Five Boroughs 01 - Sutphin Boulevard by Santino Hassell Read Free Book Online Page B

up.”
    “That’s my man. I expect to see your ass at the station in forty-five minutes.”
     
     
    “I S IT necessary for you to look that attractive on the first day back?”
    Nunzio was tanned five shades darker, and somehow looked fitter than he had been before leaving.
    I was lucky to have shaved and showered without cracking my head open or accidentally slitting my own throat. Considering I had spent half the summer in a slovenly daze, it was a miracle that I’d found clothing suitable enough for the mix of yuppies and hipsters that taught at McCleary High School. As usual, Nunzio looked 100 percent better than I did.
    I was irritated and sweating after having walked the eight thousand miles across the Times Square station in order to transfer to the train we took together into Brooklyn. McCleary was too far for me to commute every morning now that I’d moved back to Queens, but I was willing to deal with the extra thirty minutes of traveling, since switching schools was more of a pain in the ass. And I was still holding on to a thread of hope that one day I’d return to Manhattan.
    Nunzio ignored my pseudo compliment and frowned when I stopped next to him by the inside of the turnstile. A toddler was screaming nearby and a cluster of police officers was standing in front of a discount T-shirt shop as their radios crackled obnoxiously.
    “Are you sick?”
    I dodged the question by heading for the staircase leading to the N train, walking around a slew of shocked-looking tourists.
    “Why are you all pale and skinny?” Nunzio persisted, following close behind.
    “Why do you ask so many questions?”
    He slapped a brown paper bag to my chest and jogged down the stairs of the platform.
    “Everything bagel with butter and jelly, bitch. Now tell me what’s up.”
    “How was Italy?”
    Nunzio sneered. “Funny you should ask, Mikey. I called you every day I was in Europe, and I got the phone bill to prove it. Ninety-nine cents a minute just to leave your sorry ass some voice mails that you never replied to.”
    “I know.”
    I bumped my shoulder against his, flashing a tired smile. He scowled and shoved his aviators up on his forehead. His hair was everywhere and longer than it had been in July. I widened my smile until he made a face and grinned back.
    “So what the hell have you been up to? I was worried you wallowed in misery all summer, which was pretty much confirmed by Raymond.”
    “You spoke to Raymond?”
    “Yes. He picks up his fucking phone.”
    I felt like a jerk. We began to walk down the platform, navigating the throngs of waiting straphangers to get to the end.
    “I wasn’t avoiding you. I was avoiding reality.”
    “Uh-huh.” Nunzio’s brow creased. “Did you just get drunk for the past month? Because that’s what it looks like.”
    “Pretty much. I had a steady diet of booze and benzos.”
    “Dude….”
    “Don’t start lecturing me,” I said. “If you had to deal with my ridiculous family, you would want to put yourself into a coma too.”
    “I understand that, but—” Something in my expression must have warded him off, because Nunzio didn’t finish the sentence.
    The train rumbled into the tunnel and screeched to a halt as we strode a bit faster to get to the last car. It was too packed to move deeper inside, so I stood with my back to the door and Nunzio facing me.
    The motion of the train made my nausea rise, and I fought my intensifying dizziness. I held on to his shoulder to support myself and realized he was analyzing every inch of my face, searching for hints about what I’d done while he was away, and why I’d avoided his calls.
    “How’s your pops?”
    I shrugged and looked at the people around us. Everyone was on their phone or wearing headphones, completely disconnected from the reality of the morning commute.
    “A mess.”
    “Like father, like son.”
    “Ha-ha. Cute.”
    Nunzio smiled and cuffed my shoulder. “Really, though. You haven’t told me