Alabama Moon (10 page)

“Pap said people have to know how to read and write.”

“How are your arithmetic skills?”

“Not good. Pap said he didn't know a lick about math. I can add and subtract, but I don't know division or multiply tables.”

“We'll have to work on that, then.”

“Might not wanna waste your time on me. I'm gonna be out of here before long.”

The class laughed again. “I see,” Mrs. Crutcher said. I could tell she didn't believe me. “Well, for now, Mr. Moon Blake, why don't you return to your seat and try to focus on learning some things in here.”

I shrugged and went back to my desk. The other students took turns standing in front of the chalkboard and reading from the story about the boy and his yellow dog. I put my chin on my desk and listened.

When reading period was over, we worked in our arithmetic books. Mrs. Crutcher told me to follow along as best
I could. She scribbled multiplication problems on the blackboard, and I thought they made no more sense than turkey scratch.

After a while, it began to rain outside. Mrs. Broomstead brought in a box of sandwiches and drinks so that we could have lunch in the classroom and didn't have to get wet and track mud in her dining hall. We sat on the floor in a circle and the boys wanted me to tell them about living in the forest. Mrs. Crutcher sat at her desk and watched us. She seemed tired, but every once in a while she smiled at me.

When Mrs. Crutcher dismissed us that afternoon, the rain had stopped and the play yard dripped under gray skies. We were the first trailer to be let out, so Kit and I stood under a tree and waited for the rest of the boys. After a minute, Kit told me he needed to use the restroom and left me alone. He wasn't gone long before the door to the twelve- and thirteen-year-old trailer opened and I saw Hal come down the steps into the yard. He saw me immediately and began walking towards me with some of the other boys following.

My eyes searched for a stick, but there were none nearby. Hal was walking faster, and he seemed to have something in mind for me. I stood up and got into my fighting stance. He never stopped walking, but stomped right up to me and swung his fist. I ducked and felt his hand lift the hair on my head. While I was crouched down, I hit him as hard as I could in the crotch. Then I covered my face with my hands and started rolling across the ground.

When I looked up, I could see the other boys standing around Hal. He was lying on his side and moaning. Kit came running and grabbed my arm to help me. I stood and
brushed off my pants and pulled the pine needles from my hair.

“You better get up, Hal!” I heard somebody say. “Here comes Mr. Carter.”

But he didn't get up. When Mr. Carter broke through the crowd, Hal was still moaning and holding his crotch. Mr. Carter watched him for a second and then turned to me. “What'd you do to him?”

“I knocked him in the balls about as hard as I could.”

Mr. Carter shook his head. “Hal, I'd think you'd learn to leave this fellow alone by now. You lay there as long as you like. You'll be out there until tomorrow mornin'.”

Hal moaned and a few of the other kids start laughing. I looked at Kit, and he was smiling at me. “How'd you do that?”

“I just hit him real good. He curled up like that all on his own.”

 

We went to the rec room after supper, and Kit showed me how to play Ping-Pong. I wasn't very good. He said I hit the ball too hard, but I didn't care. Something inside me made me feel like things were wrong. I was worried that I hadn't escaped yet. I felt so penned up that my skin was beginning to itch.

“I can't play anymore, Kit.”

“How come?”

“I don't feel good. I'm gonna go in the bunk room and lie down and look out the window.”

“You want me to come with you?”

“You don't have to.”

“I'm coming with you.”

Kit followed me down the hall. It was dark outside, and I could hear the wind picking up in the trees. When we got to the bunk room, we heard tapping on the window. It was Hal. When he saw that it was us, he frowned and walked back out into the play yard. I looked at his bunk and noticed that his blanket and pillow were still on it. I thought of what Pap would tell me if I were out there.
Boy, you'll catch pneumonia out in this cold. Go back and get somethin' to keep you warm
.

We lay on our sides on Kit's bottom bunk, with our heads at opposite ends. I put my hand through my hair again while Kit watched me.

“I'll bet it was fun out there in the forest with your father,” he said.

I nodded.

“You could do anything you wanted,” he said.

“You don't need anybody tellin' you what to do,” I replied. “No government. Nothin'.”

“And just you and your father all the time.”

“That's right.”

“I wish I had a father.”

I gazed out the window where Hal had been earlier. “I wish I was busted out of here,” I said.

“I've never had any friends like you.”

“I don't know how long I can take this place.”

“You know, I wasn't one of the ones making fun of you yesterday.”

I looked at Kit. “I know.”

“Most everybody wants to talk to me now because they know I'm your friend. They're scared of you.”

“I'm not gonna whip up on anybody as long as they don't try and make me do things I don't wanna do.”

“That's good.”

“You know,” I said, “Pap told me I could talk to him by writin' letters and burnin' 'em. He said you can talk to dead people that way.”

“You ever do it?”

“A couple of times. I wish I had some stuff to write with and a fire right now.”

“They won't let us have fires here.”

“I know. I could start one up quick if we could. I like Mr. Carter, though, and he told me not to.”

I gazed out the window again.

“What are you looking at?” Kit asked after a while.

“Nothin'.”

“What's it like in the forest right now?”

“It's windy at the tops of the pines, but not enough for it to get down to the forest floor. There's a few clouds overhead but not enough to cover up the moon. There's a slice of moon out tonight.”

“What kinds of animals are out when it gets dark?”

“Not too long ago the coons came down out of the oak and hickory trees and started
walkin' around findin' stuff to eat. They like bugs and frogs and bird eggs. There's deer walkin' around. Owls callin'. Turkeys sittin' up in the treetops like big black nests . . . You can smell the dirt.”

“You can smell dirt?”

I nodded. “You can smell everything out there. Especially at night when the air gets still. Just about the only thing sleepin' are small birds and people. Squirrels. Most things in the forest like the nighttime.”

Kit nodded. I was still staring out the window. “He's gonna be cold,” I said. “He doesn't have his blanket.”

“Who?”

“Hal.”

“He's got his jacket on.”

I didn't reply, but got up and went over and got Hal's bedding and started for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Take him his stuff.”

“No! He'll kill you! There's not anybody around to help you right now.”

“I'm not scared of him.”

“Don't go out there, Moon!”

“I'll be okay.”

I opened the door and stepped outside. A cold wind came across the play yard into my face, and I saw Hal huddled against one of the school trailers. I walked towards him and he took his hands from his pockets and crossed his arms tightly. “What the hell you doin'?” he said.

“Tradin' with you.”

“Tradin' what?”

“I'm gonna sleep out here tonight. You can pretend to be me and use my bed. This is your stuff.”

“Pretend to be you?”

“Yeah. Pull my covers up over you and pretend to be asleep when Mr. Carter comes in for lights-out.”

“You crazy?”

“No. I just don't feel good.”

Hal took a step towards me and jammed his hands down in his pockets. “Why're you doin' this?”

“It's nothin' to me to sleep on the ground. I'd rather be outside than in there. I think it'll make me feel better.”

Hal shrugged his shoulders. “If you say so. If Mr. Carter catches us, he's gonna kick my ass. Maybe yours, too.”

“Scrunch up good under those covers.”

“Yeah. All right.”

Hal bowed his shoulders in and ran towards the door with his hands still in his pockets. I looked around the play yard until I saw a big oak tree. I walked over to it and set my bed up on the downwind side. Even covered up completely, I still heard the wind and the night rolling over me. I felt my worries ease, and I lay there in the darkness and imagined that I was someplace else.

I woke before daybreak when the first birds made scattered calls. I lay under the blanket for a few seconds remembering where I was. Eventually, it came to me, and worry flooded me again. I peered out and watched my breath stream before me in the chilled morning. The wind had settled and the ground was covered with frost. The windows of the boys' home were dark and the only sound was the humming of streetlights.

I stood and wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and studied the play yard. I looked at the tall utility fence with
barbed wire on top and then inspected each of the trees. None of them were close enough to the fence to allow anyone to climb up and jump over. I knelt and dug at the bottom of the fence with my hands until my fingers scraped cement. There was no way under. I stood again and walked over to the school trailers. They were set almost ten feet away from the fence. There was no way to leap from the roof. But I had not studied them long before I knew they were the second piece of my escape plan.

I slipped into the bunk room just as people started to stir in their beds. Radiators hissed and warmed the room from each side, and everyone was wrapped tightly in their blankets. I went to my bunk and touched Hal's shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at me.

“Better get outside,” I said. “Mr. Gene's gonna be here soon.”

Hal rubbed his eyes and didn't seem to hear me. Suddenly, he sat up and threw off his blanket. “Crap!” he said, and hurried outside.

During breakfast Kit told me that some of the other boys had been talking about making me president.

“President of what?”

“Of Pinson.”

“What does the Pinson president do?”

“He just acts like the president.”

“What do presidents act like?”

“Like the boss of everybody.”

“Who's president now?”

“Hal.”

“Does he know about me gettin' his job?”

“No.”

I looked over at Hal. He stared at me, but it wasn't a mean stare. He watched me curiously. “He's lookin' at me right now,” I said. “I think he might know somethin' about this president stuff.”

“No way he knows. Everybody except you is scared of Hal.”

“Well, I don't wanna be president. I'm not gonna be here long enough to be a president.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tonight.”

“Tonight!”

“That's right. I'm bustin' out of here. I can't take bein' penned up much longer. I think it's makin' me sick.”

“Can I still come?”

“Yeah. I don't think I can do it without you anyway.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You're the one that's gonna let us out of here.”

 

During our lunch break, Kit followed me to the corner of the play yard where Hal stood with some other boys. I saw them stop what they were doing and watch us.

“Hey,” I said.

Hal looked around at the others and then back at me.

“Come over here with me and Kit,” I said. “I've got somethin' to tell you.”

Hal rubbed his palms on his uniform nervously. “You know I ain't mad at you anymore?” he said.

“I know. I forgot all about that. We've got other stuff to talk about.”

Hal glanced at his friends and nobody said anything. “All right,” he said.

I led the two of them to a spot in the play yard where no one would hear us talking. “You wanna help us bust out of here?”

“What?”

“I'm bustin' out. I need your help.”

“How in hell you gonna bust out of here?”

“Kit's gonna let us out. I've got it all figured.”

Hal pointed to Kit. “He's goin'?”

“What's wrong with Kit?”

“He's got to have medicine, for one. He can't do anything without gettin' sick.”

“You worry about yourself, Hal!” Kit said. “You don't know about me.”

“Whatever,” Hal said. “Nobody's ever gotten out of Pinson, anyway. You can't get out of here, Moon.”

“I can get out of most anywhere.”

Hal studied me for a second and then shrugged his shoulders. “Well, sure,” he said. “If you think you can do it, I'll help you. I wanna come with you, though.”

“I told Kit, I don't care who comes with me.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“You're gonna drive.”

“Drive?”

“Yeah. You know how to drive?”

“I used to drive my daddy's truck a little. Just around the clay pit.”

“Drivin's drivin', right?”

“I guess,” Hal said.

“As long as you can see over the steerin' wheel, we can figure out the rest.”

“I think I can do it.”

“Good, because they'll catch us for sure if we start runnin' from right outside that fence.”

I could tell that Hal was getting excited. His face twitched and his hands jittered against his sides. “When do we go?” he asked.

“Tonight. After Mr. Carter leaves and Mr. Gene's asleep in his house, I'll wake you up.”