After wading through 25 minutes of backroads, Isi reached the McNeeley Clinic in the Grace quarter at Benedict and Moore. After tying the bike to the lamp post in front of the clinic, Isi stepped into the serene, terracotta tiled building.

The head nurse greeted Isi and nodded towards the nurse's station. "Something the matter, Loni?"

"Yes and no, Isi. One of the patients in your shift , a new kid, Eric. He tried to OD on us. He broke into the lab last night and downed two bottles of pills. Before the guards could get there he swallowed all of it."

"He's alive, I take it."

"Luckily it didn't agree with him, he threw up the whole thing. One was an antacid, the other an antibiotic."

"Would've cured him if he had ulcers."

Loni laughed hysterically and slapped Isi's back.

"You're terrible. Anyway, watch him carefully. When you're done with him, make sure someone takes him off your hands."

"Hi, hi captain." Isi winked at Loni who stuck her tongue out at him. As he proceeded down the hall, "Oh, Isi, almost forgot. Please give Eric a bath, he stinks." Loni yelled from across the hall.

As Isi entered his ward, he saw a strikingly built blond kid in his late teens, shaking his head to the blaring headphones. Both the kid's hands had thick casts on them. His legs were useless below the knees, Isi remembered from the report he glanced. Seated in his wheelchair and ebbing like a seal on the shore, Eric hardly seemed suicidal to Isi. After moments of Isi's staring down at him, Eric looked up and met Isi's eyes.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Isi, your caretaker for the morning."

"I don't need anything, man. And don't bring me the food either. It sucks."

"We'll worry about that later, first you're taking a bath." Isi sounded firm.

"How?" Eric pointed to his cast and legs with his eyes.

"I'll show you if you follow me."

"Na huh. I ain't taking a bath with you, man. I ain't a fag. Are you a fag?"

"I come from a time when these distinctions were unimportant."

"Whatever." Eric rolled his eyes and put the earphones back over his ears.

Isi took a deep breath and walked to the snack lounge. He checked the temperature of the pot of coffee and filled two paper cups full of black coffee and returned to Eric.

"Here, have some coffee."

"I don't drink coffee, man. Leave me alone."

"Just try a little bit." Isi held the cup lower towards Eric's mouth. Eric turned his face away and the two cups of coffee spilled on Eric's stomach. The coffee drenched his Huskies tanktop and cutoff jeans around the groin area.

"You fucking stupid? Good thing it wasn't hot. You did it on purpose." "What purpose would that be? Let's get you cleaned up now."

While Isi filled the bath tub with warm water and soap, Eric took off his tank top and struggled with his shorts.

"Look, close your eyes and put on your headphones. I'll give you a quick rub and we're done."

Eric looked away with an angry pout. Isi undid the zipper of the shorts and carried Eric from the wheelchair to the tub. Once in the tub, Eric rested his head on the rim of the tub facing the ceiling. He appeared to enjoy the warmth of the water and began humming to his headphone music.

Isi started to scrub Eric starting with the neck. As he worked his way down, his hand inadvertently touched Eric's penis several times while scrubbing the thigh area. As he kept lathering the inner thigh, Isi could sense that Eric had a stiff erection. Slowly he began stroking Eric's penis. By the time Eric realized what happened, Isi's hand reached full frenzy until Eric's face shuddered and his penis wept white tears before going limp.

"You fucking pervert." Screamed Eric.

"I thought you were hard and would like it."

"You thought wrong, asshole."

"Look, you got hard. Your hands are in casts. It may take you a month before you can do it yourself."

"I can wait."

"Your penis couldn't, so I helped. . ."

"Stop touching me, man. Are you a hard up fag or what? Get it straight, okay? I ain't a fag."

"I'm not saying that you are. Even if you are. . ."

"There's no ifs or buts. No butts at all."

"Look, don't feel guilty 'cos you got a hard on. It's natural for the body to react that way. Even if it was a cat rubbing against you in that groin area, you would've got a hard on. It doesn't mean you like to do cats. If one of my patients can't shit, I use my fingers to unplug him; you couldn't spank the squirrel, so I . . ."

"Enough, man. Enough. Just take me out of here."

Eric remained quiet the whole time Isi dried and dressed him up. "Would you like to go out in the garden?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Well, you can always stay here."

"Let's go out. How long do I have to put up with your shit?"

"They waited two days, until I got here, to give you a bath. Can you see that people aren't lining up to clean your ass? The only other male employee in this unit is on vacation. So, if you want to hold your shit and shower for two weeks, you can. See, if you hadn't popped those pills, people won't mind taking care of you. Now, nobody wants your death over their head. So, you're not the only one stuck with me; I'm stuck with you too. I volunteer and this is what I got."

"You mean you don't get paid? You volunteered to wipe people off?"

"Not quite what I planned. I wanted to spend some free time giving company to lonely old folks. I do enjoy the difference I make in my patients' life. Take Norma, the 300 pound ex-baker. Her paralysis halted all movement on the left side of her body, she loves the weekly dose of my basement grown stash. Colonel. Brown, likes it when I wheel him around the fields for fresh air and the 50 pages of thrillers, westerns or war stories that I read him. I like all of that, but then the little inconveniences, the unpleasant chores were added to the job. That's life. You probably didn't plan on losing your legs either, it just happened. Now you can show your grit and do something with what you have or take out your anger on people like me."

"Hey, if I wanted a lecture, I'll watch Oprah, okay?"

"What I say means nothing to you. It's your age. I don't blame you. This is obviously not working. I'll get one of the other nurses to take care of you. In some situations, women work with male patients. So I'll talk to one of the women into switching with me."

"Wait, wait. You want me to go through all this with a woman now?

"So you don't mind me, the pervert?" Asked Isi incredulously.

"Come on man, you leave a man's pecker alone. That's weird what you did. You talk like it's part of a job."

"It's all part of patient care for me. Why can't people break free of stupid inhibitions? If your back itches you won't mind asking me to scratch it right? Why should your penis be different? If you yawn in front of people it's okay, but if you fart it isn't? Why is one hole dirty and one holy? I don't see a reason to make such a fuss."

"You're a crazy oltimer. But hey, you stay off my pecker, okay? I. . ."

"I know, you told me, you ain't a fag."

"Can I, can I ask you something . . ." Eric stalled.

"Isi, call me Isi. What do you want, Eric? At your service, pal. Lift your hands now." Isi wiped some deodorant on Eric's armpits as Eric obliged.

"They, they won't tell right? Can you make sure my parents don't hear about my. . . break into the drugroom?"

"Why?" Isi asked nonchalantly.

"My mom will kill herself, dude. You don't know her."

"Actually she wouldn't be stupid to kill herself and take the easy way out. She would suffer all her life and die early from heartache though. I've seen that happen a lot."

"Come on, man, will you do it?" Eric pleaded.

"They have to put it on your record. You will have to see a counselor."

"I don't need a damn shrink. I need my damn legs back."

"If you want us to not tell your mom, you have to cooperate with us and do what we tell you. If you get difficult, you will just stay here longer until they see fit to release you. There will be a guard on duty outside your door until the counselor clears you. Do you want to be watched?"

"All right. I'll deal."

"I love deals. Don't worry about your mom. We don't want to torture her either, now try and eat what you can of that tray there."

"This is part of the deal too?"

"You are catching on. I'll see you Tuesday. You like to watch ESPN, go to the lounge in the corner there and catch up on your Huskies. The nurse will take you there." Eric smiled. Isi told one of the nurses to appoint a caretaker for Eric and moved on to Norma down the hall.

"I got here as soon as I could!" Roy, bursting through the doors of the room, found Gertrude pacing around in frantic lopsided circles.

"Oh God, Roy!" She grabbed him. He felt the fingers of her right hand eagle-clawing desperately into his back. Her left limb pushed into his side, pressing his ribs. His jacket then pulled tight like a gorged snake around his body as her fingers squeezed up a handful of leather.

Roy stroked the back of her head, her subtle brown curls in a tangle on her shoulders.

"It's okay, Roy's here now, Trudy. I got you."

Her tears glistened like morning dew on his jacket. She loosened her grip and looked at him. He saw fallen churches in her face.

"I'm so scared my Justin my baby all the blood how can a little precious boy have so much blood---I was in there with him but they made me leave I'm scared---all the tubes they got in him he looks so helpless and meek on that table--I'm scared my baby look what they did---"

"Whoa now, girl. Let's sit down here and slow it down to thirty-three and a half rpm's." Roy guided Gertrude to the sofa. Their bodies sank deep into the worn cushions, wads of foam poked through holes of the thread-bare blue cloth. Roy took a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped away Gertrude's tears.

"Now tell me what happened, Trudy."

She gained some composure, drew a deep breath and reached to the coffee table where her purse sat. She retrieved her cigarettes and had one lit in a flash.

"I'm inside my apartment getting ready for work. I don't have to be there till 5:30pm, but I like easing into it, getting things ready and all. I have to sort of seduce myself to go to work, you know? Justin and Emily are outside playing with their friends. I'd planned to drop them at Wendy's---she's our regular sitter---before going into Jucy's. So, I'm ironing my shirt when it happens. A sharp rocket boom, ends as soon as it starts and loud in a way that you suddenly know your body's all filled with bones because they shake from the sound."

Roy agreed, for he knew the feeling well, and it saddened him that anyone at all should have to know the feeling and the sounding of your very bones shaking and splitting from the inside. Her hand trembled, the cigarette almost missing her lips as she took another drag.

"I go outside---screaming everywhere, all these kids screaming. Emily runs up, grabs my leg and all these other kids scurrying around like they were on hot coals. I pick Emily up and say 'Where's Justin?' She starts bawling again, her voice wavy like a firehose so I can't understand what she's saying. Then I hear a little voice saying 'Mrs. Flanner, help' and it's Justin's friend, Ernesto. I tell Emily go back inside and I run to Ernesto. He's on his knees, his shirt off, all bunched up and bloody in his hands--oh God--as he pushes down on Justin's chest. Ernesto's crying, saying 'He won't die, will he? He's my best friend!' I can't keep track of things much after that, Roy. But somehow Ernesto's father, Gabrielle, gets Justin into his car, I jump in. Gab says, We can't wait for the 911 from Welburnt. That's fifty miles away. We have to get to McNeely's Clinic in Grace. It's his best chance.' Then..."

Gertrude wept into her right palm, the cigarette in her fingers facing outward, still burning. Roy took the cigarette and set it in the ashtray. He held Gertrude close.

"Gabrielle, he did right by coming here, Trudy. They got themselves some good people here at McNeely's. I know some of 'em well. I bet you Isidoro's in there right now. So Justin's gonna be fine, he'll be okay, strong young boy like that, strong like his mother. Now listen Trudy, I know this is killing you, but you got to be strong. I want you to think careful 'cause I got to ask questions. Can you do that?"

Gertrude gasped between weeping moans. "Okay."

"That's my girl. Did any medics talk to you yet?"

"No. It all happened too fast---they sent me in here and said someone would come talk with me."

"And Gabrielle, where's he at?"

"Don't know exactly. I think he maybe went to check on Ernesto and Emily, though Emily's probably with Gab's wife, Rosa. I can't remember Ernesto being in the car with us. So I guess that's what Gab's doing. Maybe they'll be back."

Roy figured this all happened about an hour ago, as it only takes ten minutes from Jinx to Grace by car. Roy had been to see Mortachai, one of Leopold Bogg's men, when the word spread like a gas fire---something happened to Gertrude's boy. Roy hit Mortachai up for a ride to McNeely's. Mortachai talked his ear off the whole way...

"See, Leopold Boggs knows that you split with Shoh. Haven't heard if you went to see Shep, but Levek and I haven't heard anything about that, so we assume you haven't. Everyone's wondering, What's Roy up to, that clever cat? What's your stew? Are you cooking up some Yojimbo gumbo or what? Anyway, why don't you come work for Mr. Boggs? It's time for some real earnings, Roy. Big money. Yachts and private jet kind of money. We know you're not into the real muscle end of things---though I've heard stories Roy, everyone in Jinx knows you've got eyes in the back of your head, some voodoo mojo and no one can touch you---so we got some business you'd be perfect for. You the man, Roy. A cool cat and this gig is the sold-out stadium of gigs and everyone who's not on the VIP list is going to pay up the ying and yangster to us gangsters. I can't tell you much. I'm not much for talk, but I will say, it's gonna be BIG, bigger than anything anyone in Aliento's ever schemed. It's no dream---I'm talking trains, the highways, the river...guns and stink, that's what Shoh calls the powder, right?---well, it's really very exciting. But take my word for it. Come hear it from Mr. Boggs himself. I couldn't believe it when Levek said Leopold Boggs wants to see Roy Bubby. You know Roy, sometimes I think Shoh ain't the show, but they that go to the show. And Shep with his shrimp rep, you really want to be in on his casino pow wow? Sure, power to the Indians and the refugee swampies and all, but that Gandhi does Mother Teresa shit is not the porno for you, my friend. Shoh and Shep have always been at the wrong end of the alphabet soup. But in this broth, Boggs with Bubby, now that B exciting, getting thick and savory as barbecue sauce..."

Roy would have to deal with that business later. So many questions, he wanted the answers all at once, but Gertrude, poor girl. She needed him now. Still, who would shoot a kid? Even the lowest punk ass scum in Jinx has some standards. There was more to this thing.

Someone entered the room. Gertrude and Roy stood up; the man in pale blue shirt and pants walked up to them.

"Hey, Isi. See Trudy, I told you about Isi."

"Roy." Their hands met in one assertive shake. Looking to Gertrude, Isi asked, "Mrs. Flanner?"

"Yes?"

He clasped her hand between both of his. "I'm Isi, one of the medic assistants. Dr. Bently sent me in with good news about Justin."

"What is it?"

"Justin's going to make it. For the first half-hour we thought we'd lost him. One of the bullets had slightly grazed his heart. We think that impact may have stopped the heart from beating. Fortunately none of the main arteries were hit, and Dr. Bently was able to get Justin's heart started again. Now he's in stable condition."

"Thank you!" Gertrude hugged Isi and then Roy.

"See, girl. That's my man, Isi." Roy leaned close to Isi. "Thanks for being there, man."

"Dr. Bently's the one to thank. I was just helping out."

"But it's always good to have a friend on the inside."

Isi let the initial victory settle and spoke again. "Mrs Flanner, there's something you should know."

Gertrude's face froze.

"Two of the bullets have been removed, but there is a third lodged near the base of the spine. Dr. Bently is still trying to remove it. He says you should know there's a possibility Justin may be paralyzed."

Gertrude sat down and lit a cigarette.

Isi added, "But we don't know anything for certain. You just need to know...well, I'm going back to the surgery room and will return when I have an update."

Roy asked, "Hey Isi, if you see a guy in the hallway, may have a little boy with him, can you ask him if he's Gabrielle and send him in here?'

"If I see him, I'll send him in."

Isi left. Roy sat next to Gertrude. He tried to think of what to say. She looked a little better, but maybe she was just exhausted. You can cry hard for only so long. If you let the pain totally consume you, grief and despair moving like demons stacking rocks on your chest, you'd be crushed. Her brown eyes rimmed in red glared across the room. If you close your eyes, you might see the terror that destroys you, so it's best to stare at nothing, a blank wall.

The door opened. "Gertrude, they said you were here." Gabrielle entered, followed by a little boy. Gertrude went to him and embraced Gab and then Ernesto. She turned to introduce Roy, her good friend. Roy and Gab shook hands. Then Roy squatted down to meet Ernesto.

"I heard about you. A brave little man."

Gab asked, "So how is he?"

"Justin's going to make it."

"My friend won't die?"

Gertrude touched Ernesto's face. "No he won't. Because of what you and your daddy did, Justin's going to be fine."

Rolled motioned to Gabrielle to step aside. "I was wondering if I could ask your boy a few questions about what happened."

Gabrielle looked worried, doubtful eyes.

"Look, Gabrielle, I know Jinx Quarter. There's a lot of evil going on, but this is the first I heard of a kid getting shot. Your boy might've seen something."

Roy let his words sink in. Gab went to his son.

"Ernesto, would you talk with Roy? He's Justin's friend too."

Ernesto gazed up at Roy, who pretended not to hear or see what was going on. From the inside of his jacket, Roy pulled out a long gold chain which had a gold pocket watch secured at the end. Roy popped open the lid.

"My, look at the time! It' chocolate time."

Ernesto's eyes lit up.

"I wonder if someone wants to go get some chocolate with me. Probably no one at all, I guess." Roy scratched his chin and looked up at the ceiling.

"Me. I wanna go. Daddy, can I go?"

Impossible but true, the room was all smiles for a brief moment. In the hallway, Roy got two chocolate bars from the vending machine. He held one bar in each hand.

"You probably don't want a whole one all by yourself."

"Yeah I do!"

"Well, don't say a thing about this to your mother. Spoil your appetite. Let's sit here on this bench and eat." Ernesto tore off the wrapper and bit down eagerly into the delightful brown square. Roy left his bar wrapped and set it on the bench.

"Boy, my friends and I used to love to get us a chocolate bar. How about your friends?"

"Yeah. Me and Justin love chocolate."

"Justin's your good friend?"

"He's my best friend in the world."

"Bet you'd do anything you could to help him, right?"

"Yeah. I wished I could go in the room where he is. Maybe he want's chocolate."

"Sure, we'll bring him some chocolate later. I want to help too. So how about we work as a team?"

"Okay."

"Good boy, Ernesto. First, can you tell me what happened to Justin?"

Chocolate smudges gathered in the corners of Ernesto's mouth. The half-eaten chocolate bar began to bend, wrapper and all, in his warm hands. "We play hide-n-go-seek. Me Justin Emily Carinna Jorge and Trin. It's our favoritist game. Sometimes someone can yell bomb and everyone hiding has to get to the tree before the hunter blows them up. Justin was the hunter. Then Jorge yelled bomb and you had to run. It's the rules. But a car was going along. People in the car yelled and had some guns. They shooted the guns. So loud and blood on Justin. I saw him on the ground. No one helped him but me. He's my best friend."

"Ernesto, the people in the car, what did they look like?"

"They were big kids. When kids get big enough to get cars."

"What did they say?"

"They said the f-word. Mommy told me to never listen to people who say that. Those big kids said it. They called us the f-word and the Jinx boys and shooted the guns."

Jinx boys? Who were the Jinx boys? Roy had heard of a few kids from Grace who had gotten into scuffles with some kids from Jinx, but there was never shooting. Who were these kids? Mortachai had said Boggs was up to something big, would maybe use unpredictable sources. Was that what these Jinx boys were? But what message would that be, gunning down little kids? No. Boggs wouldn't go for that. It had to be a random thing, just a chicken-shit drive-by from some punks who called themselves Jinx boys.

So much still remained in shadows, but now Roy knew where to aim the search light.

Back in the waiting room Gab and Gertrude were quietly talking. Ernesto ran and jumped on Gab's lap.

"Hi there. You've gotten chocolate all over yourself." Gab looked at Roy sauntering across the room. "You two had a nice talk?"

"Ernesto's a good kid."

"Me and Roy are a team, daddy. We're gonna help Justin."

Roy grinned. Then Isi came through the door followed by another man.

'Mrs Flanner, this is Dr. Bently."

Dr. Bently went to Gertrude. "Mrs. Flanner, I'm going to come to the point. In all likelihood, Justin will not be able to walk again.'

Gertrude tried to contain her emotions but was shaking.

"I finally removed the bullet but could see several of the lumbar vertebrae had been partially shattered. The extent of the damage leads me to conclude that Justin will be paralyzed from the waist down. I'm sorry."

Gertrude wept, silently, withdrawn, wounded but not utterly defeated. "My baby, my baby..."

Dr. Bently left. Isi had to tend to some other patients but would let them know in which room they could find Justin once he was moved from the surgery room.

"Justin's not gonna die!"

"No he isn't, son."

"But why is Mrs. Flanner crying?" Gab held his son.

Gertrude looked at Roy. "I knew I should've gotten out of Jinx when I had the chance. That place kills you---if you're weak, you go fast. If you're smart, it takes its time, wearing you down like a roped mustang till the fight for life's gone from you. I don't know what I would have done if I lost my baby."

A respectful and gray silence ruled the room. Roy unwrapped a his chocolate bar and offered it to Gertrude, who took a piece, and then to Gab, who snapped off a square. The chocolate blanketed their mouths. It had never tasted so good.