Round Here

Chapter Three

Mid April '68

Like dad had always said, he'd get the job done. Mario and Slick were taken care of. We haven't seen them on our side of town in a while. C told me Mario dropped out of school and Slick just has gone around attacking people. So he might end up in the slammer or something.

C and I were still fooling around even though Em decided coming back was in her best option. She looked a bit heavier than before. Which is normal for a pregnant lady. Dad said she was a fool for believing C when he said he wasn't foolin around with other girls. She is just oblivious to it all. I mean Mr. And Mrs. Jones has got her believing that Calogero is the best man for her. Even though C has his mind elsewhere. They're talking marriage, and he's thinking bout how many times he can have sex and not get caught. Funny how two sides of the same coin can be different. That's what C told me anyways.

School was just like any other day. Annoying and long. Dad made me come this morning since he wasn't going to be home. We are the odd ones here. Freddie, C, Em and I. We all got something wrong with us as they would say. Em she's pregnant, Freddie's gay, but C and I have yet to figure out why we fit into the bunch like we do.

We skipped third to go smoke. Em chose not to but Freddie and I did. We were at the back of the school. It wasn't too cold today. There was a bit of wind. Nothing more than that. I sat on the curb. I took a few more tokes before I heard the familiar sound of the car. I didn't get up at first. I turned to Freddie. 

"I gotta go before I get in a whole lot of shit. Daddy's gonna kill me." Freddie and I stood up. Em and C were chatting about something. The car was approaching. "C cover for me!" He gave me a thumbs up as Freddie and I were hitting the road. 

I had to go back into the school. Dad, the principals and I had some meeting. If he found out I was busy smoking I'd get it. So we ran as we saw him getting out of the car. He was approaching fast. 

"Fuck, why didn't you tell me your dad was coming." I sat down in the spot I was supposed to meet dad at. 

"I forgot Freddie. Now go before he catches me." 

"He don't care about you hanging with C, but be cares about me?" 

Dad probably didn't remember Freddie from us growing up. He went away one summer after Mama died and all of a sudden came back a "new" man. That's what he claimed anyways. 

"He doesn't remember you Freddie!"  I said to him.

"Who's this?" I was startled by dad's voice. "Dad this is Freddie." Dad held out his hand. Freddie shook it. "Nice to meet you Sir, I've got to go to class but nice seeing yous." Dad let go of his hand. Freddie ran back flashing a peace sign towards me signaling we'd meet at two. Now whether that was in the morning or not I would never know til the time comes.

Dad grabbed my hand. Making me come back to reality. 

"Come on we're gonna be late." 

"Daddy let go of my hand. All my friends will see." He laughed as we continued our way down the hall. I saw a few of my friends. They started laughing. 

"Is this guy your boyfriend peach?" Dad stopped us. Mike and Shawn were laughing with their girls. 

"No Shawn that's my dad. Now excuse us since I have places to be." They did kissy faces at me and went on their way. Dad ignored their idiocy and continued to the office.

We both entered at the same time. Mrs. Trebec didn't look happy. "Where were you Miss LoSpecchio? Mr. Tenns reported you missing for third period."