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Matty had heard that before and felt the edge of their words. But he was also taken by the ritual with the funny cigarette. |
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Bobby lit it, inhaled, and for a long moment held his breath. It was strange. Matty never saw anybody smoke like that before. Then in a burst Bobby let his breath out. "Awesome," he said to the others. He handed it to Michael. |
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"Yeah, you don't even know what it is," Michael said. |
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"I know what it is." Matty tried to sound savvy. |
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"Yeah, what is it, dork?" said Michael. When Matty didn't answer, he announced, "It's a pot joint," handing it to Bobby. |
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"A pot joint," Matty said. "I knew that." |
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"A joint," Jackie corrected. |
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"You didn't know, I could tell," Bobby said, releasing a faint cloud. "Ever hear of marijuana? Huh? Well, that's what we're smoking. Drugs. Nothing for a pussy like you." He passed it to Jackie. Matty watched Jackie suck it to a blush. |
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Bobby Gorawlski was the power kid at Butler: the one who always did cool things that got him into trouble, who swore like the big guys, who talked back to the teachers, who wore his hair long on top and shaved on the sides and with a braided rattail, who drank beer from his older brother's supply. He had fired a real gun and seen nine Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. (Matty's parents didn't let him see any of the real good stuff. "Too violent for little boys," his mom said. It wasn't fair. She was making him into a wimp.) Rumor also had it that Jackie had seen an X-rated movie showing naked men and women doing IT. |
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"He probably doesn't even know how to smoke it," Jackie said. One of his incisors was not fully grown yet, giving him an unfinished look. |
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Matty watched him take a long drag, hold his breath and pass it to Michael, then back to Bobby. Such a strange ritual: inhaling and holding your breath until your face turned red and eyes popped out, then the explosion of smoke followed by a groan of "wicked awesome." It looked dumb. |
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Matty had heard of drugs mostly from television reports of police busts. His parents and teachers also warned about the dangers. On the telephone pole at the corner of Hutchinson and Jason there was |
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