Little Chicago (6 page)

I don't wanna see any monkeys out there, he warns.

Then he blows the whistle and everyone goes for the five balls in the middle. I never go for them cause you usually get thoroughly pummeled at close range by Steve Degerald or Evan Keefler. Today I make an extra-special effort not to go for the balls cause I don't have any gym shoes and it's difficult to run and stop when you're in your socks.

Normally I would fake it by running a few steps and then I'd back up and cling to the bleacher wall.

Eric Duggan squeezes in next to me and says, I have some interesting information regarding the Abominable Snowman.

Eric Duggan has recently become my good friend. This happened cause I helped him find his glasses after they got knocked off when we were playing flag football.

I picked them up out of the dirt just before they got stomped.

When I handed them to him he said, I owe you one, Blacky. I owe you big.

Since that day he will often pay for my hot lunch and he lets me use his Language Arts textbook cause I left mine in Centralia when we were visiting Ma's dead sister, Aunt Diana.

Through cable television Eric Duggan has gathered quite a lot of interesting knowledge about various subjects that he likes to share.

Like about sharks and their predatory habits.

And the names and colors of poisonous snakes in Australia.

What information? I ask him.

The Sherpas referred to the Abominable Snowman as The Man Who Is Not a Man, Eric Duggan says.

Who are the Sherpas? I ask.

This tribe of people from Nepal. Some British explorers in the nineteenth century saw him in the Himalayas. Their records indicate that he was eight and a half feet tall. Hair all over his body. Wide shoulders. Apelike face. They said he could disappear.

Wow, I say.

Eric Duggan lives on the other side of town where the houses have tree forts and swimming pools.

Once when I was at his house he gave me one of his X-Games Big Air BMX bikes so we could ride through Hamil Woods together. It was black with yellow mags. We were going to set up a ramp and jump the creek but we couldn't find the right size piece of plywood. Instead of jumping the creek he taught me how to do a bronco and a wheelie.

When I went to give it back to him he said, Keep it.

I said, Really?

Yeah, he said. You can have it. I got three other ones.

It was a world-class style bike but my Ma made me give it back cause she has a rule about charity.

But Ma, I pleaded, he's got four of em!

She said, People just expect stuff from you when they start giving you things. We don't accept charity, Blacky, and that's that.

Eric Duggan says, The Sherpas believed the Abominable Snowman was a time traveler. It was on the Discovery Channel last night. They did a segment on Bigfoot, too. Great Beast Myths. You gotta check that program out, Blacky. Fascinating stuff.

We don't get that channel, I explain.

He says, I thought you had cable.

We do, I say, but it's only Basic.

Eric Duggan says, Oh, and pulls his socks up. They have two green stripes each. He has many variations of gym socks and I admire this fact.

So where were you yesterday? he asks, adjusting the band that keeps his glasses on his head.

He's standing next to me and touching the bleacher wall with his heel.

I tell Eric Duggan that I was at the hospital.

I had to go to the hospital, I say.

Are you sick or something? Eric Duggan asks.

I get that ache in my chest again, so I say, I got stabbed.

You did?

Yes.

Cool, he says. Where?

In the hip, I say. I was at the mall and this guy jumped me next to Caramel Corn Forever. It's a very minor stab wound but he got my Nikes.

It hurts me to lie to Eric Duggan. It feels like there's a fist in my stomach.

Who was the guy? he asks.

I don't know, I say. I think he was Native American, though.

Eric Duggan says, Whoa.

In Social Studies we're taught to call Indians Native Americans. Miss Cosgrove is very stern about such matters.

Asian, not Oriental, she says.

African American, not black.

Once Charles Vershaw stood up and screamed Nigger! I guess he couldn't take it anymore.

They put him in the Quiet Room and now he sees Dr. Lockwood on a weekly basis. Dr. Lockwood is the school guidance counselor and when you get called into his office it's usually cause you've had a mental breakdown.

Coach Corcoran blows his whistle and everyone sprints for the five dodgeballs. I run about ten feet and retreat back to the wall of bleachers. I have to slide and this will not be good for my dodging technique.

There is some extreme pummeling at the midcourt line and then both sides prepare for the strategy and team play part.

Bill Mann and Robert Kinsella hurl balls at us. They make hate faces and their eyes go small.

This is what it's like to be hunted by the enemy, I think.

Bill Mann's ball sails over my head and slams into the bleachers. Robert Kinsella's ball hits Eric Duggan in the face and his glasses fly. Eric Duggan sits down like he's tired. His left lens has popped out and that eye looks huge and glued on.

Robert Kinsella makes a power fist like he won the Illinois Lotto.

Eric Duggan stands up but he has to sit down again. And then he farts and makes a face.

They'll no doubt be talking about this in the cafeteria.

When I go to help him Steve Degerald throws a ball and it hits me square in the chest. The sound is like meat falling on the kitchen floor. I slip a little but I keep from falling.

It feels like I've walked into a mailbox.

My breath goes away for a second and I cough.

Sometimes I worry that my lungs are too small.

I sit like Eric Duggan but I don't get back up. Generally I do my best to not be stupid.

I don't want them talking about me in the cafeteria.

Steve Degerald is holding two balls now. He's looking at me and pretending they're breasts. Evan Keefler can't get enough of this and he laughs like a witch.

Someday I will grow large and wield certain weapons. Like nunchucks or those swords from
Blackbelt Theater.

You're out, Brown, Coach Corcoran says. And you too, Duggan.

Eric Duggan finally finds his lens and we move off to the side. Half of his face is pink and he's doing his best not to touch it.

It takes Eric Duggan too long to make his way to the side and Coach Corcoran isn't pleased about this fact.

When you're out you're out! Coach Corcoran yells. If you can't play by the rules then you won't play at all! You two get a shower!

We can't do the Monkey Drill today cause the girls are on the other side of the gym playing badminton.

Coach Corcoran is did and has a face that looks like it is made out of bread and everyone knows he fought in the Vietnam Conflict.

In Social Studies Miss Cosgrove corrected Heidi Winch when she called Vietnam a war.

It was a
conflict,
Heidi, Miss Cosgrove said. This country hasn't fought in a war in a very long time.

Coach Corcoran has tattoos and he tries to hide them by wearing long sleeves but they always creep up his forearms.

One of the tattoos is a woman with large breasts and a snake.

Next week we got the Presidential Physical Fitness Test, Coach Corcoran says. You better find those shoes, Brown, or I'd advise getting a new pair.

At the end of the fifth grade I caught Coach Corcoran picking his nose. He rolled the snots between his fingers and stared at it. He saw me watching him and I'm convinced that this is why he takes a special interest in me.

In the shower Eric Duggan is still trying not to touch his face. His body is thin and blank like mine. His penis looks like a mushroom.

While showering I always worry that I will pop a boner, but the water is cold and this helps matters.

Coach Corcoran has a three-minute rule and even though he's not here to enforce it we play along cause everyone in the sixth grade believes that his experience in the Vietnam Conflict gave him special powers.

So did you see the hail yesterday? Eric Duggan asks, putting his pits under the water.

I saw it, I say.

Pretty weird, huh? Hail in October?

It
is
weird, I say.

Eric Duggan says, Mr. Prisby said it's the first hail he's seen in over ten years.

I have no idea why we're talking about hail. The fact that everyone keeps bringing it up must mean something.

I imagine spaceships coming down and taking people away.

The cuts on my feet still sting. Ma left some Neosporin antibacterial ointment for me on the kitchen table but after I put it on most of it got smeared in my sock.

Eric Duggan touches his face and then his lip starts to quiver. He's been trying to make his lip stop quivering for several minutes now.

His nipples are so small they're like mosquito bites. You practically have to do detective work to find them.

You okay? I ask Eric Duggan.

Don't touch me! he says.

I don't realize I'm touching him till I'm doing it. My hand is on his cheek where the ball hit him. He's looking at me like I'm part werewolf.

I don't like to be touched, he says, and backs away from his water spray. He puts a fist in front of his testicles and looks at me all over.

You didn't get stabbed, he says, pointing at my hip with his free hand.

I know, I say.

You lied to me.

His eyes go small and hard.

That ache in my chest is crawling up my throat. I swallow hard and say, I'm sorry.

But he just keeps standing there so I say it again. I say, I'm sorry, Eric.

And what's wrong with your feet, anyway? he asks.

I say, I lost my Nikes in the woods. They're just irritated.

What were you doing in the woods? he asks.

Just running around, I say.

By yourself?

I was with my sister, I explain. We were looking for leaves to press. I'm sorry I lied, Eric.

I realize that I am piling lies on top of lies. This fact makes my ears feel like they're burning.

When we are dressing Eric asks me if I'm a faggot.

Are you a faggot or something? he asks.

No, I say.

Then stop staring at my dick, he says.

We are quiet while we dress. You can hear dodgeballs slamming into the bleachers.

By the way, Eric Duggan says suddenly, I hope you realize you've been wearing those pants for three days in a row.

All my other ones are dirty, I explain.

If you need extra pants just tell me, he says. I have several spare pairs.

Okay.

You have to minimize your skankiness, he tells me. There's nothing worse than skank.

I think about how on the average I don't consider these things enough. Ma gets busy and forgets to do laundry. We have a washer and dryer in the basement but the washer started doing stuff to our clothes. Once they came out with big white spots all over them. Now Ma does the laundry at this place on Plainfield Road. It's got candy machines and a thing that makes quarters.

Eric Duggan says, Let's go to lunch. They got pizza pockets today.

On our way to the cafeteria Eric Duggan stops in the hall and shows me the new Beck CD. Beck looks bored and invincible. After he puts the jewel box back in his backpack I tell him about what happened with Al Johnson.

I'm not sure why I choose this time to tell him.

I think it's cause of that ache in my throat. I made it go down to my chest but now it's creeping back up.

The incident comes out so fast it makes me feel like everything around us is moving backwards.

When I get to the part about Al Johnson's thumb in my butt it feels like my head might pop off again. There's even a moment when I put my hand on the top of my skull to keep this from happening. I almost start to cry but I flex my arms as hard as I can and this helps.

Jesus, Eric Duggan says. Holy shit, man.

We are standing in front of the boys' bathroom now and it makes me want to urinate.

Eric Duggan won't blink and I think this must be a positive thing. I notice that he's fitted his lens back in his glasses but there is a thumbprint in the middle.

I'm glad I've told Eric Duggan the truth. I am relieved.

Ma always says, No matter how hard it is you gotta tell the truth, Blacky. No matter how hard.

Some kids from Gym are coming down the hall.

It's Robert Kinsella and Bill Mann. Bill Mann's hair is wet and combed to perfection.

Eric Duggan just stands there like he doesn't know what to do.

I say, What?

He opens his mouth like he's going to say something but nothing comes out.

Sorry, I say. Sorry, Eric.

When Robert Kinsella and Bill Mann walk by they are performing a rap song. Robert Kinsella rhymes and flails his arms. Bill Mann beatboxes into his fists. His shirt is so red it looks soaked in blood.

Eric Duggan says, I gotta wash my hands.

Okay, I say.

See you, he says.

I say, See you later.

Then Eric Duggan walks into the boys' bathroom.

I want to follow him but I don't.

I can almost feel that ache in my mouth now.

6

At lunch I walk up to Eric Duggan at our table. He's sitting with Jonas Kelser, this kid who doesn't have a telephone in his house.

I know this fact about Jonas Kelser cause on the first day of school, in Speech, Drama, and Journalism, Miss Williams made everyone stand up and talk for two minutes about a gift they wanted for Christmas and why.

I said I wanted a pit bull for protection.

Roger Rebillard said he wanted a Jet Ski for his daredevil lifestyle.

Jonas Kelser said he wanted a telephone cause all he had was a pay phone on the corner.

Hey, I say to Eric Duggan.

What's up? he says.

Hey, Jonas, I say.