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Show staring and Puerto Ricans playing loud horn music that sounded like car wrecks. Karl Jr. waved the flag back and forth, having a great time, and big Karl waved at everybody. I was on the porch with my sister, gH&xxaxx&ar. Neda, 4bout +> years younger than me at seventeen, but Red and Helen weren't letting the two youngest come out. Helen thought Karl was crazy and spent a lot of time peaking out the windows to make sure KHKX wasn't doing anything nuts with his guns. She was certain that one of these days Karl was going to come pounding at the door and blow us all away, especially her, because he knew how much Helen hated fat old Sophie, Karl's wife. XxsHHiiixsEaxRH^XEEa^iHSX^s^^^^sxHffiExxxxExikaxSy. Through the front window I could see Red in the chair next to the TV, newspaper spread in front, but I knew his ears were ^tfjgp** He was the mayor of the neighborhood and nothing got by him, but he wasn't going to reinforce Karl's crazy behavior with his presence either. Red put his flag out and ate a couple hot dogs off the grill and kept quiet, and figured everybody else should too. Karl paraded up and down the street a couple times, then pulled the C<aaaft back up Howie's driveway and across the sidewalk and in between our two houses. It looked like things were over, but he nodded at me and Neda and said, "C'mon Jarvis, I'm gonna blow it. Gonna put one in the Bay." Neda put her hands over her mouth and ran inside. That made Karl chuckle. "Should be real interesting," he said. Karl Jr. was grinning like a mouth with no head and Emma and Maggie wobbled their heads back and forth and put their palms out and said, "We're gonna SHOOT trie M M L we're gonna SHOOT the «••••?," saying SHOOT everytime they put out their little palms. Then Karl and Karl Jr. dragged the « • into the backyard. Inside, Red wasn't too happy. He was up and standing just inside the vestibule doorway, all 6t&2± six-two, two-fifty of him and hot as hot sauce. "He's god-damn nuts," he said. "I ought to call the police. "Talk to him," I said. "I aint talkin to him. He's nuts." Of course it wasn't that simple. Red and Karl were old and bitter friends. Worse than that, neighbors. They owed each other everything. "Your mothers hiding in the god-damn basement," said Red. I went down there. |