24

I cracked the door open just enough to see Mr. Jamison in the living room. He was towering over Kalvin, who was on the couch trying to play it cool. Boner growled at the intruder.

“You got no right to be here,” said Kalvin. “You ain’t a cop and I don’t go to Truman anymore.”

Jamison raised his eyebrows. “Oh, so you’re admitting you no longer go to school. Does your mother know that?”

“Don’t be playing my moms. She knows I’m good,” Kalvin said.

Jamison smirked. “I seriously doubt that.” Boner continued to growl, and Jamison seemed ready to strangle him.

Kalvin ignored him. “That dog is trained to kill, yo.”

Jamison looked at Kalvin’s mom. “Mrs. Barnes, I’m here as a favor. Next time it won’t be me; it’ll be SLPD. I’m trying to look out for my kids—” he stole a look at Kalvin, who was about to say something. “The kids at Truman, who have been involved in these Knockout Games.”

Kalvin’s mom piped in. “Kal don’t go in for these kinds of things. He works that all out at the Rec Center.”

“Is that what he tells you?” He turned his attention back to Kalvin. “I don’t know if you heard or not, but we had a little chat with Prince Rodriguez this afternoon. Know him?”

Kalvin shrugged.

“Yeah, apparently he was part of that whole water balloon incident last night—”

“For reals, Mr. Jamison?” interrupted Kalvin. “Why don’t you arrest me for stealing lollipops?”

Jamison was not amused. “You know someone knocked out a city councilman that night?”

Kalvin looked confused.

Jamison brightened. “Oh, you haven’t heard yet? Well, apparently your pal Prince was identified as a possible perp and in our discussions, one name kept coming up: the Knockout King. Ring any bells?”

“Yeah, it’s one of those old-school video games my pops use ta play.” He pretended to box from the couch.

“Nice tat,” Jamison said, pointing at his fist. “Coincidence?”

Kalvin pulled his hand away. “You gonna have to do better than that.”

His mom cut in. “He’s a boxer, and you know it. He won a bunch of fights, so they started calling him that. I told him he shouldn’t deface his body, but he was so proud.”

Jamison glowered at him. “That’s a nice story and I’m sure it’ll play in front of a jury.”

Again, Kalvin scoffed. “Ain’t no juries in Family Court.”

Jamison was impressed. “That’s right, Kalvin, there aren’t. But there are in adult court, which is where you’ll end up, Einstein.” Jamison leaned into his face. “Like father, like son. Do I have to explain it? The man beat it into you.”

Kalvin jumped up off the couch, ready for action. Boner started barking. Kalvin’s mom stepped between him and Jamison. “Kal, no! Don’t let him make you do something stupid. He’s just baiting you.”

Kalvin calmed himself and held out his wrists. “You ain’t got nothing on me; otherwise, you’d be here with a cop, arresting my ass now. So you just making noise is all.”

Jamison stood up to his full height, one eye on Kalvin, one on his mom. “OK, tough guy, this is where we part, then. You had a chance to go to Grant Remedial and get back on track. But you’ve stayed away. And now, I don’t have to bait you into doing something stupid. You’ll screw up on your own and when that happens, the cops will be the ones standing here. Then, you won’t be so cocky. You sure you have nothing to say to me? I’m your last chance.”

Kalvin nodded. “Yeah. One thing. Good-bye.” He waved him off like a rich person waving off the help.

Jamison walked up to Kalvin’s mom. “I know he’s involved,” he said. “The question is, are you going to help him by coming forward, or wait until somebody dies and he’s charged for murder?”

She didn’t say anything; she just opened the door for him to leave.

“Alright then,” said Jamison. “My job is done here.”

Kalvin ignored him. When the door closed and the footsteps drifted down the stairwell, Mrs. Barnes sat down next to him.

“Kal, I don’t want to lose another person in this family to prison. If you have anything to say to me, please say it now. You know I’ll back you. Are you involved in all this?”

Kalvin took a deep breath, even managed a smile. He put his hand on hers. “Mom, I ain’t going to no jail. I ain’t dealing; I ain’t in a gang; and I ain’t killed no one. And I plan to keep it that way. I’m gonna get back into school, graduate, and apply to college, like I said. That’s bank, Mom. What he’s saying . . . that’s just lies. We’re just messing around, having fun, and they don’t like it. But I’m a good boy, Mama.” On cue, Boner hopped up into Kalvin’s lap and licked his face.

She patted his hand. “I know you are, son. As long as you’re trying to better yourself, I’ll be on your side.”

“I did mess up one thing, though.”

His mom lowered her head. “What’s that, son?”

“I messed up with that girl in there. She trusted me and I kind of screwed it all up.”

I almost believed him.

“Well, what do you do when you mess up, Kal?”

He knew the answer, which they said together like they’d practiced it a hundred times before.

“You make it better.”

She stood. “I’m going to the store. You spend time with that girl and make things right, ya hear?”

“I will, Mom.”

When she left, Kalvin just sat there petting his dog. After a minute, he said, “I know you’re listening.”

I opened the door and walked over to him, plopped down on the couch. This day just kept getting stranger and stranger. “What’re you going to do?”

“About us?” He moved his hand over toward me, but I didn’t take it.

“About the cops,” I said.

That stopped him. He got up and went to the window, overlooking his kingdom. “I gotta do some cleaning up. Prince shouldn’ta disobeyed me. And Joe Lee, well, he’ll have to learn that sometimes speaking out only makes things worse.”

I got up to leave. He didn’t move from the window. Before I stepped out the door, I asked, “Is it true you wrote a poem for me?”

He didn’t even look at me. “I don’t write poems. I take care of business. You do what you gotta do.”