bloody nose, leading his troop out of there at a dead run.'
'And you think Petey planned this out before it happened?' Susan said.
'Down to the apple,' I said. 'If it was a stone or something that would do damage, they might have been scared to chase him into the lot. But an apple doesn't scare anybody, just annoys them.'
'And he knew when they got to the lot, they'd split up and start looking up and down the aisles.'
I nodded.
'And how do you know about this?' she said. 'Did you attend?'
'No,' I said. 'Aurelio told me.'
'Did he attend?'
'Nope, but some of the other Mexican kids told him about it,' I said. 'And pretty much it was all over town by the next afternoon . . .' I grinned at the memory. 'And Leo was seen around town with a black eye and a fat lip.'
'You seem glad the Mexican boys won.'
'I didn't care who won,' I said. 'I never got that whole business about racial loyalty, or gender loyalty, or age loyalty. I always, even when I was little, tried to take things as they came and like or dislike them on how they were.'
'You still do,' Susan said.
'Yes,' I said. 'But even now I still kind of admire how smart Pedro was. Gang for gang, I think he was outnumbered.'
We went into the Four Seasons hotel. Both doormen spoke warmly to Susan. We walked to the lounge in silence and got a seat at the bar. Susan ordered a glass of pinot grigio. I had a beer.
'Was that the end of it?' Susan said.
'Not quite,' I said.
Chapter 43
It was overcast and kind of cold, and there was no one else in the school yard. I was working on my jump shot, with Jeannie retrieving the ball for me. Catch the pass, take a dribble, square up, shoot. Catch the pass, take a dribble, square up, shoot. Jeannie's passes were not always really good, but it was better than chasing it after every shot. I was good with the dribble. I could pass, and I was tough on defense. But my outside shot was weak and so I tried to do a hundred jumpers every day.
I was on number sixty-seven when Leo and his troop came around the corner of the school. Croy was beside Leo.
Leo shouted at me, 'You're in trouble now, Spenser.'
I sank jumper number sixty-eight before I looked at him. Jeannie retrieved the ball and held it for a moment, then she dropped the basketball and ran away. Leo watched her go and turned and looked at me.
'Smart girl,' he said.
'What's your problem, Leo?' I said.
'You knew the Mexicans was gonna ambush us, and you didn't tell us,' Leo shouted.
'Nope,' I said.
'Don't lie about it,' Leo yelled. 'Croy seen you talking to Petey Hernandez right before the fight. You betrayed your own damn kind.'
'You are my kind?' I said. 'I don't think so.'
'You admit you knew it?' Leo said.
'Nothing to admit,' I said. 'I didn't know what they were planning.'
