The Town by Bentley Little Page A

his birthday this year. The thought of going someplace with just his family depressed him, and he didn’t want anyone from school to see him sitting in some crappy restaurant with Babunya and his parents and his sisters like . . . well, like a loser.
    He’d rather not celebrate his birthday at all than be humiliated.
    But his parents probably had something planned, and he thought that he’d better let them know he just wanted a quiet celebration at home before they went out and made reservations at some embarrassingly public place.
    It was Friday, and although there were Fox shows he wanted to watch, when Scott called after dinner asking if he felt like hanging out, checking what was happening around town, Adam agreed to come over.
    He knew his parents wouldn’t want him to go, so he put the best spin possible on it as he presented the plan to them. “Scott asked me to come over,” he said.
    His mother frowned. “Now? It’s getting dark.”
    “So?”
    “I don’t want you wandering around out there at night.”
    “I’m not a baby.”
    “Why don’t you just stay home?”
    “I thought that’s why we moved here. So we could do things like this.”
    “There may not be gangs in McGuane, but there are coyotes, snakes, drunk rednecks, who knows what all.”
    “And perverted cowboys,” Sasha said, grinning.
    “Sasha,” his father warned.
    “Scott was born here. He knows this town. And, besides, we’re not just going to ‘wander.’ I’m going to his house, we may walk down to French’s and get a milk shake or something, and that’s it. Then I’ll come home.”
    “Why don’t you have your father drive you?”
    Adam grimaced. “Why don’t you just hang a big sign on my back that says ‘Mama’s Boy and Wuss’?”
    “We could do that,” Sasha said agreeably.
    Teo laughed.
    “Knock it off,” his father said. He turned toward Adam. “What are your real plans?”
    “That’s it! That’s the plan! God!”
    His parents exchanged a glance.
    “Be home by eight-thirty,” his mother said.
    “That’s only an hour and a half!”
    “How much time do you need to get a milk shake?”
    “It’s that or nothing,” his father said. “Take it or leave it.”
    “I’ll take it.”
    His father grinned. “If you’re five minutes late, I’ll be out in that van looking for you, asking everyone I see, ‘Do you know where Adam Tomasov is? His mommy wants him to come home.’ ”
    Teo burst out laughing.
    Adam kicked the sole of her tennis shoe as he walked by, pretending to be annoyed, but he was secretly pleased. Things had gone a lot smoother than expected. He grabbed his comb and wallet and was out of the house before his parents could change their minds.
    Scott was waiting for him on the low wooden fence that encircled his yard. From inside the set-back house came the loud, angry voices of a man and a woman arguing, and Scott said, “Let’s hit the road. My old man and old lady are going at it, and, believe me, you don’t want to be around when that happens.” He jumped off the fence and led Adam across the street and through the yard of a darkened home abutting a dry ditch.
    They hopped into the ditch and followed it behind a line of houses and buildings, emerging in the field behind the high school. Scott led the way through the school grounds onto Malachite Avenue, and they walked down the sloping street toward the center of town.
    “Can you believe this place is so dead?” Scott said disgustedly. “The whole town closes up at six. What a fucking hellhole.” He looked over at Adam. “I bet it’s not like this in California.”
    Adam laughed. “No, it’s not.”
    But he went on to tell his friend how they wouldn’t be able to walk around like this at night in Southern California. There were gangs and drive-bys, sickos and psychos.
    Scott was incredulous. “You can’t go out at night?”
    “Well, you can if you have a car. I mean, my dad or my sister could drive us places like movies or