the stock of the toy gun tight against his cheek.
"Yeah!" squawks Piper. "Real!" He flops back to the floor, sprays the whole downstairs. "Soon's they start comin' in --- bam-bam-bam!"
"Who?" says Maniac.
"The enemy," says Russell.
"Who's that?" says Maniac.
Russell stops firing long enough to send Maniac a where-have-you-been? look. "Who do ya think?" he sneers. He points the red barrel of the submachine gun toward the bedroom door. Toward the east. The East End.
The heavy front door.
Scene: Darkness. Silence. Sometime early morning. Maniac lies between the two brothers, on the bed. Do cockroaches climb bedposts? Unable to sleep, asking himself: What am I doing here? Remembering: Hester and Lester on his lap, Grayson's hug, corn muffin in the toaster oven. Thinking: Who's the orphan here, anyway?
Hearing, as he at last lowers himself into sleep's deep waters, a door slam, a slurred voice: "Do yet homework!"
Fearing: Will I float?
*¤* nihua *¤*
Chapter 36
The deal was, if Russell and Piper went to school for the rest of the week, Maniac would show them the shortcut to Mexico on Saturday. He figured if they all managed to survive till then, he'd come up with something.
On Saturday, the boys had their paper bag packed, and Maniac had a new deal: go to school for another week, and he'd treat them to another large pizza. Besides, he said, crossing his fingers, this was volcano season down in Mexico. The whole place was a sheet of red-hot lava. Better wait till it cools down.
They bought it. And they bought the same deal the following week.
But school was still agony for the boys. It had to be worth more than a pizza a week. But what? The brothers thought and thought about it and soon began to realize that the answer was sleeping between them every night.
Ever since the famous Maniac Magee had showed up at their house, Russell and Piper McNab had become famous in their own right. Other kids were always crowding around, pelting them with questions. What's he like? What's he say? What's he do? Did he really sit on Finsterwald's front steps? Is he really that fast?
Kids started giving them knots --- sneaker laces, yo-yo strings, toys --- and saying, "Ask Maniac to undo this, will ya?" Really little kids referred to him as "Mr. Maniac."
The McNabs ate it up. In the streets, the playgrounds, school. The attention, not the pizza, was the real reason they put up with school each day. They began to feel something they had never felt before. They began to feel important.
What a wonderful thing, this importance. Waiting for them the moment they awoke in the morning, pumping them up like basketballs, giving them bounce. And they hadn't even had to steal it! They loved it. The more they had, the more they wanted.
And so, when Maniac tried to cut the next pizza-for-school deal, Russell answered, "No."
"No?" echoed Maniac, who had been afraid it would come to this.
"No," said Russell. "We want something else."
"Oh," said Maniac. "What's that?"
They told him. If he wanted another week's worth of school out of them, he would have to enter Finsterwald's backyard --- "and stay there for ten minutes!" screeched Piper, who shuddered at the very thought. When Maniac casually answered, "Okay, it's a deal," Piper ran shrieking from the house.
On the next Saturday morning, Russell, Piper, and Maniac set out for Finsterwald's house, about seven blocks away. They took the alleys. Along the way they were joined by other kids, who were waiting, their eyes at once fearful and excited. By the time they got to Finsterwald's backyard, at least fifteen kids huddled against the garage door on the far side of the alley.
Maniac didn't hesitate. He walked straight up to the back gate, opened it, and went in. Not only that, he went all the way to the center of the yard, turned, folded his arms, smiled, and called "Who's keeping time?"
Russell, his throat too dry to speak, raised his hand.
For ten minutes, fifteen kids ---
"Yeah!" squawks Piper. "Real!" He flops back to the floor, sprays the whole downstairs. "Soon's they start comin' in --- bam-bam-bam!"
"Who?" says Maniac.
"The enemy," says Russell.
"Who's that?" says Maniac.
Russell stops firing long enough to send Maniac a where-have-you-been? look. "Who do ya think?" he sneers. He points the red barrel of the submachine gun toward the bedroom door. Toward the east. The East End.
The heavy front door.
Scene: Darkness. Silence. Sometime early morning. Maniac lies between the two brothers, on the bed. Do cockroaches climb bedposts? Unable to sleep, asking himself: What am I doing here? Remembering: Hester and Lester on his lap, Grayson's hug, corn muffin in the toaster oven. Thinking: Who's the orphan here, anyway?
Hearing, as he at last lowers himself into sleep's deep waters, a door slam, a slurred voice: "Do yet homework!"
Fearing: Will I float?
*¤* nihua *¤*
Chapter 36
The deal was, if Russell and Piper went to school for the rest of the week, Maniac would show them the shortcut to Mexico on Saturday. He figured if they all managed to survive till then, he'd come up with something.
On Saturday, the boys had their paper bag packed, and Maniac had a new deal: go to school for another week, and he'd treat them to another large pizza. Besides, he said, crossing his fingers, this was volcano season down in Mexico. The whole place was a sheet of red-hot lava. Better wait till it cools down.
They bought it. And they bought the same deal the following week.
But school was still agony for the boys. It had to be worth more than a pizza a week. But what? The brothers thought and thought about it and soon began to realize that the answer was sleeping between them every night.
Ever since the famous Maniac Magee had showed up at their house, Russell and Piper McNab had become famous in their own right. Other kids were always crowding around, pelting them with questions. What's he like? What's he say? What's he do? Did he really sit on Finsterwald's front steps? Is he really that fast?
Kids started giving them knots --- sneaker laces, yo-yo strings, toys --- and saying, "Ask Maniac to undo this, will ya?" Really little kids referred to him as "Mr. Maniac."
The McNabs ate it up. In the streets, the playgrounds, school. The attention, not the pizza, was the real reason they put up with school each day. They began to feel something they had never felt before. They began to feel important.
What a wonderful thing, this importance. Waiting for them the moment they awoke in the morning, pumping them up like basketballs, giving them bounce. And they hadn't even had to steal it! They loved it. The more they had, the more they wanted.
And so, when Maniac tried to cut the next pizza-for-school deal, Russell answered, "No."
"No?" echoed Maniac, who had been afraid it would come to this.
"No," said Russell. "We want something else."
"Oh," said Maniac. "What's that?"
They told him. If he wanted another week's worth of school out of them, he would have to enter Finsterwald's backyard --- "and stay there for ten minutes!" screeched Piper, who shuddered at the very thought. When Maniac casually answered, "Okay, it's a deal," Piper ran shrieking from the house.
On the next Saturday morning, Russell, Piper, and Maniac set out for Finsterwald's house, about seven blocks away. They took the alleys. Along the way they were joined by other kids, who were waiting, their eyes at once fearful and excited. By the time they got to Finsterwald's backyard, at least fifteen kids huddled against the garage door on the far side of the alley.
Maniac didn't hesitate. He walked straight up to the back gate, opened it, and went in. Not only that, he went all the way to the center of the yard, turned, folded his arms, smiled, and called "Who's keeping time?"
Russell, his throat too dry to speak, raised his hand.
For ten minutes, fifteen kids ---
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