unless they were looking for trouble. The manager seemed to think we scared off customers. Maybe we did, sometimes, but just for his benefit. He always gave us a hard time but I think he knew that without us he would have some real hoods running the show.
“Hey guys!” Slim said, sliding into the booth beside me. “I figured I’d find one of you here.”
Slim was the funny one. He could make you laugh anytime, anywhere. He was a tall, lanky guy which is, of course, how he got the nickname, Slim. His hair was never combed— dark, like mine and AJ’s— and he had baby-blue eyes. I always thought that was pretty cool, having light-blue eyes and dark hair. It looked real tight. He was eighteen, and had walked into the cafe one day and never left. Unlike us, he wasn’t a native to the area. He had moved around a lot until he was fifteen and took up with us. We were usually cautious about new people on the block. Not just anyone could walk in and join forces with us… but there was just something about Slim.
“What can I get you guys?” a young waitress asked. She had short, brown hair and long fingernails. She was hot, there was no denying it, and her smile could melt an iceberg.
“Hmm.” Slim pretended to look at the menu. “I’ll take one piece of paper with your number on it.”
“I don’t think that is on the menu,” she blushed, smiling. “How about you guys?”
“I’ll take a burger and fries,” Fry said without looking at the menu. We had been there so many times we didn’t need to.
“And you guys?” she asked, looking at me and Sticky.
“Nothing for us.”
“Hey, did you guys hear about Ace’s kid-brother getting jumped last night?” Slim asked in an excited voice— the only one he had. I was surprised the word had gotten around so fast, and wondered if Ace had found the guys.
“Sure did. Matter of fact, I had front row seats,” I said, antsy to tell my story.
“What’re you talking about?” Slim asked, puzzled.
“I happened to walk by the fight. I put the slummers in their place, too.”
“You stopped them?” he questioned.
“Sure did. Hell, the kid’s only, like, twelve. They had worked him over pretty good before I got there, though. He passed out on the way home.”
“Lucky you! Now you’re one-up on old Ace,” Slim pointed out. “You ever need out of something and he’ll do it. He’d do anything for that kid!” Kind of like AJ, I thought.
Fry just sat there looking at nothing in particular. He was higher than the heavens, and I wondered for a minute what he was on.
I had tried the drug thing just once. When I was thirteen I had gotten my hands on some Ecstasy from a girl I was dating. That was some crazy stuff. To make a short story of it, AJ happened to come looking for me that night when I was rolling. He knew as soon as he saw me I was sky-high. He pinned me against the wall in front of half the school, everyone at this party, and told me that if he ever caught me using drugs again he’d break my face. He threw me in the car and took me home. Of course, I laughed the whole way which pissed him off even more, and he slugged me a few times trying to get me to sit still in the cold shower he threw me in.
What a night. I hadn’t touched a speck of drugs since. I fully believed AJ would beat me to a pulp if he caught me using anything again. I know better than that now. I had watched a whole list of people get completely messed up on different things; some ruining their lives, others killing themselves.
“So what you guys wanna do tonight?” Slim asked.
“Let’s drag tonight. Maybe we can pick up some chicks or something.” I looked to Fry to see what he thought since he was the only one there who had a car.
“Yeah, okay,” he agreed.
“You new around here? I haven’t seen you in here before,” I asked, when the waitress brought out Fry’s food.
“Yeah, we moved in a month ago. I just started today.” She blushed a bit as she said it, and I could tell she was nervous.
“Well, welcome to the neighborhood. I’m Clay, and you don’t really need to know their names.” I smiled, nodding toward my friends.
“So you’re the one with the plan? They just follow?” She smiled back.
“In his dreams,” Slim laughed, almost shoving me out of the booth.
“Well, if you need anything, we’re always around,” I told her, regaining my composure.
“Thanks,” she said, walking off.
“What, are you sweet on her or something?” Sticky said, grinning his toothy grin.
“Why do you ask?”
“We usually give the new waitresses a hard time. That’s partly why there are always new waitresses to bug.”
“They’re usually old biddies. She seems okay.” I shrugged.
“She is a looker.” Slim turned around in the booth to watch her. I reached over and smacked him, and he looked back at me and grinned.
“I’ll see you guys later,” Sticky called, walking up the front steps of his house where we had dropped him off after leaving the diner. “Pick me up at eight.”
He planned on grabbing some clothes while his old lady was at work. My guess was that he would swipe some more of her booze on his way out, too.
“We gotta’ go pick Mark up,” I told Slim who was behind the wheel. Fry was asleep in the backseat.
Mark was sitting on the school steps when we pulled up. I’m not sure what he was waiting for; usually he would head on home.
“Want a ride?” I called.
He got up and hopped in the back of the car. “Hey guys.”
“You guys going home or what?” Slim asked.
“Let’s go to the park and see if Marty’s there,” I said.
Marty was nineteen. He always hung around the park. His brother had died there, just in front of the park on the street. I wondered why he tortured himself by going there so often, but I guess I had no idea how he felt.
The streets were pretty desolate as we drove with everyone at work.
“Is that Andy?” Slim asked, slowing the car down. I drew my attention off of the squirrel I had spotted scampering beside the road, and looked up at my best friend pinned against a brick wall.
“Sure is.”
Four guys surrounded him and two guys had him pinned against the wall of the bowling alley. Slim hit the brakes and I slammed into the dash, too distracted to brace myself. Fry woke up, realized what was going on, and reached behind his seat to grab a glass bottle.
All four of us got out of the car. Me and Slim had blades,
