Closing in on the Gangs
It was a sunny Sunday, getting warm fast, and the streets were still pretty empty of traffic. Hawk had been too excited to eat before he left, so by the time he had trudged through the just-waking city and got to South Riverdale he was starving.
Luckily, a few blocks away from Elroy’s house Panny came zooming up the street, greeted him, and pulled a couple of bags of food out of her overstuffed panniers. They sat on the steps of an old deserted warehouse and Hawk dug into the food.
“I thought you might be hungry — and the two other guys even left something for you. They’re watching the house already from behind the dumpster. How did your time with your dad go?”
“It was great.” Hawk gave her a shy look, hesitating. “But I have to tell you guys something. It’s about school.”
“I hope it’s not bad. Your dad’s not pulling you out of our class, is he?”
“No. It’s something that happened. But maybe I could eat first.”
Hawk started stuffing himself with the cold shrimp shumai, won ton chips, and pork dumplings that Panny handed over. “Here, have some orange juice, too,” she told him with a smile. “Don’t want you choking to death before I hear your big secret.”
Hawk swigged some of the orange juice and without a pause began rattling off his story to Panny. She sat there, wide-eyed, listening to his account of Charles’s bullying tactics, and, as he concluded, he mentioned his Monday “deadline.” Panny jumped to her feet, wheeled her bicycle up and down in a frantic motion, and said, “Ms. Calloway will soon put a stop to that!”
When she had calmed down a little, she added, “I’m surprised that we didn’t hear about all that stuff. Of course I knew that some kids hung around Charles, but I didn’t know he was a little fascist leader. I thought they were just taken in by his fake cool. Poor Hawk, I’m sorry for you. I’m glad your dad’s going in tomorrow. We’ll all talk to Ms. Calloway and Ms. Clarke about this. It’s just the kind of thing our teachers hate most — bullying. They hate it even more than they hate smart kids who don’t cheer for others and are ‘all about me’!”
Hawk felt a great wave of relief and was suddenly lighthearted and happy. He almost wanted to get up and dance around. He had friends who would help him, and teachers who could protect him. He walked beside Panny, a smile on his face, as she pushed her bike in the direction of the narrow street that led to Elroy’s house.
“Nothing happening so far in the house with the brown curtains,” she told Hawk. “Not a car moving on that street yet. The printer’s shop is closed, of course, and so is the showroom. It was smart to come down here and catch Elroy on a Sunday. Let’s just hope he gets out of the house alone at some point and his mum doesn’t drag him off somewhere.”
“To church, for example,” Hawk said. “Remem-ber, he’s from the South and they go to church a lot down there.”
“Well, we’ll just have to pray that he doesn’t,” Panny said, giggling. “I brought Chew-Boy, by the way. He’s guarding Albert and Martin right now.”
They turned down the bleak, empty street and Hawk caught sight of Elroy’s house, looking smaller and more desolate than he remembered. More paint seemed to have peeled away and the porch appeared to sag even more than it had a few days before. Across from the house, the Dumpster looked forlorn and deserted.
“The guys are hiding out — that’s good,” Panny said. “And here’s Chew-Boy, wondering where I was all this time.”
The small, fluffy, white ball of energy raced toward them, trailing a long leash behind him. Panny jumped off her bike, swept the dog into her arms, and gave him a brief kiss. When she put him back down he pranced up and down for a minute, then followed along happily as she led the way to where they boys were hiding.
They were seated on a small piece of plastic sheeting, their backs resting against two big knapsacks. They had cellphones in hand and were immersed in playing some kind of video game.
“Just what I like to see,” Panny scoffed. “Our super-spies watching the house for Elroy’s every move. He could be back in Jacksonville by now for all you’d know!”
Martin grunted and got to his feet. “Don’t worry, Panny. We’ve been looking over there every minute or so. It’s as quiet as a graveyard. We had enough trouble keeping Chew-Boy from following you. When I heard your voices just now, I let him go.”
“One sure thing is that we won’t be seeing any of the Rippers this morning,” Albert said. “They’re probably all still in bed … which is where I’d like to be, too.” He yawned and stretched and peered around the Dumpster at the house across the street. “Got any more shumai, Panny?”
“Nothing left!” she answered, and proceeded to tell them about Hawk’s troubles at school with the bully, Charles.
Martin and Albert shook their heads in disgust, but before they could say anything, Panny reminded them all why they were there. “Sure, Charles is a snake, but first things first. It’s almost 9:30. If Elroy comes out with his mum, I’m going to follow them. I’m the only one he hasn’t met, so I can track them without being suspected. Then, when I see a chance to split the boy from his mum so we can talk to him, I’ll text you.”
“Let’s hope something happens soon,” Martin said. “After being captured by the Rippers once, I’m not finding spying like this too comfortable.”
They settled down and waited, a little restless but conserving their energy as best they could. They had no idea what they might have to do in the next few hours.
After what seemed ages, and when they were almost ready to try something bolder, like going up to the house and knocking on the door themselves, something finally happened.
A low gasp from Albert, who was watching the house at that moment, brought them all to attention.
“Two old ladies,” he said. “Heading out somewhere.”
“And one of them is Elroy’s mother,” Hawk said. “I recognize her.”
Two older black women, well-dressed in dark colours and wearing old-fashioned Sunday hats, had stepped out on to the porch. They stood chatting for a moment and then strolled off together toward the main street.
“It’s church for sure,” Albert said. “Now, if Elroy is smart, he’ll still be in bed.”
“We’ll give him half an hour,” Panny said. “Then we’ll go over and get him.”
The three boys gaped at her.
“You weren’t planning to wait here all day, were you?” she challenged them.
But they didn’t have to go over, and they didn’t have to wait very long. Five minutes later the front door opened and a sleepy-eyed Elroy, stretching his arms and yawning, came out on the porch and stood for a minute looking up and down the street.
“Remember our plan,” Panny whispered. “Two in each direction to cut him off. You say he’s a fast runner, so we’ve got to block off his escape.”
“Maybe he’ll just pull out a gun and kill us,” Albert said.
“Are you serious?” Panny said. “This is Elroy, not that Ringo freak. He helped Martin to escape, remember? And he’ll soon see that we’re the best thing that could have happened to him.”
“Look! He’s starting to move,” Martin said.
“And so are we,” said Panny. “Martin and Hawk, you try to cut him off. Albert and I will block this end of the street.”
Hawk sprinted away, out into the narrow street, Martin right beside him. They ran right past Elroy, turning to block his path. Elroy stopped in his tracks.
“Hey, Elroy!” Martin shouted. “We just want to talk to you.”
Elroy turned around and began to jog the other way, but not too fast. “Ain’t got nothin’ to say!” he shouted back. Suddenly he stopped, spotting Panny and Albert walking toward him on the sidewalk, barring his way.
“What’s this gang you got after me?” He turned again and speeded up. He was capable of outrunning them, but had hesitated too long, Hawk and Martin wouldn’t let him pass, and the Southern boy reversed his direction suddenly, trying to evade them. He was cutting back across the street, heading for an empty lot, when a small streak of dog, a white muff in motion, caught him and began to nip at his feet.
“Okay, Chew-Boy, don’t bite him! Come back, Chew-Boy!” Panny ran up and the dog leapt away. Elroy stood in his tracks, glaring at them. Martin came up and took hold of him.
“We don’t want to hurt you, Elroy. I just wanted to thank you for yesterday.”
Elroy shook himself free. “I don’t need no thanks. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, that’s all.”
They stood around him, trying hard to reassure him. Panny reached out, shook Elroy’s hand, and introduced herself and Chew-Boy.
“Pretty wicked dog,” Elroy said. “Tore a hole in one of my socks.”
“We’ll buy you new ones,” Panny assured him. “We just want to talk. Can we sit on one of those iron benches over there?” She pointed to some junk metal in a nearby lot.
“Come over to my house,” Elroy said. “We can talk there, but you gotta be quick. My mom will come back from church and maybe some of them Rippers will stop by later.”
Elroy in Trouble
The group followed Elroy back to the old white house with the sagging porch. Inside, he led the way down a dark hallway, one that smelled of cigarettes, hot spices, and burnt coffee. Then into an apartment, dingy, but clean-looking, with some modern furniture and a good-sized television. There was a small, beat-up piano pushed against the far wall, with some music sheets set up on it.
“You play?” Panny asked, pointing to the instrument.
“My mom’s teaching me,” Elroy said. “I’m catching on a little.”
He led them into a small bedroom. Baseball posters covered one wall — Jeter, A-Rod, Jackie Robinson, and a team shot of the Tampa Bay Rays. There was a map of the world on another wall, a full bookcase, and a table with a laptop, a cellphone, MP3 player, and other assorted electronics.
Hawk glanced at the rumpled bed and shivered. His baseball glove —
it must be his!
— lay there beside a bat with a chipped, nearly split handle.
Elroy caught his look, frowned, then walked to the bed and retrieved the glove. He turned it over in his hands, then passed it directly to Hawk. “Here, you take this. I know it’s yours. I didn’t steal it, but it has caused me nothin’ but trouble. I don’t need it. I got another one of my own.”
Hawk was speechless, and Panny gave him a big smile. To Elroy, she said, “That’s a smart thing to do. But you can be even smarter and get yourself out of big trouble. Just tell us what you know about the Rippers.”
Elroy shook his head and cast her a doubtful look. “You guys? What can you do? You can’t take on them Rippers. You just better grab that glove and get outta here.”
But Panny would have none of it. “We didn’t come for the glove, Elroy. We’re here to help you. You’ve got to split with that gang. You’ve got to help us get the police on them.”
Elroy said nothing. He sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. “I can’t split with them. That Ringo creeps me out.” He went on in a low voice, not looking at them. “He’s a killer, that Ringo, or near so. Now they got me to meet that Mr. Big, some Chinese guy who runs some of the worst gangs. Martin saw that. Martin tried to help me. But I can’t cross those guys anymore. If I do, I’m done and cooked for sure. I’m a dead boy if I don’t play along.”
Panny looked around the room at the other kids. She was silent a moment, then she said, “Elroy isn’t exaggerating. We know that, don’t we?” She went and sat down on the bed beside him and spoke to him in a very quiet voice. “We can help you, Elroy. We just need some information. We need to know more about what the gang’s told you, and about Mr. Big. Nobody will know what you passed on to us. They won’t even know we met. Just think, it’s your only way of getting free of this gang. When the police catch them they’ll be way too busy trying to stay out of jail to think of you. You can go on and play baseball, just like you want to. You’ll be out of this nightmare.”
Elroy pulled his hands away from his face. He sat up straight and looked at Panny, who had picked up Chew-Boy and was holding the dog in her lap.
“Okay, I’ll tell you what happened. Baseball
is
my thing, and when my mom and me came up from Jacksonville, we had hardly no money at all. So I couldn’t buy equipment or nothin’. My mom has a job now, and she wants me to be a piano man or a preacher, but all I want to do is to play ball. So I had to get some money somehow. One day I met Ringo and some guys and they told me it was easy to get money if I wanted it, so I hung around with them for a while.
“Sure enough, they had plenty of money, and one day Ringo handed me that first baseman’s glove and said, ‘You can get this and lots more, if you want to work with us.’ So I asked them what I had to do, and they said, ‘Just be a watchman for us, and do some small jobs and soon the money will get better.’ The watchman stuff was to watch their getaway bikes while they stole things, and the other job was mostly to lift things they needed from stores. They paid me some money for that and gave me things … like your glove, Hawk.”
“That’s very sad,” Panny said. “You let them turn you into a thief and an accomplice. But if you help us, you can get out of it. The police will appreciate anything you tell us.”
“I don’t want to go to jail. I just want to play baseball.”
“Mr. Rizzuto will help you get on a good team,” Hawk said. “You’re a terrific player.”
Elroy thought for a moment, and then said, “I don’t know much about the Rippers. They told me that if I helped them I would get cut in on a big job they had planned. There’s something happening on Monday night — tomorrow. I’m supposed to break into this warehouse with them. It ain’t far from here. I can show you. They told me just where we’d look in this warehouse and what we we’d find.
“They said it was something called the O’Boyle container. Some judge — O’Boyle, I guess — passed away and left something valuable in there. Or maybe O’Boyle is the guy who’s paying them to get the valuables for him. I dunno. But I have to help bring it out for them. It’s a test for me, I guess, so I can be a gang member … a real one.”
Hawk looked at Panny, then at Martin. “If it’s so valuable, I’m surprised they don’t get it themselves. Why get Elroy to do it?” he asked.
Panny shrugged her shoulders. “Mr. Big maybe has a few rivals, so he passes the job to the Rippers and keeps his hands clean,” she said. “Then the Rippers put the burden on Elroy. If he gets caught, he gets all the blame. A kid from down south is a good victim to set up. He has no friends and no support. They might even be planning to pin the whole thing on him, once they get what they want. I wonder what’s in this O’Boyle container that’s so valuable.”
“Probably some jewellery or furs, or something like that,” Albert said.
“But you’re not doing this job alone, right, Elroy?”
“No, I’m meeting Ringo and a couple of guys. They’re gonna show me the ropes, they said.”
“Perfect!” Panny said. “Then we can set a trap. We have to be careful, though. These guys are dangerous. We’d better start planning now. Elroy, let’s go over the location and the layout of the warehouse and get the time right so we can figure out how to deal with them. Albert, we’ll get your cousin and the rest of the police in on this. We won’t take too many chances, but we don’t want to be sent home before the fun starts, do we? We want to catch these guys, and get Elroy in the clear. Well, it looks like we can take care of the school gang on Monday morning and finish off the street gang on the very same evening! Nice way to start the week — right, boys? This is turning into quite an adventure!”