Falls Street (9)
Renee had said that all guys are assholes, and I agreed. I really can’t present a case for anybody. We might as well just give up. My parents would have yelled at me for hanging out with her. She’s older and has funky pink hair and weird clothes. My parents hate that kind of thing. Besides, she’s a girl that I might actually have a shot at. I don’t care, though. I like her boyfriend. He has great stories. I think that’s the sign of a healthy relationship, even if the stories are about bad things, they still have value. My mother thrives on stories. As a son, I am the sum of several stories. It was only a matter of time before a certain story got its way over to her. “Tell the truth, Jason,” she demanded. “I try to,” I said. “Don’t get smart with me,” she said. “You know what you did.” “Probably,” I said. This could go on for hours unless I took a guess. “Are you pissed off about me hanging out with Renee?” “No,” she said. “And I told you, you can hang out with whoever you want. It’s your life.” She only tacks on ‘it’s your life’ if she thinks I’m making a big mistake. Mom’s a short lady with dark hair and grayish eyes. She’s tiny, because she doesn’t sit still at all. She’s forty something and looks like she’s been that age all her life. “What do you want?” I asked. “I want you to apologize,” she said. “To whom?” I asked. “To that poor boy who’s jaw had to be wired shut because of you,” she said. “What?” I asked. “That boy you hit in the parking lot,” she said. “His mother called me up yelling to the top of her lungs how she had to take her boy to the hospital at one in the morning, because he got punched in the face.” “Shit,” I said. “Don’t talk to me like that,” she said. “I had to listen to that woman all afternoon long telling me you have no business being out there. I had to explain to her that my son doesn’t sneak out at night, that my son doesn’t get into fights. How do you think it makes me feel when I hear something like this?” “Whatever,” I said. “Whatever?” she replied. “Is that all you have to say for yourself?” “Yeah,” I said. “You’re not getting out of this apology,” she said handing me the portable phone. “I want you to call him right now and talk to that young man.” “I can’t,” I said. “Why?” she asked. “I don’t know his number,” I said. “Get the phonebook from downstairs and get yourself out of this room,” she said. “It’s filthy in here.” I got the phone number. He’s the only Compagna in the book. I called and got a busy signal. “You’ll try again, every hour on the hour,” she said. “And you’ll tell him that you’re sorry.” “Do you want me to lie?” I asked. “You’re not to leave this house…” she said. “You didn’t even ask me why I did it,” I said. “Don’t interrupt me,” she said. “Fucking Christ,” I said. “Watch your language,” she said. “I did it cause he was a fat, useless fuck who beats his girlfriend,” I said. “Why don’t you talk about that on the phone?” And I called up right in front of her, and the phone went through. She went silent. “Hello, Mrs. Companga,” I said. “This is Jason Holmes.” “Yes,” she said plainly. “I’m calling about your son, Randy,” I said, and I quickly corrected myself and said, “Tommy, I mean, is he there?” “Yes,” she said. “Just a minute.” I heard a little racket, and then Tommy picked up. “Tom,” I said. “This is Jason Holmes. I just wanted to say how sorry I am about your jaw.” “Really?” he said. “How sorry are you?” I wasn’t even hearing him. I was looking straight at my mother daring her to say something. “I’m terribly sorry,” I said in this plain sweet voice. “I don’t know what came over me. There was just too much excitement and I got carried away.” “Whatever,” he said. He sounded fine. No at all like his jaw was wired shut. He just sounded somewhere beyond pissed off. “Are you doing all right?” I asked. “Does it make you feel good?” he asked. “Everybody’s talking about what you did. Does it make you feel like a big man now?” “I don’t know,” I said. “It was a lucky shot,” he said. “And I’m still moving around fine. Just thought I’d let you know.” “Great,” I said. “Hope to see you around then.” “No, you don’t,” he said. “No, you really don’t want that.” “Okay,” I said. “Because when I catch up to you, no one’s going to talk about what you did to me,” he said. “They’re all going to be talking about what I did to you.” “Okay,” I said. “We’ll have to see about that. Thanks a lot.” “You bet,” he said. “Bye,” I said and hung up. I handed the phone to my mother. “Isn’t there someone you should be calling now?” She left without saying anything. I shut the door to my room behind her. *** On Thursday afternoon, Ray and Crash were at my door. My mother told them that I was grounded, but she’d let me out to see them for a while. My mother just liked to tell people that I was grounded. That was the extent of the punishment. It was actually pretty embarrassing, so I consider it a real punishment. “What do you guys want?” I asked. “We have some news for you,” Ray said and Crash started chuckling. “It’s going to really cheer you up,” Crash said. “And freak you out.” “What?” I asked. “It’s nothing about Starky, then, right?” They got sober real quick.
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