5

After school Audrey was waiting. Fex had half hoped she would be, half hoped she wouldn’t.

“What’d he say?” she asked. Up ahead, Barney Barnes took potshots at a squirrel with his slingshot.

“Who?”

“I can’t stand it.” Audrey stuffed her hands in her pockets and stalked beside him, her legs as stiff as an angry dog’s.

“If you don’t want to tell me, say so. But don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. That really gets me when you do that. You figure if you don’t talk about it, it never happened. Sweet little Francis Xavier O’Toole. Butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth.” When Audrey was mad, she didn’t fool around.

“We had a talk,” Fex said in a monotone. “He wanted to know if I had problems at home. I said no. He said I wasn’t mean. He told me to work after school helping Mrs. Timmons for a week, starting tomorrow. That’s about it.”

Audrey jerked her chin at him as if she were illustrating a point on the blackboard.

“So you didn’t tell him about the double-dare bit, huh? You didn’t tell him about that moron.” She jerked her chin in Barney’s direction. “If Mr. Palinkas knew you let that moron egg you into doing some of the things you do, he’d think you were a lunatic.”

“How do you know I’m not?” Fex said angrily.

Barney bounced toward them on the balls of his feet. He seemed to know he was being talked about.

“Hey, Fexy,” he called. Barney chose to ignore girls. His eyes slid over them as if they weren’t there. One thing about Audrey. She was pretty tough to ignore.

“Hey, Fexy,” Barney repeated, “got any plans for anything bizarre today?”

“What’s ‘bizarre’ mean?” Audrey asked.

Barney forgot himself and looked at her. “How do I know?” he said.

Girls made Barney nervous. When he was nervous, he bit his fingernails. With his forefinger he began to explore the back of his mouth.

“You better be careful,” Audrey said. “You might chew that down to the knuckle if you don’t watch out.”

Barney snatched his finger from his mouth.

“If you don’t know what ‘bizarre’ means,” she went on, “then how do you know what you’re talking about?”

“Let’s split,” Barney growled to Fex. “Let’s you and me split.

“Can’t,” Fex said. “I’ve got to go home and tell my mother I’m staying after school for a week. Palinkas found out I put the pig on his desk.”

“How’d he find out?” Barney’s voice was surly.

“What difference does it make how? He did. That’s what counts. What’d he ever do to you anyway? That’s what I can’t figure.”

“You like him!” Barney hooted. “You like him! Hey, he’s the boss, man. You can’t like the boss.”

“Who says?”

“You can’t, that’s all.”

“That’s dumb,” Audrey said.

“Tell her to shut up,” Barney said to Fex.

“Tell me yourself.”

Barney aimed his empty slingshot at Audrey’s feet.

“What’d he do, Barney?” Fex asked.

“He left me back,” Barney mumbled. “Twice.”

“That’s wasn’t his fault. He’s fair. He listens to your side of the story,” said Fex, who hadn’t told his side.

“You tell him anything?” Barney asked.

“No. He asked me if I had anything against him and I said no. I said I was sorry and he asked me if I thought that made it all right. So I said no again.”

The three of them stood swinging their arms, avoiding each other’s eyes.

“Let’s go,” Audrey said.

“I’m getting a Moped,” Barney told Fex.

“Yeah?”

“My mother’s boyfriend’s in the business. He can get me one at half price. So I’m getting the most expensive kind,” Barney bragged.

“Wow.” Audrey’s eyes went round as quarters. “You’re sure you’re up for the most expensive kind? I understand there’s a big black market in Mopeds these days. Especially the expensive ones.” Audrey looked at Barney, smiled at him for the first time. “You’ll have to pick the thing up and carry it around with you when you’re not on it, Barney. Carry it on your back if you want to make sure nobody rips it off.” She went on smiling.

“Why doesn’t she shut up?” Barney asked Fex. Fists clenched, he began to bounce around in a circle, taking punches at the air. With each punch, he came closer to Audrey.

Audrey stood her ground, watching him, a faint smile on her lips. Finally she said, “I’ve got stuff to do, Fex. See you,” and she tucked in her elbows and jogged off down the street.

Fex watched her go. “Why do you hang out with her?” Barney asked angrily. “Stuck-up, la-di-da girl like her. I don’t get it.”

“We’re friends.”

Barney’s face turned crafty, his eyes slits. “She putting out?” he asked, chewing on his finger, smiling at Fex around it. “You getting any?”

Fex backed off. “Don’t be a jerk,” he said. “I have to split.”

“If you want, I can ask my mother’s boyfriend if he can get you a Moped half price too!” Barney called. Fex broke into a run, pretending he hadn’t heard. As he ran, he thought, I’ll go by the store, see if Angie’s there. Angie had a way with words. She made him laugh. He felt in need of a few laughs.