powder-blue Cadillac. It plowed into a group of five men who stood
there giving the driver the finger. The men flew like dolls in all
directions as the driver gunned the engine.
Not real smart to shoot the bird at a man coming at you in a car at
speed.
'Eat shit and die!' the driver screamed. Then he started to laugh.
Four or five other people attacked the Caddy, slamming their fists and
feet at it. The driver spun a donut in the grass, still cackling
madly.
Something wrong here, Howard thought. He shook his head, then looked
at the man he had just decked. What was he doing^ He looked down the
hill and saw a dozen people fighting.
One of them was a policeman. The cop pulled his gun, and a quick
succession of shots--poppoppoppoppop!--echoed up the hill. Gunshot
victims fell, and added more screams to the din.
Dazed, Howard looked up the hill. There were people there, too, but
they weren't fighting; they were watching, staring in surprise.
Howard's thoughts were fogged with rage, but something was trying to
make its way through the anger: This was a bad place. Down the hill it
was worse, but up the hill, it was better. Therefore ... 'Come on!' he
yelled to his family.
'We have to get up the hill!'
'Fuck off!' Tyrone yelled back.
Little Nadine released her hold on the judge, who was screaming in
pain. She stared at Howard.
'What is going on?' she said, her voice high and frightened.
'I don't know. Gas, maybe. We've got to get out of here. Help me.'
His wife kneed the judge in the nuts again. The man gurgled in agony.
Howard grabbed her, pulled her off.
'Leave me alone! He hit my son!'
Howard jerked her backward.
'Tyrone!'
The boy turned, and the mask of primal rage on his face slipped a
little. He raised his eyebrows.
'Dad?'
'Up the hill, son, up the hill. Go, go!'
Tyrone nodded. Little Nadine grabbed his hand and they started
running.
Howard had to pin Nadine's arms to her side and he half carried, half
dragged her away from the meadow. She kicked and screamed at him for a
hundred meters before she stopped. She was a lot stronger than he'd
realized.
Finally, when they were two hundred meters away, Nadine came back.
'J-John? What--?'
'I don't know, hon. But whatever it is, the farther away we get, the
better. Come on.'
They caught up to the children, and the four of them kept moving.
Howard looked back as they ran. The Cadillac was lying on its side,
and a mob had the driver out and on the ground, kicking him. He was a
