Ten Mile River (16 page)

‘He's a sweetie, but I tell you, the
drama
, a different crush every week.' Trini slugged Ray's shoulder, jumped up and down. ‘So, Ray, how you feelin about Vanny?'

He was feeling like he had stomach cancer. ‘Seems real sweet.'

‘I just think you two are the perfect match, you know?'

‘How's that?'

‘You're both so nice.'

Fat, you mean. ‘Thanks.'

‘You wanna double tomorrow, you, me, Vanny and the J-man, hit the zoo?' The sunset bouncing off the shop windows painted Trini gold, her teeth bright against her tanned face, her eyes dark fire.

‘I love you,' Ray said.

‘What?' Trini said.

Ray cleared his throat, hoped he didn't look as sick as he felt. ‘I'd love to. The zoo. Sounds great.'

He wiped the sweat off his face with his shirt, gut hanging.

‘Ray? Baby, what's wrong?'

She called me baby. He smiled, winked, more like blinked, Ray a lousy winker. ‘Let's get the meat.'

‘Dude, Xbox
so
thrashes PlayStation.'

‘Dude? That's like saying Pac-Man
so
thrashes Grand Theft Auto?'

‘Dude, why do you say everything like it's a question?'

‘I so do not?'

The kids from Trini's school sat in a circle, smoking cigarettes. Ray, José, and Trini watched from the picnic table. Yolie had gone to bed. Vanessa never came back out to the party. She kept looking out the back window of the attic apartment to see if Ray was still there. He waved to her once, but she backed away from the window fast without waving back.

Trini and José held hands as they shared a beer. Ray had his own beer. He was bombed.

‘No, dude, seriously, am I right or am I right?'

‘Dude, I am so not getting involved in this one?'

Trini looked at José. ‘Whattaya think?'

José sipped his beer. ‘I think one more dude, we got us a rodeo.'

‘Y'all wanna call party over and bounce? Raymond?'

‘Yeah. T, you think it's okay we take the burnt food for the dogs?'

‘We'll take all of it, burnt and non-burnt,' she said.

‘They'll like that.'

‘They'll like any dag thing,' José said. ‘My beautiful dogs.' José winked at Ray.

Trini rolled her eyes, pinched the J-man's arm. ‘Lemme go see if Vanny wants to come.'

‘Nah, T, don't push her,' Ray said.

‘Raymond, don't be like that. She's sick from too much Dramamine, she told me.'

‘Dramamine. Right.'

‘To make her be chill on the plane.'

‘Nah, nah, leave her,' Ray said. ‘Let her rest.'

‘Quit bein a baby about it,' José said. ‘Just let Trini go on up—'

‘
No
man, and shut
up
, callin me a baby.'

‘A'right, a'right now,' Trini said, ‘let's not pressure the man. Tomorrow y'all come on up here for lunch with the motorcycle, we'll get her into the swing.'

‘The goddam motorcycle,' Ray muttered. ‘Right.'

‘Ray,' Trini said. ‘What is the
matter
, chico mio? Tt, talk to us.'

‘You okay, Ray-Ray?'

He looked at them, saw their confusion, their concern for him, looked away, felt his eyes brim.

Three kids from Trini's school started shoving a fourth kid.

‘You two big strong boys help me clear these dudes out of my aunt's yard,' Trini said.

They did.

22

They went to Ten Mile River. Ray hung out back with the dogs and read by flashlight while Trini and José hung out in front of the TV. Ray could see them through the window but they couldn't see him because the light was on inside the house. Ray couldn't help staring. He watched José kiss Trini's neck. José slinked his hand up the inside of Trini's leg into her skirt, she pushed it away. ‘No, baby,' she said. ‘
No.
Be a good boy.' They went back to kissing. José clicked off the light, only TV flicker now, not enough to spy by.

Ray got back to his book as he fed the dogs leftovers. Aristotle told him that a man who couldn't live in society was either a beast or god. ‘Does he have to be one or the other, Fatty?'

Fatty stared at Ray out the sides of his eyes.

‘Dammit, José, I said no.' Trini's voice louder now. ‘Why can't you be nice?'

‘I'm tryin a be nice,' José said. ‘Tryin a make you feel nice.'

‘I feel fine, thank you. You behave, Mr. Man.'

It was quiet for a while, then José said, ‘I'm sorry, baby. C'mere.'

Ray hugged the Fatty dog. Fatty yawned to show his toothless mouth.

‘José! I'm serious! Y'all quit it!'

‘I'll kill him,' Ray whispered to Fatty.

‘C'mon, Trini,' José said. ‘I'm a man, see. A man got needs.'

Ray stood. His stomach was hot with sloshing beer.

‘José!' Trini said.

Ray thought, You better stop, José. Then he thought, You better stop José.

‘Wait,' Trini yelled.

Ray looked up. The stars over Ten Mile River spun.

‘
Stop
, please!'

There was the sound of a hand slapping a face. The dogs gathered at Ray's feet, cocked their ears.

Ray stumbled around to the front of the station-house. By the time he got there, Trini and José were on their feet. José had his hand to his cheek. Trini said, ‘You had to ruin it, huh? We were having a nice night, and you had to get all…Yo, I am out.'

‘Good, go.' José threw his beer bottle at the wall. It smashed and sprayed dregs and glass. ‘Goddam. I didn't mean that.' He put his hands out to Trini to make peace. ‘Trini, man. I'm sorry.'

Trini pulled away.

‘Trin—' José said.

Ray grabbed José's arm.

‘Ray, man, leggo my damn arm now. This ain't none of your concern, son.'

‘Raymond—' Trini said.

‘What you done to her?' Ray said.

‘I ain't done
nothin
, okay? Jesus. Now lemme
go
.'

‘Okay, look,' Trini said. ‘Let's all just
calm
down, okay?'

‘Ray, easy, boss,' José said. ‘I was, I lost it for a second.
Chill
.'

‘You don't mess with a chick like that,' Ray said. ‘Even I know that. No is no.'

‘I know. I—'

‘You don't know
shit.
'

‘I'm-a warn you a last time, son, get out my face, pissin me right off. You keep steppin to me, you'll pay the devil with bright red blood.'

‘Y'all quit it!' Trini said.

‘Ha,' Ray said. ‘
I'm
-a pay the devil?'

José shoved Ray off.

‘Stop!' Trini said.

Ray slipped on the neck of the broken beer bottle, went down hard.

‘Raymond? You okay, sweetie pie?' Trini helped Ray up.

José paced and tugged his braids. ‘Dag, see what you made me do? Aw, hell, Ray. Hell.' He went to help Ray up.

Ray pushed past Trini, drove his rock of a fist into José's face. José got his hand up, deflected some of the punch but not enough. His head snapped back.

A click.

José hit the floor like a sack of wet trash dropped from a second-floor window.

No sooner had Ray tagged José than he wished he had no hands to hit with.

Ray and Trini stood over José. The J-man's head was twisted so that he was looking over his shoulder, except he wasn't looking at anything because his eyes were closed.

Trini backed away from Ray, bent to José. ‘José? José! No. No.'

The dogs had come in. They sniffed at José. When they saw he wasn't moving their hackles went up. They backed out of the stationhouse, eyes on Ray, bolted when they hit the woods. Only the Fatty dog was left. He stared at José out of the side of his eyes. Then he turned to face Ray head-on. The dog shivered and slinked out, bumping into everything in its blindness.

Ray called after the dog, ‘Fatty, c'mere.'

The dog bolted at the sound of Ray's voice and disappeared into the darkness.

Ray and Trini dragged José to the junky old couch. He was breathing. They sat him up so he wouldn't swallow the blood in his mouth. Ray kept saying sorry. Sometimes José would shake his head, sometimes nod.

Trini turned away, her face in her hands. ‘Y'all boys. Y'all poor boys. Oh my God. The air in here,' she cried softly, more to herself than to them. ‘The godawful stale air. The dust and damp and mold rot in the walls. Look at this place,' she whispered. ‘Dog hair everywhere. I'm so sorry. I must have been out of my mind. This is my fault.'

‘Hell you talkin about, T?' José was coming around. ‘You didn't do anything.'

‘That's right. I didn't. Look at you boys. Y'all aren't thirty-two yet, your ages added, and you're stone drunk. Y'all smoke and steal and fight.' Trini took out her phone, battery dead. ‘Shit.'

‘Who you callin?' Ray said.

‘I need a cab,' she said.

‘We'll walk you home,' José said.

‘No! No you will not. I can't be around you boys right now. Y'all make me so sad and mad and I don't know, I just don't know.' Trini closed her eyes, grimaced. ‘I hate myself.' She got up, ran out of the station-house.

‘Lemme get her to a cab, be back,' Ray said to José.

‘Don't let her walk them woods alone.' Unable to stand José collapsed into the couch.

Ray caught up with Trini on a section of Drive filled with old folks a-stroll in the warm May night. ‘Get away from me,' she said to Ray.

‘T, yo, I'm sorry,' Ray said.

‘Get away. Every step you take toward me, I scream.' And she did. ‘Get! A! Way! From! Me!'

Folks stopped, stared.

‘Leave me alone, Raymond. Leave me be.' She hurried down the Drive.

Ray stopped chasing her, roared beer puke into the bushes.

Ray stepped it back to the stationhouse, relieved to find José on his feet, making coffee. ‘She's okay?' José said.

‘I don't know about that.'

‘You got puke on your shirt.' José sipped hot coffee. ‘Phew.'

‘I don't know what to say, J-man.'

‘Don't say sorry. I hate that.'

‘I know.'

‘You did the right thing. I was outta line. I tell you though, son, that was some punch. Think m' blockin hand's a little messed up.'

‘Lemme take you to Doc.'

‘Nah, don't hurt much. Prob'ly bad sprained. We'll see how she plays tomorrow.' José chugged the coffee, rubbed his throat. ‘M' damn neck smarts more than my face. Whiplash. My eye's a-swellin, ain't she? I feel it puffin to blind me.'

‘I'll fetch some ice.'

‘Nah, I like it like this.' He checked himself out in his shaving mirror. ‘Looks cool.'

Ray scanned the trashed stationhouse, broomed the bottle glass, worried the dogs would cut their feet. Then a worse fear came to him: The dogs weren't coming back. He heard one of them barking, far away.

‘Damn, I love that girl, though,' José said. ‘I hope I didn't mess up permanent.'

‘Get her some flowers.'

‘Know where I could get some nice flowers this hour, partner?'

‘Deli.'

‘Right.' José swiped a breath, threw his arm over Ray's shoulder. ‘Pal o' mine, I'm skunk drunk.'

‘Thankfully. Otherwise your face would hurt a ton.'

‘Prob'ly hurt a ton tomorrow, huh? Coffee's startin to kick in though. I'm gonna be jacked up enough to puke in a minute. Let's go get Trini. I got some apologisin to do.'

‘You do. You go. I'll stay here, sweep up, whistle the dogs back.'

‘Leave 'em. Hell, I'm trying to dump 'em all these years, and now you're gonna whistle 'em back? 'Sides, you can't even whistle.'

‘Imagine Breon came back right now, no dogs to warn us?' Ray said, face blank.

‘Son, Breon comes back now, he can have me. I'm

ready for the bullet. I ain't felt this whipped since juvie. You go get the damn dogs, I'll get Trini, we'll all meet back here in half a hour, make us some more coffee and play poker.' José jabbed Ray's arm as he limped for the door on woozy legs. At the door, he spun around, suddenly wide-awake. ‘Ray, quick, out the back way, run.'

‘Huh?'

‘Cops!' José pushed Ray outside. ‘Run, man!'

Ray ran for the weed tree forest. Then it hit him: Trini had run south. Yolie's was north, south was the precinct. He spun around. José had tripped twenty yards back. He waved Ray on. ‘Git, man,' he wheezed.

Ray pulled José into the weed tree thickets, threw José's arm over his shoulder. They limped as one by moonshine.

José pulled away, out of breath. ‘I ain't-a make it, man. My head, man, gonna explode. I'm shit dizzy.
Go
.'

‘I ain't ditchin you.'

‘Then we split up. Meet in that dead spot there under the highway, that street that runs—duck.'

Flashlights swept the trees.

‘Okay, listen a me, Ray-Ray. Here's what we do. Go to the dock. Boost a skiff. River's dark as hell. They won't see you on the water once you get past the sewage plant there. You know what I'm talking about?'

‘Yeah, but hell with that, I ain't leavin you behind.'

‘Right right, I know I know, but you're gonna get the boat, right? Then I'll
meet
you, see?'

‘You're lyin a me.'

‘Goddammit, son! I ain't lyin! You pick me up on the other side of the plant, a'right? You go the long way for the boat, take the tracks. I'll shortcut by the overpass. I won't make it if I go the long way. I see you in ten minutes.' José limped back toward the stationhouse.

‘You're snowin me bad, man.'

‘I'll meet you. And brother? Once you hit them tracks, you run. Now git.' José limped away onto the trail.