After lunch, with Amadeo
beside him, Angelo dialed up Steve and told him about the conversation between
Amadeo and his father.
Steve was quiet for a
few moments, and Angelo was afraid the other boy was going to hang up on him.
"Hang on a sec, Benny. Bruce and Carlos are here. Let me see
what they have to say, OK?"
"Sure."
was all Angelo said.
He could hear Steven
talking, even though the sounds were slightly muffled. Angelo worried
that the other boy was putting his hand over the mouthpiece was a bad sign,
until he put the hand set back to his ear and said, "Bruce is gonna talk
to Ethel about it, Carlos is going next door to Ralph's house to ask him, and
they'll call Parker from there." he hesitated, “Ummm, Benny, not
that it's a big deal or anything but Carlos asked me a question and I'm just
curious myself what the answer is."
"What's the
question?"
"Well, your dad
said no drinking. Carlos wants to know if that means ever. Like, if
he goes home and has a swig or two, is that gonna be a problem?"
Angelo's stomach knotted
up. Just the fact that the question had been asked made him nervous that
things might not work out. He covered the mouthpiece and told 'Deo what
Steve had said. Amadeo put a hand out, wordlessly asking for the handset, which
Angelo handed over, grateful that 'Deo seemed willing to handle the matter.
"Steve? This
is Amadeo. How are you?"
"Good, 'Deo."
the other boy said hesitantly, “Uh, what happened to Benny?"
"Angelo was
a little concerned about your question and asked me to answer it. All I
can say is that I thought this would be a good arrangement for all of you, and
I'd like for Angelo's father to give you guys a chance. I'm pretty sure
that Angelo's father only meant no drinking on the job or before. I could
ask him the question, but if anyone is more worried about having a drink than
earning a few dollars I'm afraid that he'll just say no to the whole
deal."
"Ah, that's what I
figured." Steve said unhappily.
"Look, if the
drinking is that big of a deal..." Amadeo began to say,
disappointed. His heart sank at the thought that he'd been so very wrong
about them despite the fact that they'd been so good to Angelo.
"No, no, it's not
the drinking, at least not for me, man." Steve reassured him, “Carlos
is our bottle buddy for the most part... the rest of us just do it 'cause we're
bored. No, you just explained why Benny..."
"Angelo."
Steve sighed, “Why
Angelo would never come to my house or invite me to his. We're
personae non gratae. Benny... I mean, Angelo's father has us figured
wrong, 'Deo, honest. I'm just kind of disappointed that Be... Angelo made
us out to be the bad guys. We're not bad, not really. But I guess I understand."
"Steve, Angelo
didn't make you out to be the bad guys. It's the fact that he was out till
nearly two o'clock in the morning meeting with you guys, and that he came home
smelling of cigarette smoke. As far as anything else goes, he didn't want
to tell his folks anything, but his father can be very... persuasive, when he
wants to know something, and the fact is that Angelo is a rotten liar."
he said with a smile in his boy's direction, ignoring Angelo's extended
tongue for the time being. "He didn't give you guys up for
anything."
"Yeah, that's what
I originally figured that when no irate parents came pounding on our doors for
keeping their kid out till all hours. I figured he'd either kept quiet or
was one of us, like we thought."
"One of you, in
what way?" Amadeo asked.
"The fact is our
folks don't care where we go or how long we're out. We figured Ben...
dang! Angelo was like us, so we just took him in. Just another
'lost boy'... and Wendy if you count Ethel but don't tell her I compared her to
Wendy. She likes Tinkerbell better." he laughed.
Amadeo laughed, and then
grew serious once again. "So I have three questions for you, Steve.
One is just out of curiosity... you keep insisting on calling Angelo 'Benny'.
He's told me over and over how good you guys were to him, how you
befriended him when no one else would. So why do you keep getting his name
wrong?"
Steve laughed, "He
looks like his name, you know?"
"I don't get
you." Amadeo did in fact, know that his boy looked like an angel but he
wondered where Steve was going with his comment.
"His name means
angel, right?"
"Yeah,” Amadeo
agreed dubiously.
"I call my girl
Angel Baby,” he laughed again. "When Benny and her are with us and I
say Angel, they both go, 'Yeah?', so it was just easier to call him Benny for
his second name... can't pronounce the whole thing right anyway, and he seemed
good with it."
"Did you tell him
that?"
Steve snorted a laugh.
"No, I figured it was obvious. Did I need to tell him?"
he asked.
"No, I was just
curious." Amadeo replied, unwilling to admit to Angelo's friend that
his boy really hadn't known the reason.
"So what's the
second question?"
"Well, only how
long do you think it'll take for you all to discuss the idea and get back to
him? He and his family have been doing the work by themselves for the most
part. They just need to know soon because if you're not interested they
need to find other people."
"Well, we gotta get
a hold of everyone. I really think the guys'll be good with the idea, but
it might take a little while. Can I call you back or did you want to wait
on the phone?"
"Whichever is good
for you. We might be out and about so we could always call you back later
if you're around."
"OK, sounds good.
Now, third question."
"Angelo... Benny's
father wants everyone sober for safety's sake, since you'll be up on ladders
picking the nuts and fruit that are growing high up. So pass the word. If
there's going to be an issue with someone not willing or able to stay sober,
they shouldn't waste their time coming around. Do you think that anyone
will be more interested in drinking than earning a few bucks?"
"That I can't
answer, man. I can't speak for everyone." Steve said, an odd note in
his voice. "But I'll pass the word."
"Thanks for your
honesty, Steve. We'll call you a little later today, all right?"
"Yeah man, if you
can't get a hold of us here then check out the park. Everyone kinda fell
in love with the park in your town so we've been hanging out there a lot
lately."
"Sounds good."
Amadeo smiled. "Talk to you later. Tell everyone hi from
me and Benny."
"Will do,"
Steve laughed. Then the two boys hung up.
"Alright, Benny,
here's the deal." Amadeo said, explaining Steve's side of the
conversation, including the other boy's reasoning for calling Angelo 'Benny'.
"I'm just curious though, Ange. It obviously bothered you. Why
didn't you say something? Or ask Steve to tell you why he insisted on
calling you Benny instead of your proper name?"
"I was afraid they'd
get mad or stop liking me if I made a fuss about it?"
There it was, Amadeo
thought. It seemed to come out more when he was uncertain or nervous,
'Deo thought.
"After the first
few times I just stopped pressing the issue."
"So you weren't
sure about your friendship? You felt that if you said what you thought or
told them something they didn't like that they'd stop hanging out with
you?"
"I had a whole
school full of people who didn't seem to like me simply for being the new kid?
These guys liked that I was the new kid and hung with me. I didn't
want to lose that."
"Now you know they
like you for you, and now you know why they called you Benny instead of Angelo.
You good with it?" Amadeo asked, wondering if his boy were
going to 'ask another question'.
"Yeah, I'm good.
Thanks for asking him to explain that. It sounded better coming from you than
me anyway." Angelo laughed. "I'd rather be called Benny
than Numbskull."
"You are a
numbskull sometimes." Amadeo said affectionately. Looking
around to see if they were alone he leaned toward Angelo and whispered,
"But you're my numbskull. Ti amo, Benny." he whispered
again and planting a quick kiss on his boy's cheek.
*******
NOTES:
personae non gratae -
unwelcome, unwanted people
Angel Baby by Rosie and
the Originals, 1960
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