Snaggle

by PD Kiernan

  Suzie shifted her bike into third gear and raced down her block. It was very hot this morning, and the air was heavy and humid. The only relief Suzie felt was cooling herself a little by the breeze rushing past her from the speed of her bike. She zigzagged in and out of garbage cans left empty from the garbage men who came through early in the morning. She made a game of it, a point for a can passed on the left, two points for those on the right. And ten points if she could shoot her bike between two fallen cans while lifting up her feet.

  She turned the corner and could see on Cassidy’s block they were setting up for the big block party. She arrived as they were closing the street. Cassidy’s dad and one of her neighbors were carefully maneuvering their cars back to back to block the entrance to the street, and it was not an easy task. Suzie shot past them up the sidewalk and took a look back to see the street was now blocked on both sides. All of the parked cars were removed and the best part of the block party had begun. 117th street was completely free of cars and all clear.

  She bounded up the corner of a driveway, skidded along the curb, and did a jump onto the street. She rode in wide circling arcs, made huge figure eights, and did a fast paced bounce from one curb across to the other all the way up the middle of the street. It was pure joy.

  It only took a few minutes for the kids who lived there to realize the car traffic was gone. Not only bicycles but scooters, tricycles, skateboards, roller skates and even wagons piled onto the black asphalt. It went from a wide open race course to a congested street of crisscrossing kids. Even with that, everyone remained very cordial to one another, with the younger kids yielding to the older kids. That was the unwritten rule.

  Cassidy was already outside her house when she saw Suzie riding on the street. She hopped on her bike and quickly joined her. “This is awesome, isn’t it?” she yelled as she rode in wide circles around Suzie.

  “Yes! They should do this every day,” said Suzie.

  “It’s gonna be great. They are going to put up a bouncy house at noon. First there are going to be games. There’s going to be a water balloon toss we just have to win! Mrs. Simmons has prizes for everyone,” said Cass. “C’mon, there’s my dad.”

  They rode over to the top of the block where Cassidy’s dad was placing a sign on the side of his car saying, ‘STREET CLOSED’. He was a short man with a very large belly and large hands. He had on a green t-shirt stretched over his large belly with blue jeans that were a little torn over his work boots.

  “Hey sweetheart!” he said to Cass. “Hey-ya Suzie! Thanks for coming. Nice work gettin’ this one’s mug in the paper,” he said as he lifted one of his large hands and squished Cassidy’s helmet down over her face a little. “I’m shocked the camera didn’t break!”

  “Ha ha, very funny- quit it, dad! You’re messing it all up!” Cass said as she backed away, taking the helmet off. “Ya know, I hate when you do that!” Suzie looked on and wished she was so lucky.

  “What, are ya grown up now? Ya need pretty hair all of a sudden?” her dad asked as he tried to muss up her hair but she ducked him easily and jumped off of her bike and ran away, leaving him far behind.

  “Hey girls!” A yell came from behind them. It was Cassidy’s mom. She was tall and thin and had large hair done up in a big swirl that had a few streaks in different shades of brown mixed together. “They’re going to set up the volleyball net right here. Come give us a hand. C’mon Tony, enough with the cars. We need some help over here.”

  Suzie leaned her bike on its kickstand, popped off her helmet and headed over as well. They had a big net from a school gym and it had to be wheeled out and set up. A large beach ball made for an excellent volleyball.

  Before long the tournaments were underway. It was kids versus parents at first, then husbands versus wives, then house versus house. Finally, it turned into complete chaos with crowds of people on both sides. That’s when they knew it was time for the next event, the water balloon toss.

  Two lines of participants stretched out in front of a few houses and met in the middle of the street. Each was given a water balloon and all you had to do was toss it to your partner across from you and don’t break it. It was simple enough, until every successful toss resulted in a step back. It wasn’t too long until balloons were shattering and team members were soaked.

  It came down to three teams on the last throw. Cassidy and Suzie were up against Mrs. Simmons and her sister, Judith, and a father and son team from the other end of the block. They were all the way backed up near the curb on either side of the street. The contest had never gone this far before. The son, probably close to eighteen years old, gave his balloon a good heave, but threw it way too fast for his dad to catch. It went right through his hands and splattered on his head and covered him. The gathered crowd laughed and loved it.

  “It feels great!” he said, laughing himself. It was one way to beat the summer heat.

  Then it was Mrs. Simmons’ turn. Her pink balloon went up, went sideways, twirled around and somehow made it over to her sister. The throw was a bit short but she reached out and somehow grabbed the balloon as it was about to hit the ground. They made it. The crowd cheered, led by Sarah, who was jumping up and down next to her mom.

  It was Suzie’s turn to throw. She got ready, took a deep breath, and let it go. The red balloon spun lazily as it went high into the air. The water inside forced it to twist and contort into different shapes, and then it started coming down fast. Cassidy readied herself. She grabbed the balloon while spinning, twirled around, received the balloon in her hands without it breaking, and let it slip right out again before she stopped spinning.

  Out the balloon leapt from her arms. Up it went into the nearby crowd. Her dad was unsuspectingly talking with his brother-in-law when the balloon crashed onto his shoulder. Instantly it splattered all over. It soaked his head and shirt, then doused the two people standing near him, one of whom was Cassidy’s mom. She was laughing at first when she saw it was going to hit him, but that turned to stunned shock when she got soaked as well. Mr. Dibella turned and laughed when he saw his wife soaking wet.

  “Hey- it does feel good!” she said and turned to Cassidy. Cass had fallen to her knees from laughing so hard. She was pointing and laughing some more at the sight of her parents being drenched.

  “Oaah!” yelled her dad to Cassidy. “How did you manage not get any on ya?”

  There were two large bins nearby full of water balloons made for more rounds of the toss. Her dad reached into one of the bins and grabbed the largest balloon he could find and heaved it towards Cass.

  She was still on the ground looking down and laughing when the balloon erupted on top of her head. She shrieked and held out her arms to drain them of water, then tried to wipe the water from her eyes.

  Suzie was standing close to Cassidy but was able to duck out of the way when she saw the balloon in the air. Now she was laughing and dropping to the floor next to Cass. Cass shot her a look as she tried to blow off the dripping water from the side of her face and then she smiled and chuckled. That made Suzie laugh so much she doubled over, trying to catch her breath.

  “Hey Suzie, what are you laughing at?” Cassidy’s dad said as he grabbed another balloon and let it fly towards her.

  She ducked down and it splashed through a half dozen people’s legs who were standing behind Suzie at this point. One of them was Cassidy’s uncle who quickly grabbed an entire bin of balloons and dragged it over to their side. Everyone reached in and the Great Water Balloon Battle of 117th Street was on.

  It probably only lasted a few minutes, but no one was spared. Balloons were flying in every direction amongst cheers and laughter. The only ones who escaped somewhat dry were the little kids running around, but a few got soaked being near the ruckus. It was only after the balloons ran out and the laughter quieted down did everyone wander off.

  They sloshed in their wet flip flops and sandals back to their chairs, tables and grills that had been dragged out onto their f
ront lawns. The main event of the block party was a huge success, but everyone needed to catch their breath and dry off.

  “That was insane!” Cass yelled out as she met up with Suzie and they both walked slowly back towards the volleyball net.

  “I know!” said Suzie.

  “You didn’t even get that wet,” Cass said as she stopped and looked at Suzie.

  “Yeah, it’s all on my back.”

  “Wow, what happened to you?”

  They both looked up to see Roberto walking towards them. Dwayne was behind him, walking next to Peter who was on his bike. Suzie and Cassidy stopped.

  “Nothin’,” Cass said with a smirk as she stood there with her hair still dripping. “Why do you ask?” she asked as she flipped her hair around, causing some water to land on Roberto.

  “Oh, no reason,” Roberto answered with his own smirk as he wiped some drops off of his face.

  “Forget all that! Suzie, we need your help,” Dwayne said as he and Peter caught up to Roberto. “And it’s no lost dog. It’s a lost bike. My bike!”

  “They stole your bike?” asked Suzie.

  “Yes, they stole his, but first they stole mine,” said Roberto.

  “What!” said Cassidy.

  “Yes, my garage was broken into the night before last, and his was broken into last night,” said Roberto.

  “That’s awful!” said Cass.

  “Did they break the glass? Pop the locks?” Suzie asked.

  “Pop the locks? No, um, it was a little less exciting,” Roberto said.

  “What does that mean?” asked Suzie.

  “It means we left the doors unlocked,” said Dwayne with a grimace.

  “Yeah. Actually, my dad was pretty mad at me. Like it was my fault someone stole my bike!” said Roberto shaking his head.

  “Well, we never have our garage locked,” Dwayne said. “I think it’s broken.”

  “We have to go to the police right away,” Suzie suggested.

  “We reported mine yesterday,” Roberto said.

  “My dad was on his way over there this morning to report mine,” Dwayne said. “Man, I loved that bike!”

  Roberto said, “The word is out you are doing some detective work, for kids, and you are on the case already. Did you get anywhere?”

  “A little. Actually, I was thinking of getting off the case. At least that’s what the police told me to do,” Suzie answered and kicked a small pebble across the pavement.

  “Not the whole police!” Cass interjected. “Just a detective who is one rude dude!”

  “So you got something? You must have something, right?” Dwayne asked.

  “Well, I may have. Look, I want to help, and the detective was rude, but he was right. What can I do, they’re the professionals,” Suzie said, leaving them all with stunned looks.

  “Well,” Cass said after there was a long awkward pause, “we can at least have some fun here. They have the bouncy house coming. Even big kids can go in. My dad said so. And there’s fireworks later. C’mon over to my house. My uncle brought his snow cone machine.”

  “Snow cones! Sweeeeet!” Peter said as he raced with his bike over towards her house.

  “Hey! Wait for us!” Cassidy yelled.

  “Wait up, Cass. Let me grab my-” Suzie had turned around, but couldn’t finish her sentence.

  She stopped cold. Her heart had rushed into her throat. Where she left her bike next to the cars closing the block was now an empty street. Underneath Cassidy’s father’s car she could see a small butterfly reflecting back at her from the sides of her helmet that had been dropped there.

  “It’s, it’s-” Suzie stammered.

  “What?” Cass asked as she turned around.

  “It’s gone!” Suzie said slowly.

  Cassidy walked next to her and looked back at what she was staring at.

  “Your- YOUR bike! Wait a minute. Wait, someone must have moved it.”

  Cass ran over to the spot with Suzie walking slowly behind her.

  “Wait a minute!” Cass repeated. “Who moved Suzie’s bike?”

  A couple of younger kids were playing nearby but looked confused. They said they didn’t see anything.

  “No way, there’s NO way!” Cass yelled.

  “He took it,” Suzie said as she reached down and pulled out her helmet from under the car. “He stole my bike.”

  “Right here, on this block. On my block! There’s no way!” Cass said and started to look around frantically, asking anyone if they saw anything. The bike was nowhere.

  Peter rode over when he heard the commotion followed by Dwayne and Roberto.

  “What’s going on?” Peter asked.

  “My bike was stolen,” Suzie said sadly.

  “Whoa,” Dwayne said.

  “Wait, it was right there,” said Roberto, pointing towards the car. “Wow, that was, like, five minutes ago.”

  “What!” Cass yelled.

  All four immediately ran out and passed the two cars blocking the road and looked up and down the cross street. They saw nothing except a few people walking and the traffic up on Lefferts Boulevard, the main road that was two blocks away. Then Cass thought she saw something turn onto Lefferts. It was a short man in a blue hooded sweatshirt riding a bike. The bike was gold, with the distinctive streamers and side mirrors so beloved by Suzie. It was her bike!

  “Arrrghhh! There it is!” Cass yelled pointing to the hooded sweatshirt two blocks away. “Pete, give me your bike.”

  “Wait, my bike?”

  “Yeah, mine is at my house. C’mon!” Cass insisted.

  Peter looked down at his bike’s beautiful green paint as it sparkled in the sunlight. “Fine, I’ll go follow the guy.”

  “Follow the guy! Are you kiddin’ me? I’m gonna go get Suzie’s bike back! Get off the bike, Pete!” Cass said as she stepped towards him. He instantly rose up and backed away in one motion and she hopped on. “Now go to my house and tell my dad to call the cops! And move, now Pete!” She stepped up on the top pedal and took off.

  “He went in that direction,” she added, pointing to her left as she started to zoom away.

  “Right, we’ll cut him off!” Roberto yelled as Cass was already a half block away from them.

  “Be careful!” yelled Suzie to Cass, but she didn’t think she heard her.

  “Cut him off? Whadya mean? On foot?” said Dwayne as they all started to run.

  “Yeah, you look like you could use the workout!” Roberto said as they quickly crossed the street.

  “Oh yeah!” Dwayne replied and picked up a burst of speed and shot passed Roberto up the next block.

  They were all running as fast as they could. Suzie couldn’t help but think of Cassidy and how crazy it was that she took off after the thief. They all ran across the next street and cut over a block closer to Lefferts. Roberto was now in the lead. They were getting near the place on the block that was behind his house when he turned and yelled back at them.

  “Follow me, I know a shortcut!”

  He ran into the side yard of a large house. It didn’t look like anyone was home, but they didn’t look too closely as they ran past the house, jumped over some bushes and right into the backyard. It was a lovely large yard with patio furniture strewn about and a small above ground pool off to one side.

  “Wow, they have a nice pool!” Dwayne said, partly gasping for air.

  “We should jump in on the way back,” Suzie said as she ran by.

  Roberto disappeared into a long line of very tall bushes that made a wall across the rear of the back yard. Dwayne was right behind him and looked back at Suzie with a slightly frightened look as he also vanished inside. Suzie followed in right behind him.

  It was dark and cooler in there, and all Suzie saw was the dirt at her feet mixed with ivy. The ivy grew very thick and continued along the tall bushes well over their heads, enclosing them in darkness. She could see Dwayne was actually struggling to get through it ahead of her. Roberto was in front of
him, grabbing apart the ivy branches that grew along the backs of some more tall bushes in front of him.

  “Man, this stuff wasn’t here last time I went this way,” Roberto said.

  “We’re gonna lose them!” Suzie yelled.

  “I know, I know,” he said as he ripped a few more out of the way and climb through the bushes beyond and back into daylight. They all followed him.

  They found themselves in another beautifully manicured garden, but this time it was occupied. There was an elderly couple sitting at a table under a large umbrella near some open glass doors that led to a screened-in porch.

  “Hello Mrs. Dunbar, Mr. Dunbar,” Roberto said as he raced past them and they sat there with their mouths dropped slightly open.

  “Hello,” said Dwayne as he followed.

  “Hiya,” Suzie said as she did a little wave and ran on.

  “Roberto? Is that you?” the woman asked as she put down her iced tea.

  “Yes, Mrs. Dunbar. Just taking a shortcut. Don’t mind us!” he said as he raced down and out of their driveway.

  “Well, really!” the woman said, looking at her husband, who picked up a newspaper and started to read.

  They all ran into the front yard and out onto the wide sidewalks of the very busy Lefferts Boulevard. Traffic was streaming by and they were frantically looking side to side while trying to catch their breath. They did not see Cass on Pete’s bike, or Suzie’s bike either. Then a half block to their left they could see Cassidy. She was on the sidewalk, walking Pete’s bike and looking down. They quickly ran over to meet up.

  “What happened?” Roberto asked as he was the first to reach her.

  “I was catching up to him, and I didn’t make a sound. But somehow he saw me coming.” Cassidy stopped, turned and pointed back behind her and across the street. “He turned down an alley between those two buildings over there. I followed him, but as soon as I turned in, he was gone. Just gone. Like he disappeared. There was no way he doubled back. No way he went past those buildings. It ends up in the train yards, and I would’ve seen him. I went into the yards for a little, but there was no sign of him. I rode back and forth in the alley a few times. That’s when I rode over a nail. Poof- flat tire. I could hear the hissing sound right under me.”

  The others caught up and they all were still gasping a little for air. Suzie came up and put her hand on Cassidy’s shoulder.

  “Thanks,” she said, “but don’t you go off like that without anyone. You’re not a superhero, you know!”

  “Well, maybe I should be,” Cass said.

  “Did you check out the buildings?” Roberto asked.

  “Of course,” she continued. “They are all locked up. I tried to look inside but there aren’t any lights, or noise, or anything coming out of them. He’s not in there.”

  There was a honk of a car passing on the other side of the street. It was Cassidy’s father with Peter sitting next to him. The large car made a quick u-turn and pulled up near them.

  “Aww, man! Is that a flat?” Peter asked.

  “I’m okay, but thanks for asking, Pete,” said Cassidy.

  Mr. Dibella came running out of the driver’s side and onto the sidewalk. “Cass, zeesh! We were worried sick! What, did you think you could just run after a bike thief like that? What are you crazy? He could have been dangerous!” he said with reserved anger, kneeling down next to Cassidy.

  “I know, I know. I wanted to help get Suzie’s bike back. I saw the guy, dad. I saw him!” Cass said, looking down. “From the back, maybe, but I still saw the guy.”

  “Alright,” Mr. Dibella came over next Suzie. “Suzie, I’m sorry about your bike. It’s horrible. I called the cops already and, well, they weren’t too motivated to run out here. I guess they have other things to do, or whatever. The detective looking into this is off for the weekend. So, me, you, and police woman here, will go down to the precinct together and straighten this out on Monday, okay?”

  “Okay,” Suzie answered solemnly.

  Mr. Dibella knelt down next to Suzie. “Look, Suzie,” he continued in a hushed tone, “I know your mom works a lot, and I want you to know I don’t mind going in with you. I want to help whenever I can. Me and the misses, well, we think you’re like family to us. Okay?” He nodded a little to Suzie and she nodded back to him. “So,” he said standing up and turning to the group, “everybody in the car. We’re going back to the block party.”

  “Okay,” Suzie said and sighed. She took another look around to try to see her bike, but gave up and resigned to the back seat of the large car.

  “Hey Pete, I can’t fit the bike anywhere. You don’t mind if you ride it back, right?” Mr. Dibella asked as he went around and sat in the driver’s seat.

  “Uh, okay. That’s fine-” Peter was cut off by the slams of the doors, “but I have a flat tire,” he finished the sentence as the car pulled away. “Okay, right. I’ll go ahead and push it there.”

  They arrived back at the block party in time for the bouncy house. Suzie didn’t feel like going in, but after everyone else did, she joined them, but only for a couple of minutes. It wasn’t until one of Cassidy’s neighbors set up his deejay equipment that she started to have some fun. She danced a little and played some games, and had some very sweet cotton candy.

  When the Mister Softee truck showed up she had nearly forgotten about everything else going on. She enjoyed her double chocolate ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles. She picked a good spot on Cassidy’s lawn to watch the fireworks.

  They started well before dusk, with Cassidy’s uncle trying to creatively explode everything from soda cans to watermelons. This was much to the distress of his wife, who brought over the watermelons to eat and not splatter across the middle of the street.

  In the end, Suzie had a good time, and was glad she came. She wished she had parked her bike closer to Cassidy’s house. Now she had to go home and tell her mom.

  Chapter 12