KooKooLand by Gloria Norris Read Free Book Online Page B

That’s where she belongs. In KooKooLand.”
    â€œNo, that’s where you belong. You’re the goddamn head case.”
    â€œLook, I’ll have Shirley call this broad. We’ll go out clubbing Saturday night. Just the four of us.”
    â€œAll right. Fuck it. If it will shut you up.”
    Jimmy put his hand on Hank’s shoulder.
    â€œForget Doris. Believe me, I know what I’m talkin’ about. I had one just like her before Shirley. I may be a greaseball and you’re a Polack, but we speak the same language.”
    Hank stubbed out his cigar and walked away. As he passed me, he said, “Your old man’s a royal pain in the ass.” Then he reached in his pocket and gave me a dollar. A whole frickin’ dollar. I stood there, gawking at it.
    Jimmy was already on his way out the door.
    I ran to catch up with him, debating whether I would buy a Charleston Chew or Milk Duds or a Sugar Daddy.
    I tripped over a fishing pole and went down into a sea of men’s legs.
    A meaty hand reached down and helped me up.
    It was a cop. He was holding a hunting rifle. I froze. Froze at the sight of his shiny badge and his name. McSomething.
    â€œAre you OK? Did you hurt yourself?” He actually looked concerned.
    My knee was all scraped up. I knotted up every muscle in my body to keep from blubbering. I heard Jimmy’s voice in my head. Always leave a cop on a stone wall. Meaning, don’t tell them diddly-squat.
    â€œI’m fine,” I lied. “I didn’t feel nothin’.”
    â€œNot a good place for little girls,” he said.
    â€œMy daddy knows Hank,” I barked at him, and ran off, doing my best not to hobble on my banged-up leg.
    Outside, Jimmy was standing by the car, sucking on a Lucky.
    â€œWhat the hell did you say to that fuzz?”
    â€œNothin’, Daddy. I didn’t say nothin’. I left him on a stone wall where he belongs.”
    â€œGood girl.” Jimmy laughed. “I trained you good. Now hop to it. You’re makin’ me late.”
    I scrambled into the car. The seat was burning hot and my knee was stinging like a bastard and I still felt like blubbering. I cupped the wound so Jimmy wouldn’t see my bloody scrape. I didn’t want him to call me a dummkopf for falling. I just wanted to go home. I had some Chuckles jelly candies hidden in the Good & Plenty box with Barbie’s shoes and pocketbooks. I wanted them bad.
    But just my stupid Norris luck, Susan’s younger brother, Terry, showed up.
    Jimmy jumped out of the car and jogged over to Terry.
    â€œAnd there he is, in the center of the ring, the one-and-only Manchester Mauler!”
    Terry laughed and Jimmy grabbed him around the neck and mussed his wavy black hair. According to Jimmy, Terry was a dead ringer for John Garfield, the mauler in his favorite boxing movie, Body and Soul .
    â€œSo now you’re a big high school graduate, you think you’re a man? You think you can take me?”
    â€œI could take you when I was ten, old man,” Terry crowed.
    They started throwing punches, messing around.
    â€œWhoa, pretty boy,” cooed Jimmy. “Lookin’ good, lookin’ good.”
    All of a sudden, I wanted to punch somebody, anybody.
    I wanted to punch Terry. It didn’t matter that he was nice as pie to me or was my future best friend Susan’s younger brother or might one day be the boxing champion of the world. I hated his guts. Hated that he was keeping me from my Chuckles. Hated that Jimmy took him hunting and fishing and sat ringside with Hank at his boxing matches. Cripe, he was only in the Golden Gloves, but to hear Jimmy go on and on you’d think he was the Great Jack Dempsey.
    The blood on my knee was starting to get sticky. I found a greasy gun-cleaning rag and tried to dab some of the blood off. The knee was now black and red and still throbbing and I was sure I was gonna get blood poisoning if I