KING KONG KORAB
Grandpa Marvin put The Enforcer in park and turned around to talk to the two young boys in the backseat. The older one was Reggie. He was nine, but big for his age. The little one was Max, and he was still only five. He had his hair long. It was in his eyes. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt with a purple number sixteen on the back. That shirt used to be Reggie’s before Reggie got chubby and his clothes wouldn’t fit anymore.
“Reggie, Max,” said Marvin. “You see that man in the Jeep? Honks at me and then runs away. Is that how men do things?”
The two boys both replied with an enthusiastic, “No!”
Marvin said, “Good boys,” and then reached back and tousled Max’s hair. It flung back and forth. Max looked up at him. He giggled. He was a nice kid. Marvin babied him. Max wanted a kitten; they got a kitten. Max’s favorite color was pink; no problem. Max wanted tumbling instead of hockey; well, that’s where Marvin drew the line. Max could wear a pink jersey with Malibu Ken on the chest, as long as he laced ’em up and skated with the rest of them.
Marvin grabbed Max’s shoulder and shook him gently. He looked at Reggie and winked.
“Okay, boys. Let’s go. We’re late. You boys have the gift?”
Reggie grabbed the birthday gift. It was a box about the size of a backpack. He shoved it into Max’s arms.
He said, “Hold this.”
Max wrapped his hands around it. He nodded.
Uncle Pete saw them out front. He wasn’t their real uncle. He just worked the ports with Marvin. He waved them all over, and he and Marvin started talking hockey.
Marvin pointed at Max.
“The little one’s a natural, great tools. Skate. Handle. He can shoot. He just needs a little, you know.”
Marvin flexed his biceps and made a fake angry face.
Pete nodded and pointed at Reggie.
“That’s what big brothers are for, right, Reggie?”
Reggie froze.
“I dunno.”
Marvin jumped in.
“That’s right. The fat one’s clumsy, but he’s tough, tough like Jerry Korab.”
Pete said, “Fuckin’ King Kong Korab?”
Reggie didn’t like being compared to Jerry Korab, who was Marvin’s hero. Marvin was excited because Jerry Korab got traded to the Kings. But Jerry Korab sucked.
Marvin looked at Reggie.
Reggie said, “Jerry Korab sucks.”
Marvin laughed. He turned back to Pete.
Pete said, “It’s true. Korab’s just a goon.”
Marvin crouched and put up his dukes like he and Pete were going to start boxing.
“Now, come on. Dave Schultz, Moose Dupont, those are goons. But Jerry Korab’s better than that. Korab can play. But he’ll sacrifice his stats to be Dionne’s bodyguard, to make sure nobody bullies The Little Beaver.”
Pete laughed, “The Little Beaver.”
Marvin patted Pete on the back and directed him through the gate and toward the front door. They started to walk into the party, but Max had wandered off back into the street. Reggie saw him. He was peeking in from the gate. Reggie gave him a stern look. Max hurried back.
As they walked through the door, Genna, the birthday girl, walked up to the boys, standing what Reggie felt was too close. They all three stood there for about a second. Then Genna looked at her mom. Her mom nodded. Genna sighed and ran off to join the other kids.
Genna’s mom was Mrs. Martinez. She was a teacher at Reggie and Max’s school. She talked to them without looking at them.
“Hello, Reginald. Maxwell. Where’s your father?”
Marvin was their grandfather, not their dad, but Max pointed to him anyway.
Mrs. Martinez said, “You can place your gifts on the table.”
She motioned to a folding table. The table was covered in birthday presents. Reggie turned to Max. He was about to repeat the instructions when he saw that Max wasn’t holding the gift.
“Where’s the gift?”
Max didn’t say anything. Reggie looked around.
“Where is it?”
“Someone said leave it outside.”
“Well, go get it.”
But Max wouldn’t go. He shook his head. He folded his arms.
Marvin and Reggie came back from outside the house. They’d looked all over the yard and street. They didn’t find the gift. Marvin asked Max again about what happened. Max told Marvin the same thing that he told Reggie, that somebody said to leave the gift outside. Marvin looked at the two boys with his eyebrows scrunched up.
“What in the heck. Why would anybody tell you that?”
Max didn’t answer. Marvin looked at him like he was about to get upset. Marvin then started asking Reggie questions. Reggie told him that he didn’t have the gift, and that Max was the one in charge of it. Max started crying. Marvin stuck his finger in Reggie’s chest.
“Don’t be a snitch.”
Reggie looked down and felt guilty. Marvin then squatted and focused his attention on Max. He went through the same questions: Who told you to leave the gift outside; was it a kid or a grown-up; did you see the person here, anywhere, at the party; was it somebody you knew or a stranger. He asked if it was a boy or a girl, a man or a woman, if they were friendly or mean, if they were Mexican or white or Black or Chinese or half, because there were some half kids at this party, or if they were tall or short, glasses or no-glasses, fat or skinny. At this last question Max finally answered.
Max said, “Fat.”
Marvin stood up.
Marvin said, “Fat.”
Marvin looked at Reggie. Reggie guessed because he was fat.
Reggie said, “It wasn’t me.”
Marvin frowned. Reggie didn’t know if Marvin believed him. Then Marvin looked around the room. Reggie looked around too. There weren’t any other fat people. Nobody else at the party was fat. They were either skinny or regular.
Marvin said, “Fat. Okay, that’s something.”
He looked at Max again. Max looked like he was gonna cry again. Marvin waved both hands in Max’s face.
“No, no, no. It’s okay. We’ll find them. A fat person. Okay.”
The Martinez house was really big. Marvin led the boys from room to room. They started with the kitchen. Marvin said that was the most logical because fat people like kitchens. They looked through the kitchen. It was as big as their apartment. There were a bunch of people. Mrs. Martinez was at the stovetop making something that smelled like carnival popcorn. Three men were at the bar drinking beer. People passed through while they watched. The people grabbed things and walked back out. They checked them all out. None of them were fat.
Marvin opened a beer. He took a long sip. He held the bottle to his mouth as he looked around. He took another sip and said, “Let’s go.”
The three of them walked out the backdoor. They walked into the backyard. There were no fat people back there either. People started to notice that they were up to something. Somebody asked Marvin what was wrong. Marvin said, “Nothing.” But Reggie and Max could tell that he was starting to get frustrated.
Then he said, “What kind of creep would trick you kids like that? It’s not even expensive stuff.”
He started calling the person “the fatso.” He looked at Reggie every time he said it.
They went back into the house. They searched the living room again. They checked the downstairs bathroom. They went into the game room. No luck.
Marvin took the boys upstairs. Max tried to tell him that Mrs. Martinez wouldn’t like it if they went upstairs. Reggie told Max to shut up.
Marvin said, “It’s okay. This is important.”
The three of them went upstairs. They searched each room. They checked the closets. They checked behind the shower curtains. Marvin even looked under the beds and in the drawers. Nothing. They came back down. They stood in the living room.
Marvin said, “By now the fatso could’ve gone back into the kitchen or the backyard, and we wouldn’t even know it.”
They went through the kitchen again. They looked around as they walked. Then they were back in the backyard. They went through the side gate and out to the front yard. They looked around. There were also no fat people in the front yard.
Marvin said, “What the fuck, Max. Are you sure that’s all you remember?”
Max looked at Reggie like he didn’t know what to do. Reggie looked away. Marvin almost never cussed at them. Max started crying. Marvin lost his patience.
Marvin said, “Stop it. Stop. Crying’s for babies. Are you a baby? No? Then stop crying right now.”
This made Max cry more.
Reggie said, “Stop. Stop crying.”
Marvin punched Reggie lightly in the stomach. Reggie was not sure why he did that. It hurt a little bit.
Reggie went back to looking for fat people. He saw this carnival picture booth in the corner with the curtain closed. He pointed at it. Marvin patted him on the back. Marvin and Reggie walked over. They stood in front of the curtain. They waited for a couple pictures and then the curtain opened. Inside were four kids. Reggie knew them from school. They were two grades older than Reggie. They were Rob Ridley, Bernie Vo, Luke Beauchamp, and Claude Hsieh. Rob, Bernie, and Luke were all regular size. Claude was fat. Marvin looked at Claude.
Marvin said, “Hey, fatso. Hold it right there.”
Claude tried to run away, but Marvin grabbed him by the shirt collar and held him. The other three boys ran off.
Marvin said, “Not so fast. What’s your name?”
Reggie answered before Claude could say anything.
“Claude Hsieh.”
Marvin said, “Claude Hsieh?”
He looked at Reggie. Reggie nodded. Marvin looked at Claude.
Marvin said, “Okay, Claude. Where is it?”
Claude said, “What?”
He looked scared.
Marvin said, “The gift. Where’s my grandson’s gift? What’s going on here, some kind of prank?”
Claude said, “What?”
“Are you messing with me?”
“What? No?”
Claude looked at Reggie. His eyes were wide. Claude was a mean kid. He was a bully, especially to girls, especially if they were pretty or if they were nice.
Marvin said, “Listen, Claude. I know what you did, you little goon. I need the gift back. Right now. Give it back.”
Claude looked at Marvin. He looked at Reggie. He looked back at Marvin.
Claude said, “What?”
Marvin said, “Kid, stop messing with me.”
Marvin still had Claude by the collar. He held it pretty tight. Other adults started to notice what was happening. In a second or so, Mr. Hsieh came out to the front yard. He was shouting, “Hey. Let go of my kid!”
Marvin looked up.
“Now, hold on. Your kid stole our gift. I’m just trying to get it back.”
“What? What the hell are you talking about? Claude?”
Claude looked at his father. He was talking in a whiny voice.
Claude said, “I didn’t do anything.”
Marvin and Mr. Hsieh started arguing.
Mr. Hsieh said, “Claude has nothing to do with this.”
And then, Mr. Hsieh said, “I’m calling the cops if you don’t let him go immediately.”
Marvin said, “This fatso’s a dirty thief.”
Reggie was pretty sure that Mr. Hsieh was then about to punch Marvin, and that Marvin wanted Mr. Hsieh to punch him so that Marvin could start punching back because the truth was, even though Marvin was much older than Mr. Hsieh, Reggie knew that Marvin would beat Mr. Hsieh in a fight.
While this was going on, nobody, besides Reggie, noticed that Max had slipped away again. He walked out past the gate and out of sight. Then he came back. He was holding his hands behind his back. Reggie saw what he was holding. This confused Reggie for a second. Then he saw the look on Max’s face and motioned for Max to get rid of it, but Max held on to it. He held on to it and walked up to Marvin. He was crying. It was the gift in his hands. It was torn open and stuffed back into its box. It was a purple dress and faux mink stole which was also dyed purple. He held the gift out to Marvin, still walking toward him. He was trying to talk through his crying.
He said, “I’m sorry.”
Marvin was still holding Claude by the collar. He looked at Max with one eyebrow raised. Mr. Hsieh took Marvin’s hand and removed it from Claude’s shirt. He did this slowly. Marvin didn’t seem to notice this happening. Once his hand was pulled off, Marvin turned to Mr. Hsieh like he was surprised to see him. Max was still standing there holding the dress.
Marvin said, “Buddy? What’s going on? Did you find it?”
Max said, “I’m sorry. I kept it.”
Then Claude smiled. He looked happy. He clapped his hands and started laughing. He pointed at Max. He shouted so loud the whole party could hear.
Claude said, “Look at the sissy! He wants to wear a dress! Sissy!”
Another kid started laughing. Then more. Boys and girls both laughed. Parents seemed to be trying to tell their kids to stop laughing. That only made them laugh harder. Rob Ridley, Bernie Vo, and Luke Beauchamp were all laughing. Genna Martinez was there. She was saying something like, “Oh, how cute,” but she was still laughing. Some of the parents even started laughing. They were less loud. It was hard to tell if they meant to be mean or if they were just uncomfortable, but Reggie saw them. They were laughing. Mr. Hsieh, Mrs. Martinez, they were all laughing. Uncle Pete was there too. He wasn’t laughing. He put a hand on Marvin’s shoulder. He said something. Marvin looked at him. He looked around at everybody else. He saw them. He didn’t laugh.
Marvin grabbed hold of Max, who was crying very hard by then. He picked him up. He held him in one arm. Max had his arms wrapped around Marvin’s neck. He was saying sorry. He dropped the dress on the ground. Marvin stepped on it. It looked like that was by accident. Then Marvin carried Max past the other people. He carried him out toward the street. Uncle Pete walked after them but stopped once Marvin passed the front gate. Reggie started to follow. Claude came up beside him and said, “Your brother’s a sissy.”
Reggie turned to Claude. He looked Claude in the face. Claude looked like a real goon. He had a big stupid grin. His eyes were squinted shut from the laughing. Reggie looked at him, and he swears this is true. He wanted to punch Claude right in the mouth. He wanted to punch all those people right in the mouth. But he didn’t. He turned to back to Claude. He laughed. He said, “What a sissy.”