That Saturday Mom backed the car out of the garage and said she’d give me five dollars if I washed and vacuumed it.
Five dollars! Easy money!
“Sure, Mom. For two dollars more I’ll wax it, too? Clarence taught me how.”
Clarence was very particular about his car. If he found even a tiny scratch he was all over it, buffing it out or painting it with a miniature paintbrush.
“Wash and vacuum is fine, Cal. But thank you for offering. Maybe next time.”
So I was out in the driveway with Streak, a hose, and a big fat sponge when Tito, Frankie Diamond, and Bozo showed up.
Great.
I went over and turned off the water.
Streak ran up to them, her tail wagging. Good guys, bad guys—she liked them all.
Frankie Diamond dropped to a crouch. Streak went right to him and nosed his outstretched hand. “Yeah, you happy to see Frankie, ah?”
Frankie looked up at Tito. “Dogs can tell when somebody likes them.”
Tito wasn’t interested.
“You like me help you wash that car, Coco-hose?”
“Naah. I got it.”
Tito shrugged. “We was just going down to the beach and I thought, you know, maybe we stop by and see if you snagged me that ticket yet. I mean, only got a week till the party.”
“Party?”
“Yeah, the one we going have at your daddy’s concert.”
I got down on my knees and started scrubbing a wheel. “No, I don’t have—”
“Man, I like that Little Johnny Coconut song ‘Rocket Ride.’ It’s cooool, I tell you. Am I right, Bozo?”
“Maybe to you, Tito, but to me it stinks.”
“How ’bout you, Coco-hose?” Tito said, standing over me. “You like your daddy’s new song?”
“Yeah. It’s good.”
Tito crouched down and said in a low voice, “Not much time for get me that ticket. You going get me um, right? You promised.”
“What? I never—”
Tito held up a hand and stood. “A promise is a promise, ah? Laters, Coco-man.”
“I didn’t promise!”
But Tito, Frankie, and Bozo were already walking away.
Later that day, I was walking with Julio on the golf course that was just beyond the jungle that edged our neighborhood. The fairway was empty. And safe. No golfers or greenskeepers in sight.
“You promised him?” Julio asked.
“No, I never promised anything. He just made that up!”
“Typical. Listen, forget Tito. Don’t give him anything.”
“And die.”
“He’s all talk. Shut him off like a radio.”
“Easy for you to say.”
We heard a jeep engine and turned to look back.
We sprinted into the jungle.
I could hear the jeep racing toward us. It belonged to the golf course, and riding in it were two greenskeepers, the golf course police. They loved chasing kids off the fairways.
We sank into the jungle shadows as they slowly cruised past, looking into the bushes.
The jeep stopped.
We crawled into a thicket of weeds and crunched down in it.
One guy got out and walked right by us.
“You see um?” the driver asked.
“Nope. Lousy kids. I get my hands on them they going know it.”
The guy in the jeep said, “Come on, Jimmy. You were a kid once yourself, remember?”
“Yeah, but I obeyed the rules.”
“Sure you did.” The driver laughed, shaking his head. “Come on, get in. We got work to do.”
After they drove off, Julio and I crept back out onto the fairway.
“I got an idea,” Julio said. “You give that last ticket to the guy Clarence, and tell Tito to get it from him.”
“Ha!”
Julio grinned. “Does Tito know that Clarence is Lovey’s brother?”
“I don’t know, but there’s one problem … Darci already invited Clarence.”
“Hmmm. You’re still in trouble, then.”