“Will you shut it, you moron?” I whispered. “They’re gonna hear us!”
But Miko only laughed harder. A mere thirty feet separated us from them, and if not for their own noise, they surely would have made us.
“I’m serious, Miko. If they find us in here, we’re dead.”
He still didn’t acknowledge. Instead, he cupped a hand over his mouth to stifle his giggling. I glanced back through the soft, dark green cover of the bushes. Our prey hadn’t heard us. I turned again to Miko. “Okay?”
He nodded, his eyes fixed upon the three most loathed teenagers from my neighborhood. They were all freshmen at Somerton High and three years older than us. Brian Goldman – the ringleader – was smoking. His girlfriend, Connie Parker, wrapped her arms around his waist.
“He’s got a joint!” Miko whispered.
I’d have to take his word for it. Although Miko and I could shout to each other from our bedroom windows, he went to a middle school in neighboring Quinnipiac where - even in the sixth grade - drug use was already commonplace. In my sixth grade class at Nelson Elementary, a joint was still a knee or elbow.
But Brian wasn’t the one who worried me. My eyes were on Carl Posey - slasher of inflatable pools, torturer of defenseless kittens. Posey was the one we needed to take by surprise. He kicked a hacky-sack into the air, making his way around Brian and Connie. God only knew what he was thinking. Once he turned his back to us, we’d make our move.
“Ready?”
Miko nodded. Now, even his eyes were absent of humor.
I peered through the hole in the bushes. Posey quickened his pace. He was at
“One.”
Miko giggled. Posey was at
“Two. And shut up!”
He did. Posey moved into position.
“Now!”
I pushed myself up from behind the bushes. The sudden weight I put on my left hand crushed the egg in my grip. Cold yolk gushed through my fingers, dripping onto the sun-baked pavement as I led the charge. My only regret? With only one egg, I couldn’t peg both Posey and Goldman. Sure, Connie was a skank, but she was still a girl.
Posey still had his back to us, and Goldman and Connie remained in their self-absorbed, drug-induced haze.
“Hey Posey!” I yelled.
He ripped his head around, mouth gaping, eyes already flaring in anger. Meanwhile, the two lovebirds looked my way with casual amusement.
“You suck!” I yelled, then reared back and threw. If I missed, I’d lose valuable seconds in my escape. I didn’t miss. The egg hit Posey above the left eye, splattering a yellowish goo across the side of his face. Before turning to run for my life, I noticed two things. One, Posey wasn’t the one chasing me. Two? Miko still hid behind the bushes. No wonder I only saw one egg flying. Aside from Posey disappearing, everything else was going as planned.
I would run faster that summer, but only once.
The footfalls of Goldman’s sneakers clapped louder on the hot cement. He was only a few steps behind me. As I veered into my yard and down the hill towards my house, a wave of confidence surged through me. I leapt over the azaleas lining my driveway. Now came the hard part - fighting the urge to head into the garage.
After all, we had a plan to stick to, by golly.
I ran onto my front porch. Usually it was a twenty-foot long screened-in haven of cold lemonade and Bobby Vale. But not today. Today, only silence and an empty table. I turned around. Goldman stood in the driveway, wary of coming too close. Connie ambled down the sidewalk. They said nothing, studying their surroundings instead. Would they dare come onto the porch? Sporting the best worried look I could muster, I kept an eye on Goldman as I fumbled for the front door. When I found the knob, I pretended it was locked.
Goldman smiled, then approached. Connie stood watch. A late afternoon thunderhead moved in front of the sun, and the sky darkened.
“You some kind of idiot, Cusamano?”
Depending on how the next ten seconds went, maybe so.
He stepped onto the porch, and I backed up. If the plan failed, I’d at least get to rub cold wet yolk into his face. It still dripped from my left hand.
“I think he’s home alone, Brian,” Connie yelled from the end of the driveway. “The garage is empty, and his mother’s stupid music isn’t on.”
I was hoping someone would notice that.
I backed up towards the porch’s far corner. He followed. As he did, I realized he had at least forty pounds on me.
“Up yours, Goldman.”
He shook his head.
“You know, Frankie, I was going to let Posey get you back, but now I’m not so sure.”
Where was Posey, anyway? Beating up Miko?
Goldman took two more steps. Only his conscience and six feet of air separated us.
“Kiss it,” I said.
“Does you mommy know you talk like this?”
I winked at him. “Mommy’s not home.”
“Nice. And I guess Tony’s down at the Amoco?”
Right on cue, my brother - senior class president and captain of Somerton High’s baseball team - opened the front door and slipped onto the front porch.
“Nope. Right here, Brian.”
Goldman stiffened. We stood eye to eye as the color drained from his face. He turned around. Which was worse for him? Seeing my brother’s grin or watching Connie backtrack towards the street?
“Oh, hey, Tony,” Goldman said. “What’s up?”
But he knew my brother wasn’t buying.
“What’s up? Your number’s up.”
Goldman, shifted on his feet then backed up towards me. “Come on, Tony,” he said. “We were just having some fun.”
”Save it,” Tony said. “Where’s Posey?”
Goldman’s shoulders relaxed. “Dunno. Probably washing yolk off his face.”
Tony looked around, then shook his head. He walked towards Brian. Goldman backed up some more. I did, too, just so he wouldn’t bump into me.
“I want my bike back, Goldman.”
“Bike?”
“Yeah, my bike. Don’t tell me you guys didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“That crappy three-speed of yours? Why would we want that?”
”Course not,” Tony said, taking a couple steps closer. “The ten-speed I got for my birthday last week. Someone stole it two nights ago.”
Goldman started to say something but stopped. Carl Posey - nostrils flared, cheeks flushed, and egg yolk smeared into his hair - stood six feet behind Tony. He wielded a small pocketknife. Though its blade was only three inches, it was more than enough to do damage.
Posey moved towards my brother.
“Tony!” I yelled. I’m quite certain it was the last time I ever called my brother by name.
Tony wheeled around just in time to grab Posey’s flailing arm, and in one smooth motion he pinned the creep face down on the porch. I’m sure the look on Posey’s face was priceless, but I was too busy watching his knife hand which was pulled tight behind his back. Ouch.
Posey gasped. His grip loosened. The knife fell from his fingers, clinking onto the cement. Its gold Cub Scout logo glinted in the sun. Three letters were engraved on the blade. BCP.
I snatched it up.
“I want my bike back, Posey,” Tony said.
“I doh –”
“I don’t care if you stole it or not. Get it back.”
He rolled him over. Posey’s eyes were vacant but a faint smile returned to his face. It was spooky. Like he knew something my brother didn’t.
“You got twenty-four hours,” Tony said, then let go of him. “Now get off my porch.”
Posey got up and walked to the driveway. Goldman followed. Tony held the door open for me. I turned and caught one last glimpse of Posey. Yolk notwithstanding, he smiled at me and mouthed two words.
You’re dead.
