The Escape of Bobby Ray Hammer, A Novel of a '50s Family

  He puffs a couple of times and I can tell that he's still suffering, but here he comes so I throw that right that I never threw at Melvin, the one where I know I'm going to put him down except this time, I miss. He hits me in the side of the head and I don't know what with but it hurts worse than anything I have ever felt before. And my leg that Charles ran over is throbbing again. Lenny used to hit me when we were playing and it really hurt and Papa used to whip me when it would hurt pretty bad, but this hurts so bad I'm really afraid of Thomas. But then he stops.

  "Bobby, you're a whole lot tougher than I thought. I've had enough. If you're through, I'm through."

  I'm staggering a little and walking around him in circles but it doesn't even seem like we've started good. I put my guard down though while he's talking to me.

  "Now what's this about Brenda."

  "You've been talking about her. Ruining her good name."

  "God, Bobby. She's my girl. Now why would I want to give her a bad name? But I'll tell you what. I'll take it like you're doing me a favor, watch my mouth from now on. Okay? What do you say?"

  I guess I was hoping he would still be mad about it.

  "My God, what are two men like you and me fighting for anyway?" he asks. "All that we've been through together. You even took me out to see Mary. I told my daddy about it and I thought it was going to kill him, he laughed so hard. There's no reason for you and me to be fighting. High school will be over here before you know it. Brenda? Hell I know you may still be a little soft on her, but Brenda and I've been going together since summer. We broke up a couple of times, but I bet we get married someday. We're alike, Bobby. I hope you're not still thinking about her for yourself. You're not like her."

  "How would you know?" I ask and he has to laugh that little laugh again.

  "Bobby, I always hated to see you and Bev breakup. God, you two were just made for each other."

  "You don't know anything about me and Bev."

  "Hell, Bobby, she still talks about you all the time. Everybody's raising a fuss about her hiding that dynamite for you. Always suspected she had dynamite up her dress. I know she's been seeing Leroy lately, but she doesn't want him. Just wait and see. Women always get their way with a man if they really want him. We can't be fighting like this and being mad at each other anymore. You and me are going to be in business for ourselves before too long. We're going to show this country what farming is all about. My dad and yours? They don't know how to make money. They're small time. My daddy knows the implement business but not farming. We're a new breed, Bobby, you and me. We're going to be rich, richer than rich. We're going to own all this land. We're going to own land that stretches from here all the way to the Sierra Madre. I've been planning. You must be planning too. I see you out there looking over people's ground. If you're like me, you want it for yourself."

  I'm really confused now. I've hated him all this time and seems like he can think up better things for me than I can. And what's this shit about us being men.

  "You're a tough bucket of bolts. God, I'm glad we had this fight. It was a good fight too, Bobby. I haven't had a fight since I was in the seventh grade and an eighth grader tried to take my marbles. I hope we don't have to do it again though." And then he grabs my hand and shakes it. "But I've got to go back to work now or I'm going to be letting my daddy down. Come and see me again sometime. And get over being so mad. I don't like it. Remember, we're friends."

  And then he just turns his back on me and walks off like we just had a normal conversation. I don't quite know what I have done or why I did it.

  CHAPTER 23: Leroy Bites the Big One

  It's midnight, Saturday night. I'm in my Chevy revving the engine and the front bumper is even with the white line of the marked-off quarter mile. This is the new strip, just down the road from Farnesi's on the old 99. I pump the clutch a little, make this old Chevy lurch and buck like a wild bronco. I'm in the left lane feeling a little uneasy about being on the wrong side of the road. Melvin's going to the other end of the strip to see the finish. He just left with a couple of other guys. I see his red taillights brighten then he pulls off to the right. Leroy pulls up beside me in the right lane, revving the engine in that old clunker. Charles steps in between us, a couple of yards in front. He'll do the flagging. Wayne got Leroy into this mess. Leroy is a wonder. He has Bev with him. Trying to impress his girl tonight. God, she's turned into a wild one. She's had him dragging everything in town. This is his fourth race tonight. She said it's better than a roller coaster.

  Charles raises his right arm overhead with a finger pointing to the sky, the other, he points at me. I nod. Then to Leroy. Then his left arm goes up over his head like his right arm, then both come down.

  I jerk the clutch and hear my tires squalling. Leroy gets the jump on me but I expected that. This Chevy doesn't have much traction when all that horsepower under the hood is turned loose. He goes to second before I do, but when I hear my lifters floating, I make the shift and hear a new squall of rubber, and start pounding the seat because I know he'll be coming to me now. But he's right beside me so I wait for high gear because all those horses have to make a difference, and then the lifters float so I'm in high gear and lunging forward in my seat, but nothing makes a difference. Something is wrong. I see his red taillights. This Chevy isn't moving right. He's just moving on. My car just doesn't seem to have it tonight and I'm wondering if someone didn't do something to it. If I find out someone screwed with my car I'll kill them because nobody screws with my car.

  Now I'm starting to pull on him, all I need is a little more time. Ah, shit! He just hit his brakes. I didn't see no white line. What's he stopping for? That chickenshit sonofabitch just quit early so he can say he won.

  I pull over behind him in his lane, let off the gas, but I'm still moving up on him like I wanted to before he let off. God, he's coming to me fast. Whoa! He's on me before I know it and I squall rubber and work at the wheel but his car is moving so odd, I think maybe I catch his bumper. I can't believe what has just happened. Looked like Leroy's car just went over on its side. I look in the rear view mirror and see a world of dust and Leroy's Ford on its top and still rolling and I catch a flash of something, like maybe it's Leroy. Oh, no, no. It's like Leroy's car is flying through the air. Now all I see in the rear view mirror is black.

  I coast to a stop. I don't want to go back but I have to. I make a slow turn and brace myself as my headlights swing around and hit the road again. All I see is Melvin's car at the side of the road and then it pulls out in a hurry and his lights come on, shining in my eyes. I can't see Leroy's car, but there's a big cloud of dust drifting across the road. I just hope I was imagining things, and then I see Leroy's car on its back, laying over beside the railroad track. I swear to God, it looks just like a big dead animal with its feet in the air and smoke rising from it. No fire yet.

  Melvin pulls off before he gets to Leroy's car and shines his lights on something in the bar ditch. The doors to his Chevy open and three guys jump out, run over and stare down at something lying there in the dark.

  I stop at Leroy's car. But I'm afraid to get out. I keep imagining Bev all mashed up with blood pouring out of her body. Finally, I open my door and walk through the weeds in the bar ditch. Leroy's radio is still going and I hear Fats Domino singing Blueberry Hill. I'm scared of what might be inside but I bend down anyway and first see the upside-down steering wheel and nobody behind it. Then I see Bev sitting on the inside of the roof. She's sitting on the dome light weaving from side to side, humming along with Fats. I lean in, stare up at the seats. No Leroy. I smell motor oil.

  "Where's Leroy?" I ask.

  "I don't know, Bobby. He's a hard one to find." There's a blue knot on her forehead. She's smiling and talking like a little girl. Starts humming again.

  There's a little light because the dome light is on, but Bev's sitting on it.

  "Are you hurt?"

  "I gots a hurt, but I can still play."

  It's as if s
he thinks we're playing hide'n-go-seek. Even through her sweater, I can tell that her left arm is broken.

  I talk to her straight, but try not to scare her. She doesn't know where she is yet. "Don't try to stand," I tell her, putting my hand on the top of her head. "Crawl toward me."

  She keeps trying to use that left arm. "My arm hurts," she says.

  "I'll have to help you with your arm."

  She looks up at me with wide eyes. She suddenly realizes something's wrong. "I need help, Bobby," she says, starting to whimper. "Leroy's gone. Where did he go?" And she said it like she's disgusted with him.

  "You and me are going to get in my car and I want you to sit real still. We'll find Leroy." She's starting to shake all over like she's real cold.

  When she steps out on the ground, she finally comes to. "Oh, my God! Bobby, what's happened?" She turns to look at Leroy's car. "We've had an accident! What were we doing in Leroy's car?"

  "Come on, Bev. You need a doctor."

  I get in and drive the short piece to where Melvin, Eugene and Thomas are standing. Bev has her head back on the seat and is starting to groan. I see some blood from the corner of her mouth. Melvin squats over something, then gets down on his knees, turns his head down low to the ground like he listening for something. I don't want to think about what it might be. I park at the side of the road in front of them. Melvin shouts for me to kill my lights. Sure enough it's somebody. I pull up next to them, roll down my window.

  "How's Bev?" someone asks.

  "I've got to get her to the hospital."

  "She pretty bad?"

  "Broken arm."

  "How come you wouldn't let up," someone else wants to know.

  "Who? Me?" I say.

  I tell Bev that Leroy's okay. Just shaken up pretty good. I use my handkerchief to get the blood off her mouth. "Is your mouth okay inside?" I ask as I pull out toward town.

  *

  Nobody is blaming me for what happened to Leroy. Nobody. Well, maybe Wayne. I checked the front of my car but couldn't find a mark on it. Melvin sat in the backseat while I drove Bev to the hospital. We passed the ambulance on the way. Charles had gone for it as soon as he saw the dust fly. They almost beat us to the hospital with Leroy.

  At 3 AM, I went back to the scene of the accident. Melvin went with me. We stood there at the side of the road, his hand on my shoulder, said no way did I clip Leroy's bumper. He claims he saw space between my car and Leroy's just before he went off the road. I don't know what the truth is. The police kept going over and over it with me. Took me from the hospital to the police station. They know it all now.

  Papa, he came down too. "Get that cocksucker out of here," is what he said when he saw Charles giving his statement.

  "Calm down and have a seat," is what Brock said back. "Everyone will get a chance to have their say."

  "He's the cause of this. I should have killed him years ago."

  "I'll put some cuffs on you, if you don't shut your mouth," was Brock's answer.

  Papa calmed a little, told me to tell the truth. He talked to Brock for a long time after they sent me out. Beats me what they could have been saying. I just sat in Papa's pickup with the radio off. Played with the doorknobs, the cigarette lighter and wiped a lot of dust off the dash. Charles came out and talked to me for a bit, but he had to leave because I didn't want Papa to see him talking to me. Charles said he knew it wasn't my fault, said not to worry, that he'd straightened it out with the police. But I don't know what the police are going to do about me. I don't know what the truth is about what I have done.

  *

  Today is Sunday morning. I'm riding around town with Melvin in his new '57 Chevy. This thing really scoots. We drive past the hospital on Ventura a couple of times, then stop and go inside. Melvin goes first. There's just a little square entry way with a couple of benches and then the hall. Three of Leroy's brothers are sitting there, one older, two younger than Leroy. Leon is the oldest. He looks at me.

  "How you doing, Bobby?" he asks. First time I've seen him without his girlfriend.

  "Okay, I guess. How's Leroy?"

  "Same."

  His Uncle Jesse is sitting on a bench by himself. He doesn't have on a coat, just a T-shirt, and his tattoos show all down his arms. First time I've seen him sober. And this is a strange thing from him. He gets up, but he doesn't shake my hand like he usually does. He hugs me. He's clean but he smells of garlic.

  Melvin takes a seat in the only chair in the room, but I walk on through the open doors into a hall. The whole place looks deserted. On the other side is a large room and out in the middle, on what looks to me like a tall rollaway bed on wheels, is Leroy. I would've thought they could've done something better for him. I can tell it's Leroy because of the shaggy hair and the eyebrows. He's lying on his back covered with a sheet and blanket. His mother's standing beside the bed like she's just about to do something, and his daddy's sitting on a stool over in a corner with his head down and his hat in his hands looking like Leroy is already dead. Like he's just wasting time. Dr. Wade's standing up by Leroy's head fiddling with something then walks over to the medicine cabinet as if he has all the time in the world. He's hurt me so many times I don't know if he can help Leroy. I don't like the smell of alcohol. He takes a look at me but it's as if he's seeing through me.

  I wonder where Bev is? I look around for a nurse. Leroy's mother sees me when she turns around and even though it didn't show when she had her back turned, now I can tell she's been crying for a long time. I wonder if she's going to be mad at me but she comes over and hugs me.

  "Thank God you're okay," she says.

  "How's Leroy?" I ask.

  "Doesn't look good, Bobby. Not at all. They won't let me see the right side of his head."

  "Do you know where Bev is?"

  "Down the hall."

  I peek in a couple of empty rooms. Finally see a nurse coming up the hall.

  "Can I see Beverly Morrini?"

  "Sure. She's sedated though, can't talk because her tongue is swelled. She bit it."

  Bev looks to be asleep but when she hears me, raises her hand.

  "Are you sure you're okay?" she asks. I don't know how she knows it's me because she didn't open her eyes.

  "I'm fine. I'm just worried about you. You and Leroy. Do you hurt much?"

  She shakes her head no but starts crying. "Take my hand, Bobby. Hold it real tight, till my mother gets back."

  "They put your arm in a cast?"

  She tries to pull her left arm out from under the covers but I stop her.

  "Don't," I say. "That's okay. I just want to make sure you're alright."

  Mrs. Morrini walks in carrying a purse the size of a grocery basket. I feel like I've been caught doing something wrong but she seems glad I'm here. Bev is already asleep.

  "Oh, Bobby. It's so good of you to come. She's been asking for you. She has a concussion. Sometimes she thinks you were killed. For some reason she believes she was driving and that it was her fault. She'll be a lot better by tomorrow, Dr. Wade says. If Leroy doesn't make it, it'll be very hard."

  I walk back out front, sit across from Melvin, between Jess and one of Leroy's brothers. Ken, the one just younger than Leroy, asks me if I was dragging against Leroy.

  "Yep. I was," I say. Too late to lie about that.

  "How did Leroy do?" he wants to know.

  "Kicked butt the whole quarter mile," says Melvin, pointing his finger at me, then pulls back and starts searching for his little pouch of roll-your-own cigarettes. "Bobby never had a chance."

  I can't help but laugh a little. "Put me to shame."

  Ken laughs almost like a cough, turns his head to the side, laughs again. "Nobody'd believe that old Ford hauls."

  "Chewed me up."

  "Leroy's always working on that old Ford. Won't touch the body, and won't tell anybody what he has under the hood, not anymore." That's all he says and then we just sit for a long time.

  Leroy's six-year-old brother is n
amed Cletis. He pulls a little screwdriver with a clear orange handle out of his coat pocket like he's going to fix something. He turns to Ken with a mean look on his face, points that screw driver at him, turns it first one way then the other like he's working on him. Ken tells him to stop it. "Just stop it," he says.

  From inside, I hear their mother crying real low, then a little louder. She comes out front crying hard. Leon asks how he's doing. She says that the doctor just told her Leroy's not going to make it. Cletis starts crying. I go on outside, stand and wait for Melvin to take me home.

  *

  It's nighttime now, and I'm lying in bed staring up at the dark. Bev called me earlier this evening from her hospital bed. She gave me the exact time like they do when a baby is born. Leroy died at 8:05 PM.

  CHAPTER 24: Another Funeral

  I just can't stand myself knowing what I did to Leroy. Look at all these people in black standing out here at the cemetery. Brother Hensen just finished saying all the right words for Leroy, the words Lenny never got. Grace Magdalena's staying so close to her preacher you would think there's a hit man after her. And everyone's milling around except for the Korenski's and they're in what looks like a football huddle over to the side with all their kids and several people I've never seen before. One old woman is in a wheel chair. Heard someone say that she's Leroy's great grandmother. Leroy's Uncle Jesse called me over so she could see me. She didn't say anything, just looked me over good. I don't know what that was all about. My mama and papa are standing next to the coffin but they didn't know Leroy much, so there wasn't any reason for them to come. Trish and Eugene are together again. So they're here. Curt stayed home to shred cotton stalks. Said he didn't need another funeral.

  All the women have on hats and all the men don't. Aunt Loretta is standing with Mama and Papa. She looks like a woman today. She's in a red dress and a little white frill hat with a blue ribbon hanging down the back. She gets her clothes from the Salvation Army. First dress I've seen her in since Lenny died.