Page 6 of Spike

“What the hell isgoing on in here?” a man in a blue and grey uniform asked, barging into thekitchen.

“I caught one ofyour inma…boyssneaking into the kitchen in order to fraternize with oneof our students.”

“Kane,” the mansaid, staring daggers at Spike. “You’d better have a good reason for being inthis kitchen.”

“I asked him tocome,” I rushed to say. “It’s all my fault. Spike didn’t do anything wrong.”

Spike looked at meas if I were a puzzle to be worked out.

“What are youtalking about?” my mother asked. “Why on earth would you askthisboy tocome back here?”

The way she saidthis made my flesh crawl. As Christians, we were commanded by Jesus to showonly mercy and compassion to everyone around us, and yet she was the mostjudgmental person I’d ever known. And having grown up in the church my entirelife, that was truly saying something.

“Spike and I weretalking earlier as I was setting up the dessert stand, and he asked if he couldhelp with anything,” I lied.

“Yes?” my motherpressed.

“I said, no thankyou, but come by the kitchen after dinner because we could always use an extrahand washing the dishes once the tables are cleared.”

“Is that right,Kane?” the uniformed man asked. “You’d better not lie to me, or I’ll know.”

“I was just comingby to help, that’s all. Just like she said,” Spike said, smiling at me.

He looked like amovie star who’d stepped off the screen, walked out of the theater, andstraight into this gym. I’d never seen or met anyone like him, and yet, I feltcompelled to lie to my mother to protect him.

“If these goodpeople need help, I’ll assign it. Now, get back to your table and I’ll dealwith you later.”

“That won’t benecessary, Sergeant,” my mother said, snapping back into her sweet, submissivevoice. “We’re here to serve you and your boys tonight. Please, back to yourseats now, and we’ll forget about this whole mix up, okay?”

“Of course.” Thesergeant nodded. “My apologies for the interruption.”

“Sorry, everyone,”Spike said, addressing everyone in the kitchen, but lingering on me, beforeexiting.

As soon as Spikeand the Sergeant were gone, my mother spun me around to face her, whispering tome through clenched teeth made to look like a smile from a distance, “You arenot to speak with that boy or any other one of these little criminals again. DoI make myself perfectly clear, young lady?”

I forced myselfnot to glare at her. “I thought the whole point of this dance was to be anexample of Jesus’s service and mercy.”

“You can do thatfrom inside here.”

“But, what aboutthe dance? I worked so hard on it with my friends. Can’t I at least spend timewith them tonight?”

“This isn’t aboutus, remember. It’s about serving Jesus, just like you said. That should be allthe reward you need. Don’t let me catch you outside of this area tonight. I’lllet you know when Kenneth is ready to drive us home. In the meantime, you’re ondishes and I suggest you spend some serious time in prayer while you’re doingthem.”

I wondered ifprayer included an imaginary voodoo doll in the shape of my mother I wasmetaphorically sticking pins into.

** *

Spike

Once out of thekitchen, Hopper pulled me aside, yanking me up by my collar. “The only reason Idon’t ship your ass back to Lakewood is because until now you’ve been an okaykid the whole time I’ve been assigned to the House. You don’t talk back, andyou always come up clean during shakedowns, but if I find out that girl waslying to cover for you, I will personally make sure the warden tacks on anothersix months, and you’ll serve it in gen pop. You got that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Find a chair. Sitin it. Stay in it.” He released me. “Dismissed.”

I planted myselfdown where I had eyes on both the dance floor and the kitchen. Once the dancestarted, Hopper couldn’t possibly keep his eyes on me all night. He’deventually have to break up a fight, warn someone about dancing too close, ortake a leak. Whatever it was, the second his eyes were off me, I was gonna makea beeline for Trixie. I didn’t have a phone number or address to give her, so Iwas gonna ask her to meet me at Eastport Plaza on the Saturday after myrelease, but she was nowhere to be seen for the rest of the night. She was goneand I had no way of getting a hold of her. I was a sad sack the entire bus ridehome.

“Cheer up, man,”Screek said, giving me a gentle elbow. “A month from now you’ll be a free man,surrounded by young, available women.”

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