behind us, mumbling something every now and then. It was like it was just Rhoda and me. We had a world of our own.
“Why?” I asked her. We had some pretty scary teachers at our school.
“Oh they think she crazy,” Pee Wee offered. “And, cause her daddy’s best best friend, Mr. Antonosanti—richest man in town—is a mean-lookin’ Italian with a scar on his jaw.”
Rhoda rolled her eyes at Pee Wee. “Everybody thinks I’m crazy.” She said it like it was something to be proud of.
“I don’t think you’re crazy. I just think that you’re different,” I said gently. “I wanted to be friends with you the first time I saw you because I’m different, too. I’ve never had a real girlfriend,” I admitted.
“Me neither. Not since we moved up here from Alabama.” Rhoda squeezed my arm and smiled. “French fries are on the menu today for lunch. You can have mine.”
“OK. And you can watch me eat them.”
“If anybody gives you any shit today, let me know. I’ll take care of them, or I’ll have my big brother beat them up real bad.”
“Anybody?” Life had taken on a whole new meaning. I never thought I would have my own personal bodyguard.
“Anybody. Jock can beat up every kid in our school. He might be a prizefighter one day, and he needs to practice beatin’ people,” Rhoda bragged.
“Well, since y’all too busy to pay any attention to me, I’m goin’ to the rec room and hang out,” Pee Wee informed us. We both ignored him, and he rushed off with a scowl on his face.
Once we were in front of the school, I asked Rhoda in a weak voice, “When you say anybody, you mean grown people, too?”
“Grown people?” Rhoda gasped. She gave me a hard look and glanced around before continuing. “We can’t sass grown people, let alone beat one up. I sassed a flight attendant on the plane from the Bahamas, and Aunt Lola whupped me with her shoe right in front of all those people on the plane.”
“OK,” I muttered. “But I bet your mean big brother Jock would, wouldn’t he?”
“Yeah, he would. He even sassed Reverend Upshaw last week. One time he beat up a thirty-year-old pimp for tryin’ to put one of his girlfriends on the street.”
I felt a sense of security for the first time since Mr. Boatwright had started abusing me.
“What would Jock do to somebody that was taking advantage of some girl? Like raping her and, you know, stuff like that.”
“I don’t know,” Rhoda said quietly. She gave me a suspicious look. “I guess it would depend on who the girl was. If it was one of his girlfriends or me, I am sure that Jock would kill the rapist.”
“What if it wasn’t one of his girlfriends or you?” I asked. It was hard for me to hide my excitement.
She looked at me for a long time before she responded. Teachers were looking at their watches and giving us mean looks, and I knew it was time for us to get to our first period class or face the wrath of our principal.
“Jock’s not stupid. Why would he kill a rapist for rapin’ some girl he didn’t care anythin’ about? Who is this girl? I thought you didn’t have any friends.”
“Oh nobody. I was just wondering.”
I left Rhoda standing in front of the school. Once I got inside, I peeped out the window, and she was just standing there with this puzzled look on her face. I expected to meet her in the cafeteria for lunch, but Wanda Jones told me Rhoda had left school during third period study hall to go home because she had cramps.
When I got home that evening, I had the house to myself for a few hours. Around seven Mama stumbled in the front door with Judge Lawson close behind. They greeted me, ordered me to get them beer from the kitchen, then they made themselves comfortable on the living-room couch.
“Where’s Mr. Boatwright? I’m sure he’ll want to join us,” Judge Lawson said, looking around the room. He turned his beer bottle up and drained it, then let out a long, loud belch.
“He wasn’t home when I got in,” I revealed. Just then I heard the back door open and slam shut and Mr. Boatwright’s voice yipping a spiritual.
“Well now!” he exclaimed, rolling into the living room with his arms raised like somebody had pulled a gun on him. “Judge Lawson, you lookin’ well!”
“Aahh, Boatwright. I can say the