15

When me and the Knockout King emerged from the door that led out to the roof, the boys all looked at us with a funny expression. They were huddled around a metal trash can, their eyes lit up by the fire. Boner came panting up to Kalvin, relieved to see his master.

“What are they staring at?” I said.

Kalvin picked up Boner and whispered into my ear. “You.”

When they lowered their eyes, I felt like royalty.

Kalvin broke the spell. “Who wants some Kool-Aid?” Hands shot up. They may be tough Tokers, but inside, they were still kids.

We sat around the fire drinking Kool-Aid and eating Doritos. Me and the King sat on a utility box and Prince squatted with the minions looking none too pleased.

“What’s his deal?” I asked.

“Oh, he’s just bein’ Prince is all. He get jealous easily. It’s that hot Latino blood, I guess.”

“About what?”

“Not what. Who. Just ignore him; he’ll get over it.”

He surveyed the scene, me by his side. His eyes connected with Tyreese and he nodded his approval. “I was twelve when I started training out here, just like these guys. Pops taught me to fight right where they are now. It was either fight or get thrown off.”

“I don’t think so,” I said.

“For real. He used to whup my butt, but one day I got better of him and he stopped training me. I started going to the gym and Teacher Man turned me into a boxer. But hitting a bag gets boring pretty quick.”

He watched two of the Tokers going at it over the last of the Doritos. That made him grin. “Back in the day, me and this other dude named Tuffy . . . we were hanging out with nothing to do. We joked around, talking about all the people that passed us on the street. Then one guy gave us a look like he didn’t like us and I said something like, ‘Man, I’d like to pop that dude.’”

“And did you?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I didn’t have a good reason, but I was bragging about how I could take that guy down in one blow, and ol’ Tuffy said, ‘So what’re you waiting for?’ I had no choice then, so I walked up behind the guy as he’s waiting at a crosswalk. I just whacked him in the side of the head. Only problem was, being thirteen, I wasn’t so buffed out like now and it just pissed him off. He chased us for a whole block before we jumped some fences and lost him.”

He laughed at the memory, raising his cup for a toast. “Here’s to ol’ Tuff,” he said. “My former right hand, my ex-CEO, and brother of badass!”

Prince overheard him. That didn’t help his mood any.

Kalvin ignored him. “I didn’t hit someone again till after—you know, after my pops was gone.”

“Your dad died?” I asked.

He didn’t say anything, but a darkness passed through his face. He was staring at Prince and then his eyes lit up again. “When word got out, young Prince here showed up looking to prove himself. Little wetback kid trying to sling it like us. Now normally, blacks and Latinos hate each other’s guts. But you know what? He proved his worth. I’m a equal opportunity guy when it comes to people willing to prove themselves.”

He raised his cup to Prince, who toasted back. “He knows I love him like a brother,” said K. “And man, did we have us some times. But by the time I got to Truman High, I kinda outgrew it. I liked getting these Tokers going and training them and whatnot. It’s like raising little pit bulls.”

It was nice hearing him talk. Part of me wished I was shooting this, but the other part was just glad to be sitting here with him. “Sounds . . . nice?”

He gave me a sour look. “Nice? I don’t know about that. But most of these Tokers don’t got dads, so I feel I’m giving ‘em something I didn’t have. You know . . . direction. Something to feel part of.”

I found myself staring at his lips while he talked. There was something odd about his teeth. The front four were whiter than the rest.

He caught me staring at his mouth. “What?”

“Are those . . . fake teeth?”

He was a little embarrassed, but just shook his head and kissed me, his mouth opened wide. Someone dropped their Kool-Aid. I felt Kalvin’s tongue pushing and then—

“Jesus!” I pulled away and spit something on the ground. His four front teeth.

Kalvin fell on the ground cackling. The others caught on and C-Jay ran over and picked up the teeth and held them up to me. “These yours?”

“That’s . . . disgusting.”

“You asked!” Kalvin said, his face red from laughing so hard.

I flipped them both off. “I’m going.”

“Come on!” I heard him say. “I thought you liked my smile!”

“Not in my mouth.”

“Let her go,” said Prince.

Kalvin waved him off and caught me at the door with his hand on my shoulder. “Come on,” he said softly. “Are you really mad or just showing off?”

I turned and stared into his green eyes. “That was disgusting.”

“Yeah, I guess it was. I’m sorry.”

I softened.

“But you gotta admit, it was funny, right?”

I shrugged. It was. “Only for sick minds.”

“Sick minds think alike.” He nudged me. “So we good?”

“Maybe.”

Then before he kissed me, I slipped out of his hold and walked down the stairs. He watched me walk away. “Hard to get. Good move.”

He was grinning, his four front teeth missing.