“Because that won’t accomplish anything. You don’t want him being the victim—it will just make Dee like him more.” Ian was having a hard time explaining a strategy he had not fully figured out himself, but felt in his gut would work. He had always been a good judge of such things. “Look, you want a chance with Dee or not?”
Rod gazed at Dee and O, who were now sitting on the sand. O had his arm at her back and was laughing, teeth bright white against his black skin. Rod turned to Ian. “What can I say to him? Casper never gets mad.”
“Say something about Blanca. Something dirty.”
Rod’s red cheeks flushed deeper.
“I’m sure you can think of something,” Ian added. “Go on. Just do it. Otherwise that new boy will have stolen your girl. Is that what you want? A black boy going with Dee? Trust me—that will keep happening unless you fight Casper.”
Rod took a deep breath, pumped his fists, and stumbled toward the girls jumping rope.
Ian sighed. It would have been better to have someone more reliable doing his work for him.
He knew he shouldn’t be openly watching Rod and Casper now—that could give away who was behind the fight. Plus it would be painful seeing Rod make a mess of it—which he was likely to do. If he did, Ian would deny any involvement, and with his word against Rod’s, he knew he would always win.
He walked over to the arm wrestling on the ship. The boys had made it into a kind of tournament, with two sets simultaneously competing in the semifinal round. Ian watched as two boys won and turned to face each other.
“Taking bets now,” Ian announced. When he set up betting he took a 40 percent cut of the candy or money handed over, arguing that he was taking the risk of being suspended if any of the teachers caught them. He was surprised sometimes that no one argued with his high cut. They seemed afraid to haggle with him.
The wrestlers and spectators whipped their heads around at Ian’s voice, and a wave of unease rippled through them. Irritation as well, some boys clearly feeling their fun had just been tainted. Ian noted those looks, for future reference.
“C’mon, don’t you want to make this more fun?” he continued. “Otherwise it’s boring—just an arm wrestle. You’ll care more about who wins if you bet.”
He didn’t get to see how much he would have made from the betting, as shouts from across the playground interrupted them. “Fight! Fight!”
The boys abandoned the pirate ship en masse and ran like rats to join a ring that had formed in the jump rope area. Fights occurred every few weeks, and were the highlight of playground entertainment, especially if you weren’t in it yourself. Ian followed more slowly, for he knew who the opponents were, and what he would see.
Dee had just finished taking her hair out of its braids for Osei when they heard the familiar chant: “Fight! Fight!” They looked at each other, but the call was too strong. Reluctantly getting to their feet, they went to join the spectators.
Dee was astonished to find it was Casper and Rod facing each other inside the ring of students. Casper was never in fights.
“What did you say?” he was yelling.
“You heard me,” Rod replied, bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet.
“Take it back,” Casper demanded.
“No. It’s true!”
“Casper, don’t let him say that!” Blanca cried. She was standing near him, with Mimi holding on to her to keep her from barging in between the boys.
“Take. It. Back.”
“No!” Rod seemed to lunge toward him, feinting a blow, and Casper returned with a punch, as much to block him as to hit him. His fist landed true, right in Rod’s face, and he went down immediately. The crowd gasped, and Blanca began to scream. Rod lay on his back, clutching his eye as the victor stood over him, fists still clenched, looking confused, as if he couldn’t take in what he’d just done.
Dee glanced at Osei beside her. He was watching Casper with a look she could not quite read: surprise, fascination, and something else. Wariness. Distance. Judgment. A darkness she had glimpsed momentarily when Osei first refused to eat one of her strawberries.
Blanca was busy screaming while being propped up by Mimi. Dee knew she should go to her, but held back, not wanting to get dragged into the drama. Blanca would be talking about it till the end of the school year, and maybe into junior high.
Two teachers were quickly on the scene—Miss Lode helping Rod to his feet, pressing damp brown paper towels to his eye and leading him away to see the school nurse; Mr. Brabant grasping the culprit by the arms and frogmarching him toward the entrance, Casper with his head bowed.
Once they were gone, the ring of spectators remained in groups, discussing what had happened. Dee listened in on the conversations around her.
“Rod didn’t do anything—Casper just hit him!”
“He must have done something.”
“Can you believe Casper doing that? He’s never in fights! I don’t think he’s been in a fight all the years he’s been here.”
“Why would he risk his reputation doing something so stupid?”
“Rod said something to him. I saw. He went up to him and said something.”
“What’d he say?”
“Must have been pretty bad for him to have that reaction.”
“Really bad.”
“The worst.”
“I heard Rod said something about Blanca.”
“No, it was about his mother.”
“What about his mother?”
“Who knows?”
Mimi gave her a desperate look, and Dee left O to join her in helping with the hysterical Blanca. As Casper was being taken away by Mr. Brabant, Blanca wailed even louder. Anyone would think she had been hit rather than Rod.
Dee lost her patience. “For God’s sake, Blanca, can’t you be quieter about it?” Even as she said it, she heard in the back of her mind her mother telling her not to take the Lord’s name in vain.
Blanca sniffed. “Easy for you to say, Little Miss Perfect. It wasn’t you who had awful things said about you. It wasn’t your boyfriend who had to defend you. It wasn’t your boyfriend who will probably be suspended!”
Mimi gestured with her head, and they led Blanca to a quieter corner, their charge allowing them to now that Casper and Rod were gone and her audience was dispersing.
“What exactly did Rod say?” Dee demanded.
“I can’t repeat it—it’s too awful!”
“Blanca, we can’t help you if you don’t tell us,” Dee persisted.
Blanca leaned against the brick wall of the school. “He said—he said…” She stopped, her mouth trembling, and caught back a sob. This time she seemed genuinely upset.
“Take a deep breath, then blow it out,” Mimi ordered. Dee admired her firmness in the face of so much emotion. And it worked: Blanca took a shaky breath, breathed out, and calmed down.
“Just repeat what he said fast—all in one go.”
“Rod said I was trashy and had let Casper go all the way with me. But I didn’t!” Blanca covered her face with her hands, clearly embarrassed to have repeated such an accusation.