Burning Second Street Park

A Novel

by Tom Bessette

Copyright 2009 BessetteBooks

Chapter 4
Nicky Molinari

I sure do like fires, and there was the fire engines drivin’ up to the Boulerice’s house like there was no tomorra. Neat-O!

Gilly was yellin’ “Maybe the Boulerice’s house was burnin’ down or somethin’, and wow, wouldn’t that be cool?” He always liked it when dangerous stuff happened, an’ didn’t care who it happened to, even himself.

Yoder was the fastest of us, an’ was leadin’ the way up the street, whoopin’ an’ hollerin’ to beat the band, Joey an’ Gilly an’ Pauly right behin’, an’ the rest of us puffin’ to keep up, especially Dicky, who couldn’t never run so fast as we could. I thought I might haveta puke up them hot dogs I ate from the factory but I just burped out some smells an’ kept right on runnin’. The green spotted ones always make me burp all smelly, like, I don’t know why.

We had been plannin’ a good baseball game at the cemetery field, although I always figgered it was kind a creepy, runnin’ around on top a all them there dead people; maybe they didn’t like it.  But Pauly an’ Yoder wanted ta play there an’ when they said what they wanted, we had all better do it, ‘cause they was all tough guys an’ didn’t wanna listen to no small fry’s like we was.  Maybe when my little brothers an’ sisters all growed up, we could gang up on ‘em an’ show ‘em what for, but now they was no way.

Yoder especial, creeped me out.  I jus’ didn’t wanna be aroun’ him.  He was alla time sayin’ stuff ta me when they wasn’t nobody lookin’. Stuff like, “we’ll do some business, soon, you an’ me,” an’ stuff like that.  He’d look kinda crazy an’ he jus’ gimme the willies.

We was most of us carryin’ our bats and gloves and stuff, an’ my bat kept crackin’ at my leg while I runned.  Also, too, I dropped the baseballs what I was carryin’ a coupla times, an’ kep’ on havin’ ta stop an’ pick ‘em up, which was hard ‘cause I hadda drop the bat to pick up the balls and then it was jus’ about impossible to re-pick up the bat without droppin’ the stupid balls again. Geezum, I was alla time getting’ farther an’ farther back from the res’ of the guys an’ they’d tease me like crazy if I didn’t speed up pretty soon.

So, anyways, pretty soon we all of us huffed up to Boulerice’s house an’ the fire engines was all parked all which every way, with hoses laid out all over the road an’ firemen runnin’ around like chickens with their heads cut off, all squawkin’ about where was the fire an’ Geezum, why did it have to be up in the fields instead of right at the house where they could get at it easy, and stuff.

Cops was there too, an’ as soon as one a them saw Gilly an’ Bobby, they walked right over an’ started askin’ then what they knew about it, an’ all, I dunno why. Bobby  started getting’ this really weird look on his face, like he was gonna cry or som’thin’, but that was usual with him, he was pretty worried alla time about gettin’ in trouble.  After all, we all sure knew that the stupid cops was always tryin’ to find ways to bust us kids alla time.

Gilly right off started talkin’ at the cops about how they had been way down to the end of the city chasin’ niggers and stuff, an’ wasn’t even anywheres near the fields, an’ so couldna started no stupid fire, ya stupid cops.  Boy, he wasn’t scared a nothin’, talking to the cops like that.  The cop was lookin’ at him like he thought Gilly could a done it, but he couldn’t a, he was with us.

Boy, that fire was neat-o big, with smoke cloudin’ all up over the hills an’ all, an’ fire guys hikin’ up there with backpacks a water an’ stuff, all tryin-a put it out.  We all talked around ourselves about how it started.  Gilly said maybe lightnin’, but Pauly said that they weren’t no storms today an’ so that couldn’t be it. Yoder said maybe niggers or some big kids started it an’ we all agreed that that was prolly it, ‘cause after all they had already started one out back a the church this mornin’, an’ so maybe they was goin’ around startin’ fires all over the place, maybe, like it was a eperdemic.

The cops was listenin to us talk about it an’ one a them nodded his head like that was prolly it. It just seemed like that was what was happenin’, ‘cause we all knew, an’ the cops too, that there was a lotta big tough kids that did all kindsa bad stuff alla time.

Gilly an’ Yoder said we should go up in the fields to see the fire up close, an’ we all started goin’ up the path behind Boulerice’s, but the firemen stopped us an’ said it was way too dangerous for spec taters to get close ta fires, so we didn’t go.  That was always the way, Gilly said, that growed ups never wanted ta let us go do nothin’, an’ he was right.

We stood and watched for over a half an hour until the fire had pretty much run outa dry grass ta burn. It was way cool, the whole valley behind Boulerice’s house was all black and soft lookin’, an’ smelled like burnt grass, which it was.  Pretty soon, we all got bored a standin’ there watchin’ and Pauly said lets go play some baseball at the park. Gilly an’ Yoder yelled “Yeah,” an’ Bobby went with ‘em, and so did Dicky, an’ they all runned off down Whitney’s Hill to the tow path that led to the park.  I had said I didn’t wanna go an’ Joey grabbed my bat and glove an’ the two balls that I had kep’ dropping alla time an’ tore off after them, yellin’ “Wait Up!”

I walked back down Main Street to First, an’ then went left on Congress and on down to Galarneau’s Store at the corner.  I didn’t have no money an’ so just sat out front on the stoop, wonderin’ what ta do.  I sat with my elbows on my knees an’ my face in my hands an’ looked as sad as I could, ‘cause, sometimes Mrs. Galarneau would come out an’ give me some penny candy an’ even a soda maybe, if I looked sad enough.  She was alla time asking me an’ Joey about our family an’ how all the kids was doin’ an’ all, like she was alla time worried about us.  I know she sometimes gived my mom some food if we was havin a real bad week.

I alla time thought about my family a lot.

My mom an’ dad was good.  I didn’t always understand all what was goin’ on, but I really thought they always did what they could.  Sometimes we didn’t got no food, an’ our clothes wasn’t alla time all cleaned up an’ new and stuff, but that wasn’t nobody’s fault.

We wasn’t like Gilly’s family, or nuthin’, with his mean ol’ man who was a drunk and knocked them all around alla time, like everybody knew he did. My dad had jobs like Gilly’s dad didn’t, an’ we owned a house all to ourselves. It was just real small, but it was still ours.  My dad didn’t drink his money in the bars like what Gilly’s dad did, an’ even Bobby’s dad did sometimes.  He brung his whole paycheck home every Friday, an’ he and my mom would figger out what they could buy that week for food an’ maybe even clothes and stuff.  The little kids what wasn’t in school didn’t need much clothes anyways.

My mom was real good at makin’ hash dishes from corn an’ taters an’ hamburg; put some ketchup on it an’ it was as good as goin’ to Hot Dog Charlie’s, which we went to once in a while when there was extra money, my dad said.  She made good cocoa usin’ water instead a milk; ya hadda real know your stuff to be able a do that! 

An’ we most always had som’thin’ for Christmas, even if it was som’thin’ used from the Salvation Army Bin, still they never forgot us.  We all knew they wasn’t no Santa Claus ‘cause when he never comed to our house for a few years, mom an’ dad tole us the truth. It was kinda funny, ‘cause lotsa our friends still thought they was a Santa, an’ we knew better.  We knew that it was their parents what got ‘em all the stuff they got, not no Santa Claus, an’ we kinda felt pretty growed up about it. Like Santa could bring toys to all the rich kids in one night, anyways!  Yeah, right!

We hardly never got to see my dad, ‘cause he worked three jobs.  He collected garbage for the city way early in the morning before any of us ever got up, then he worked at Lindsay’s gas station all day, changin’ oil an’ stuff, an’ then on Sundays he shoveled driveways in winter and mowed lawns in summer.  These was all important jobs what hadda be done, an’ I could never understand how he did all those important jobs, when we was alla time scroungin’ for food. But he always come home sometime before bedtime to see us kids and help get us to bed an’ all, an’ was a real good dad to us, I think.  Maybe we didn’t got a whole lotta stuff, but we had parents what cared about us, which was more’n some a my friends had.

Pretty soon, while I was thinkin’ alla this stuff, Mrs. Galarneau came out and plopped down next a me on the stoop, an’ put her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands jus’ like what I was. She done that a lot.  She said, “What’s up, Little Nicky-poo?” like she always called me. It was her private name for me.  She wanted a know what all the smoke an’ sirens was up there on Main Street, an’ I tole her all about the big fire what the big kids had set off, prolly from cigarettes like the one this mornin’ behind Gilly’s house.

“I dunno, Nicky-poo, seems like the whole city’s burnin’ up lately, like the good lord is rainin’ his wrath down on us.”

I didn’t know what rath was, but didn’t say nothin’. Mrs. Galarneau was always talkin’ like that an’ half the time nobody understood her, anyways.

She kep’ on talkin’, like, “I worry alla time about them godless teenagers roamin’ in packs and settin’ fires, and insultin’ the good lord right to his face with all their language and ugly music.”

Mrs. Galarneau didn’t go to the Catholic Church like we did.  Instead she went to the little Holy Roller church at the bottom of Third Street.  Everybody talked about the weird things people did in that church, but I still liked Mrs. Galarneau, an’ so did my mom. A buncha times me an Joey crep’ up ta the Holy Roller window and looked inside.  They rolled in there alright but they didn’t never use no roller skates, if ya know what I mean.  The preacher (they didn’t have no priests, like what we did), yelled his lungs out at them, callin’ them all sinners an’ fornicators an’ other stuff what we didn’t know what it meant. It was tons a fun ta watch! When I tole my parents about it, my dad jus’ shook his head an’ said “Ta each his own.”

Mrs. Galarneau tole me my mom was worried about me hangin’ aroun’ where there was sirens an’ smoke and stuff, an’ maybe I should go check in ta tell her I was still alive, and stuff.  She gived me a loaf a bread an’ some sliced up ham an’ some apples to bring home that she had extra an’ didn’t need, she said, an’ I said thanks a lot an’ walked down the side street to my house right next ta the tracks.

Our house was built right up next to the sidewalk in front an’ right next to the train tracks on the side.  The trains went by so fast an’ so close that the house shook alla time like them earthquakes they got in San Frisco an’ places. Our house was way smaller than most a the other houses around. It had two storeys but only had two bedrooms, both a them upstairs.  My mom an’ dad slep’ in one a them with the three littlest kids, an’ me an’ my brothers Sal an’ Pete an’ Mickey an’ Amil slep’ in the other one, two of us to a bed.  Joey slep’ on the couch downstairs, cause he said he liked it better.

We bought the house about three years ago and I remember back before when we lived in a apartment in Watervliet and hadda share a bathroom with the two other apartments on the second floor of the house we lived.  Now we had our own bathroom just for our family, with a tub an’ everythin’, an’ the stove in the kitchen worked an’ we even had a electric refrigerator that could keep food cold, an’ stuff. It felt like we was rich!

I went in the house an’ my mom had the radio on to a soap operator an’ the people on the radio was cryin’ an’ tellin’ each other how could they do such a thing an’ why was life so hard, an’ all, an my mom was all teary eyed listenin’ to all their troubles an’ stuff. 

My three little sisters was all runnin’ aroun’ the house playin’ tag with only underwear or diapers on, ‘cause it was pretty warm an’ why get their clothes all dirtied up if ya didn’t have ta.  Our downstairs only has the parlor, the kitchen that had a eatin’ table in it and our bathroom, an’ the steps up to the bedrooms.  There was a cellar too, but we never went down there ‘cause it was all wet an’ musty an’ spooky an’ spider-webby.

I saw that my younger brothers was all out in the back yard diggin’ in the mud like they always liked ta do.  My mom was always yellin’ at them ta stay away from the tracks ‘cause the trains came so fast and they might get squashed, but they every time they could, snuck on ta the tracks ta balance on the rails or lay a penny to get flattened when a train whizzed by, if they even ever had a penny, which was about never.

My sisters all ran crazy out the back door in ta the yard and started squealin’ all around out there like they always done an’ lef’ me an’ mom alone.

it wasn’t too usual for my mom an’ me ta be alone together.  I liked it when we was, an’ in fact had kinda come home thinkin’ that maybe everybody would be gone an’ we could jus’ sit an’ be.

I think my mom is real pretty.  She’s pretty old, maybe almost thirty, an’ she looks pretty tired alla time, kinda like Gilly’s mom, but not as dirty lookin’. But, she has this nice dark hair that she keeps pinned up in back a her head, an’ always has on a clean dress an’ high heel shoes, even when she’s jus’ sittin’ home listenin’ to her operators on the radio. Our house is pretty picked up, even though the little kids leave everythin’ all over the place alla time. 

My mom somehow makes alla us kids feel good, like she really cares about us as bes’ she can.  She hugs us a lot, though I sure don’t like it when she hugs me in fron’ a the guys an’ stuff. Mom’s can be so gooey like that, but when nobody’s lookin’ it sure can feel pretty good. Also, too, she’s not mean like a lotta the other moms. She hardly yells at us at all, an’ we don’t go too many rules ta try ta remember or nuthin’.

I think we got a good place to live an’ we have a good family. Specially on Sunday nights when my dad is home and we all a us cram in ta the parlor an’ drink mom’s cocoa and sing songs an’ stuff, ever’ body sittin’ on each other’s laps an’ stuff, it’s the best time inna world.

The only thing I hate about Sundays is goin’ ta church for mass. When father DuFresne says mass, its OK, but on the days when ol’ Father Archambeault says it, it goes on forever an’ ever an’ its real hard to stay still for so long.  Ya havta do som’thin’ to stay awake, like talk ta yer brother, or flick rubber bands at people or get yer little sister to laugh or som’thin’.  Anythin’!  But then the people sittin’ in the pews next ta us start lookin’ mean at us an’ at my parents an’ start grumblin’ about misbehavin’ kids an’ bad parents an’ stuff, like they would even know!  My parents ain’t bad parents, no matter what nobody says.  Plus, when they pass the basket around where yer supposed to put in money, we don’t always got any, an’ when we do, I always think we should maybe buy some food or toys with it instead a give it to the priests who already have everythin’ they need alla time. I hate church.

So, anyways, me an’ my mom sat in the parlor and jus’ was together.  I asked her if she needed any help with cleanin’ or anythin’ an’ she said, no honey she was all caught up and thanks for askin’.  So I sat next ta her on the couch, listenin’ ta the soap radio an’ hearin’ my crazy little sisters and brothers yellin’ all outside.  I leaned close an’ smelled her soap smell and it smelled real good, an’ I was glad I come home.

I remembered an’ gave my mom the food what Mrs. Galarneau had gived me and she smiled right up an’ said we could have san’wiches an’ apples for supper, an’ wouldn’t daddy be pleased.

She said, “Dominick, it’s because you’re such good friends with Mrs. Galarneau that she takes such good care of us, sweetie.”

I tole her that I thought Mrs. Galarneau was just nice to everybody alla time, but mom said she really thought she liked me best, which made me feel good.

“I was worried about you and Joey, dear.  I saw the smoke and heard the sirens and thought the city was burning down, and my poor boys with it.”

I said, “it was just weed fires, mom, what big kids is setting all over the place. No buildin’s.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re safe, that’s all I can say.  What are you doing home, dear? Where’s your big brother?”

“Joey and the guys is playin’ baseball up at the park an’ I just didn’t feel like it, I guess.”

“But, you always like paying baseball with your friends; in fact that’s what I thought you were doing?”

“Yeah we was, but Dicky an’ Gilley an’ Bobby got attacked by some niggers what stole Dickey’s jacket an’ we went chasin’ after them.  Then we got some hot dogs at the hot dog factory that they give us, with buns an’ mustard an’ milk an’ everythin’.”

Mom was alla time worried about us getting’ in ta fights an’ stuff.

“Dominick, I have told you time after time to stay away from rough kids, especially negroes.  You don’t know where they’ve been or what diseases they might have or anything.  What if one bit you, what then?”

I said, “Geezum, mom, they ain’t dogs er nothin’, they ain’t gonna bite.  Anyways, they runs so fast that we can’t never catch ‘em anyways!”

I was sayin’ this, alla time total knowin’ that I had no idea what a nigger was or looked like or anythin’.  Maybe they would bite, we didn’t know.  I didn’t even know if they was humans!

“Well, I will certainly talk to your big brother about protecting you better, that I will.  So, those nice people at the hot dog factory gave you lunch again, did they?”

I didn’t never wanna tell my mom that we got our hot dogs from the garbage er nothin’, she would a been mortilized.  So, I tole her, yep, they was always nice an’ came outside an’ offered us whatever we could eat.  She was always alla time glad to hear that an’ was always tellin’ us about trustin’ in provenances an’ stuff.  I think when people trusts in provenances, it keeps ‘em from havin’ ta worry about stuff theyselves.  Comes in handy, I think.

Pretty soon I got tired a sittin’ in the parlor with my mom.  She was nice an’ I liked sittin’ with her, but it was nice out an’ I wanted ta get back up to the park ta see what was up, ya know?

“Mom, I’m gonna head up ta the park ta see if there’s a game on er somethin’.”

She said, “OK, sweetie, and you tell Joseph to keep you away from negroes and other bad influences.”

That was my mom, alla time thinkin’ that everybody that wasn’t us was bad influences.

I waved into Mrs. Galarneau as I walked by the store.  Her weird kid, Emile, was hunched in the corner mouthin’ a soda bottle that wasn’t even opened, like usual.  He had eyebrows that met in the middle an’ he alla time watched you with his head lowered, kinda lookin’ up at ya from under his forehead, kinda.  He never talked actual words like us but made weird sounds with his mouth that was supposed ta be his words, I guess.  Like “woumn,” an’ “nuMimn,” an’ “gloummenn,” stuff like that.  Everybody kinda ignored him ‘cause it was jus’ too weird ta try ta talk ta him. It was kinda gross thinkin’ sometimes, to get a soda there, thinkin’ maybe it was one a the ones what Emile mouthed on and lef’ his cooties on.  But Mrs. Robinson was so nice alla time that we kinds bucked it up and got our stuff there.

Across the street from Galarneau’s was Rene’s Grocery. It was way smaller than Galarneau’s and hardly had anythin’ in it ta buy at all.  The people what runned it was real mean lookin’ and everybody knowed they was cheapskates an’ counted every penny.  Ya couldn’t never get no deals there and they fer sure never gived nothin’ away fer free, like what Mrs. Galarneau did, or even Mr. Robinson. Whenever you went in there, they stared at ya alla time like they jus’ knew you was gonna filch somethin’.  Inside a the store was alla time dark an’ weird smellin’, like wet stuff was stuffed in corners, or somethin’. They carried only all the cheapest sodas and the lousiest candies and brands a chips that nobody never heard a, an’ yet their prices was higher than anybody’s.  My dad said he didn’t have no idea how they stood in business, ‘cause nobody never went in there.  But they did, so they must a sold somethin’.  I think people went there on Sundays, ‘cause Mrs. Galarneau was closed on Sundays, ‘cause a church an’ all, so people went ta Rene’s when they was skippin’ church an’ all and so they sold stuff that way.

it was a Saturday, so I didn’t have ta go in there, an’ didn’t have no money anyways, so I walked right past on up ta the ole canal.  This is where there used ta was the Erie Canal, before there was trucks ta bring stuff ta stores, an’ all. It was all a long time ago an’ there was jus’ pieces a the canal lef’, like big block walls an’ the ditch where the water was an’ stuff.  I followed the path up through the ditch an’ on ta the tow path which led me straight ta Second Street Park, where there was the playground with the horsie swings and the ball field an’ all, where we all hung out when we was bein’ good an’ not chasin’ no niggers.

The park was on new ground right on top a where the canal used to was, an’ there was a whole bunch a big ole blocks what used ta was part a the walls lef’ around.  The park started right at the end a the tow path and there was bigger kids there playin’ poker, usin one a the big blocks as a poker table.  Bobby’s brother Billy was there with Harvey and Nosal an’ Clark an’ Mim an’ all those older teenager guys.  They was smokin’ their lungs out and sayin’ bad swear words an’ drinkin’ Royal Crown and had bags of Super Crisp Potato Chips what were made in a factory right over on Fourth Street.  They was gamblin’ money, even, an’ they was nickels an’ dimes an’ quarters layin’ all aroun’ the block table.

These guys was usual mean ta us, although Billy Nolette pretty much tole them ta lay off a us, most a the time.  Today, my crowd was all peekin’ at the game an’ I think us watchin’ the game made the big guys feel even bigger, somehow.  So, as long as we didn’t get too close, or actual say anythin’, they let us watch.

So, I watched too.  There was my brother Joey, Pauly an’ Dicky, Yoder an’ Gilly, the fat brothers from the edge a the park, an’ even Frecks, who was usual always around and was friends with the fat brothers, but somehow was gone part a the day today, I didn’t know wheres.

Frecks was one a these guys what alla time wanted ta be liked by everybody, even the fat brothers.  He had the way coolest red colored hair an’ real white skin an’ spots all over his face what was called freckles, which is why ol’ Gilly called him Frecks, I guess.  One thing, though, he was alla time the first ta run away whenever there was some trouble, or anythin’, an’ was real good at not getting caught, so all the parents thought he was jus’ about the only good kid what hung aroun’ with us. I guess he musta looked pretty innocent to em.

Anyways, the big guys was playing a real game a poker and here we was, watchin’!  I think they would a chased us off or somethin’ except that Billy Nolette was their leader and he wouldn’a let ‘em hurt his kid brother Bobby.  Billy, he thought he could beat on Bobby an’ that was OK, an’ all, but he never let no other big guys beat us up, so if we was with Bobby, we was prolly safe.

Jimmy Yoder was one tough kid, kinda like Gilly, and maybe Pauly Boulerice.  He mouthed off to anybody, anytime, an’ didn’t care who it was, ya know?  Even the big guys, he talked at ‘em and they never beat him up at all.

Yoder an’ Gilly was talkin’ now.

“Hey Gilly, wonder if stupid Mim has been suckin’ on any little boys dingers today, hey?”

Gilly said, “Prolly has, the stupe, he pretty much always is, he thinks they tastes so good.”

I didn’t really know what they was talkin’ about, except that people was always sayin’ that about Mim.

The rest a the big guys was right away startin’ ta mouth at Mim, laughin’, sayin’ stuff like, “yeah, even the little punks know about ya, Mimmy,” and’ “ya shore do like the taste a that gism, tastes like codfish, huh,” an’ stuff like that.  Mim got all red in his face, but tried ta not get mad. I guess he figured he couldn’t beat up all the other big guys, especially Bobby’s brother Billy and Nosal, though Harvey wasn’t much bigger than us and Prolly Yoder and Gilly could take him.  The resta our crowd looked pretty scared an’ didn’t say nothin’, especially Frecks and the fat brothers.

Billy finally said, “Aw stop all yer blatherin’, ya lunks, and let’s get back to the game.”  He looked right at Yoder an’ Gilly and said, “You punks shut your stupid traps before I throw ya inta the ravine.”

Guys usually shut up when Billy talked hard like he was now, but Yoder an’ Gilly was feelin’ tough theyselves an’ kept up yabberin’ at Mim, “Mim licks dingers, Mim licks dingers, Mim licks dingers, hey, better hide yer dingers guys!”

Mim stood up and said ta Yoder an’ Gilly, “You shut your stupid mouths you little punks, I don’t do that stuff!”

Nosal said, “Sure you do, Mim, every chance you get!”

Now everybody was laughin’ they heads off.  Mim pushed Yoder to the ground and swung on Gilly.  But, Gilly ducked an’ spun an’ round-housed Mim right inna kisser; boy he could throw a punch.  Yoder was right up an kicked Mim right in the nuts an’ judo chopped him on his neck.  Gilly popped him one on the nose and Mims’s nose blood flew all over us.  Yoder tripped him and Gilly an’ him jumped on Mim an’ was poundin’ all over him, callin’ him fag, an’ dinger licker, and stuff like that.

Billy an’ Nosal waded inta the mess and yanked Yoder an’ Gilly up an’ tossed ‘em away like they was stuffed animals or somethin’.  Mim jus’ rolled on the ground, all bloody an’ cryin’.  I didn’t know what was worse ta him, the idea he had got beat up by two smaller kids than him or he was worried about whatever it was they was teasin’ him about.

Billy kicked him, not too hard, an’ said, “Come on, get up, ya stupid jerk.  Stop rollin’ around on the ground like a little baby.”

Nosal was holdin’ Yoder an’ Gilly over next ta one a the big trees, tellin’ ‘em he was gonna goddam flatten ‘em if they didn’t cut it out.  Yoder, especially, was still yelling’ fag an’ stuff at Mim.  I was all muddled ‘cause I didn’t really know what all happened all of a sudden.  One minute we was watchin’ cards and the next minute, they was all fightin’ an’ stuff.  Geezum, stuff shore happened fast sometimes. Sheesh!

Mim an’ Yoder an’ Gilly still was yellin’ back an’ forth until Nosal pushed Yoder an’ Gilly away an’ told alla us little punks to scram afore he kicked our asses.  Nosal shoved Mim an’ said, “Go home, ya stupid fag, if you weren’t such a fag, this would’ a never happened.”

Mim said, “You’re a fag yourself!” 

I thought Billy was maybe gonna pound him one, but he just, all calm like, said, “Mim, we let ya hang around with us, cause ya never got cute with any of us, but ya know damn well what ya do ta the little kids, and we’re all about tired of it.”

Mim said, “I told you!  I never did anything.  I’m gonna kill the guy who started saying it!”

Billy said, “Mim, get away from us.  Nosal’s right, and from now on, we ain’t taking it anymore.  We find out you bothered anymore little guys and we’ll fucking kill you dead, got it?”

Mim started cryin’ his eyes out.  Billy made like to swing at him an’ he turned an’ lit out for his house up at the Second Street end a the park.

I looked at the fat brothers and they was lookin’ real weird, like, an’ so was Frecks.  Gilly called the fat brothers Fatsy and Fatstuff, but I didn’t know which one was which.  I mean, I knew one was Shawn an’ his younger brother was Timmy, but I didn’t know which Gilly name was for which one. So I jus’ called ‘em the fat brothers.  Easier, than tryin’ ta figger out Gilly’s names.

Anyways, Frecks an’ the fat brothers was lookin’ like they wanted a cry, like they was feelin’ all sorry for Mim the fag or somethin’.  Bobby Nolette tole us ta move away from his brother and the other big guys so we wouldn’t bother them no more, and we went over to the ol’ merry-go-round and all sat on it.  By the time we got there, the little fat brother was cryin’ ta beat the band an’ the big fat brother was sayin’ they better go home, it was most near suppertime.

Bobby said, “Wait up, Shawn; your mom will call at suppertime like she always does.  Timmy, what are you cryin’ about, huh?”

“Nothin’!”

“You’re cryin’ about somethin’, for cryin’ out loud!”

“No I ain’t!”

Bobby kept askin’, “You cryin’ about Mim?  My stupid brother told me all about him.  He says Mim really does do that, so don’t feel sorry for him or nothin’.”

“Shut up!”

Shawn said, “Leave us alone, Bobby.  Come on, Timmy, we gotta go NOW.”

The run off home, jus’ like that. Geezum!

Yoder said, “Hey!  Ya think ol’ Mim has sucked they dingers, maybe?”

Bobby said, “Jeepers, I don’t know.  Maybe.  I know Billy told Mim to stay away from me or he’d kill him.  He told me so his self.  Said to stay the hell away from Mim’s house to be safe and run away if Mim ever come into the park when I was alone.”

Gilly said, “Sumbitch lives right across the street from me, too.  My stupid ol’ man said plenny times that Mim was a fag an’ liked little boys.  He ever tries that on me an’ my dad ‘d rip his stupid dick right off!”

Yoder looked at Frecks.  “Mim ever suck your dinger, Frecks?  Maybe ya got a nice white freckly one, huh?”

We all looked at Frecks.  His ol’ face turned the reddest red ya ever saw and he jus’ bust out cryin’. He scrunched all down in on his self and bawled his eyes out an’ wouldn’t answer anybody.

Gilly said, “Frecks, that basard bothered ya, we’ll all go an’ claw his guts right outa him.  My stupid ol’ man knows lotsa ways ta torture guys, he tole me so.  ‘Cept he’s inna hospital now.  An’ is gonna kill me when he gets out…”

Yoder said, “Shut up, Gilly. Frecks, just tell us.  Mim deserves ta die if he done that to you or anybody, except maybe Fatstuff an’ his little piggy brother, they don’t count.”

Frecks jus’ cried away, like we wasn’t talkin’ at all. He wouldn’t even look at Yoder.

Bobby said, “What, are we really gonna go kill Mim?  What if what my brother said isn’t true, what then?”

Yoder looked at Bobby like he was a real baby. “it’s true all right, I saw him sneakin’ in the weeds with Bubby Paulsen just last week.  Ya think they was goin’ in there ta pick berries together, or somethin’? Whataya, stupid?”

Gilly laughed. “Bubby Paulsen! Hah! He alla time has piss in his pants, that musta tasted extra good ta Mim, then, huh?”

Yoder said, “Shut up, Gilly.  Baby, you always wanna think the best about ever body, ya know? But there’s stuff goes on ain’t all that nice, ya know?  Mim’s a bad guy, ‘cause he don’t never try ta suck big guy dingers, only small guys what can’t fight back.  Guys like Frecks and those there fat kids he’s friends with.”

Frecks was still layin’ curled up onna ground, not sayin’ nothin’.  I was wonderin’ if my dad would know what ta do, or even my mom, though I didn’t know if she knew about boys dingers or not.  I thought about maybe Bobby’s dad would know.

“Bobby, what about tellin’ yer dad about this.  Maybe he’d know what ta do, huh?”

Yoder said. “Baby’s ol’ man is too busy sniffin’ after Gilly’s mom ta know anything about what ta do about Mim.”

Both Bobby an’ Gilly was alova sudden real mad at Yoder, like he said somethin’ bad or somethin’.

Ya shut yer stupid mouth, Yoder!” Bobby screamed.  Gilly yelled, “Is not, Yoder an’ I’ll kill anyone says so!”

Yoder danced away, laughin’ his head off. “Their sniffin’ at each other, sniffin’, sniffin’ sniffin’, ooh, smells nice, MMMM!”

Gilly run at him, swingin’, like he usually done, an’ him an’ Yoder rolled around on the ground, gruntin’ at each other, pullin’ each other’s hair an’ stuff, Bobby yellin’ “Kill ‘im, Gilly!”, but not rollin’ with ‘em.  They like forgot all about Frecks, an’ even rolled over him a couple times without even noticin’.

Alova sudden, Moose an’ Doodles Boulerice, an’ Trixie Rousseau, an’ Woolley Wollaston an’ Nutso an’ Slug Kozinski an’ my brother Joey was there breakin’ up the fight.  They was alla time playin’ a ballgame on the field near the swings, which is what we should a been doin’, ya ask me.

Moose wasn’t afraid of Yoder like most a the rest a us was, an so was doin’ most a the breakin’ up at the fight.  He finally got Gilly an’ Yoder standin’ and wanted a know what was goin’ on.

Gilly right off started yellin’ that Yoder was insultin’ his mom an’ Bobby’s dad, an’ all.  Yoder said that Gilly got it wrong, he wasn’t insultin’ nobody, for cripes sake.

“We was really talkin’ about how to get rid a Mim for suckin’ on little guy dingers alla time.  There really should be somethin’ done about that.” Everybody forgot all about Bobby’s dad’s sniffin’, alova sudden, I guess.

Nutso Kozinski right away said that Mim was a bad kid and we should burn his house down, with him in it, maybe even tonight, why wait?

Bobby said, “Come on, Nutso, he’s got parents and a sister and a dog; you going to burn them up, too?”

“Annnhhh, Why not? it’s their fault for letting Mim bother us…I mean, them, you know, the little kids, alla time.”

Gilly said, “Looks like Nutso and Mim been inna weeds together, too, huh, Yoder?”  Gilly an’ Yoder laughed an’ laughed.  As usual, they forgot they was jus’ all mad together a minute ago.

Moose said, “Gilly, you don’t shut your stupid mouth, I’m gonna bash you one. Yoder, you too!”

Yoder was tough an’ Gilly was tough but when Moose talked, they sure shut up tight, ya know?

Nutso said, “Annnhhh! I say we burn ‘im outa his house, that’ll show ‘im!”

Nutso is the guy who is alla time turnin’ over people’s garbage cans an’ stickin’ knifes inna their tires when they get ‘im mad, an’ stuff.  He’s a different crazy than Gilly an’ Yoder.  Gilly an’ Yoder flew right at guys when they was mad, but Nutso, snuck up behind an’ did sneaky stuff, like wreckin’ their stuff an’ stuff.  Pretty much everybody thought he was nuts, an’ all.  He talked funny, too, alla time sayin’ ‘Annnhhh” before he actual talked. He was a few years older than the rest a us, but in the same grade an’ all.  He went ta the same Catholic school as did Bobby an’ Moose and Doodles, an’ Joey Zlotnik an’ those other guys.  Also, too, he alla time alova sudden would think he was a army guy, or somethin’, an’ think he was fightin’ in a war. Outa nowheres. Weird!

His brother Slug was in the same grade, too.  He was the laziest kid I ever seen, especial since summer started.  He’d alla time be the last guy to run or ride his bike or chase a ball.  He’d sit on the ground pluckin’ out grass for hours every day, like, an’ when ya asked him what he was doin’, he’d just smile, like kinda weird, an’ say nothin’.  He wasn’t no fun to play with unless ya just liked pluckin’ up grass all day.

Anyways, Moose said, “Nobody’s burnin’ down nobody’s house.  Anybody burns down somebody’s house an’ I’ll bash their stupid brains out, ya hear?”

Ya could see that Bobby agreed, he an’ Moose was best friends, even though Bobby didn’t play baseball all that much like Moose alla time was.

“I’ll play in the ballgame, Moose, if you want,” Bobby said. “Come on guys, let’s stop talking about stupid Mim and burning stuff up. There’s already been enough fires around today.  We’ll get all in trouble.”

This was OK with me.  I was worried about burnin’ houses down.  What if my mom an’ dad found out?  They’d say, what-do ya want, guys ta burn down our house just a ‘cause they don’t like us? it was somethin’ ta think about, ya know? I figured Bobby, an’ prolly Doodles all felt the same way.  Yoder an’ Gilly would wanna go light the house on fire right now, where Nutso would wait for night when maybe he wouldn’t get caught by the cops. Nutso was crazy, but he thought about stuff, too, like getting’ caught an’ all.  Gilly just didn’t care. I sure didn’t wanna be burnin’ nobody’s house down, even if Moose wouldn’t bash my brains out ‘cause a it!

Nobody was arguin’ with Moose, so we all went over to the ballpark part near where the big guys was still playin’ cards an’ swearin’ an’ stuff.  Mim was still gone, so Yoder an’ Gilly didn’t need to go over there an’ start mouthin’ off again, or nothin’, which was OK by me.

The guys was inna middle of a game but decided ta start a new one, ‘cause they was alla us new guys ta play. So, first they hadda pick sides.  Moose was the boss a one team an’ my brother Joey was the boss a the other team.  Most a us was pretty crummy players an’ so the few good guys was took first.

First, we hadda pick teams. My brother tossed a bat ta Moose an’ he caught it in his hand.  Then my brother clapped his hand around the bat and Moose put his on top a Joey’s.  They kept back an’ forth until Moose’s hand was at the end a the handle, which meant he could pick first. Even though Bobby was his good friend, he picked Yoder first, ‘cause Yoder was a pretty good hitter.  Also, too, Yoder axpected ta get picked first ‘cause he was the biggest guy a alla us, ya know?  it was jus’ supposed to be.

Anyways, Bobby got picked by Moose second on that team.  Joey had picked Gilly.  Moose picked his brother, Doodles. Nutso could catch good inna outfield, so he got picked too.  I was picked secon’ from las’ an’ Slug was took las’.  Nobody really wanted him, even less than me, ‘cause he was likely ta jus’ plop down inna outfield an’ pluck grass the whole game.  With the other guys what was around, we had a six on six game. They was Lucky Breault, Woolly Wollaston, an’ Trixie Rousseau, who lived down next ta the dump.

We didn’t use no official catchers.  One a the guys on the battin’ team would catch balls what wasn’t hit an’ throw ‘em back ta the pitcher.  So, the field team had a pitcher, guys at three bases an’ two outfield guys.

‘Cause Moose picked first, my brother’s team was the batters an’ I got sent out ta the outfield, where I couldn’t mess up the game too bad for our team.  Moose was a real good pitcher an’ was always the pitcher on every team we ever played on.  Yoder played first base ‘cause he could catch the ball best when somebody whipped it at him.  Doodles was at second base, Bobby at third and Trixie was inna outfield with me.  There wasn’t too many guys what could hit a ball as far as the outfield, so we would be OK.

Gilley was first up on my brother’s team.  I don’t think he really cared too much about baseball, but I think he liked pretending that the ball was his father’s head.  He would swing at the ball like he wanted a crush it to splintereens.  I had never heard any kid talk so mean about his father as what Gilly did.  He alla time said he wanted a kill ‘im dead in a torturous way.  I know his dad was pretty mean an’ was a drunk an’ all, but still.  I sure didn’t never wanna kill my dad.

Anyways, Moose throwed a real fast pitch an’ Gilly swunged so hard at it that when he missed, he twirled all aroun’ an’ ended up on his rumpus. Ya couldn’t hardly see him for a minute cause the dust was all flyin’ up aroun’ him.  Boy, he sure looked mad.

He got up. “Come on, Moose, throw another one, I’ll smash this one ta kingdom come, you watch!”

Moose said, “You’ll try!”

Moose threw another one, a real heater.  Gilly smacked it foul, down the hill towards Fatso’s house.  Good thing he didn’t break another window this time.  Yoder was too cool ta have ta run after it, so Bobby runned right down ta their yard an’ got it back for us.  Good thing, he knows the Patrick’s parents pretty good an’ they never yelled at him, usually.

Yoder yelled out, “Hey Gilly, yer supposed ta hit the ball inside the field, not at the fatso house, ya know? What’s the goddam matter with ya anyways, ya stupid?”  Yoder was alla time getting real mad, real quick, about anythin’.

Gilly was plenny PO’d now, I tell ya, I could tell it alla way from the outer field where I was at.  I didn’t mind him getting no foul balls, though, ’cause when they went foul I didn’t have ta catch ‘em an’ that was OK by me. Bobby comed huffin’ back up ta the field and tossed the ball ta moose, sayin’, “Strike him out, Moosie, you can do it!”

Moose got that real serious face on him what he gets when he’s pitchin’.  Gilly was so mad he wasn’t sayin’ nothin’, just wigglin’ his bat over his head an’ lookin’ as mean as he could at Moose.

Moose did his windup jus’ like Sandy Koufax did and let one loose at Gilly.  Gilly swunged as hard as he could an’ smacked the ball right back at Moose, full speed.  The ball whumped Moose right inna chest an’ he blew all his breath out an’ flopped back on a ground an grabbed his arms all together around hisself an’ started huffin’ an’ rollin’ around.

Bobby runned fast in from Third and Doodles runned from Second and slid down ta Moose to see if he was dyin’ or somethin’. We all the rest of us runned over ta Moose, too. It sure did seem like he musta got the ball buried right in his stomach or somethin’ the way he was huffin’.

Gilly looked pretty happy.  He stood at home plate kinda grinnin’, until Yoder walked over ta him an’ hauled off an’ popped him one right inna kisser. Gilly went flyin’ back inna air and whumped inta the dust again, out like a light.  Yoder stood over him a minute, like he wanted a do more, an’ then walked over ta us an’ Moose.