The Children and the Wolves Read online

  She says, Change your name to what, honey?

  I say, Rebote, and I pronounce it correctly, with a perfect Latina accent.

  Dapper Dan says, That sounds Spanish.

  I say, It is, Dad. It’s totally Spanish.

  He says, What does it mean?

  It means Bounce, I tell him.

  Kara says, You want to change your name to Bounce?

  I say, I do, Mom, yes. But in Spanish. Rebote.

  But why? she cries. Carla is such a pretty name.

  And I say, Because Rebote suits me, don’t you think, team?

  Then we’re all quiet and the music takes over.

  I imagine Savi undulating in the kitchen. Dancing to her reflection in our state-of-the-art enormous fucking refrigerator.

  Karla: Would you change your last name too? Because we’d hate for you to lose Reuschel.

  I say, I would become Rebote Cravenslot.

  Cravenslot, Dapper Dan says in a confused manner, hmmm.

  I say, It has an infectious musicality, wouldn’t you agree?

  They don’t answer. Instead they simply watch each other. They share unspoken information. The fabrics in their matching Armani suits send conspiratorial information across the table.

  With a sweeping change of subject, Kara says, By the way, we received an exciting letter today.

  Dapper Dan adds, Very exciting indeed.

  Kara says, A letter about you.

  Oh, Mom, what is it? I ask.

  They place our carefully bought silverware down on our carefully bought plates.

  Their movements are synchronized, ceremonious, almost religious.

  You’ve been accepted to Groton! Mom cries through her perfect lips.

  And to Canterbury! Dad squeals through his glam-rocker eyes.

  And to the Kent School, for that matter! Mom sings from the top of her herb-soothed throat.

  Congratulations, Carla!

  We’re so proud of you!

  I smile for their benefit.

  Savi enters and clears a silver tin, then replaces it with another containing what appears to be yogurt with raisins in it.

  Congratulations, she says in her silky voice, and returns to the kitchen.

  Inside me there is a tree falling and it is on fire.

  I will climb inside myself and ride this tree to wherever it lands.

  I woke up with a tail

  I growed it in the night like a tooth

  brighty got jealous and pulled on it and I felled out of the tree and broke my hand and it felled off and now I only got one hand

  the wolves didnt get me cause they was sleeping and the shewolf was busy eating dingdong

  she tricked him down with her song and he was weak and stupid

  raheem helped me back up into the tree and pulled his hand off and gave it to me for a present

  he said he would grow a new one cause he ate the right bird egg

  but dingdong and shane are dead and the wolves are getting stronger

  tomorrow raheem said the snows coming

  he knows cause the shewolf tells him secrets that he can feel in his belly

  the shewolf makes the snow come with her song

  it snows for as long as she sings

  it will be freezing and one of us will fall

  the one with the orange hair came in and gave me some medicine

  they were little orange and blue pills

  orange like his hair and blue like his eyes

  he put a bunch in his hand and held it out

  what are them I asked

  wabbit teef he said

  widdle baby wabbit teef

  At the mall next to the Pinkberry there’s a church with a digital Jesus. It’s called PlasmaFaith. You can have a digital conversation with Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Jimmy Buffet, or this old bald man called Ben Kingsley. PlasmaFaith’s got five private booths and the spiritual magician of your choice comes to visit you on a high-def TV screen.

  At Aladdin’s Castle I told Bounce I needed money for food. I still had the forty dollars Dirty Diana gave me but I didn’t want to spend it, just in case I needed it for a emergency, like if I got bit by a poisonous spider or I had to buy something for the Frog.

  Bounce was playing Punch- Out!! She was busting Bald Bull’s ass and all these little nigger gangbangers were watching her techniques. Some Mexicans were watching her too. In between rounds she gave me ten dollars.

  That’s Alexander Hamilton, she said pointing to the man’s face on the money. He was a Founding Father.

  What did he find? I asked.

  Debt, she said. The national debt. He was a genius.

  She asked me where I was going and I told her Sbarro’s but I went to go see Digital Jesus instead.

  When you walk into PlasmaFaith there’s this old lady in a white robe handing out brochures. She don’t say nothing to you, she just smiles. The carpet is purple. When I walked in, the woman in the robe was eating chicken McNuggets and playing Space Ninja on her iPhone.

  The brochure says Jesus was the Son of God and that he died for our sins and that he could come relieve me of my burdens in digital form. I think burden means body pain, like pain from shitting or maybe pain from blindness, but I figured he would do other stuff too.

  What you do is you type in questions on a keyboard and he answers them and gives you blessings. It costs a token a question. Each token costs fifty cents.

  All the booths were taken, but after a minute, this woman came out of the middle one. She was holding a bucket of caramel corn and trying to wipe her eyes and eat the caramel corn at the same time.

  The booth was small and smelled like those blue triangles they put in the urinals at Tom Toomer.

  After I dropped the token in the slot there was all this music and then Digital Jesus appeared out of pure blackness.

  Bless you, Digital Jesus said. What is your name?

  I typed Wiggins.

  Hello, Wiggins, he said.

  I typed, Hello, Digital Jesus.

  I’m not so good at typing. I don’t got no computer at home. Dirty Diana used to have one but she spilled a Red Bull on it. The only one I ever get to use is the one in Language Arts. Sometimes Miss Kimsey lets me stay after class to practice. She has a free period and I have fifteen minutes to get to Science Lab, so she gives me special treatment. She’s the youngest teacher at Tom Toomer and I like the way she smells. Like flowers and hot chili peppers.

  Digital Jesus said, Wiggins, Would you care for a blessing or would you like to ask me a question?

  His voice sounded like it was coming from all around you.

  I typed, A blessing please.

  Then he said, For whom would you like a blessing?

  I typed, For the Frog please. Please Bless the Frog, Digital Jesus.

  Digital Jesus looks like this guy in a rock video. From this band called Blueblack Window. Bounce likes them cause she says they’re psycho-punk. For someone who died for all the sins of the world Digital Jesus looked pretty fit and well rested.

  Then this little piece of paper came out of a slot.

  It said, GOD BLESS YOU, THE FROG. MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND KEEP YOU.

  Then Digital Jesus said, For an additional token I’d be happy to bestow another blessing. Or perhaps you’d like to pose a question about your personal faith.

  I just stared at him.

  He said, Are you there, Wiggins?

  My mom took me to church once. It was when I was maybe four or five. We went after my dad didn’t come back from the war. I remember we had to pray for a long time. I remember all the candles and the statues and how the priest kept wiping his face cause he was sweating so much.

  Bless you, Wiggins, Digital Jesus said. Bless you, my son.

  Then this music came on. Like violins and pianos and something that sounded like a rocket ship landing on a rainbow. There were doves and butterflies and little naked angels flying. I think I saw that leprechaun from the Lucky Charms commercial, too. That made
me feel better for some reason. Then Digital Jesus floated backwards into a pink cloud of bumblebees and got smaller and smaller and disappeared and the screen went black.

  And then there was this commercial for Tombstone pizza.

  I had eight bucks left so I went to Taco Bell and got a taco supreme and a extra large Mountain Dew.

  Lyde was there eating a pretzel. He was standing near the trash. He’s so fat he can’t fit in the foodcourt chairs.

  He said, Wiggins.

  I went, Hey, Lyde.

  Where’s your boy Orange?

  I don’t know, I said. Prolly at home.

  Orange was at French Connection, at the other end of the mall. He was gonna steal this hoody with Shakira’s face on it. I think he’s trying to make Bounce jealous cause she won’t take his nuts.

  Lyde said, Tell him to give a brotha a shout.

  I nodded.

  Then he asked me if I wanted to smoke some weed with him.

  He was like, It’s the same shit Snoop Dogg smokes. Shit is mad heavenly, yo.

  I told him I couldn’t and he made a face and kept eating his pretzel. He ate about half of it in one bite.

  He went, What the fuck is you kids up to anyway? Copy machine. Digital camera. Computer cables. You startin a business or some shit? Tryin to jumpstart the economy?

  No, I said.

  He said, Come on, go get blunted with me. There’s this little room in the back of Best Buy.

  I shook my head and kept eating my taco supreme.

  He went, Mysterious little bitch, and headed to Boston Market.

  When we got home, there was a white Chevy Malibu parked behind my dad’s car with a bumper sticker that said All God’s Children.

  Bounce was waiting for me in the Lexus. We were gonna go to the True Value hardware on Hockley Boulevard cause Bounce said she needed to buy a special tool. She dropped me off so I could run in and give my dad the refill of his pain pills I picked up at the Osco on the way home from the mall.

  Are you Tim? the woman asked.

  I almost ran straight into her. She was standing in front of the door, out of the sun.

  She wore a pink T-shirt with a silver lion on it and black jeans. There were big sweat stains under her arms. I think the lion was from one of those Disney movies. She fanned herself with a piece of paper. Her face was wet from the humidification.

  She said, Takada Flowers, and she stopped fanning herself and put the piece of paper under her arm and held out her hand and we shook.

  She said, The other day I spoke with you on the phone. Do you remember? Takada Flowers from Children’s Services?

  She was smaller than I thought. Sometimes you can guess how big a person is by their voice. She was whiter looking too. I think she was part Mexican. Her hair was dyed orange, almost the same color as mine.

  I turnt and looked at Bounce in the Lexus. I wanted to signal to her in case shit got weird.

  Takada Flowers said, Is your father around? I rang the doorbell, but there was no answer.

  She was standing in the shade and I was in the hot sun. I had to squint and sweat was stinging my eyes.

  She said, He’s in there, isn’t he?

  Maybe, I said.

  I can hear the TV.

  I said, It’s always on. He’s prolly sleeping.

  Does he sleep a lot? she asked.

  As much as anybody else, I said.

  What are you holding? she asked.

  I said, His pain stuff.

  Can I see? she asked.

  It’s just pills, I said.

  The sun was really irritating my eyes. Things got pretty tense for a second and then she asked if she could come in.

  I was like, What for?

  She said, Just to talk with you a little.

  I was like, We’re talking right now.

  She said, But we’re not really talking, are we?

  I said, What do you wanna talk about?

  She started fanning herself with the piece of paper again and went, I understand that your mother has been gone for some time.

  I said, Did she die or something?

  She said, Not that I know of.

  I was like, Cause if she’s dead that’s cool with me.

  Takada Flowers made a face like her heart was breaking into a million little pieces and said, You sure I can’t come in for a moment, Tim? It’s hot as the blazes out here. I’d love a glass of water.

  I said, You’re a stranger.

  Then she reached into her purse and pulled out a wallet and showed me her ID. It said her name and how she was an official employee of the state of Illinois, in the Division of Children’s Services.

  I went, You can make stuff like that with a copy machine.

  She said, But I didn’t.

  I was like, You’re still a stranger.

  She looked at me and smiled. One of her teeth was gold. I thought maybe I could knock it out and give it to Wiggins.

  She said, I’d like to help you, Tim.

  I was like, I don’t need no help.

  Then she said, I’m aware of your father’s condition. He must be in a lot of pain.

  Maybe he is, I said.

  Then she made her eyes all serious and squinty.

  She said, Well, since you’re obviously not going to invite me in can I at least ask you a question?

  I was like, I’m sort of in a hurry. What?

  She went, Do you feel like you’re getting everything you need?

  I said, Yeah.

  She said, Do you feel you’re receiving proper care? Food? Clothing? Responsible parenting?

  I was like, I eat.

  What about the other stuff? she asked.

  I got clothes, I said.

  When was the last time those were washed? she said, pointing to my Hoya shorts.

  I don’t know, I said. I wash ’em.

  She said, You like Georgetown?

  Maybe, I said.

  She was like, You wanna be a Hoya?

  Maybe, I said again. They got a good hoops squad.

  She said, I’ve smelled cleaner clothes.

  That made me want to do bad shit to her. That’s what started the badness in me.

  She looked up at one of our windows.

  She said, You sure I can’t come in for a minute?

  Then I opened the door and went inside and closed it on her face. I stayed there on the other side of the door till I could hear her walking away.

  My dad was in the living room, asleep with the TV on. He’d been watching the Home Shopping Network. Someone was trying to sell a cat made of perfect crystal. It was called the Crystal Cat and it was sposed to be a great addition to the collection we didn’t have.

  My dad’s head was rolled forward on his chest and he was snoring.

  I put his pills on the kitchen table.

  I didn’t bother checking on the Frog cause that woman had wasted so much of my fucking time and Bounce was prolly already pissed. Besides, I knew Wiggins was planning on coming by to feed her later.

  When I got in the Lexus Bounce was like, What did Tyler Perry want?

  I said, She said she wanted to help me.

  Where was she from? Bounce asked.

  Children’s Services, I said.

  I told her how she wanted to know if I thought I was getting proper care.

  Bounce made a fart noise with her mouth.

  Proper care, she said. Was she doing stand-up?

  * * *

  On the way to True Value hardware we saw the white Malibu parked in front of the RadioShack on Flint Boulevard.

  That’s her, I said. That’s her car.

  Bounce said, Hot bumper sticker. All God’s Chirren.

  We parked a few cars away and waited for her to come out of the RadioShack and then we followed her.

  Proper care, Bounce kept saying under breath. Proper fucking care.

  We followed her downtown to the building where she worked.

  We followed her to the grocery store a
nd to the post office and to the library.

  Then we followed her home.

  She lives in a shitty part of town. Much shittier than where me and Wiggins live. It’s like gangbangers everywhere. Gangbangers and old homeless crack niggers and wild dogs. I wouldn’t get out of the car unless I had to.

  Bounce made me write down Takada Flowers’ address in this little spiral notebook. She lives at two-fifty-seven Triche Street in this little apartment building with a barbecue grill and a picnic table in front of it. There’s a fake stone pitbull chained to the picnic table. Someone spray-painted a Latin Kings symbol on it.

  Bounce said, This makes Piano Road look like Santa’s Village.

  After that we went back to True Value hardware on Flint Boulevard and bought some tools.

  Bounce bought a hammer.

  I asked her what it was for and she said, Hammering.

  She told me to get a tool, too, so I got some pliers.

  What’s that for? she asked.

  Proper care, I said.

  Originally the hammer was sposed to be for Sophia George, this little rich anorexia ho from Bounce’s Honors English class. She’d just gotten accepted into some special music school in Cleveland and Bounce wanted to break her hands before she left. But that all changed after Takada Flowers came by.

  About the hammer Bounce said, I’ll warm it up on our new friend.

  * * *

  That night I went down to the basement and pulled things out of the wall with my new pliers. The Frog watched me with her big buggy eyes.