Cardboard Ocean Page 12

  He turned over his hand and in it was another rock. It was a railroad rock, just like the first one, but it was no ordinary rock. It had cracks and chips and holes in it, Lester showed us, and he told us if we looked close enough we could see the people living deep in the shadows of the valleys.

  “I helped them get out just before those big boys took the other rock. Then I got a new home for them. This one’s better.”

  But that was yesterday. Today we were walking over the rocks going for the milk.

  “Whoooo,” the trains were big. And fast.

  “I hope we don’t get killed,” said Buster.

  I agreed with him, but I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to sound like I was scared just because we were standing between two passenger trains going in opposite directions each about fifty miles an hour and we didn’t have enough room to stretch out our arms.

  “They’re big,” said Tommy.

  No kidding. We were shorter than the wheels because we were in a kind of sunken hollow and the trains were giants flying by and there was so much wind we could hardly breathe. I think the breathing problems came not because of the wind but because we were scared silly.

  Woosh. Then they were gone. Both at the same time. Suddenly we were standing on an open field that stretched forever this way and that way but not sideways and we were watching the trains going away and we could see over the rooftops of the houses and factories.

  “Don’t touch the third rail,” Joey said. “Mrs. Arnold said she saw a kid get electrocuted when he peed on the third rail. She saw it right from her back window.”

  Mrs. Arnold lived in one of the apartments facing the tracks. She lived alone and went shopping and talked to everyone and then went inside and came out the next day and went shopping again. But there was something about Mrs. Arnold that you did not argue with. If she said she saw something, she saw it.

  The third rail ran alongside the track on the left and was about six or seven inches higher than the rails that the wheels went on. It had a wooden cover over it. Two flaps of steel stuck out from each car on each train and they rubbed along the third rail and the train got its power from it.

  But we knew that the electricity only came along about a minute ahead of the train. We knew because we could touch the third rail and nothing happened if no train was coming.

  “Go on, try it,” said Joey.

  I bent over and held my finger over the flat polished metal. It could kill me. But on the other hand I didn’t want to be a chicken.

  “Go on, chicken.”

  “I’m not chicken,” I said.

  “Well then, touch it.”

  I breathed in and slam. I hit the rail and pulled my fingers away before I could blink.

  Ha, ha. They all laughed. If there had been electricity I would not have had a chance to get away.

  “I can do it too,” said Vinnie.

  He put his hand on the rail and held it there. Then Buster did the same.

  “That’s only because I tried first,” I said.

  “So?” they said.

  Then the pack of Joey, Vinnie, Buster, Johnny and I went off together, walking between the tracks to get milk. Another train went by on an outside track. That was a local and we waved to the people sitting inside. They just stared back.

  Other times we put pennies on the tracks and watched them get flattened, but not today. Today was milk.

  When we got close to the Sealtest Milk sign with the clock, we left the middle of the high-rise walkway and jumped across the other two tracks and then scrambled down the hill and climbed the fence that went along the hill forever. The barbed wire was gone from this spot too.

  The problem now was that we were on 130th Street, Rocky’s Street. But it would be okay, we hoped, because Rocky’s usual hangout was up at the other end of the street, near the El. We were two blocks away and were as safe as two blocks of open street could make anyone.

  At the end of the street was a tunnel that went under the railroad yard. If it wasn’t in Rocky’s neighbourhood, we could play there all day. The tunnel was a fantasy land. It was long and dark and when you got inside you could yell and your voice echoed.

  Cars came flying through it and there really wasn’t any sidewalk, just a little edge, and the cars sometimes went over that and drove on the only place there was to walk. That was scary and exciting. When they came too close we flattened against the wall although that would not really help. It would only mean we would be crushed quicker.

  But that never happened and at the other end we came out and walked up to Atlantic Avenue. What a wonderful street. There was nothing on it but factories. And the first factory made Ex-Lax. And it was painted brown.

  Tommy pushed Vinnie against the wall.

  “Got you, yuck,” said Tommy.

  “You bum,” said Vinnie.

  It was the Ex-Lax game. Push someone against the brown wall because you knew what Ex-Lax did to you and the wall looked like what it did.

  Then we went on to the milk factory. It was huge. There were tanker trucks moving in and out and steam coming up from the smoke stacks. We had no idea what they used steam for since milk was always cold, but our object was to slip inside and get to the lunch room.

  We went in a back door and walked along a catwalk that went between giant shining stainless steel tanks that we knew were filled with milk. We had done this dozens of times and had never been caught. Down below we could see men and women working. They all were wearing white. We were the only dirty ones in the place.

  At the end of the catwalk was a metal stairway that we climbed. It ended at the lunch room, a sealed space with windows overlooking the work area. We never got there at lunch so it was always empty. And just inside it was a water fountain, like any water fountain, a faucet sticking out of a stainless steel sink.

  But when you turned the spigot, milk came out. There were paper cups in a dispenser on the side, and we each took one and turned the spigot and filled our cups.

  “It tastes so good. It tastes better than at home,” said Vinnie.

  And it did. It wasn’t just because we were stealing it that it tasted so good. It did taste better than at home. It was rich and cold and amazing.

  We drank five or six or seven cups each, pushing each other away from the fountain and spilling some and then Joey said, “We better go.”

  That was all the warning we needed. We better go. We crushed the cups and threw them into the garbage can and went down the stairs and along the catwalk and moved quickly because we did not want to get caught with our stomachs full because if they punched us in the gut, they would get the evidence they needed to lock us up.

  We got outside and were free. We felt great. We were on a milk high. We had energy and were laughing and pushing each other against the Ex-Lax wall and feeling high.

  Then Vinnie saw one of Rocky’s gang.

  “Look, he’s by the tunnel.”

  We saw a kid we knew even though we didn’t know his name. But we did know he was one of Rocky’s. He was watching us and then he climbed over the fence around the rail yards that went over the tunnel and disappeared.

  “They know we’re here,” said Vinnie.

  We moved together as fast as we could. We went back into the tunnel, but this time there was no shouting to make echoes. We ran through it, rubbing against the wall to avoid the cars and staying together. No one would be left behind.

  At the other end we climbed the fence and ran up the hill to the tracks. Once we were there we would be safe. Even if they came after us with bigger numbers than we had, we could outrun them to our street.

  We made it and the sense of relief was so good we picked up rocks and threw them back at where we had left. It was like firing rifles into the air, but it felt good.

  I found an iron bar and swung it like a baseball bat. The others laughed and I stuck the bar down on the third rail and walked along dragging it.

  I didn’t know why they did it. Why d
id my friends take a baseball bat and hit me across the back of my head? Why did these guys who I liked try to kill me? It hurt like nothing had ever hurt in my life. It was not a hurt. It was a brain-crushing bang and I saw blackness and bright lights and then nothing.

  “Man, are you still alive?”

  I heard that, but I could not answer. I didn’t know the answer. I moved my hands and felt the sharp points of the railroad rocks and tried to push myself up but I fell down again. My face hit the rocks, but they didn’t hurt this time. Everything else hurt more. My head was still exploding and there were bright lights even though my eyes were open.

  “What happened?”

  I heard them asking me that, but I did not know what happened.

  “You almost killed yourself.”

  I heard that.

  “You okay?”

  I nodded, I think, but the rocks rubbed against my face.

  “Good, because we can’t stay here. If you die, we’d get in trouble.”

  I knew that. So I couldn’t die.

  I pushed down with my hands and got up on my feet. I was dizzy. I put my hands to my face and felt the wetness.

  “You’re bleeding.”

  I took my hands away and saw they were covered with muddy blood.

  “It was that iron bar, you idiot.”

  Now I remembered. The iron bar. Wow. That was some belt.

  “I read in a comic that’s how some superheroes get to be strong. Are you strong now?” asked Vinnie.

  I had no idea who was talking, but I could barely stand.

  “Let me see if you’re strong,” said Joey.

  He grabbed me in a headlock. I was limp.

  “You’re not super strong,” he said. “Those comics lied.”

  We walked back between the tracks and a train came and I felt the wind on my face. I was so cold and weak I could barely keep up.

  We got back to our street and went down the hill and climbed the fence and were standing at the edge of the dead end. Jimmy Lee was with Dorothy and Vanessa. I wished I had been with them.

  “Where were you guys?” Jimmy Lee shouted. “I looked everywhere for you.”

  “We got milk.”

  Johnny Ride a Pony

  “Aww, I was taking care of my brother,” said Jimmy Lee. He couldn’t get milk with us.

  He came out two minutes ago and we weren’t there on the street where he thought we would be and instead he had to talk to the girls, which I know he didn’t like because he wasn’t in love with either of them.

  Jimmy Lee didn’t get much chance to just go off with us without asking his mother because a lot of the time he had to stay in the house to take care of his brother. His brother could never be alone.

  “Want to play Johnny Ride a Pony?” asked Dorothy. She was chewing bubble gum and blowing bubbles.

  “What happened to you?” she asked me.

  “Nothing. I fell.”

  How could I tell her that I put an iron bar on the third rail and dragged it until I almost got killed? I wanted to impress her and that was not the way.

  “And yeah, I want to play.”

  If Dorothy wanted to do something, I wanted to do it. And in Johnny Ride a Pony you got to wrap your arms around someone. Maybe, just maybe. You never know.

  It was getting dark but I wasn’t tired. No sir, not me. If I just used my handkerchief to clean my face I could go on all night if the game lasted that long. My handkerchief was stiff with dried snot and it scraped my face when I used it, but it was working. I could see the blood on the cloth which meant I had less of it on my face.

  “You look terrible,” said Dorothy. “Let me help you.”

  She took the hanky and spit on it then rubbed my face. I never wanted to wash again. I was being cleaned by the girl I loved. I had never been so lovingly rubbed before, even if some of her rubbing hurt like crazy.

  “Okay, you’re clean enough to play,” she said.

  We chose sides with odds and evens. That was the greatest game, after Rock Paper Scissors, which really was the greatest game, but that took too long. So Tommy and Joey did odd and even.

  “Evens,” said Joey.

  They faced each other, “one, two, three,” and each threw out their hands. Joey had two fingers out, Tommy, one.

  “I pick Dorothy,” said Tommy.

  I knew why he did that. He would figure out a way to be in front or behind her, it didn’t matter which. Behind and he would hold her, in front, she would hold him. But maybe if Tommy picked me I would end up in front or behind Dorothy, depending on how the lineup was decided.

  “I pick Mickey,” said Joey.

  Darn. The best I could hope for was she would jump on my back and dig her fingers into my armpits and that would probably hurt.

  When we finished picking, Joey and Tommy did odd and even again for who would be first. You wanted to be first to jump because the other team might get hurt and not want to play anymore and then your side would win. We had one less player, but they had Vinnie and he was as big as two so it was even.

  Tommy won the evens and odds. We would bend over.

  We lined up at the corner of the factory and Joey bent over and put his shoulder into the edge of the brick wall. Then he put his hands on the walls and held on.

  “You go next, Mickey,” he said.

  I put my head down along his hip and grabbed him around the waist.

  “Then Jimmy Lee,” said Joey.

  Jimmy Lee latched onto my bent over rear end.

  “Don’t fart,” he said.

  “Then Buster.”

  He got behind Jimmy Lee.

  “Your pants stink,” I heard him say.

  The head guy was the coach. He has to put the weakest player somewhere because they would try to jump hardest on him and break your team and they would win. Buster was smallest, even smaller than Johnny.

  “Hey, you want to trade,” said Tommy. “We’ve got two girls. We’ll take Buster and you can have Vanessa.”

  Joey stood up, which knocked me backwards and I knocked Jimmy Lee backwards. “Why’d you do that?” I asked Joey.

  “Cause I can’t take Vanessa for Buster,” he whispered to me. “She’s not as strong as Buster, but if I don’t take her she’ll be sad and I don’t want Vanessa to be sad.”

  I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking that if she was happy she might someday undress again, but if she was sad she might go home and hide under the bed.

  “So take both Dorothy and Vanessa and trade Jimmy Lee and Buster,” I said. I said that before I realized how dumb it was because then we would have two girls. But I said it because Dorothy would be on our side and I was dreaming of her wrapping her arms around me instead of Jimmy Lee.

  “That’s dumb,” said Joey.

  He looked at Vanessa. He stopped breathing. Something was happening to Joey.

  “I’ll take Vanessa for Buster.”

  “Awww, gee,” said Buster. “I’m only as good as a girl.”

  “Okay, get down again,” said Joey. “Vanessa, you get in the back where Buster was.”

  At least he didn’t put her second. He was not so dumb as me wanting to get two girls on our team just so one of them would be Dorothy.

  “Here I come,” said Dorothy. She was the smallest on the other side. She ran up behind us and jumped over Vanessa and put her hands down on Jimmy Lee’s back and kept going right over me and wound up on Joey’s back.

  “Oww,” he shouted.

  She was a good jumper. Then she wiggled and moved backwards while getting a better grip and her bottom ended up on the back of my head. She wrapped her arms around Joey’s body and her legs around mine with her heels digging into my chest. I didn’t mind. She blew a big bubble and I heard it pop.

  Tommy shouted that he was coming and he was a good jumper too. He wound up flattening himself behind Dorothy, sitting on my backbone.

  “Ugh,” I muttered.

  Dorothy’s rear end was still sitting on the back o
f my head and when she moved she scraped the seam of her dungarees on my ear which was still raw and sore from the rocks by the tracks. Being in love was hard.

  Then Johnny who could jump really well flew up and landed on Tommy’s back.

  “Ugh.” Again. That knocked my breath out. My legs sagged.

  “Sorry,” Johnny said.

  “It’s okay,” said Dorothy.

  Why is he saying sorry to her? She’s got Tommy between her and him.

  Then I knew why. He had landed on Tommy’s back and Tommy was on top of Dorothy and Vinnie was coming. And they were all on top of my head but Johnny was worried that Vinnie would hurt Dorothy.

  “Here I come,” shouted Vinnie.

  I braced my legs. Vinnie was big. It was because he ate spaghetti, he said.

  He jumped. He landed.

  “Owww.” “Ugh.” “Ahhhh, damn.”

  “Hey, watch your language,” Dorothy shouted to me.

  Darn, I thought. I don’t want her to get mad at me, but Vinnie was killing me. I had to keep sliding my right foot to keep my balance and once you start doing that you don’t have much time left. I could move my head enough to see Jimmy Lee trying to keep his balance too.

  Buster shouted that he was coming. There was still a lot of room for him to land. He had all of Vanessa’s back, but I didn’t think I could last ten more seconds and we had to wait for him to land and then try to knock them off before they said “Johnny Ride a Pony” three times.

  Buster jumped and held on at the top. I was biting my lip trying to hold on at the bottom.

  “Johnny Ride a Pony, Johnny Ride a Pony, Johnny Ride a Pony,” they shouted. We fell.

  “We won,” they said and we all wound up in a pile.

  That game hurt, but it was fun.

  Then we switched places.

  Me and Jimmy Lee and Vanessa jumped on their backs.

  Then we heard Junior shrieking. He had gotten up from the curb where he was watching us and was doing his kind of running across the street toward us.

  “No, you’re not really going to let Junior play?” Tommy asked.

  “Why not?” said Joey. “You have one more than us.”

  “But we have girls,” said Tommy.

  “I don’t care. I want him to play,” said Joey.