and I are fine. We’re down at Sheepshead Bay getting something to eat with the girls. Listen, tell Ma that I’m probably just going to say out tonight.”
“You should.” She said. “Cops are everywhere around here. I’m looking out the window now and can see the lights and everything.”
“Well, we didn’t do anything. They are not looking for us.” I said, not really sure if that was the case or not.
“Listen, Melo called me, says that he’s willing to let bygones be bygones. He wants to talk to you. He wants you to call him. Maybe sit down and talk”
“Who said I’m willing to do that? Maybe things aren’t settled yet as far as I’m concerned. What, like now he’s in charge, or something?”
“I’m not saying that, you’re not listening to me.” She was yelling at me.
“My ears are fine, thank you. You just told me that he’s willing to let slide whatever, right? All I’m saying is how did that end up being his call to make? He started this shit. And what, what are you seeing him again, or something?”
“Don’t be stupid. That’s over, you know it.”
“All right, then. What’s his number? Maybe I’ll call him, talk to him. But maybe we’ll decide to beat the shit out of him too. You know how Junior is.”
She gave me his number and I memorized it until I could find a pen. Rainie was saying something but I couldn’t hear her. “What?” I said. “Some guy just came by with all these dishes crashing around.”
She repeated herself. “Don’t be stupid on this. You and Junior won’t be able to do nothing in this situation, not with Melo. You do something else and there’s no telling how he’ll react.”
Instead of getting into it with her, I changed the subject. “How’s Ma?” I asked.
“She’s fine. She’s sitting right here watching something. She’s worried about you.” Rainie said.
“Oh yeah, how can you tell?” I lit another cigarette and blew the smoke into the phone.
“Don’t be a wise ass.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry.” I said, feeling a wave of shame sort of creep over me. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Just be careful, all right. People are talking, there is some shit happening with the wise guys, and too many people are around, which means they are up to something and you know what that means. Baba saw a lot of guys standing around outside the Motor Service and then everyone just disappeared. She said everyone seemed jumpy. Plus, this is like four guys getting killed around here, you know what I’m saying.”
“Yeah, I do. Don’t worry, we’ll keep our heads down.” I said. Whatever that meant.
When I went back to the table the waitress was there with our food. I squeezed by her and sat down next to Angela. “Look at this.” I said, pushing my cigarette down in the ashtray. “This is what I’m talking about.”
My plate looked like someone in the kitchen just put one of everything on my plate. Junior was having the same thing, “The Lumberjack” and he was singing the Lumber Jack Song to the girls. “I’m a lumber jack and I don’t care…”
“I work all day…” I started in myself.
O.K. you guys, enough with the singing.” Marty said. “You’re not Frank Sinatra.”
“I’m not?” Junior said. “I thought I was. Are you telling me my mother was lying to me? I’m shocked, my mother never told a lie in her life. Never, not once.”
I looked at the girl’s plates to see what they were having. Both had ordered omelets. “What’s in there?” I asked.
“We both go feta cheese and bacon.” Angela said.
“Greek cheese.” Junior said, holding his nose. “Leave the cheese-making to the Italians, will you.”
“Its really good, you want to try some?” Angela was offering a forkful of omelet to him.
“No way.” Junior said. “If I wanted to eat stinky cheese, I’d leave a plate of ricotta on the windowsill for a week or two.”
Angela held the fork there. “You don’t know what missing.” She said.
Then she looked up. “Hey what are you doing here? Look, it’s my brother, Little Vito.”
Little Vito wasn’t little. I mean, he wasn’t tall, or anything but he was wide. Not fat either. He looked like a tree trunk wearing a leather jacket and his neck was like three necks tied together with gold chains.
“What are you doing here?” She asked him again. “Getting something to eat? Oh, these are my friends.” She started to introduce us.
Brooklyn 1975 Page 19