Don't Be Disrespecting Me

Robbery

Noodles popped E upside the head when E told him what he'd done . E sat in his bedroom window . Pushed at the puffed-out plastic filed with wind .

" Maybe I can still find a job or something ."

Noodles asked E how many applications he'd put in over the last six months .

" Thirty ."

" Well , ain't you figured it out yet ? They don't want you ," Noodles said .

E looked scared . Embarrassed , too . " They jitney station might give me a few dollars for cleaning up ."

Noodles came over to E . Pulled out a chocolate bar. " Only one thing to do ," he said , breaking the candy in two . " Steal it ."

E was quiet for a long while . " Steal what ?"

" Whatever you need . Clothes . Shoes . Socks ."

E watched the crap game going on across the street .

" Steal the money , or steal the clothes ," Noodles said . " Shoot . I need me some clothes , too ."

E's sisters came into the room and stared digging through a tall brown box in which they kept their clothes . " I need to put another shirt on . It's cold in here ," six-year-old Erie said .

E stared at the gloves on her hands . Looked at his sister in a torn jacket , and heard Noodles's words loud and clear . " Steal it ." So that's what he did .

Noodles just wanted to go to a store , try on some clothes , and walk out . E wanted the money . Said his sisters needed stuff , too . And his mother needed help with the bills .

" What you planning to do ? Rob a bank ?" Noodles laughed .

E smiled .

" A bank . For real ? Cool ," Noodles said .

" Get a brain , Noodles ."

" We could rip off teachers . Take the money right out their purses ," Noodles said .

E liked the idea but turned it down . He didn't want to be kicked out of school of they got caught .

Then he thought about something Ona had said . People around her way rarely locked their doors and windows . He was telling her about his neighborhood with women walking the street in hot-pink furs and no underwear . She was talking about hers , where people kept big dollars in upstairs drawer for hard times that never seemed to come .

Later that night , E and Noodles figured out just when and how they'd get the money . Come midnight , E put Noodles out of his house . Said he was going to bed . He couldn't sleep , though . His brothers kept coughing and snotting . " I shoulda stepped up to the plate a long time ago ," he said to himself .

" Shoulda been a man long before now ."

They noticed it Right away : the houses in Green Oak Park looked like small apartment buildings .

People had smoking chimneys and pretty green shrubs , even though it was January and frost covered everything .

Nobody was outside and not too many houses had cars out front . So they walked from house to house , peeking inside , since people didn't have their shades down or their curtains closed .

" They live right out in the open ," Noodles said . " You do something like that on Death Row , you gonna get shot just for being stupid ."

E liked the beige-and-white house with the statue out front . It had a curved brick walkway and a welcome sign out front with the family's name on it . He walked around back . The rose-colored kitchen was empty . He tried the doorknob . No problem . " People here don't lock doors , just like Ona said ."

Noodles went in first . Said if somebody answered he'd just act like he was in the wrong house . But nobody was home . So they ran upstairs . Dug in the drawers . Made up a rap song when they found $600 in the master bedroom . They snatched cupcakes and cinnamon rolls on the way out of the neighborhood .

E gave Noodles half the money . Said he wasn't doing this anymore . But it felt good when he told Ona that he'd paid for the tickets . It felt good wearing new jeans and sneakers and having kids fuss over him . But the money tab out before he gave his mother any . So two weeks later when noodles said they should do it again , E was game .

" Friday's our lucky day ," Noodles said . " So let's do it again Friday ."

Noodles picked the house this time . They walked in , sat on the furniture , and even watched a little TV . E looked around the room , at the shiny white piano and the fluffy cream-colored furniture .

" How some people end up with all the money in the world , and other folks end up poor as dirty ? Like us ."

Noodles flipped from channel to channel .

" That's why God gave people a bad gene . So they got the guts to even this money thing out and get some of what other folks got too much of ."

It made sense , E thought . So he picked up a clear candy dish with pink swans for handles and took it with him when he left . " For Momma ," he said .