Moose and Goose

Chapter Fifty-eight

"Last I checked, he played for them," he argues, furrowing his eyebrows. "Besides, why do you care, if you get paid regardless?"

"Because that's my team too. Stevie, tell this fool you ain't supposed to mix players for a real set." They turn their heads to Stevie, then follow his gaze. Isaiah's eyes quickly dart forward, and he clears his throat. Malcolm taps his cousin's shoulder and steals his attention. "Listen, Carolina, I don't know how they do things over there, but here in Montgomery, you avoid white girls."

"I was just looking at her. What's the harm," he asks, shifting his focus between both boys with his brows drawn in confusion.

"Sometimes that's just enough to get you beat up," Isaiah warns him. "Her folks had my brother, Chris, arrested last year because she said he touched her."

"Well, that's illegal, isn't it?" Isaiah scoffs and rolls his eyes at his question. "What?"

"He touched her hand when he was paying for a soda," Malcolm explains monotonously. "But her Dad ain't let her finish talking before he had the Sheriff at their door. It's crazy 'round here, man, so don't get caught up in that."

They simultaneously turn their heads to look at her right when she descends the steps, and Malcolm and Isaiah groan together.

"Now, here comes Carrie," Isaiah mumbles to them as she walks toward them.

"Well, well, well." She stops between Malcolm and Isaiah, staring forward at Stevie. "I see you boys found me a date for Thanksgiving."

"He's not staying that long." They look at Isaiah when he forces the words from his mouth. "His folks just came by for a spell, but they'll be gone long before Thanksgiving."

"Well, I'll just have to hurry and get acquainted with him." They return their eyes to each other as Malcolm and Isaiah watch. "What's your name?"

"It's Stevie," he answers, then clears his throat.

"Like Steven," she asks. Judith takes the basket of candy and soda from the cashier, and he walks away from the window; they wait for him to return.

"No, like Stevie Wonder." The trio snickers and he looks around the group without a hint of a grin. "What?"

"You're a funny niggah, that's what," she says through laughter, her tongue pressing her candy to her cheek. Though the other boys chuckle – dry and insincere – they share glances of discomfort that let Stevie know he's not alone. She extends her right fist to him, and he stares at it. "I snuck a pack of Razzles out of my Pa's store. Open your hand so I can pour you some."

He lifts his chin to meet her blue eyes, then glances past her at his sisters carrying their candies and sodas.

"No thanks. My sister is coming, so I gotta go." She slowly drops her arm to her side and glances over her shoulder. Judith and Vera stroll past them at a slow pace, waiting for them to join. "But it was nice talking to you, Carrie."

Isaiah and Malcolm shoot each other a shocked look before taking each of his shoulders and guiding him away.

"Marianne, get away from them coloreds," her father yells with his sweaty head out of the window, and she jolts in her coveralls, dropping the small round candies in the dirt.

They watch her run inside before releasing their grip on him and exhaling breaths of relief.

"Why'd y'all let her call me that," Stevie asks them, and they glance at each other in disbelief.

"She says that to everyone," Malcolm tells him. "Besides, didn't you hear what we said about Chris? Sometimes you just need to let it roll off you like anything else."