What's Right is Right

The sun was setting in the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. The trees put on a brilliant show. They displayed their autumn colors and filling the crisp air with the scent of the season. It was a fresh scent, stronger than the young men from Brooklyn had ever smelled. Angelo and Tony Marcelli wandered up and down route 309 in Angelo's 98 Chevy Cavalier. They were looking for a place called Georgetown. The twins had just celebrated their twenty‑first birthday and their older brother had invited them to spend a few days at his house.

Angelo complained as they passed the Pocono Downs horse racing track for the third time. "You know if Dad were here he'd say you had a head like a

turnip."

"Angie, don't bust my chops, ok. I said I was sorry. Anyways, the directions were written in Ma's Itinglish. The UN can't read her notes."

"What about a map, you dumb wop. Everybody . . ."

"Hey! Hey!" Tony yelled at his brother, "Don't call me that. You talk about the old man; if he heard you say that he'd clip your ears."

"Ok, ok," Angie smiled at his brother's sudden sensitivity, "but we're heading out of town again and Joey said we're supposed to get off 309 before we left Wilkes‑Barre. He said there was a sign."

"This is just a little road." Tony complained, "There are no freeway exit signs. I guess we could ask somebody."

"Yeah sure, Tony, we'll ask somebody and look like two jerks. I'm turning around. You keep your eyes open this time. Joey said to look for a sign that says Georgetown, Tony, Georgetown."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just drive and try to keep it less than eighty so I can read the signs."

An hour and three wrong turns later, the Marcelli brothers found themselves on the side of a small road, lost, and out of gas. "This is great just great. Do you know what Joey's gonna say when he finds us, if he finds us? Why don't you have a cell phone on you for crying out loud?"

"You can buy me a phone for Christmas. And don't bust my chops about running out of gas. I had plenty of gas. What I didn't have, was a guy with me who could read street signs."

"Sure, Angie, blame it all on me. You turned around enough times to confuse anybody. I don't even know which way to go to find civilization."

"Down, the mountain is up. The valley is down. The city is in the valley."

The city boys got out of their car and looked around. They had indeed wandered out of the valley and into the mountains. Angie got a gas can out of the trunk and they started walking. There wasn't a house in sight. A full moon shined like a beacon in the clean mountain air, and the trees rustled with the music of the forest. Halloween shadows were cast upon the road as bare tree limbs swayed in the breeze. Tony and Angie were out of their element and they felt it.

Tony looked around with bulging eyes. He imagined classic movie monsters behind every tree. "Say somthin Angie. Make some noise. This place is giving me the creeps."

Angie answered his brother, "You want me to talk; I'll talk. I've got a bone to pick with you anyway. How come you're making Janet so miserable? You know you love her, what's with this cold shoulder treatment all of a sudden?"

Tony had an answer; "I was told she was out on her stoop until almost two in the morning last Friday with Benny Lagerri. They were laughing and hanging on each other like an old married couple. If she's that interested in Benny, she can't be much interested in me."

"Come on, Tony. One guess who told you that, it was Maria Gambrelli, wasn't it. You know she has the hots for you. She'd say anything to break you and Janet up. Yeah, I heard Janet talked to Benny for a long time Friday night, and, if they shared a couple jokes, so what? It's not like they were kissing or anything."

"It's not right, Angie, it's just not right. I wouldn't be up that late with another girl. It's just not right. I don't know what I'm gonna do, but she's got to know that she shouldn't do things like that."

"Tony, you're being a turnip‑head again. You're miserable when you don't see Janet. She's miserable, and she comes crying to me. Do me a favor, and forget it. Nothing happened."

"I can't Angie, what right is right."

"And what's stubborn is stubborn and that's you," Angie answered.

After following the winding road for a few more minutes, the young men were rewarded with a sight that brought a sigh of relief. The lights from the city of Wilkes‑Barre gleamed below them. "Hey," Tony said, "this is like looking from the top of the Empire State Building."

Angie just groaned, "But this one doesn't have elevators to get you down, and it doesn't have subways to get you home. Keep walking."

It took them less time than they thought to get back into town. One of the first buildings they found was an old gas station. It was just a two‑pump stand, a small garage, and a tiny office. The pumps hadn't been updated since the sixties and the building's paint job looked at least that old. Their joy quickly turned to disappointment when they realized the station was closed. The wind blew down from the mountain causing them to shiver in their black leather jackets. In the wind they heard another sound. It was the sound of soft crying.

"Hey, Angie, did you hear that. Somebody's here, maybe they can open the station."

Angie led as they investigated the sound. He stopped suddenly, causing Tony to run into him. Tony started to complain, but Angie cut him off, "Shhhh, there someone over there." Angie decided to use an old turf tactic from their high school days. "Stay here. You can come in, if there's trouble."

Angie approached the sobbing figure. He just recognized it to be a young boy when the boy looked up. In the moonlight Angie could see the boy was badly beat up. The boy bolted passed Angie in a blind panic that caused him to collide with Tony. He screamed and flailed, Tony held on trying to calm him down. "Hey, hey, where's the fire? If there's somthin to be scared of, you better tell me so I can run with you."

The sound of the New Yorker's voice calmed the boy. He stopped fighting and stood stiff in Tony's arms. After a minute he spoke up, "Well, are you gonna let me go?"

"Are you gonna run off?"

"What's it to ya?"

"Well, number one, by the looks of you, either you got the worst of the fight or the other guy is dead. Number two, you go running outa here looking like that somebody's gonna think we did it, and number three we need a little help ourselves."

"Wow. You're a real math wizard. You got all the way up to three. Let me go. I've got no place to run to."

Tony let the boy go as Angie joined them, and the three stood in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Angie looked at the boy. He figured him to be about twelve years old. His blonde straight hair was a mess and his clothes were rumpled. He sported a nosebleed, a fat lip and an eye well on the way to becoming a shiner. "Turf‑fight?" Angie asked.

"What?" The boy had no idea what Angie was saying.

"A turf‑fight. Did you cross the line? Go on the other guy's turf. I got punched out good a couple times for raiding another turf."

"No, there ain't no turfs around here, at least, not anymore."

"Then what happened?" Tony asked.

"You don't want to know. It's a long story. I shouldn't have been out here blubbering anyway. I have to get up early tomorrow."

"Come on kid," Tony's sense of justice was rising in him. "Why won't you tell us what happened? We're not going to rat on ya."

"Cause, it's none of your business, that's why." The boy yelled in Tony's face.

"Ok, ok," Angie tried to calm the situation down. "You're right, it's none of our business. What's your name?"

"Bobby, Bobby Lawrence, I just getting some air before going in to bed, where did you guys come from?"

Angie explained how they drove all over looking for Georgetown and how they ran out of gas up the road. The brothers started in on each other over whose fault it was. After two or three minutes of bantering, they realized Bobby was hysterical with laughter. They stopped and stared at Bobby. Tony put his hands on his hips. "Well kid, what's so funny?"

Bobby tried to talk through his chuckles, "You sound like Rocky Balboa. I didn't know anyone really talked like that. Look. I'll make you a deal. I'll get that gas can of yours filled and I'll show you how to get to your brother's place, if you take me into town. My Aunt Liz lives down on Hazel Street. What do you say?"

Tony was confused, "What you said before made me think you lived right around here. Why do you want to go to your aunt's house?"

"Don't give me any crap, ok. It's very simple, no ride, no gas."

"Wait a minute here." Angie didn't like this at all. "Nobody knows us from Adam around here. What if somebody claims we snatched you? I don't think I look good in prison gray."

"Nobody's gonna say anything. Boy, for New Yorkers, you guys are wimps, I thought tough guys came out of Brooklyn, you guys are afraid of everything."

"Who you callin a wimp?" Tony fell for the oldest trick in the book, "You got a deal. Unlock the pump."

"Hey, hey, "Angie tried to get in his opinion. "No deal until we get some answers."

"BOBBY!" A powerful voice boomed from the back of the gas station. Into view came a mountain of a man. He was dressed in work overalls and a red flannel shirt. Angie guessed him to be six foot six and about two hundred and eighty pounds. In his right hand was a Louisville Slugger. Spotting Bobby in the moonlight, the big man stomped toward him. "Bobby, get your ass up to the house."

The boy froze. He was clearly terrified of one who was obviously his father. The man stared at the twins, the bat dangled menacingly in his huge hand. "What are you doing on my property?"

Angie spoke up before his brother said something stupid. He raised the gas can, "We ran out a gas about a mile or two up the road. We were just trying to get some gas and some directions."

The man pointed down the road with the bat. "We're closed. There's an Exxon on the right about a mile down the road. They're open all night. They've got gas and people paid to be nice. I'm not paid to be nice, so hit the road."

"Sure thing Pal." Angie grabbed Tony's arm "Come on, let's get going."

Tony saw the terrified look on Bobby's face, and then he looked back at the big man. He stiffened his shoulders. "No, Angie, it's not right. We can't leave this kid alone with him."

The man raised his bat, "What, the hell, are you talking about, you little wop, get moving before I crack your skull."

Against his better judgment, Angie stood by his brother while he defied the threatening giant. "You're not going to beat this kid up as long as we're around. We're taking him to his aunt's house. You can call the cops if you want to."

Instead of attacking the man lowered his bat. "Go ahead, take him to his aunt, if that's where he wants to go. His mother ran out on me, and he is just like her. He's always been just like her. I couldn't do anything right for either of them." His shoulders seemed to slump as he began to turn away. Tony and Angie turned to see if Bobby was ok. That was a big mistake.

Bobby yelled, "LOOK OUT!" The warning came too late. The first blow came down across Tony's right leg. He fell hard to the pavement. Angie was struck in the chest. He gasped for air through broken ribs.

The man laughed, "Louisville Slugger two, wops nothing. Bobby, if I have to come after you, I break both your legs. I swear I will."

Bobby knew his father meant every word. He began to cry and looked down at the twins, "I'm sorry. I am."

The man grabbed Bobby when he got in range. He hauled him up until they were nose‑to‑nose. "Listen to me. You're not going anywhere. That tramp of a mother of yours snuck away like a snake in the middle of the night. If I catch her, I'll kill her, and I'll cripple you if you even think of skipping out on me. You're not sorry about those two grease‑balls. If fact, you're going to help me fix their asses for good. Remember. Blood is thicker than water. You're going to back me up everything I do and say tonight. Those two slugs won't be causing me any trouble." The man released his son, picked up a rock, and calmly walked over to the gas station's small office.

Tony rolled over to his brother. He whispered, "Angie, are you ok?"

Angie was still gasping for air, "Tony, it hurts when I try to breathe. I think I got a hole in my lung or somthin."

"That big son‑of‑a." Tony tried to stand, but his leg wouldn't hold his weight.

Bobby turned to them. The terror was still clear on his face, but he was fighting it. "I won't lie for him. I promise. His blood is thinner and colder than any water."

Suddenly the office window broke with a crash, and the man ran inside and got on the telephone. A minute later he walked out swinging his bat. He had a big smile on his face. When he stood before them again, he grabbed Bobby in an evil and brutal version of a fatherly hug. "Now my boy, when the cops get here, you're going to tell them how you found these two punks trying to break into the station. They beat you up, but I saved you at the last minute with my bat. I hated to have to hit them so hard, but I was protecting my son. Isn't that right sonny boy?" When Bobby refused to answer the huge arm went to his neck. The man squeezed with powerful force.

"Hey, leave the kid alone." Tony tried to stand again only to be struck on the right shoulder with the bat. Again he hit the pavement.

"Stay down. You don't have to be alive for this to work. One more move and I'll aim for your head."

Holding Bobby firmly around the neck he asked him again. "My story is true. Isn't it Bobby? I saved you and my station from two thugs from out‑of‑town."

Succumbing to the pressure Bobby nodded weakly.

Five minutes later a police cruiser rolled up. Two officers got out of the car. The driver pointed to the twins. His partner motioned with his nightstick. "You go check them out while I get a statement from Big Jim."

Jim Lawrence stood tall, holding his son close to him. "Stan, I'm glad to see that you got the call."

"Evening Jim, what's going on here?"

Jim told his story while Bobby nodded. Jim kept an iron grip on Bobby's shoulder. The big man explained how his son surprised the two thugs just after they broke the window. He told them how he found them beating his son and used his bat to stop them.

The policeman looked at Bobby, then at Jim. "Well that's quite a story Jim. You must feel really good about being able to save your son. Bobby, you must be quite proud of your old dad."

Again Bobby just stiffly nodded. The policeman wandered over to the front of the office and wandered back. "Yep, you did quite a job Jim, but I was wondering if you could answer one question. You see the rock that broke the window is sitting on your desk in the right corner of the office. Those guys are to the right of the door. How could a rock, thrown from there, land on your desk?"

"How should I know?" Big Jim yelled. "Stanley, don't give me a hard time. I caught these guys robbing my station and beating up my son. A man has a right to protect his property. Tell him Bobby. Tell them how I saved you."

"He's a liar!" Tony yelled. The policeman with him tried to keep him quiet.

Jim ignored Tony and stared at his son. "Well Bobby, tell them how it happened."

Stanley took one step back and quickly pulled out his service revolver. "Ok, Jim, please release your son and drop the bat. You're an awful big man and you scare the hell out of me. That makes my trigger‑finger itchy. Drop the bat slowly and release your son. You see, those two over there aren't thugs and they aren't strangers. They're two really nice guys. I met them when my partner got married."

Stanley yelled down to his partner, "I had a great time at the wedding, didn't I, Joey?"

Joey had finished checking Angie's cracked ribs and Tony's broken‑leg. He yelled back trying to hold his anger. "That you did Stan, Mama and all of the Marcelli's loved your Polish butt."

Bobby yanked at his father's arm. The sudden movement distracted Stanley. Jim took the advantage. He pushed the boy away, threw the bat at Stanley, and rushed toward the officer. Stanley went over like a bowling pin, his gun skidding across the pavement. Jim stumbled over the police officer as he made a run for it.

Joey pulled out his revolver, but, by the time he stood, Bobby had snatched up the free gun and was standing in front of his father, and all motion suddenly stopped, as if a great freeze fell on the scene.

Bobby's face was streaked with tears and his eyes burned with hatred. His voice came out in a guttural growl. Years of abuse were caught in his throat. "Now you're gonna pay for everything you've done to all of us."

Stanley got to his feet and walked carefully toward the stand‑off. "Bobby, I know you've got a lot built up inside you, but don't let it ruin your life. You're free of him now. He will answer to the court for his crimes."

Bobby yelled as he stared at his father, almost daring him to make a move. "What will the charges be, one count of Child Abuse and two counts of Assault and Battery? Those crimes are laughable now days. He'll make bail and be on the street tomorrow and he'll come right after me again. Crimes? I'll tell you about crimes. I love my Aunt Liz. She lives in town. She used to visit Mom and me sometimes, that's until Big Jim here tried to rape her in our backyard. My Mom begged her not to say anything. She didn't, she never came back and I was forbidden to even mention her name. And Mom, " Bobby shoved the gun in his father's face, "tell them why I don't have a mother. Tell them the last thing you did to her. TELL THEM!"

For the first time in his life Big Jim Lawrence was truly afraid. "I . . . I burned her."

"What?" Stanley asked, almost not believing what he heard.

Bobby took over the story. "He dropped a cigarette down the front of her blouse. Then he grabbed in a bear hugged and laughed while she screamed. That was the last straw. I knew she didn't want to leave me, but she just couldn't take any more."

"We'll find your mother, Bobby." Stanley said pleading to avoid a tragedy. "She'll testify and he'll be put away. I promise."

"This ain't no TV show and I can't wait for maybe justice. He dies now." The big man cringed as Bobby took final aim.

"NO!" Tony yelled as he hobbled up to the scene supported by Joey. "Bobby, you can't do this. You just can't"

"Tony, you and Angie are the best. You saved my life, but give one good reason why I shouldn't kill this bastard."

Tony looked at the desperate young boy. His eyes glowed with a sincerity that came from his soul. In a soft voice he simply said, "Cause it ain't right, Bobby. It just ain't right."

The sound of Tony's voice and the look in his eye broke through Bobby's wall of hate. Tears again rolled down the boy's cheeks as he slowly lowered the gun.

Stanley quickly moved to take the gun. Tony sat as Joey went to help his partner. He called to Bobby. "Hey kid, come over here and help me get back to Angie."

As Bobby helped Tony, he spoke, "You guys are far from wimps. You're like big brothers. Will I see you again?"

"Are you kiddin? We're going to find out where your aunt lives and I'm going to come around and harass the hell out of ya. I always wanted a little brother to pick on."

"You won't pick on me." Bobby said with a smile.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"Cause it wouldn't be right."