The Wanderers (25 page)

Perry held Joey back. "We can't afford it, Joey."

"It's his fuckin'
wedding,
man."

"We don't got that much dough."

"It's
Buddy,
man."

Perry shook his head. "Can't do it." They walked slowly past pants and records and clocks and out into Fordham Road.

***

An hour after Buddy got back from Alexander's, Al picked him up and drove him and Despie to the Marriage Bureau. They were married in twenty minutes. On the way back Buddy decided he would like to see if any of the guys were around, so he asked Al to please drop him off at the projects. Despie said nothing. Al stopped the car in front of Buddy's building, then went home with his married daughter.

Buddy walked to Big Playground but none of the guys were there. He went over to the campsite and wandered around, aimlessly kicking rocks and swiping at shoulder-high weeds.

"Hey."

Buddy whirled around to see Eugene sitting on the ground, his back against the sheet-metal garage that formed one of the perimeters of the hangout. An el train roared by overhead, casting running shadows across the garage and half the lot. Buddy sauntered over and sat down next to Eugene. He leaned back against the gray wall, propping his forearms on his knees. Eugene took out some smokes and passed the pack to Buddy. Buddy leaned into Eugene's cupped hands for a light and collapsed back against the garage. "You buy a jacket?" Buddy asked his eyes closed, twin slips of smoke trickling from Ms nostrils.

"Yeah."

A long silence.

"I'm a married man, Eugene." Eugene rested his forehead in the bridge of bis thumb and index finger, eyes closed, head cocked to an angle. "I'm a fuckin' married man."

"It could be worse."

Buddy idly pulled out clumps of grass around his shoe. "Eugene, you're a lucky guy." Eugene raised an eyebrow. "You got everything—looks, brains, dough, you musta screwed a hundred chicks, an' it's like nothing. My first piece an' boom! I'm a daddy." Both Buddy and Eugene laughed in spite of themselves. "I'm a fuckin' daddy." Buddy shook his head sadly.

"You're lucky, Buddy, not many guys got somebody to love like you."

"I shoulda bought her an ankle bracelet and stuck to jerkin' off."

"It's nice. A wife, a kid, your own place."

"I'm fuckin' seventeen."

"So what? We'll catch up soon enough." Another train roared overhead. Eugene flicked his cigarette butt into the high weeds.

"If that kid is born retarded, I'm gonna stab it with a butcher knife an' dump it down the incinerator."

Eugene looked at Buddy but didn't say anything. He lit another cigarette and extended the pack to Buddy.

"Buddy." He blew a smoke ring. "Sex is bullshit. Cunt is bullshit. Love is bullshit. Everything is bullshit."

"Fuckin' man-a-the-world." Buddy smirked.

"Nah, I know it sounds like..."

"Bullshit," Buddy offered. They both laughed.

"There gotta be somethin' else goin' down," said Eugene. "I mean like ... like, I don' wanna sound like a fuckin' philosopher but ... pussy is pussy ... you know what I mean?"

"No."

Eugene winced. "O.K., look. Jus' cause you can fuck it don't make you a better person. O.K.?"

"You mean like ... the fucking you get ain't worth the screwing you take?"

"That's bullshit too. It's just that there's gotta be more to being a man than being a good fuck."

"I still think the fucking you get ain't worth the screwing you take," Buddy said, stabbing out the half-smoked cigarette into the earth.

***

Perry and Joey spent the rest of the afternoon in Army-Navy stores on Fordham Road. They bought dark blue, heavy-knit turtleneck sweaters, sailor hats, sea coats, ditty bags, knot-tying instruction manuals, and twenty feet of boat rope to practice with on the bus. They carried everything in the ditty bags. On the traffic island where the Fordham Baldies used to hang out before Hang On Sloopy died, they stood in front of a navy recruiting center.

"This time tomorrow we'll be in Boston," Perry said.

"Your uncle know we're comin'?"

"Nah, but I know where he lives."

"You fuckin' jerk! What if he's on a ship someplace!"

Perry shook his head. "I don' think so. Las' time I saw him he was in a hospital."

"Well, maybe he got better!"

"Nah, he ain't goin' nowhere." Perry smirked. "He got no legs."

***

"Well, I guess I don't have to tell you about the wedding night," said Despie's mother, half-a-dozen curtain tacks extending between compressed lips as she began redecorating the basement.

***

Buddy walked home, stretched out on his bed, and fell asleep. On his way to work, Vito Borsalino stopped by his son's room, saw that he was asleep, and put two hundred dollars in Buddy's sport jacket, which was draped over a chair. Half an hour later, the telephone rang. Buddy bolted out of bed. "Hello?"

"Buddy? Where the hell have you been?"

Hearing Despie's voice, Buddy felt weak with terror. He hung up the phone and bent down to pick up a rubber band on the rug. The wedding party was two hours away.

***

The community center was across from Bronx Park. It was a squat, red brick building adjacent to the building where Scottie Hite had jumped to his death. The community center recreation room was a pale green cinder-block square. The floor was poured concrete. Water pipes ran along the ceiling. The porters were tipped to haul in two long collapsible tables for the food and about twenty folding chairs that they lined up against the walls. The room was reasonably clean with the exception of some sheets of colored construction paper left by the day center's arts and crafts class, scattered around the floor. The room smelled like glue.

"Good, they brought in the tables," said Al Carabella as he kicked open the door, his arms filled with shopping bags. Buddy followed right behind carrying a shopping bag and a phonograph. "It's a nice room." Al sniffed.

Buddy thought it sucked. It smelled like a day camp. Al unpacked the bags on one of the long tables. He took out a long paper tablecloth, paper plates, plastic silverware, party napkins, monster bags of M&Ms, Fritos, popcorn, cold cuts, potato salad, cole slaw, macaroni salad, plastic cups. While Buddy unrolled the tablecloth, Al brought in records, a case of Pepsi-Cola, a large Styrofoam cooler filled with ice, a dozen rolls of crepe streamers, a big bag of balloons, and Scotch tape.

"It's gonna be
some
goddamn party," Al said.

***

Perry and Joey examined themselves in the big mirror in Joey's room.

"These fuckin' pants are too baggy," said Perry, grabbing a fistful of material around the cuffs.

"If those pants were any fuckin' tighter I could see the veins on your balls."

"Yeah. Sure." Perry frowned, grabbing the material around the crotch.

Joey adjusted the tiebar pinching his neck, smoothed back bis pompadour, and clapped his hands. "Lez go, bawh."

Perry made a face in the mirror, grabbed the material around the ass of his pants and started to leave the room.

"Take your bag," said Joey, hauling his ditty bag over his shoulder.

"What for? We can pick it up when we leave."

"We ain't comin' back."

"What?"

"I ain't sleepin' here again. We walk out that door an' that's it. I don' care if we gotta sleep in the goddamn bus station." Perry shrugged and hoisted his bag over his shoulder.

"Hey." Joey wheeled around to see Emilio standing in the foyer wearing a skin-tight, orange Fire Department T-shirt that made him look twice as big as he was. "What the hell you got in there?" Emilio asked nodding toward the ditty bags.

"Presents." "Laundry." They said simultaneously.

Emilio grabbed Joey's bag. Joey's eyes felt dry, but his neck was a damp ring of sweat. Staring hard at his son, Emilio ripped open the bag and looked in.

"They're presents," Perry started talking fast. "Buddy's goin' on a honeymoon."

"Sailin'," added Joey, "he's goin' sailin'."

"Sailin', hah?" Emilio stared at Joey, nodding his head slightly up and down. "Sailin'." He didn't say anything or move for a full minute. He just stared at Joey. Then he gave him back the bag, turned away, and went into his bedroom. Joey was puzzled.

"C'mon." Perry ushered him out the door to the elevator. "That was too fuckin' close for comfort." Perry adjusted the bag on his shoulder. Joey didn't answer.

***

When Richie picked up C she was sitting in her room, crying.

"Whassamatter?" he asked.

She looked up at him, twin furrows of makeup running down her cheeks. "You bastad," she cried. "You don't know what true love is, do you?"

Despie left the house in the late twilight with her mother. She had her hair piled a foot high, ringlets Scotch-taped to her temples. They were about seven blocks from the community center. A summer wind was threatening to ruin Despie's hair. "You wanna take a cab?" she asked her mother.

"I think we should walk. We're not going to have that much money anymore, and you should start getting used to it."

***

Eugene went over to Gun Hill Projects to pick up his date, Nina Becker. Her parents were away for the weekend so, if she fucked at all, he was in. He'd met her two weeks ago at a friend's party. He was pretty drunk but straight enough to get her number and set tonight up. The only problem was that he couldn't remember what she looked like. The girl who answered the apartment door had such a simple and pure beauty that Eugene immediately fell in love. She had long ash-blond hair to her ass, big gray eyes, a long thin nose, lips as thin and delicate as Communion wafers, and a look of such devastating, seductive innocence that Eugene found himself almost laughing in drunken delight.

"Hi." She smiled.

Eugene laughed. He was totally wiped out.

***

Perry and Joey were the first to arrive at the party. Al Carabella and Buddy were sitting in folding chairs drinking Pepsis when they walked in and dumped their ditty bags in the corner.

"Hey! Where were you guys when we needed yah?" Al asked. Buddy raised his eyes to heaven and got up.

"How you doin', man?"

"Good."

The three of them stood arm in arm.

"Look at this fuckin' place," Buddy muttered. The entire ceiling was a veinwork of red, blue, green, and yellow crepe streamers and balloons. "This ain't a wedding. It's a carnival," he said. Joey snickered. "You want somethin' to eat?"

"Nah, you got any booze?"

"Fuck ... no ... you wanna go with me, Perry?"

"Sure."

"Joey, stay here with Bozo the Clown."

"Bullshit, I'm goin' with you guys."

Buddy turned to his father-in-law. "Ah, Al, we'll be right back."

"Don' run away, hah hah hah."

"Haha hah hah." Buddy turned toward the door. "Asshole."

Two seconds after Buddy split with Joey and Perry, Despie and her mother came in. Al stood up and frowned. Despie had a Brownie camera strapped on her wrist.

Richie and C walked in. C and Despie hugged each other. C was still crying. Despie started crying. Richie shook hands with Al like a man, like his father taught him to do.

"Richie Gennaro."

"Al Carabella."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks." Al winked.

Richie excused himself, walked over to the food, took one M&M, walked over to the phonograph, and began to study the records with an intensity that could melt wax.

***

Eugene was in such a daze with Nina Becker sitting next to him in the car that he almost hit an el pillar on Gun Hill Road. Nina slipped an arm through his and curled her ringers around his forearm. He grinned like a moron and totally forgot his lines. After he parked the car they walked hand in hand to the community center. In high heels she was almost as tall as he was. She had a great ass, firm tits, and dynamite legs, but all Eugene could focus on was that face and the dry warmth of her hand in his.

"Eugene!" Richie was so glad to see one of the guys that he dropped half-a-dozen records on the floor. Eugene padded in Richie's direction and sat down with Nina. He didn't even say hello to Despie or C. Richie felt hurt and was about to walk outside when Perry, Joey, and Buddy came back in with small brown bags. The four of them walked outside for a taste.

"Eugene!" Perry held up his bag and nodded in the direction of the door. Eugene smiled, waved, and returned to his conversation with Nina.

"Who's the cunt?" asked Buddy.

"Who the fuck cares," said Richie.

They leaned against the red brick building watching the sun disappear behind the treetops.

"You goin' on a honeymoon?"

"Maybe later. I dunno. I gotta finish school."

"Shit." Richie took a hit of Tango. "My old man went to Niagara Falls."

"So did mine," said Perry.

"I think mine went to Devil's Island," said Joey.

"I'll drink to that," said Perry.

"You sleepin' over there tonight?"

"I guess so ... yeah ... I guess I am ... shit, I dunno ... I guess so." Buddy took a long gulp.

"Lissen, I want you guys to come over tomorrow night for a house warmin'. O.K.?"

"Sure," Richie said.

Perry and Joey said nothing.

"O.K. you guys?"

"Sure," Joey said.

"Perry?"

"Sure."

When they went back inside, the place was filled with fifteen or twenty of Despie's girl friends from school and the guys they were dating. Eugene was still talking to Nina. Despie and C were dancing. Al was standing by the record player with a handful of potato chips, tapping his foot in tune with the music. Despie's grandmother drooled on her dress and made noises. Despie's mother stood behind her, arms folded across her chest like an evil Indian. The room was hot as a bitch. Buddy avoided Despie. Richie avoided C. Eugene was lost for the night Perry and Joey stuck together like glue Somebody spilled soda on the record player Somebody called somebody an asshole. Somebody started popping balloons—jumping up and getting them with a tie pin Despie started taking pictures with her Brownie. Somebody yelled shaddup and put Johnny Maestro and the Crests' "Sixteen Candles" on. Al wanted to dance slow with Despie. He waltzed her around the room Despie wanted to brain him with, the camera. Buddy and all the guys agreed that his father-in-law was the biggest jerk in the world C scowled at Richie and Richie shot her the finger. Eugene walked out of the room arm in with Nina. After the dance somebody put on a twist record and Despie's grandmother wandered into the middle of the dancers and got knocked down. Despie took a picture of her mother standing like a guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. She took a picture of Buddy. Buddy looked at her. She lowered the camera and smiled. Buddy smiled, grabbed her, and hugged her as hard as he could. This was the first time they'd touched each other since Despie found out she was pregnant. Buddy told her he loved her. Despie kissed his neck and told him she loved him too. Perry looked at his watch and nodded to Joey. Joey turned white. Perry moved to get his ditty bag. Joey laid a hand on his arm.