Blossom - Andrew H. Vachss [39]
The kid hit the ground, came up swinging, trying to get his face buried in my chest. I caught a double left hook on my right forearm, fired a return shot under his heart as he dropped his arm. He went down again.
He came up slower this time, face flushed. I flicked a jab in his face. It bounced off his cheek as he came forward, head lowered, butting at my chin. He dropped his left shoulder but fired with his right, catching me right at the belt line. I grabbed the back of his neck with my right glove, pulled his face into my left fist. Something squished. He hit me a half dozen hammer shots to the ribs, pushing forward, shoulders working.
Virgil pulled him off. The kid's face was bleeding, blood bubbling around his nose as he sucked in air. I sat down on the floor. Virgil raised Lloyd's hand in the air, his hard–coal voice a parody of a ring announcer. "Referee stops contest at two minutes and fifteen seconds of the first round. The fighter from New York is unable to continue. A TKO for the man from Kentucky. Llllloyd!"
51
LATER THAT NIGHT, we told Lloyd about the joint. "You remember the guy we called Astro?" I asked Virgil. I felt a laugh bubble in my chest, thinking back. "That fat dude with the long hair in on a transfer from another federale joint?"
"I guess. Never spoke to him much."
"Yeah. Well, anyway, this guy Astro…he used to live in this giant hippie commune. All they did was harvest grass, drop acid, play music, and ball. Sounded good, hear him tell it. One day one of the other hippies, Jonah, he drops about a quart of LSD. Goes right to the moon. Sits there staring into space, not talking, not eating. Out of it. And he stays like that for days, okay? So they have a meeting, all the hippies. What they decide to do is send someone to visit this guy Jonah, find out how he's doing. This one chump gets elected. Astro says the chump takes exactly the same dose as this guy Jonah, and he goes into the same exact trance. Now the fucking hippies got two guys who need a CAT scan. So, naturally, they call another meeting. Meanwhile, the second guy, he comes out of the nod and walks into the tent. They all crowd around him. Ask him if he got to see Jonah. So this other hippie, he tells them: Hey, I saw Jonah. He's cool right where he is. Says to leave him alone, stop bothering him."
Virgil chuckled, remembering. "Whatever happened to Astro?"
"You got me, brother. He made parole and that was it. He went back to his life. But, whatever, he found his way to do the time, right? On another planet."
Virgil gave the kid a beer. Took one himself.
"This guy we're looking for…he's a monster, right? Like the Prof told us that one time. Remember, brother, when we were all locked down after that rumble on the yard?"
He turned to Lloyd. "We didn't have no TV in the hole. No radios, no books, nothing. So every night, the Prophet, he'd tell us stories. One night it'd be about women. He'd tell you about watching a stripper and I swear to God you could see the girl working, right on your cell wall. Or he'd tell us about some hustle he pulled off. Or about old–time guys, real cons, back when a good thief was something to be proud of. One night, he told us about the legend. That was the first time I knew what a monster was."
I closed my eyes, remembering, hearing the Prof's voice.
Myths and monsters.
52
VIRGIL'S VOICE interrupted the memories, like he was plugged into my thoughts. "Yeah, what a man he was. Sure helped me become one."
The kid's voice was tight with wonder. "How do you get that?"
"What you mean, Lloyd?"
"I mean…what makes a man? A real man." Questions only a kid can ask from his heart. Like knowing is all there is to it. I was thinking about how to tell the kid about Michelle, when Virgil met it straight on. "Same thing that makes a real woman, son. After the storm, all you got is the foundation."
53
SOME OF THE bounce was missing from