Tangerine (27 page)

"I know, Grandmom." She made some more small talk with me about the cold in Florida versus the cold in Ohio. Grandpop got on the extension, and the two of them asked me about myself—about my school, about my friends. That's one thing about Grandmom and Grandpop—they couldn't care less about the Erik Fisher Football Dream. They never, ever mention it. And when Dad brings it up, they do their best to change the subject.

Mom got up and took the phone away. She talked a little but mostly listened, while Dad, Erik, and I sat and ignored each other. Then she said, "Great. We'll look forward to seeing you then."

Mom hung up and announced to us, "Grandmom and Grandpop are stopping by on their way to Orlando."

Dad asked glumly, "When?"

"A week from Sunday."

"For how long?"

"An hour or two."

Dad perked up. "Is that all?"

"They've booked a week at Epcot. They just want to stop in to see our new house."

Dad thought about this. "So, they can drive to Florida to see Mickey Mouse, but not to see their own grandson play football?"

Mom was ready for him. "Well, maybe we can talk them into changing their plans."

Dad managed a weak smile. Mom turned the conversation back to the unseasonably cold weather. She said, "I'm going out to the storage bin today to get winter clothing for all of us. If there's anything particular you want, let me know."

Dad said, "Whatever you packed up in Houston—I'm sure that's OK."

Mom said, "Erik, you'll need to give me your key. We locked mine in the bin yesterday."

Erik looked up. "Oh yeah. I got it in my locker at school."

"What's it doing there? I need it now."

"That's where I keep a lot of my stuff."

"OK. How can I get it?"

"I'll bring it home today."

I could see that Mom didn't like that answer, but she was stuck with it. On the way to Tangerine, she started thinking out loud. "I'm sure they have some way of letting their customers get into those bins. I'm sure I'm not the first person in history to have locked a key inside."

We pulled up to the school. There were no karate kickers. No gangstas. There were no human beings of any kind hanging around outside. Kids from the cars ahead of us sprinted into the building with their heads down, clutching their books to their bodies.

I didn't. I stood outside the car door, unflinching, like a northern kid.

Mom asked, "What winter clothes should I bring for you?"

"I don't know. What do I have?"

She looked me up and down. "I swear, Paul, you've grown half a foot this year. You probably don't have anything that fits. Including what you have on now."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Are you at least warm?"

"Yeah. I'm at least that."

"OK. You had better get inside. I'll see you later."

I walked into the building. In those few yards my ears were turned red and raw by the wind. A lot of kids were absent from first period. Wimps, I figured. By second period, though, I realized that something bigger was going on. At least ten kids were absent from science—so many kids that we had to waste our time with worksheets. I walked over to Henry D.'s desk and asked him, "Where is everybody? Are they all sick?"

"No. I reckon they're out fighting the freeze."

"What? What does that mean?"

"It's a tradition in Tangerine. Kids from families that are in the citrus business, or the vegetable business, can stay out of school whenever there's a freeze. Their families need them to help."

"It's like a snow day."

"I don't know about that. The kids aren't playing, they're out working. I remember my daddy and my granddaddy talking about getting out of school to fight the freezes."

"What do you fight with?"

"Anything you got. Most people around here are small growers. They use whatever. They haul old tires out and start a bonfire in the grove. They burn up old brush. They do anything they can to create heat and smoke."

"So all of these kids are out building bonfires?"

"Some of them are. They might be out filling up the smudge pots, or hauling out pipes for the water pumps. Whatever a family has to fight with, that's what the kids are working on."

"Do you think that's what Luis and Tino are doing?"

"Most definitely. And Victor and those guys. They're trying to save those Golden Dawn tangerines, and the rest of the trees out there."

Immediately, without a doubt, I knew what I had to do. I said, "Can your brother drive us out there today?"

Henry looked at me uncertainly. "I expect he can."

"What do you say we go help them fight the freeze?"

Henry thought it over and nodded. "Yes. I suppose we should." He added, "We're all War Eagles."

We shook on it, and I went back to my seat. The rest of the day dragged by. Henry told me some more about the freezes in Tangerine. He explained that the first night is dangerous, but the second night is the real killer. The trees are injured already; they're weak and vulnerable. Luis and his crew had probably worked all night in the groves. They would sleep during the day, and then the battle would resume at sunset. And we would be there.

I called Mom at lunchtime, but she was out. I left this message: "Mom? We're having a combination science meeting and sleepover party at Tino's house. I have a ride there with Henry Dilkes. I hope it's OK to go because I already said I would. The good news is that you don't have to pick me up after school. I'll call you when I get there. Bye."

After last period was over, I looked out of the second-floor window. I was a little worried that Mom had not gotten the message, or that she
had
gotten it but was not buying it. Anyway, when I stepped outside Mom's car wasn't there. The car riders were once again running, panic-stricken, through the punishing gusts of wind.

I followed Henry across the street to where Wayne was parked. Henry pulled his hood on against the stinging wind, so I did the same. We climbed into the cab, and Henry said, "We're not going home, Wayne. We're going back out to the Tomas Cruz Groves. Can you take us?"

It was all the same to Wayne. He smiled. "Yeah. I'll take you. I gotta go right back to work, though. There's emergencies all over the county on account of the freeze. I don't know when I can pick y'all up."

"That's all right, Wayne. We don't need to be picked up. We're gonna help them out in the groves tonight."

Wayne looked at me with genuine surprise. "Is that right? You're gonna get out in that nasty cold?"

Wayne wouldn't say it, he was too polite, but I knew what he was thinking:
How come you're not back at Lake Windsor Downs with the rest of them, complaining about the mosquitoes, and the termites, and the muck fire?

We pulled off Route 22 at the Tomas Cruz sign and bumped down the dirt road. The cattail pond now had steel gray and rust brown pipes running up from it toward the groves, like someone had connected straws together in four crooked lines. Wayne pointed at them. "Looks like they're icing down their new grove."

"What's that?"

"They'll pump water over the trees all night long, probably a quarter of the grove at a time."

This was all new to me. I shook my head. "Why is that a good thing to do? Won't that kill the trees sooner?"

Wayne answered patiently, "If you cover 'em with ice, their temperature will never drop below thirty-two degrees. Thirty-two degrees won't kill a tree; thirty-one degrees will, if it stays that cold long enough."

"So why don't they just ice all the trees and be done with it?"

"Probably 'cause they don't have the water, or the pumps, or the sprinklers to do it all. It's expensive enough to do one part. Even then it might not work. The ice has to be kept just like slush. If ice gets thick and hard on a tree, that thing'll crack in half like a Thanksgiving wishbone."

"So what if they start this slush thing and they run out of water?"

"That won't happen. That there's a spring-fed lake. It'll just keep fillin' up. Now they might run outta diesel fuel. Water won't do you any good if you can't pump it where you want to. Look over there." Wayne pointed at something that I hadn't noticed before. On the rising ground behind the house, barely visible from the road, was a vertical orange tank twenty feet high. It looked like a giant can of frozen orange juice stuck there on its side. "That tank's full of diesel fuel. That diesel's your life's blood tonight."

We drove around the house and stopped outside the Quonset hut. Luis and his father were standing by the back door. They were both dressed in layers of old clothes, and they both had blue knit ski caps pulled down over their ears. Wayne waved to them and pulled away. Luis said, "What can I do for you guys?"

I thought of Luis facing down Erik and his gang at the high school. I answered earnestly, "We want to help you fight this freeze tonight. We'll do anything we can."

Luis looked at Henry, then back at me. His doubts seemed to be directed at me. So were his words. "Why do you want to do that?"

I didn't know what to say. Was he looking at me as Erik Fisher's brother? Was I now the enemy? Tino came out of the house, and I thought of Henry D.'s line. I said, "Because we're all War Eagles."

Luis turned to his father and said a few words in Spanish. Tomas Cruz walked up to me immediately and stretched out his hand. He said, "Thank you for your help." He shook hands with both of us and continued on into the Quonset hut.

Luis said, "Our daddy thinks that's great. But he doesn't worry about the insurance and stuff. Do you guys have your parents' permission to do this?" We both nodded. Finally Luis shrugged. "OK. You're on Tino's crew. He'll show you what's up." He looked directly at me, like I was the one who was a potential lawsuit. "But you're responsible for your own health and safety. Right? If you get too cold, you come into the hut here and you warm up. If you get too tired, you come in and lie down."

Luis went inside, leaving us with Tino. He was dressed like I was, but his sweatshirt said
MIAMI DOLPHINS.
He had a walkie-talkie in one hand and a white bag from Kmart in the other. He was all business. He said, "There ain't no lyin' down on my crew. You got that?"

"Yeah."

"Anybody has to do any bathroom stuff or anything like that, you do it now."

I half raised my hand, like I was in school. "I have to make a phone call."

Tino opened the door and led us into the Quonset hut. It had been transformed. Most everything that had been in there last week was gone, replaced by hundreds of baby trees, each about a foot high. We marched through them to the far end. The desk was still there, but now it had a big aluminum coffee urn sitting on it, with Styrofoam cups, creamer, and sugar spread out around it.

I picked up the phone and called Mom. I said, "I tried to call before. Were you out at the storage bin?"

She didn't sound too happy. She said, "Yes. I was."

"Did you need Erik's key?"

"No. I filled out a form and the manager let me in."

"Uh-huh." Mom didn't say anything else. Was she angry at me? Was she going to come and drag me home? I changed the subject. "So what's happening there?"

She paused a moment, as if thinking the whole thing over. Then she changed gears and answered conversationally, "Your father bought a case of those fake logs. He's going to get the fireplace going. And we're going to break out the Christmas music."

"Uh-huh."

"We'll probably make hot chocolate, too. Too bad you're going to miss it."

"Yeah."

"Now, what is this thing, Paul? A sleepover party? Why didn't we have any notice about it?"

"I wasn't invited until today." I half covered the mouthpiece and whispered, "I don't know. Maybe I was an afterthought."

"You don't have a change of clothes. You don't have a toothbrush."

"I'll use my finger."

There was a long pause, and then a long sigh. "Paul, I trust people. I trust them until I have a reason not to. Do you understand me?"

"I understand."

There was another long pause and some mumbling. "Your father says you have to be back here by nine tomorrow morning. It's Erik's last game."

"OK. You can pick me up at eight if you like."

"I hope I can find that place."

"Look for the sign that says T
OMAS
C
RUZ
G
ROVES.
"

The door at the far end of the hut burst open. Victor, dressed in black sneakers, pants, and hood, like a cat burglar, walked in, followed by his boys. I said, "I have to go now, Mom. Enjoy your fireplace and all." She didn't say anything else, so I cradled the phone.

Victor, Hernando, and Mano went right to a stack of shovels that were piled up next to the baby trees. Tino said to Henry, "You should have been here last night. We must have hauled a ton of dirt from the old grove to the Golden Dawns." He pointed to the stack and said, "Grab a shovel." Then he held up his Kmart bag. "Check it out." Tino dumped out a pile of thick black work gloves onto the desk. Everybody grabbed a pair and pulled them on. Tino was smiling. "I bought twenty pairs of these gloves, for you boys with delicate hands."