Knockout Games by G. Neri Read Free Book Online Page A

monument. He put a nervous Boner up on Chuck’s head. Everyone thought it was funny, but I rescued him after I got the shot.
    We walked around, cruised in and out of the stores there—a comic book store, a record store, a sports shoe store. Grabbed some ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s.
    After a while, we seemed like regular people too.

    The Tokers cruised to a less crowded part of the Loop, toward a parking lot off to the side. I was lagging behind, recording tourists shopping and teens hanging out listening to their iPods. I tried not to judge too much what I was filming—some of the vids on that DVD were tough to watch but it was all symbolic—animals being experimented on, people dying of AIDS, a woman who used blood to paint with—I guess that made it art. Maybe it was too much to think I was like them, but I was doing something different. And that’s what Mrs. Lee was talking about.
    When we caught up, Kalvin had his crew in a circle around him. He looked like a coach in a huddle before the big game. “Alright, who gonna be a man today?” he asked.
    The Tokers all raised their hands, jostling for his attention. “Let’s see,” he said, his eyes studying them closely. I got in there with my camera, catching the excitement in their eyes.
    Kalvin picked a Toker called Doughboy. He was my height, but must’ve weighed over two hundred pounds. And it wasn’t muscle.
    â€œI’m gonna be MVP today!” he piped up.
    Prince interrupted, “Didn’t work out that way last week, did it, ese ? Most Valuable Punk , is more like it.”
    Kalvin put his hand on Doughboy’s shoulder. “Don’t listen to him. You fall down; you get back up and try again, yeah?”
    I zoomed in on Doughboy’s pinched face. His eyes darted around, unsure. He nodded, his voice cracking, “I’ll do right by you, K.”
    Kalvin waved his fist up to Doughboy’s mug. “Just remember: the bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
    He pretended to pop Doughboy in the jaw and Doughboy made a cartoon face like a character who got hit with a frying pan and was seeing stars. “But in your case, you better not fall on the dude. You might kill him.”
    Everyone busted up laughing. They all looked up to the Knockout King, and he liked being the center of attention.
    Destiny couldn’t make it, so it was interesting to get a glimpse into this all-guys world, something girls hardly ever see. Kalvin walked Doughboy away from the others, pumping up his confidence as they moved around the parking lot. I stepped in close enough to hear.
    They stopped when they spotted a guy getting out of a powder blue Honda. The target was some sensitive college-type. He wore a sweater and Converse shoes, a pretty-boy haircut, and shaved eyebrows. He did not look like he’d put up a fight.
    â€œHim.” The King had spoken. “One hit or quit.”
    They bumped fists.
    â€œBetter get him a blanket and pillow; he gonna say g’nite,” I heard Doughboy say. He started making his way over to the unsuspecting guy.
    â€œCheck this shit out,” said Kalvin. “Better than anything you’ll catch on HBO.”
    I knew what was coming up, but I tried not to think about it too much. I went into Fish-mode. Like Destiny said, my camera gave me a protective shield, like I was safe underwater in my tank, staring out at the world. I was just observing this weird scene unfolding in front of me. It was so unreal, it might as well have been a movie already.
    I followed Doughboy from the next row over as he snuck around in between cars. When he picked up speed, so did I, though that wasn’t hard since he didn’t run that fast.
    The action was quick and awkward. This time I came up right behind Doughboy and got close up in the heat of it all. He was slow, though, bouncing up out of breath. You could hear him wheezing. The college guy heard him too. When