Portrait of a young con artist
Chapter 9
Scotty
They came at Kenny from three sides at once, a flaying of fists that took him off guard, black leather and slicked back hair, shimmering as they struck. It took him a moment to sort them out, swinging at the head nearest him. The nose crunched under his fist and its owner howled.
"Hey! This isn't him!" he shouted, red spouting down his chin.
"It's got to be," one of the others said, swinging again as Kenny danced across the tracks, waiting with readied fists.
"What do you want?" he asked.
All three of the thugs stared.
"It's got to be him," the third one said. "Fodi said we'd find him here." "Fodi?" Kenny said. "What does Fodi want with me?" It seemed odd Fodi would make noise now after two years avoiding each other.
"Fodi said he was a dork," the first one said, fist up into his nostril trying to stop the blood.
"Answer me," Kenny said. "Or do I have to take your head off?"
Just a flicker of something showed in their exchanged glances as one of them said, "McDonald?"
"Absolutely," Kenny said, striding towards them. They backed away, then turned and ran, searching the trees along the sides of the tracks as they vanished around the curve.
"Son of a bitch!" Kenny said and followed after them.
They had stopped again near the factory. This time their victim was a tall kid Kenny recognized from history class, a dork named Scott Johnson whose books were scattered on the ground around his feet as they beat his face with punches.
"Come on, Sergeant Fury, fight!" one of them shouted.
Kenny grabbed the thug's fist before it could strike, twisting it around the boy's back. "What gives?" he asked.
"This don't concern you, McDonald," one of the other thugs said.
"Everything along the tracks concerns me," Kenny said. "Especially when I'm attacked."
"That was an accident," the bleeding thug said. "We were looking for him."
Kenny cast his captive at the other two. "Why?"
"For Fodi."
Kenny expected more, but the three thugs fell quiet.
"Well, Fodi can't have him," Kenny said. "Now get before you three get hurt."
They went in a stumbling retreat that stopped briefly at the road to stare, and then they vanished down that. Their victim thawed, peering out from under his hands like a turtle.
"They're gone," Kenny said.
The tall boy's arms dropped, a low gasp escaping when he noticed his books.
"Oh no," he moaned and bent to retrieve them, long fingers grabbing at the colored pages of comic books like clumps of leaves. Everybody but the teachers knew his reputation for reading them in class.
"Why was Fodi on your case?" Kenny asked, retrieving several of the more orthodox books.
Scott shrugged, his sad eyes surveying the pages of a ruined comic. "They ruined it," he mumbled.
"A dime'll buy you another," Kenny said.
The shocked gaze rose from the comic and stared disbelievingly into Kenny's face.
"It was a Sergeant Fury," he said.
"Never heard of the guy," Kenny said. "Is he related to Donald Duck?"
Scott grabbed back his books with a look of utter contempt and marched off.
"Hey!" Kenny shouted, scurrying after him. "What did I say?"
"I don't like people making fun of my comics," Scott said, walking briskly over the uneven railroad ties. Kenny jogged to keep up.
"I wasn't making fun of them," Kenny said.
"So you say," Scott snapped, then quickened his pace again, his long stride taking him around the bend and into the reeds. Kenny stopped, scratched slowly behind one ear, then turned back.
***********
Scott had his nose buried in his book when Kenny arrived, his brown eyes reflecting the comic's bright colors. He slid down one side of the class amid pre-bell chatter.
Fodi snagged his arm, the grim squat face grinning up at him with stale cigarette breath. "If it isn't St. George? Kill any dragons lately, McDonald?"
"Blow it out your ear, Fodi."
"I was just being friendly."
"Next time do it by telegram," Kenny said, moving on. He fell into the seat next to Scott's.
The reading boy did not look up, though the shoulder's hitched a little. Up front, Mrs. Schuster swept in, arms full of books which she dumped on her desk. She eyed Kenny.
"Why aren't you studying?" she asked sharply, a wisp of chestnut hair across her eyes.
"I don't have a book."
"If you've forgotten your book, go to your locker and get it."
"I didn't forget it; I lost it."
A few giggles escape the lips of unwary students.
"Thrown it away is more like it," whispered Fodi.
Schuster looked disgusted. "Then sit in with someone. I won't have you twiddling your thumbs while the rest of the class is learning."
Kenny grinned, then pulled his desk closer to Scott's. The tall boy looked up with alarm.
"Don't trust him, Scotty," Fodi whispered. "He might lose your books, too."
Scott's long fingers tightened around the corners of the text as he glanced once nervously in Kenny's direction.
***********
"Take that, Sergeant Fury!" the voices echoed as Kenny came down the embankment to the tracks. Fodi's goons repeated their act from the day before, circling the transfixed Scott like a clutch of hooting Indians.
"I thought I told you to quit that," Kenny said, stepping out from under the trees.
The hooting stopped, but the three goons did not go. Instead, Fodi climbed up the other side of the tracks, slowly shaking his head.
"You really are an annoying turd," he said. "Who ever said this was your turf?"
"I did. Until someone takes it from me."
"That could be arranged."
"I'm not your style, Fodi. You like your victims helpless."
"Don't be a fool. There are four of us."
"And two of us," Kenny snapped. "That's good odds where I come from."
Fodi looked startled. "You really don't think the dork'll help you?"
Scott's arm had come down from his face revealing a puzzled expression.
"Maybe I don't need him," Kenny said and lunged, grabbing Fodi by the collar.
"I'm in no mood for this, McDonald," Fodi grunted. "Just give me the dork and you can have your turf."
"What do you want him for?"
"That's my business," Fodi said, pulling himself free.
"Fine! Keep your secrets," Kenny said, weaving through Fodi's minions. "Come on, Scotty. I'll walk you home."
Fodi stared, then snapped his fingers. His goons bent quickly and took up stones. Kenny expected something and turned, but the stones flew over the factory fence instead. Windows high up in the brick wall shattered one after another until they were all gone.
***********
Fodi said nothing the next day in class. He didn't even smile. But his gaze watched Schuster as she came in, and lingered on the shadowy office narc who followed behind her. The messenger handed Schuster a note, and her hard Grey eyes looked over the top of it straight at Kenny.
"Me? I didn't do anything!"
"Tell that in the office, Schuster said, motioning towards the door. "And take Mister Johnson with you."
***********
The vice-principal's office made Kenny sick, from the pink walls and carpet to the smug-faced teacher's assistant behind the desk, who grinned a little too cheerfully.
"You seem to live here, don't you?" she asked, squinting through inch-thick eyeglasses.
"It's not my fault this time."
"That's what you always say," she said and punched the intercom button, announcing his arrival.
Sitting in the chairs across him was a prim and proper trio of the school's brain trust, two boys filled with pocket organizers and a girl yanking down on her white lace sleeves. None met his stare, though they glanced up sharply when Hammer opened the inner door.
Hammer's green eyes greeted Kenny with cold anger.
"So you've finally done it," she said flatly. "You want to step inside where we can talk about it?"
"I didn't do it," Kenny said.
"Can we please dispense with your usual diatribe?"
"But it's true, Mrs. Hammer. I don't have the foggiest idea why we're here."
She studied his face, then shook her head. "Do you remember what I told you last time?"
"You mean about throwing me out of school?" Kenny said. "You always say that."
"This time I mean it," she said. "I'm going to call your family."
"For what?"
"For breaking windows. As if we need to go into it."
Glass tinkled in Kenny's head. "As in factor windows?" he asked.
"So you admit it!"
"No way!" Kenny said.
"That's just about what I figured you'd say."
"No, no, you miss my point. I really didn't do it."
Hammer sighed. "My three best students said you did," she said.
The three figures seated along the other wall squirmed nervously, refusing to look at Kenny or Hammer.
"I didn't know he had this kind of clout."
Hammer frowned. "What on earth are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about Fodi," Kenny said. "Him and his boys broke those windows. Not me."
Hammer bit her lip and glanced towards the three seated students. They stiffened.
"Why did he blame it on you, then?" she asked.
“His thugs were beating up on Scotty. I stopped them."
After another long pause, Hammer sighed. "All right. All of you. Get back to class. But I'm warning you, McDonald. I see you here again, you're out of here. Understood."
"Sure, sure, Mrs. Hammer," Kenny said, dragging Scotty with him as he plunged into the hall.
***********
Fodi jerked Kenny aside at the sophomore door.
"What's your hurry, McDonald?" he whispered. "You late for an appointment?"
"Don't be cute, Fodi," Kenny said, detaching Fodi's fingers from his arm. "We both know your goons are out here somewhere looking to beat on Scotty."
"Stay out of it."
"Why?"
"Your own good health should be reason enough."
"My health? Maybe you should be worrying about yours, Fodi. That little trick with the factory windows nearly got me thrown out of school."
"There could be worse," Fodi said.
"If there is, I'll know who to look up then," Kenny said and pushed on towards the road and the tracks beyond it.
***********
"Why's he bothering you?" Kenny asked, struggling to keep up with the tall boy's long stride.
Scott shrugged.
"He has to have a reason. Fodi doesn't invest time in people unless he gets something from it."
"Don't I?" Fodi asked, stepping out from a clump of trees, his three thugs falling behind him like fractured reflections.
Scott halted. Kenny eased in front of him, eyeing Fodi.
"Is there where we go at it?" Kenny asked.
"You can walk away," Fodi said.
"So can you."
"I'm not finished with him yet," Fodi said.
"You are if I have anything to say about it."
Fodi frowned. "He doesn't love you for what you're doing, McDonald."
"Just get out of our way, Fodi," Kenny said.
"Tell him, Scotty," Fodi said. "Tell him Sergeant Fury doesn't approve of his kind."
"Lay off, damn it!" Kenny shouted, stepping towards Fodi.
"Me? Why should you paint me as the big villain? You have a reputation of your own."
Scott stirred, reflections of the rumor mill catching fire in his eyes.
Fodi smiled. "See! He's already confused. You don't fit anywhere in his comic world."
"And you do?" Kenny asked.
"Sure," Fodi laughed. "Someone's got to oppose Sergeant Fury."
"Y-You leave S-Sergeant Fury alone!" Scotty shouted, then staggered around Fodi and his thugs in a hasty retreat down the tracks.
"Now look what you've done!" Kenny said, starting after him. But Fodi grabbed his arm.
"Let him go, McDonald. He's my business, not yours."
"Any time you want to settle things, Fodi, I'm game."
"Ah," Fodi said with a smile. "But is Scotty as immune as you are?"
"Hurt him, Fodi, and I'll break your face," Kenny said, then yanked himself free of Fodi's grasp and charged after Scott. But the tall boy's pace never slackened, and Kenny ran to catch up.
"What's the matter, Scotty?" Kenny demanded. "You're not going to let that scum get to you?"
"Go away."
"But I'm only trying to help you."
"I don't want your help. I just want to be left alone."
Kenny stopped. Scott marched around the bend and into the reeds, all but his head vanishing from sight -- this floating on for a time like some exotic bird. Then, it vanished, too, and all that remained were reeds.
***********
Fodi fell into the desk between Kenny and Scott, grinning slyly as he shuffled his books.
"What are you up to now?" Kenny asked.
"Up to? Why should I be up to anything?"
"It's written all over your face."
Fodi leaned back, hands behind his head and closed his eyes. The clock ticked loudly, then was swallowed by the bell. Schuster came without an office narc at her heals. She issued paper and surveyed the class as it scribbled out answers. When the bell rang again forty minutes later, nothing had happened. Kenny, Scott, Fodi and others swept out into the hall without incident.
Kenny waited and watched. But Fodi and Scott took opposite directions. He followed Fodi to the sophomore door, where Fodi met his goons. They were fiddling with one of the lockers.
"Hey!" Kenny shouted. The goons looked up, cursed, then scrabbled after Fodi up one of the stairways.
Kenny stopped at the locker. Scott's name was written in the slot above the lock. Scratches showed in the paint around the hinges. He bent and recovered a screwdriver from the floor.
***********
He found Scott later, leaning over a tray of baked beans in the cafeteria, and shouted, but the tall boy didn't seem to hear over the din of chattering students. Fodi was hunched beside him, long fingers tapping the top of a brown paper bag.
"What exactly is going on here?" Kenny asked, positioning himself in the chair across the table from them.
"Small world," Fodi said lightly, but looked annoyed. "Did you want something?"
"I had something to tell Scotty," Kenny said, fingering the screwdriver in his pocket. "But it can wait."
"Go ahead. Scotty and I are through."
Something struck Kenny odd about Scott's expression. Something stirring beneath his drooping lids. His gaze seemed preoccupied with the paper bag.
"What's this?" Kenny asked, reaching for the bag.
"None of your business," Fodi snapped, his hand dropping down over Kenny's.
"Oh?"
"Everything doesn't have to concern you, McDonald."
"That depends."
"If you must know, it's a comic book," Fodi said. "Now is your curiosity satisfied?"
"A comic book?"
The bag looked too large for the variety Scott normally carried around.
"A gift," Fodi said, glancing towards Scott. "A peace offering. Right, Scotty?"
Scott's tongue wet his lips as his anxious stare remained fixed upon the bag. "It's a special issue of Sergeant Fury," he said. "Fodi said I could read it in class."
"But not before," Fodi warned. "You have to open the bag in class."
"That's nonsense," Kenny said, struggling to free hand and the bag from Fodi's grip. "Why don't we all take a look right now?"
"I think not, McDonald," Fodi said, tightening his grip. "You know how Scotty likes to savor these things."
The bell rang. Fodi dragged Scott to his feet and shoved the bag under his arm.
"Enjoy it, boy," he said and pushed him into the stream of exiting children.
Kenny tired to move around the table and follow, but Fodi grabbed his arm and pressed him back into one of the chairs, the scent of alcohol and cigarettes curling from him as he whispered into Kenny's face.
"What's your hurry, McDonald? You won't miss anything. It's all for your benefit anyway."
"Let go of me, Fodi," Kenny said.
"You won't get the book away from him."
"I said let go!"
"Sure, McDonald," Fodi said, falling back, allowing Kenny to straighten. "Go. We both know you've got to play white knight. Just be there when he opens that book."
***********
"Just let me look at the book to see if it's all right," Kenny pleaded as the other students sauntered into class. Scott sat unmoving, his hands folded carefully over the brown paper bag.
"Fodi said I shouldn't let anyone look at the book."
"And you're going to listen to that goon! After all he's done to you?"
"We made peace."
"Like Custard did with the Indians!" Kenny growled.
"Oh leave the boy alone!" Fodi said, mounting the chair beside Scott's like a motorcycle or steed, one foot in the aisle on either side.
Mrs. Schuster swept into the room and stopped, staring down the aisle at the still standing Kenny. "What are you standing for?" she asked. "Find yourself a seat and sit."
Kenny looked down at the bag and the loose fingers folded above it, and at Fodi's eyes daring him to make a grab for it. Was that Fodi's plan, to make Kenny take something Scott valued? It would prove exactly what Fodi had been saying, how little Scott could trust Kenny in the end.
Kenny slumped down into a vacant chair, numbness rising into his head. Schuster, satisfied, dumped her books and removed her coat and began the slow painful history lesson.
The brown paper crinkled as Scott's fingers slowly worked it free of the book, one hand holding its slick colored cover as the other pulled the paper off.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
The magazine slid out of the tall boy's fingers like something liquid, landing with a splat on the tiled floor, women's naked bodies staring up from its open pages. Scott rose and stared down, the muscles of his face exaggerating his mouth and eyes.
Muffled laughter started then stopped as Schuster turned from the black board. "What is it, Mr. Johnson? Did you have a question?"
Scott's mouth opened, then closed, his gaze unable to detach itself from the object on the floor, drawing Schuster's gaze there as well. Her frown deepened as she worked her way around her desk and down the narrow aisle. Her chalky complexion went deep red when she saw what Scott was looking at.
"And just who did this?" she asked.
"I saw it fall out of Scotty's book," Fodi said helpfully.
"Out of Mr. Johnson's book?" Schuster said shocked.
"It's mine," Kenny said, leaping up. "I put it in his book as a joke..."
But Schuster shuddered and closed her eyes. "Maybe both of you should explain this in the office."
***********
Mrs. Hammer's nails clicked sharply on the desk top, five shimmering knives of red that reflected both their faces, her hard gaze studying Kenny and Scott with great deliberation.
"And you say this book is yours, McDonald?" she said, one nail pointing vaguely towards the slick cover at the corner of her desk.
"Yes, Ma'am."
"This does seem odd, even for you," she said.
"What more do you want?" Kenny demanded angrily. "I confessed, didn't I?"
"I'd like to hear something from Mr. Johnson."
Scott's glanced up, the slick colors of the magazine still glistening in his eyes. "I--I--," he stuttered, but seemed unable to get any more out. He closed his eyes.
"I see," Hammer said, then pushed up from behind her desk. "I guess we'll just have to go through the ritual."
"What ritual?" Kenny asked, rising also.
"A locker search to start with, then later, your parents in here for a conference. She pressed the intercom and told her assistant to summon the janitor.
"A locker search? Why the hell do we have to go through all of that?"
"You have something to hide, McDonald?"
"No, of course not," Kenny said.
"Then let's get on with it, shall we?" Hammer said, motioning them towards the door.
***********
Kenny's locker was nearest so they went to it first, the blue-uniformed grungy-faced man searching through a ring of keys for the master key. He pressed it into the lock and twisted it. The green metal door shuddered open revealing emptiness. No book. No scrap of paper. Only the original dust with which the locker had come.
"Where are you books?" Hammer asked, staring at the empty space with the same horror she had at the magazine.
"I guess I lost them."
"All of them?"
"Yeah, all of them!" Kenny said. "I don't see the point of any of this. Why can't you take my word for things and expel me already. That's how everything winds anyway."
"Never mind where it winds up, McDonald!" Hammer said, motioning for the janitor to close the locker again. "Just worry about finding those books-- or your family will have to pay for them."
Scott's locker was near the sophomore door and they took the long way down the outer stairs, coming to it the way Fodi's thugs had earlier. Kenny stepped ahead of the janitor and blocked the locker door.
"Come on, Mrs. Hammer," he said, screwdriver poking his thigh from his pocket. "Don't do this. Please."
"Get out of the way, McDonald," Hammer said.
Kenny sagged and stepped aside as the man twisted this lock open, too. The door sprung open of it own accord, sending a stream of slick magazines down onto the hallway floor, each wearing the naked form of a woman.
"My God!" Hammer gasped, staring at the last as it fluttered down.
Scott closed his eyes and moaned.
***********
Kenny jumped up when Scott emerged from the office, the tall boy's face tight around the mouth and eyes, stumbling forward with all the indignity of a broken robot.
"So what happened?" Kenny asked, falling into stride beside him as they headed out the door.
"Th-They suspended me," he said, choking out the words.
"That's all?"
Scott glanced around at Kenny, the gaze a little harder than it had been. "It might not be anything to you, but my folks will kill me for it." He looked away as they came outside, the parking lot empty now. Even the school buses had gone. "They also want me to take some tests."
"Tests?"
"For my mind."
"Didn't you tell them about Fodi?"
"No," Scott said and increased his pace, sweeping across the parking to the road, then across that and down the embankment to the tracks.
The wolves waited for him there, beginning their tirade of "Sergeant Fury" the minute he appeared. They charged, then stopped when they saw Kenny.
Fodi stepped slowly out of the trees on the other side of the tracks, his hands deep in his jeans pockets, his expression almost bored.
"Sorry about what happened, Scotty," he shouted across the hump of tracks.
"I'll give you sorry!" Kenny yelled as he leaped, but the goons caught him in mid-stride, pinning his arms behind him. Fodi climbed leisurely up, leaning close to Kenny's face.
"You take things too personal, McDonald," he said.
"You'll see how personal if your goons ever let go of me."
The smile never wavered, though the eyes glanced passed Kenny to where Scott had stopped. "What did you have in mind, McDonald?"
"As if you didn't know," Kenny growled, tugging at one arm, then the other. "I'll rearrange your face for you, Fodi. That's a promise."
"Why stop there?" Fodi asked, flicking out a knife. He tossed it into the ground at Kenny's feet, then motioned for his boys to released him. They backed away. Kenny stared down at the knife then up at Fodi.
“Is this some kind of joke?"
"No joke," Fodi said. "I'm just giving you a chance to do what you want with me. Go ahead. Use it."
Behind Kenny, Scott stirred-- his gaze drawn by the knife and Kenny's twitching fingers.
The hand stopped. Kenny took a tottering step back from it. "Oh no," he said. "You're not going to pull me in with that one. I grab the knife I'll be just as bad as you say I am-- at least to Scotty."
"Chicken," Fodi hissed.
"No!"
Fodi sighed and picked up his knife, folding it back into his pocket. Kenny didn't even see the fist when it came, but felt the pain erupt in his stomach, bowling him over.
"Stay away from him, McDonald," Fodi's whispered voice said.
"Fuck you," Kenny said through gritted teeth.
Another blow struck, one of Fodi's goons striking from the side.
"You don't understand," Fodi said. "I'm long passed asking."
"So don't," Kenny grunted.
Fodi stepped back, shaking his head. "I'll admit you've got guts. But you don't know when you've lost."
"He's my friend..."
"Scotty's friends are made of paper and ink."
"Give me the knife!" Kenny hissed, stumbling forward still bent. Fodi took a step back, waving his goons away.
"I'll make you a deal," he said.
Kenny stopped, head tilting up to glimpse Fodi's face. "What kind of deal?"
"You get Scotty to stand up to me and I'll leave him alone."
"Promise?"
"I said so, didn't I?" Fodi said, eyes shimmering with great humor as he started away, back into the cover of trees, his goons clamoring after him.
***********
"Why are you staring at me?" Scott asked, staring over the lip of his book. Three days suspension had given him a haggard look.
"I'm wondering what it'll take for you to tell Fodi off," Kenny said.
Scott stared down into the cartoon oblivion hidden in the pages of his text. "I-- don't want to talk about it," he mumbled.
"Damn it, Scotty! I'm trying to help you!"
Schuster looked up from her marking papers in front of the room. "Is there a problem, Mr. McDonald?"
"No, Ma'am. I'm just trying to borrow a pen."
“A pen won't help you when you have nothing to write on."
"I was going to borrow paper next."
"And a book after that, I suppose?"
"Well, Ma'am. we wouldn't want to push things too far."
"Sit down and shut up," The teacher said, "If you're not going to learn, at least don't stop others from doing so."
Fodi snickered from two aisles over, his hooded eyes casting a glance not at Kenny or Scotty, but towards a skinny, short-haired girl seated in the desk beside them. She nodded, then leaped to her feet with a cry.
Schuster again looked up. "What is it, Tess?"
"H-He touched me," Tess said, her thin finger pointing to a spot on her under-developed chest.
"Who touched you?"
"S-Scotty."
Schuster rose, her face vivid. "Mister Johnson. I think you'd better report to the...."
"Scotty didn't do it!" Kenny yelled.
"And what exactly do you know about this, Mister McDonald?"
"He was set up."
"What?"
"Tell her, Scotty," Kenny said. "Tell her what's been going on for the last few weeks."
But Scott only covered his face.
"It was Fodi," Kenny said. "He's been trying to make Scotty look bad."
"Me?" Fodi protested. "I couldn't touch Tess'...."
"Silence!" Schuster roared.
"He arranged it!" Kenny shouted. "The way he did the broken windows and those girly magazines."
Fodi laughed. "And I suppose I'm responsible for the war in Vietnam, too?"
"Sit down, McDonald," Schuster ordered. "Unless you want to join Mister Johnson in the office."
"But I'm telling you what happened."
"Let Scotty speak for himself," Fodi said. "He's the one who..."
"Tell her, Scotty!" Kenny screamed.
But Scott wouldn't uncover his face.
"Tell her!" Kenny screamed again. "You'll never have any fucking peace until you say something."
"MCDONALD!" Schuster yelled. "Go to the office."
"No," Kenny said. "None of this'll get straighten out down there. Scotty's got to do it here-- in front of everybody. Please, Scotty. Tell her."
The tall boy peaked through his fingers, at Tess, at Kenny, his reddened eye roving the faces of the shocked classroom before closing again-- as if forever.
"SCOTTY!" Kenny screamed and dove at the boy's throat. Fodi caught him, dragging him back from Scott's unmoved form.
"He's not worth it," Fodi whispered.
"But he's got to tell... he's got to..."
"He won't," Fodi said as Schuster claimed Scott and escorted him from the room. "And he never will."