The Brick

Every year in November, The Boys Club sponsored a father and son trip to go see a hockey game on a Saturday night. The seats were never great, always in the orange section (the nosebleeds), but the tickets were bought at a discounted group rate. No one really cared. It was a chance for the kids to see the Sabres play, and a chance for the dads to talk over beer. The night couldn't be spoiled even when the Sabres lost. After the game, it became a tradition for everyone to eat a late breakfast together at The Wayside. The whole experience was one Nick looked forward to with much anticipation.

On this Saturday night, the wind blew a bitter chill, and flurries could be seen here and there (a typical late November evening). The Sabres were to play the Calgary Flames. You could say Nick was in a fever pitch.

"Dad! Come on! Everybody's probably there by now! We gotta go!"

"Relax son. We have plenty of time. They're not going to leave without us."

Nick continued to pace the kitchen floor, letting out heavy sighs at each turn.

Everyone who had signed up to go was to meet at the school parking lot at six. From there they would take a bus downtown to Memorial Auditorium. After being told by his dad to say good-bye to his mom and little brother, Nick ran out to the car (his dad was already there warming it up). Once in the car, Nick saw his breath. The cold air really took a lot out of Nick, just running from the house to the car. He liked the way his breath looked, hanging in the air for a moment, then dispersing as it rose. He began breathing out heavily to intensify the effect. "Stop it Nick. You'll fog up the windows," his dad said. But they were already fogged up. Nick quickly rubbed his name into his window, making little squeaks with each stroke. They then backed out, and made the short drive to the school parking lot, where the bus was waiting.

As soon as the car was parked, Nick immediately ran over to join his friends Mike, Paul, and Jeff by the side of the bus. Nick's dad smiled and made his way over to where the dads had grouped together, blowing hot air into his cupped palms. There were many other kids as well, some older, some younger, grouped together in different places near the bus. Everyone hadn't arrived, so they all waited. Sometimes they looked up at the lights, which hung over the parking lot like tiny yellow moons. As the men talked and laughed, their breath rose up in little clouds, merging with the haziness the cold light produced. Nick and his friends discussed the game they had talked about all week.

"I hope we get to see some good fights like last time," Jeff said.

"I know, that would be awesome," Mike replied. "I hope Perreault scores too."

"Yeah," was Paul's reply, and the rest nodded their approval.

"Hey, let's all get on the bus now so we can sit in the back," Nick suggested.

Paul agreed. "Yeah, I'm freezin'."

But before they could act, they were all called over for a quick huddle by the event's organizer, Mr. Redfern. When everyone had arrived and was paying attention, Mr. Redfern instructed everyone to stay together once they arrived downtown and to listen to the adults. Then they loaded the bus.

Nick and his friends didn't get to sit in the back. Some older kids who came without their dads got there first. So Nick and Mike sat together near the middle, with Paul and Jeff two seats behind them. All of the adults stayed up front. The bus was alive with chatter and shouting; dads talking to dads, boys talking to boys. Mr. Redfern had to quiet everyone down before they left.

"Okay, listen up you guys," he began. "We need everyone to keep it down a bit so the driver can concentrate and get us there safely. We don't want to miss the game right?" On this last point, he spoke with a bit of fire, to get everyone excited, as if they weren't already. To which the kids loudly replied in one voice, "No!"

The bus ride was part of the fun. They always took the Skyway, which overlooked all of Buffalo. Nick remembered the fun of going that way in a bus. Night just settling upon the city. Looking out of the window and seeing Lake Erie. The waterfront lit up with activity. Tiny lights sparkling like stars. The bus following the curve of the high overpass. The city coming into view. Nick remembered not being able to see Memorial Auditorium from there. It was at the bottom of all the high buildings, hidden deep in that pit between concrete and steel, where light glowed and dazzled.

The bus didn't make the turn to get to the Skyway. Instead it kept going straight down South Park, a long busy road that stretched for miles. Nick had been through this area before, with his parents in the car, but never when going downtown.

"How come we're not taking the Skyway?" Nick asked Mike.

"I don't know. But South Park goes all the way downtown too."

"Oh, it does? I didn't know. Taking the Skyway's so much better though."

Nick and Mike looked out of the window, watching as everything passed in blurs. The noise of excitement still hadn't died down on the bus. In fact it grew as they approached the city. Nick noticed that this part of South Park was bad. The buildings were mainly apartments and small stores, all dark and dead. Once in awhile, a streetlight on a corner revealed graffiti and garbage. To these kids on the bus, it was as if they were passing through another world, where things stayed gray and hopeless. Nick was thankful to be on the bus, protected from the dark souls roaming the sidewalks.

"Hey Nick, remember in the game last year when there was that huge brawl?" Mike asked.

"Yeah. And Tom Barrasso came out of the net and jumped into the pile."

"Yeah that was awesome. And when Mike Foglino crushed that one guy. And remember when Craig Ramsey threw down his gloves at center ice and kept yelling 'Come on! Come on!' Trying to get that one guy to fight?"

"I know! That was awesome how Phil Housley scored two goals."

Suddenly a sharp noise came from the back, stopping everything. Like the flat sound of a hammer striking a wall, and the chime of shattered glass followed. Everybody seemed to turn around at once to see what happened. Small pieces of glass flew and scattered about the rear of the bus like a swarm, each gleaming for a second. A piece bounced off Nick's forehead, and another caught Mike on the nose. The bus came to a jarring stop, the brakes whined from the strain. Things quickly settled as fast as they began, as most of the boys struggled to understand what had happened. It had apparently registered with the adults, because several got up and ran to the back. Nick saw the jagged hole in the rear window on the right side of the bus. Mr. Redfern and one of the dads were tending to the two older boys who were sitting in that seat. Blood ran down both of their faces, though the one sitting closest to the window seemed in worse shape. It was dark inside the bus, but enough light seeped in from the street for Nick to see the brick laying on the floor. Mr. Redfern brushed it off and picked it up while others took inventory on the two bloody boys.

Nick felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Nick are you all right?" asked his dad.

"Yeah, I’m okay. A piece hit me on my forehead."

Nick's dad held his son by the head, firmly, with two hands, and looked him over. "Well, there’s no mark thank God."

Then Mike’s dad came up next to Nick’s. There was a small red mark on the side of Mike’s nose where the glass hit him.

"Are you okay Mike?" his dad asked as he gently took Mike by the chin and examined his face.

"It’s okay dad. I think it’s just a little scratch."

Nick’s dad then spoke. "Listen, you guys stay here. A few of us are going to go out to see if we can find the jerks that did this. We're going to call the cops too. Everyone else is going to stay put. Okay?"

"Okay dad."

Both Jeff and Paul’s fathers were back checking to see if their boys were okay. Oddly enough, neither of them was hurt by the glass, though Jeff had some pieces stuck in his jacket. He shook them off as if they were fleas. Their dads joined Nick’s and Mike’s, and a few others, including Doug Bless’s dad, and went outside of the bus, where the driver was standing. Mr. Redfern was guiding the two bloody boys up to the front. He still held the brick.

Nick saw the two boys as they passed. He recognized them both from school and the weekly Boys Club meetings in the gym. He didn’t know them well since they were both older. The only time the older boys did anything with the younger ones was when they played Dodgeball. The one who was sitting right next to the window was Billy Wallace, the chubby kid who never played. He spent most of the meetings up in the game room playing Mr. Do. He was holding the side of his head, and kept looking at his hand to see how bad he was bleeding. He didn’t cry though. The other one was Brad DiFranco, the kid who threw the ball so hard during Dodgeball that one time he broke the glass on one of the fire alarms. He had a large cut running across his forehead, and tears filled his eyes. They were brought up front by Mr. Redfern and a few other dads, who then sat them down and tended to them.

Nick and Mike both looked at each other.

"Are you alright man?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, it’s nothing. I can’t believe the glass flew this far ya know?"

"I know. It was such a loud crash. I didn’t know what was happening."

Then Paul and Jeff came up to where Nick and Mike were sitting.

"Did you guys get hit at all?" Paul asked.

"Yeah, Mike got hit on the nose," Nick said. "And I felt a piece hit my head, but there’s no blood."

"Man did you see those two who got hit? They were bleedin’ bad."

"What if we were sitting in the back like we wanted to?" Jeff said. "We were lucky."

"Look! Our dads are yelling at some guys across the street!"

The four of them turned and looked out the windows, as did many of the other kids. The adults who went outside were standing at the rear of the bus, shouting at five black teenagers who were quickly walking the other way.

"I bet those are the guys that did it," Jeff said.

"Look! They’re going after them!"

Nick and the others watched as their fathers shouted at the five black kids. Nick saw his dad go up next to Mr. Bless, like he was a bodyguard. "Look Nick! Your dad’s gonna go after those guys!" Paul said. All of the fathers were now walking in a tight group towards the five kids. The kids seemed to be running away as Mr. Bless continued to taunt them, but two of them stopped and just stood there, spreading their arms apart as if to plead their innocence. Mike’s dad was yelling at them, pointing back to the bus.

"Man I wish I could hear what they’re sayin’!" Paul said.

The five kids were soon gone, having run far down the street, vanishing from sight. Nick’s dad and the others remained standing in the middle of the street, talking amongst themselves and pointing in different directions. Slowly they returned to the bus, staying just outside of the door.

"Man! Wouldn’t that be awesome if our dads beat up those dudes?" Paul pounded his fist to his open hand.

They laughed, but Nick realized that now they would probably miss the game. He heard the people up front talking about the police coming with an ambulance. Shortly, everyone was either on board or just outside the bus, and the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. Whenever one of the kids asked what was happening an adult told them not to worry about it. The bright lights from the police car and the ambulance flashed all around. Cars continued to pass the bus on the left. Nick couldn’t see the two kids who were hit by the brick, so he assumed they were to be taken away in the ambulance. Nick yelled up front to his dad.

"Hey Dad! What are they doin’?"

Nick’s dad looked back at Nick and waved for him to come up front. Nick jumped out of this seat and ran over to his dad.

"Mr. Redfern’s still talking to a police officer outside," he said. "Those kids are going to be okay."

"Are we still going to the game?" Nick asked.

"Yeah. We might be a little late though. They need to knock the rest of that broken window out so no one gets cut; no one else I mean."

"What about that group of kids you guys were yelling at? Did they do it?"

"Yeah, I think they did. We’re not for sure. Mr. Redfern is talking to the cops about it."

Nick stood up on the tips of his toes to see what was going on outside, but he couldn’t see much. He was relieved that they were still going to the game, only it felt different now. Nick looked at his dad.

"I wanna see something," Nick said quickly, and went all the way up front where the driver was before his dad could say anything. Nick could hear his dad yelling for him to come back, but he ignored him. At the front of the bus, he could see Mr. Redfern talking to two police officers, one of them writing on a clipboard. Nick looked down and saw the brick lying on the floorboard. The red and blue lights from outside shot onto it, off and on. He bent down and grazed his fingers along the brick’s rough surface. It felt like sandpaper to him, only old and forgotten. Nick wrapped his hand around the brick, and felt its weight. He turned it on its side, and saw the bottom, which was no different from the top.

"Hey kid. Don't touch that."

Nick looked up at the driver and quickly stood up straight, brushing his hands free of whatever was on the brick.

"What are you doing up here?" the driver asked him. He was stern and unforgiving. Nick's eyes were wide open, and his body quivered, not knowing what to do. Then his father's large hand grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away.

"Now you go back to your seat and stay there," Nick's dad commanded. "And don't ever do that again."

Nick looked up at his dad to acknowledge that he understood, then he returned to his seat next to Mike.

"What were you doin'?" Mike asked.

"Nothin'. I just wanted to see what was goin' on," Nick paused. "I saw the brick up there."

"Was there blood on it?"

"No."

Soon after, the bus was ready to go. The game would be starting in a matter of minutes, so they would miss the National Anthem and the opening face-off. Nick was relieved to be leaving that place. Everything had changed. He felt tired from all the commotion and leaned his head on Mike’s shoulder. Then he realized what he was doing and sat up, a little embarrassed.

"It’s okay, you can put your head there," Mike said.

And Nick did. The jacket Mike was wearing was puffy. It made a nice pillow. As the bus went toward the arena, everyone stayed quiet. Nick kept his head on Mike's cushioned shoulder, with his eyes open, and saw things sideways. In his view, he could see the streetlights passing by, and the growing brilliance of the downtown bustle. The empty window pane in the back allowed the noise from outside to come inside. Nick could hear the wind blowing over the hole, and he could feel the cold air touching the edges of his body. The bus came to a stoplight, and Nick thought. He thought about the loud crash and the sprinkling of glass everywhere. In his mind, there was the blood running down the faces of Billy and Brad, and the stone cold brick lying on the floor. Nick wondered where the brick was now. He then decided he didn't want to go to The Wayside after the game.