Ten Mile River (15 page)

‘Just in case y'all think of dropping in on us again—'

‘Like while yas are sleepin, for instance, my razor drawn? Yas can't stay awake forever.'

José smiled. He nodded to Ray. ‘Let's us introduce Breon to our roommates.'

Ray yelled out the open window, ‘Yo
dawgs
!'

Every last mangy, ragged pit bull ran uphill into the house, settled at Ray's feet, the giant Dobie between Ray's legs.

‘Say hullo to our lil' friends,' José said in his best Scarface voice.

Breon kept his cool, his eyes just a bit wider. He smiled, backed out of the house until he got far enough uphill, turned around and disappeared in the weed trees, his smile gone.

‘You wet your pants a little, Ray.'

Ray checked. José was right, a flower at the crotch. ‘Think he'll be back with his posse? You know them Irish.'

José squinted. ‘I figure Breon for the loner type. He don't run with nobody. He's too cool to run with other folks. In case he do come back, you think you could train just one of them dogs for use more than kissin visitors to death?'

‘How long you reckon before we can relax?'

‘Till we die or he kills us.' José smiled.

‘I'm gonna miss old Breon a little.'

‘He woulda stabbed us. He was a killer.'

‘Don't mean I can't miss 'im,' Ray said.

‘I'm gonna miss Mr. O,' said José.

‘Whaddaya mean?'

‘First thing I'm gonna do if I'm Breon? I'm gonna lay a bad rap on us, tell Mr. O we was the ones casin the joints.'

‘Didn't think of that,' Ray said.

‘You didn't think of much, chuckin a motherfuckin six-thousand-dollar laptop into a river.'

‘We got to tell Mr. O about Breon.'

‘By the time we get to Mr. O face-to-face, Breon'll have soured him on us.'

‘I'll write him a letter then, no return address. I can't believe we'll never see Mr. O again. He was cool.'

‘He was,' José said. ‘He was a father figurine to me. Ya orphaned me again, Ray. Congratulations. You saved some rich asshole's social security number, and all it cost you was our father, our big brother and our jobs.' José chuckled, studied the fake gun in his hand. ‘You are one lame-ass sonuvabitch.'

20

Yolie smoothed things out with old Romeo, and J again was pedaling pie for The Slice Is Right. He and Trini were at it hotter and heavier than ever. Yolie got Ray Mr. Fix-It work around the neighborhood, hired Ray to renovate her attic. ‘For my niece Vanessa. She coming soon. For a guest room.'

Ray knew the guests Yolie wanted. Well, he figured, if I can't live over Yolanda's Braid Palace, I can work here and be near Trini. ‘Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate the work.'

One rainy six o'clock as Ray was leaving The Palace Yolie said, ‘All that water, chico. You boys should spend the night.'

‘Nah, thanks, ma'am. I got new tin up on the roof now, we're good.'

‘You sure? I got a brand-new beautiful guest room upstairs.'

Ray had just finished the attic renovation that afternoon. He smiled, appreciative of her compliment. ‘Thanks, Mom—I mean ma'am, sorry about that.'

Yolie pinched his cheek. ‘Stay for dinner, amor. Let Yolie feed you.'

He stayed, chowed home-cooked medianoches Cubanos, hot pressed sandwiches of jamón, roast beef, queso blanco, sweet pickle slathered with a stick of butter cut longwise, folded into a chewy white roll, fried and flattened with a giant clothing iron. Yolie did up the tamale rice and beans twice refried, pan flashed shredded lettuce, green chili sauce top. ‘Too bad José's workin,' Ray said, mouth full. ‘Maybe I could bring some home for 'im?'

‘Ob'course.' Yolie watched Ray eat. ‘Nice to cook for a man again. Please, amor, have more, have more.'

‘José's not workin tonight,' Trini said. ‘Said he had to meet a friend.'

‘First I heard,' Ray said. What trouble you getting us into now, partner?

Dishes done, Ray and Trini tried to figure out how to send pictures from her new mobile phone to her computer. ‘Vanny called last night. She says she can't wait to meet you.'

Ray smiled. Lately he was working hard to convince himself this thing with Trini's cousin was going to work out.

Trini nudged him. ‘You two are gonna—'

‘Trinita amor,' Yolie called from downstairs. ‘Help Yolie brush el Gordito. I hold him, you brush. Bring me my leather gloves.'

Trini down with Yolie and the screaming cat, Ray went through the pictures on Trini's phone, found one of José and Trini, their arms around each other, cheek to cheek, big smiles. They were perfect together, sickeningly perfect.

Ray made a gangster face, took a picture of himself, figured out how to e-mail that one and the rest of the pix to Trini's computer.

Trini came back, stalled behind Ray as he fiddled with her computer, massaged his shoulders, rested her hand on his neck. ‘How's it goin?'

At her touch he almost reached up and took her hand. He didn't. He clicked her laptop's desktop. The screen's wallpaper was the cute picture of Trini and the J-man.

‘Cool!' Trini said. She slapped Ray's shoulder. ‘Tt, doesn't have a phone, doesn't have a computer, he figures it out. How?'

Ray shrugged. ‘He can read directions.'

VROOM-VROOM!
‘Yo Trini!' came from the street.
VROOM-VROOOOOM!

They looked out the window.

Down in the late-day street, the rain long gone, José saddled a big old junker of a Kawasaki motorcycle. His collar flipped up, he wore a beat-to-hell leather jacket, the coolest Ray had ever seen.

‘Oh my God,' Trini said. ‘He did it.'

‘Come on, y'all. Check it out!'

They ran down to the street. Yolie was already out there, lecturing José to be careful. ‘Where's your helmet?'

He grabbed it from the back of the bike seat, slipped it over Trini's head.

‘You did not steal this bike, please tell me,' Trini said.

‘Bought and paid for, every dollar from pedalin Slice Is Right.'

‘Then I'll ride it.'

‘You sure will.' He grabbed her around the waist, swung her onto the seat behind him. ‘Hang on, baby. She don't look like much, but she can fly.' He pulled back on the throttle, let out the brake, and they did fly, Trini wrapped around him, clinging to break bones, both screaming laughter.

‘
Ten cuidado!
' Yolie called after them. ‘They gonna kill themselves. Madre de Dios, he is movie star gorgeous on that bike, though.'

Ray nodded, smiled, died a little more.

Next round was Yolie's, Yolie so scared she kept her eyes closed, her face hidden in the J-man's back. ‘Slow down! Oh my God! Coño, hombre, slow
down
!' she laughed.

José slow-rolled her and still she screamed. He let her off in front of the shop, gunned up the street alone, gunned back, popped and rode a wheelie the length of the block, no helmet, long 'rows flying, his smile brighter than the sun splash on the street windows.

‘Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!' Trini said. She was trembling, crying, laughing. She took a picture of José with her phone, ran into the shop.

‘Where you going?' Yolie said.

‘
Tengo que
e-mail
esta a mis chicas
! They gonna die.'

Yolie winked. ‘Gonna be a lot a slippery panties in the Heights tonight, eh, Raymundo chico?' She covered her mouth, laughed, embarrassed, slapped Ray's shoulder. ‘Tt, I can't believe old Yolie said that!'

José skidded up to the shop. ‘C-mon, Ray-Ray!'

‘Nah nah, I'm a'right.'

Yolie put the helmet over Ray's head. ‘It's
fun
, chico. Vayate.'

José grabbed Ray by the shirt, jerked him toward the bike. Ray got on, the helmet too small for his monster dome.

José grinned, winked to Yolie. ‘Don't wait up for us.' He rolled back all the way on the throttle, kicked the clutch, popped the brake.

The force of the acceleration slammed Ray back to the sissy bar. ‘Shit.'

‘Be
care
ful, Josito,' Yolie screamed. ‘Slow down. Slow down!'

They tore it up down by Macombs Dam Bridge on Powell Boulevard, a long run without lights that dead-ended at the Polo Ground Houses. All the bikers came here.

‘Serious, you steal it?' Ray yelled to be heard over the wind.

José yelled back, ‘Tt
no
, man, Frankie the Fence, three hundrit fitty bucks, plus he threw in the jacket.'

‘Bike's gotta be hotter than a hungry whore.'

‘What!'

‘I said, bike's hot!'

‘It sure is. Hang on, son!'

‘How you know how to ride so good?'

‘Psh, ridin my trick bike is harder. Ray, I been dreamin of this ride since the womb. Man, the wind feels good, huh? Born to ride, baby! Hooooo
yeah
!'

A cop cruiser picked them up out on the avenue.

‘We are so done,' Ray said.

‘No we ain't.'

‘You got no helmet, no
licence
, hot plates—'

José bobbed and weaved with the cabs, northwest.

‘Where you goin?'

‘Jersey, man! They ain't chase us over the bridge!'

‘Stop, man! I gotta get off ! You're goin too fast now!'

‘You wanna go to juvie? Then hang on!' José gunned it, ditched one cruiser then another in the traffic. Three minutes later they were on the Trans-Manhattan Expressway, weaving through the fast-moving traffic, gunning it on the shoulder, onto the ramp that swung around to the upper deck of the GW Bridge, one lane blocked with cones and cleared for roadwork. ‘This is gonna be beautiful. You better hold tight now, Ray!'

‘Goddammit, why?'

‘We gonna fly now!' José pulled the bike into a slow-rise wheelie. ‘Like Grand Theft live, baby! Hoo, Ray! Hooooooo!'

‘Slow down, man! Put the wheel down, J-man, please! You gonna kill us!'

‘Flyin off a bridge on a motorcycle. Pick a better death. Hahahaaaa! Scarface's got you, kid! No harm can come to us! I feel it! We're God's chosen this one minute! Yayuh! They'll never catch us, Ray-Ray! Never! We the Wonder Thieves!'

Ray clung to the J-man, took it all in, the sunset on the bridge, the sky stacked with every shade of red, the Hudson cliffs eternal, the wind cold. Two kids flying on one wheel.

21

Come May's end, Yolie threw Trini an end of the school year party.

The boys grabbed hot showers at the rec center. Ray fussed with his zits in front of the dented metal mirror.

‘Stop pickin at 'em, Ray-Ray. You're makin it worse. Chill, son. You act nervous you gonna scare her off.'

‘I ain't nervous, a'right?'

Trini's cousin Vanny was going to be at the party, fresh off the plane from San Juan.

Ray splashed himself with cheap cologne, passed the bottle to José.

‘Man, we smell good, huh?' José said. ‘Lemme have a little more of that stuff.' The J-man splashed his armpits.

Ray copied the J-man.

Yolie's yard was packed with kids from Trini's school. They were okay, better than Ray expected. Some were even nice. The prep school chicks flirted with José as he worked the meat grill, played with his long shiny cornrows, which Yolie and Trini had beaded that morning with Day-Glo red. He was polite but made it known he was Trini's man. Even Yolie mussed his braids at one point. She was a little tipsy on Cuervo. José winked at Trini. She blew him a kiss. He caught it, pasted it onto his lips.

Seeing José like this, a corny family man, Ray figured the J-man and Trini would get married someday. If José didn't get his ass shot off robbing a jewelry store.

Ray was on bun patrol, working the midget grill. Small as it was, it threw heat this hot night. Ray sweat. He looked over to José, shirt off, tied around his waist. Ray stuffed a hotdog bun into his mouth. He was drunk on beer to work up his courage to face Vanessa, due in any minute.

Trini passed a tray of hors d'oeuvres. The late-day light in the yard, Trini glowed. Ray hurt.

Yolie screamed. Trini spun and screamed. They attacked the girl who had just come into the yard, the three ladies kissing. Trini grabbed the girl's hand, lugged her over to Ray. Trini rubbed Ray's shaved head. ‘Vanita, this is the famous Ray Mond. Raymond, this is my cousin Vanessa.'

Vanessa was pudgy, like Ray. She wasn't Trini, but she was all right.

Ray nodded to Vanessa. ‘Yup,' he said. ‘Hi, I mean. I'm R—' He stopped saying his name because he remembered Trini had just said his name twice.

Trini pinched Ray's cheek. ‘Told ya he was funny. Isn't he just adorable, girl?'

Vanessa looked down at her feet, frowned. ‘I don't know. I better unpack.' She went into the braid shop.

Ray nodded. ‘Yup, she don't like me a half a bit.'

‘Nah nah, I'm tellin you, boy. Look, she's shy. Give it time, you'll see.'

‘Yolie, we need more cow.' José came out from the kitchen holding up the last bag of burgers, slapped them onto the grill.

Yolie went for her pocketbook.

‘I'll go, Yolie,' Ray said.

‘It's okay, amor,' Yolie said. ‘You stay and have fun.'

‘I need the air anyhow.'

Yolie gave Ray money. ‘Go to the diner, tell them I sent you. They give you a fifty-pack of burgers.'

Ray took the money. ‘Which diner?'

Trini took Ray's hand. ‘I'll show you. C'mon.'

On the way to the diner they walked one of Trini's guy friends to the subway. The cat kept talking about this girl he was in love with, heartbroken that the chick didn't know he existed. ‘It's like I'm invisible,' he said. Trini comforted the guy, kissed him at the subway steps, told him she would call him tomorrow.

Ray felt bad for the kid, or maybe he just felt bad for himself. ‘He seems real busted up.'