Sleepers

'You didn't outrun me,' I said. 'I took a break and waited for you to catch up.'

Rivera walked over toward Gonzalez, putting one hand around her shoulder.

'I hate clowns,' she said. 'They're not fu

'What they did to Hector, that ain't fu

'Gimme your belt,' Rivera said. 'We're go

The park was empty, except for an old rummy sleeping under a pile of newspapers on a bench. My face and arms were glazed with sweat and my right leg twitched from tensions. One of my shoelaces had come undone and I couldn't breathe free of pain.

Gonzalez stood over me and opened her straight razor. She leaned down and grabbed the top of my white shirt and cut it in half, stopping just above my pants.

'This is for Hector,' Rivera said, swinging the belt above her shoulder.

'Hurt him,' Gonzalez said. 'Make him hurt.'

Rivera's lashes landed across my face and neck, the pain causing my eyes to well with tears. She then lowered the gate of her swing, my chest and stomach now taking the force of the blows. My chest was soon red, the sting as hard as anything I'd felt, a steady torrent of belt against flesh.

Rivera landed one last blow and stopped.

'You wa

'He ain't man enough for me to whip,' Gonzalez said, looking at me with a smile.

'Thank you,' I mumbled.

The first rock landed next to Rivera's feet. The second hit her above the thigh. Gonzalez turned her head and caught one on the arm. The two girls who were holding me down let go and moved away.

'We're goin',' one of them said. 'No more of this.'

I looked past Gonzalez, at the fence behind the sprinklers and saw Michael and John climbing over. Tommy stood facing the fence, tossing rocks over the side.

Gonzalez looked down at me, her eyes filled with hate. She took a deep breath, bent closer to me and spit her bubble gum above my right eye. She took two steps back and let out two kicks to my groin, the hard rubber of her sneakers finding a mark both times.

'So long, fucker,' she said. 'Be seein' you again.'

When they got to me, Michael and John lifted me up, hands wrapped under my shoulders.

I was slow stepping my way out of the park, toward the bar on 52nd Street. The inside of my chest felt as seared as the outside. But more than anything, I was humiliated.

'I don't want anybody to know,' I said.

'Might be in the papers tomorrow,' John smirked. 'Not every day one of King Be

'It would've been better if they killed me,' I said.

'You're right,' Tommy said. 'Much easier to explain.'

'This only proves what we always knew,' Michael said.

'What?'

'You can't fight for shit.'

'I hear they make guys have sex with 'em,' John said. 'You know, force 'em.'

'Now I'm sorry we came along,' Michael said. 'You might have finally gotten laid.'

'I think I'm go

'Ugly sex is better than no sex,' John said.

'Anybody asks, tell 'em a gang from Inwood came down and kicked my ass,' I said.

'Which gang?' Tommy asked.

'The Cougars,' I said. 'They're pretty tough.'

'How about the gang from the School for the Blind?' John said. 'You could say they bumped into you on the street. You had no choice. You hadda fight 'em.'

'There was eight of them and only one of you,' Tommy said. 'The deck was stacked.'

'And they had dogs too,' John said. 'You didn't have a chance.'

'All I know is the Count of Monte Cristo never got his ass kicked by a girl,' Michael said.

'He was lucky,' I sighed. 'He didn't know Janet Rivera.'

Summer 1966

NINE

King Be

'Sure you wa

'Why not?'

'I cheat.'

'Me too,' I said.

'Good,' he said and opened the deal.

The game was sette bello, Italian black jack, and the stakes were low, a pe

'Hungry?' King Be

'No,' I said. 'Thanks.'

'Sure?'

'I'm sure,' I said.

'What's it go

'Give a hit.'

King Be

'You're over,' he said. 'You're into me for a pe

'Double or nothing,' I told him.

'A sucker bet,' he said, dealing out a fresh set of cards and sipping from his coffee.

I lost the first ten hands we played, King Be

'You always end up with a six,' I said. 'How is that?'

'Lucky,' he said.

'Got any pretzels?' I asked.

'Behind the bar,' he said. 'Help yourself.'

'Want anything?'

'What time is it?' he asked.

'Quarter to five,' I said, looking at my Timex watch, a swag present he had given me.

'Too early,' he said.

King Be

I sat back down, picking at a bag of salt pretzels. He sipped his coffee, shuffled the cards and leaned back in his chair.

'I hear you got trouble at home,' he said, putting the cup back by his side.

'It's nothing.'

'If it was nothing,' he said, 'I wouldn't have heard about it.'

'My father owes money,' I admitted.

'Who this time?'

'The Greek,' I said. 'He's six months late on the payments.'

'How much?'

'Three thousand,' I said. 'As of yesterday. Goes up every day.'

'Yeah,' King Be

'The Greek sent a coupla guys over late last night,' I said. 'Scare him a little.'

'It work?'

'Scared or not,' I said, 'he doesn't have the money and can't get it from anybody else.'

'No,' King Be

'He's hiding out,' I said. 'Until it blows over or he makes a big score.'

'Guys like your father never make big scores,' King Be

'Will they kill him?'

'No,' he said. 'He'll just wish they did.'

'I got sixty bucks put aside,' I told him. 'My mother can come up with another forty. That should be good for something.'

'Forget it,' King Be

'I can't forget it,' I said. 'He's my father.'

King Be

'Who squared it?'

'You did. This morning. The Greek picked up an envelope with three grand and a note from you. Him and your father are even.'

I didn't show any real emotion. That wasn't allowed. All I said was, 'I can't pay you back right away.'

'You don't have to pay me back at at all,' I was told.

'Why'd you do it?' I wanted to know. 'You never liked my father.'

'Still don't,' King Be