'No, it wasn't,' I said.
'You've never been a joiner,' Susan said.
'I wasn't trying to solve race relations in town,' I said. 'I was just trying to help Aurelio, because he was a nice little guy and because Jeannie asked me to.'
'When I was at Harvard,' Susan said, 'the concern was mostly with larger problems, saving the world, that kind of thing.'
'How's that working?' I said.
Susan smiled.
'Since I've known you,' she said, 'you have actually been saving the world, one person at a time.'
I grinned.
'I guess I work on a smaller scale than Harvard,' I said.
'Thank God,' Susan said.
Chapter 39
I was leaning against the brick wall on the sunny side of the school, talking to Jeannie and Aurelio at recess. Carl and Turk came over to us along with an older guy I didn't know. All three of them looked hard at Aurelio. But nobody spoke to him. I could feel Aurelio trying to shrink into the brick wall.
'How ya doin', Spenser?' Carl said.
'Good,' I said.
'Hey, babe,' Turk said.
Jeannie ignored him.
'This here is Leo Roemer,' Carl said.
'Leo,' I said.
He nodded. He looked at Jeannie.
'Who's this?' he said.
'I'm Jeannie,' she said.
Leo nodded.
'Not bad,' he said.
'Gee, thanks,' Jeannie said. 'You're pretty cute yourself.'
'Maybe someday I'll show you how cute I am,' Leo said.
'Maybe,' Jeannie said. 'Maybe not.'
'You go to school here?' I said.
'I don't go to school nowhere,' Leo said. 'I dumped it after the eighth grade.'
'Lucky you,' I said.
'It's all crap anyway,' he said.
I nodded.
