A Hole in the Universe - Mary McGarry Morris [65]
“Yo!” Ronnie Feaster called from Mrs. Jukas’s porch. He sat tilted back in the aluminum chair along with Polie and Thurman, who wore a tank top. A tattooed snake curled up the boy’s forearm. His wary grin faded with Gordon’s approach.
“You shouldn’t be up there. That’s Mrs. Jukas’s property,” Gordon said from her walk.
“I know that,” Feaster said. “That’s why I’m here. I’m taking care of it for the old lady.”
“She doesn’t want you up there. You know she doesn’t.”
“We’re not doing anything. We’re just here,” Feaster explained, glancing at the beeper on his belt. “We’re establishing a presence. You know, like cops do. A little time here, a little time there, and that way everything’s cool, people know.”
“Look, would you just get off her porch? All right? That’s all I’m asking.”
“You know how many cops’ve been by since we got here? How many, Polie?” Feaster asked.
Polie’s thick index finger met his thumb in a zero.
“I mean, somebody’s gotta do it,” Feaster said.
“You don’t want me to come up there, so why don’t you just get down?” Gordon’s throat was so dry, it hurt.
Feaster sighed and shook his head. “What? You’re gonna do something stupid, the cops’re gonna come, and all they’re gonna say is, ‘Loomis, what the fuck’re you doing with known felons?’ And what can I say? You think they’re gonna listen to me? No, you just go in your nice little house over there and everything’ll be cool, I promise. Really. Ask anybody, they’ll tell you. That’s what I do, right, Polie? Right, Thurm?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s right.”
It was a long walk to his door. He looked out from time to time. The boy squatted on the porch floor, smoking a joint. Feaster seemed to be dozing in the chair. Sometimes his cell phone would ring and Thurman would go running down the street. A while later Jada came out of her house, carrying the puppy. She set him down on the strip of yellow grass. Bending, she held on to the collar while the dog urinated. Polie got up and started across the street. She grabbed the dog and hurried back inside.
On Saturday morning Dennis stopped in with Lisa and the children. They brought him a quart of strawberries they’d just picked at a farm in Boxford. Dennis was leaving that night for a three-day dental conference in Hartford, so he and Lisa were spending the day doing whatever Jimmy and Annie wanted. The children asked if they could go outside and climb up the old maple tree. Dennis and Gordon both said no, but Lisa said they could as long as they didn’t leave the yard. Gordon kept getting up and going to the back door to check on them. Feaster and his pack weren’t out there. It usually wasn’t until late afternoon that they dragged onto Mrs. Jukas’s porch.
Lisa and Dennis invited Gordon into Boston with the four of them. They were going to the aquarium. While he made coffee he explained why he couldn’t go. Thurman had been let go yesterday after an argument with Neil. His grandmother had come into the store last night and begged Neil to take him back. He had already been expelled, and she was afraid with so much time on his hands he was going to get into some really big trouble. “So Neil finally said he would, but she wasn’t to tell him yet. He wants the boy to spend the weekend stewing. But the thing is, it’s only a matter of time before he ends up in detention or worse,” Gordon was telling them as he set their coffee cups on the table. Nervous when they first came, he was enjoying their company now. “The grandmother, she used to work for Neil, but in any event, I have to cover for him today.”
“So some kids flips out and you’re the only who can do his job?” Dennis asked.
“Well, no, I—”
“So come with us, then!” Dennis said.
“I already told Neil I’d do it.”
“So? Now you’ve got something else to do! Like the rest of the world! Just call and tell him you’re busy. No big deal.”
“I can’t. I’d like to, Dennis, but he’s counting on me.”
“That’s all right,” Lisa said uneasily, looking at Dennis.
“You don’t go anywhere. You don’t do anything. What kind of a life