Half an hour later, a car pulls up outside Jojo’s house. Ardell, who is up on his porch again, sees it and stands up. His father comes out of the house and gives him a look.
Ardell stays on the porch and peers at the car. I don’t think he recognizes the driver. I sure don’t. All I can tell is that it’s a woman. I don’t think Ardell can see the front-seat passenger from where he is either. But I can. It’s Shana. The driver honks the horn, and Jojo and his mother come out andget into the backseat of the car. The car drives away.
A couple of hours later, a taxi pulls up—it’s a different company this time—and Jojo helps his mother out. She leans heavily on him. He takes her up the walk and into the house. Ardell watches them.
All afternoon there is a buzz on the street. People stroll over to their neighbors’ houses or wander across the street to talk to other neighbors who are outside. They all nod at Ardell’s house, so it’s pretty obvious that they are all talking about what happened. A few women who know Ardell’s mother well go to the house and disappear inside. When they come out, other women drift toward them to find out how Ardell’s mother is and what exactly happened.
Word gets around.
That night when the sun is going down, Jojo comes out the front door. He doesn’t go out the back way. He holds himself up tall, like he’s trying to make a point. He walks down the street, right past Ardell’s house. Ardell and all his friends are up onthe porch again. They have been there since late afternoon. They’ve ordered pizzas and eaten them and have been horsing around out there ever since. They get quiet when they see Jojo go by.
Ardell stands up. The friends of his who have been sitting get to their feet. They all come down off the porch and follow Jojo down the street. But this time there’s something different on Ardell’s face and something different about the way he’s walking. He stares straight at the back of Jojo’s head. He walks right in step with Jojo. He makes fists with his hands. The rest of them walk the same way.
This time, none of the neighbors follow. It doesn’t turn into a parade the way it did that first time. This time, when people see Ardell and his friends walk down the street grim-faced behind Jojo, they retreat to their porches.
Not me.
I have a feeling that something is going to happen. I make my way down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. When Jojo andArdell and the rest of them turn the corner, I turn the corner. Jojo keeps walking until he gets to the drugstore near the park.
Jojo goes into the drugstore. Ardell and his friends wait outside. When Jojo comes out, he’s carrying a little white paper bag, the kind they put prescriptions in. I bet it’s something for his mother. He starts to go back the way he came. But Ardell and his friends block his way. So Jojo wheels around like it’s no big deal and walks toward the park.
The park is a big one. To get into it, you have to walk down some stairs from the sidewalk because the park is way down low compared to most of the streets around it. Most people call it the pit instead of the park. It has a baseball diamond and a soccer field. It has a swimming pool and a wading pool. In winter it has a skating rink. It also has a playground with swings and slides for little kids, and benches where their parents can sit and watch them. Along one side there are trees and bushes where it’s nice and shady and where people go if they want to do something and not be seen. Guys takegirls in there. People say that drugs are sold in there. They say, “Who knows what else goes on in there.”
Jojo starts to walk past the park, but when he gets to the stairs, Ardell catches him and shoves him. Jojo stumbles and disappears from sight. Ardell starts down the stairs. His friends follow him. By the time I get there, all of them are down near the bottom.
There aren’t many lights down there. The city and the cops don’t want people going down there at night. Who knows what they might do. And it’s too hard for the cops to get down there. Because it’s so dark, there aren’t many people down there. The few I can see are little dark smudges. I can’t make out their faces. I can’t make out much about them. If I hadn’t seen Jojo and Ardell and the rest of them go down there, I wouldn’t know it was them. It’s too hard to see.
I stand at the top of the stairs and watch them move across the park toward the trees and the bushes where no one will be able to see them. I can’t be sure, but it looks like they are pushing Jojo over there. A coupleof times I see someone fall. I’m pretty sure it’s Jojo. Then I see someone bend down and drag him up again. At least, that’s the way I imagine it. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Jojo is being helped up, not dragged up. Maybe it isn’t even Jojo who fell.
Then they all disappear behind the trees and bushes. I stand at the top of the stairs, waiting. I stand there for what seems like a long time. No one comes back. I tell myself that there are a lot of ways out of the park. They could all be home by now.
Finally I turn and make my way home too.