Bouncey, bouncey, bally,
My sister's name is Paulie.
She gave me a smack,
I gave
her one back.
Bouncey, bouncey, bally.
"Now it's my
turn," said another girl. "Give me the ball." She too bounced
the ball on the black tar roof of the tenement, throwing her right leg over the
ball every third bounce.
One, two, three a nation
I received my confirmation
On the Day of Decoration
Just before my graduation.
One, two, three a nation!
"Me now,"
said the third girl, and took the Spalding ball, bouncing it the same way.
Once upon a time
A baby found a dime.
The dime turned red,
And the baby fell down dead!
"Me again," said the
first girl and, taking the ball, began, "Bouncey, bouncey, bally, My
sister's name is . . ."
After she finished, she handed
the ball to the second girl, and then the third girl took a turn'. They
repeated this a few times and decided to stop playing.
"It's too hot up here,"
said the first girl. "Look, the tar is melting and getting stuck to my
shoes."
"Ugh, yeah."
"Let's go."
They walked along the rooftops,
going from building to building. Each building was separated from the next by a
short wall of painted cement, stretching across the width of the building, no
higher than three and a half feet. When they reached each wall the girls climbed
over, exploring another rooftop.
"It's too hot out here; let's find a hallway to play
in," said the second girl.
"O.K.," agreed the
third girl, "but let's get a place where they don't throw us out."
"How about the building over
there?" The first girl pointed to a tenement several rooftops away.
"Most of them families in that building moved out, so probably no one will
hear us."
They headed in that direction,
eager to be out of the hot sun.
"I hope the entrance ain't
locked," said the third girl.
They climbed the last dividing
wall and went straight to the entrance, which jutted out of the rooftop at a
slant. The third girl pulled at the large metal door; it wouldn't budge.
"It's locked," she said to her companions.
"Try it the other way," said the first girl. "Let's push
in."
They pushed the door, and it
opened slightly.
All three girls pushed with all their might, and slowly
the door began to open.
"A little more and one of us
can slide in and see what's making it get stuck," said the third girl.
The door opened about one and a
half feet. "Good. Let's go in and see what's making it stuck." The
first girl slipped through. "Ouch," she said. "There's a man
sleeping, I think." She quickly came back out.
"Well?" the second girl asked.
"Wanna come in and see him?"
the first girl replied. "It's dark in there. But it was a man; and he was
sleeping real sound. He didn't make no noise when I stepped on him."
"Let's go on in and
see," said the third girl.
"What if he should wake
up?" asked the second girl.
"We'll run real fast," said the first girl.
"Yeah," said the second girl. "Down the stairs. Otherwise he
might catch us on the roof. What do you say? O.K.?"
They agreed and slipped in
through the partially
opened door. They entered the dark hallway carefully, avoiding the body that
lay on the floor between the door and the wall.
"See?" The first girl pointed. "He must be
fast asleep."
They concentrated as they stared
at the body, trying to make things out. After a while, their eyes adjusted to
the dark and he became more visible.
"Oh, look! He's got a jacket, and it's from that
club," said the third girl.
He lay curled up, facing the
wall; they could see his back clearly. He wore a bright orange jacket. A large
picture of the head of a leopard baring its teeth was decaled across the back.
Underneath, the words PUERTO RICAN LEOPARDS were stenciled in black
"It's one of them
guys," said the first girl. "You know?" she continued.
"He's not moving. Maybe . . . maybe he's dead!"
The girls rushed away from him, going down a few steps
into the stairwell.
"What do you think we should do?" asked the
second girl.
"Maybe we should find out who he is," the first
girl responded.
"He might wake up if we get too near," said the
second girl.
They looked at one another and
then at the young man. He had not moved and still faced the wall, his body
curled up.
"Who's gonna look and see who he is?" asked the
first girl.
"Not me." "Not me." "Not me
neither, then."
They stood silently for a while,
and finally the third girl said, "We should go and tell the super of the
building."
"That's right. Good idea!"
"I say we should still know
who it is," said the first girl. "Let's find out-come on!" She
went up the steps.
"Wait," called the second girl. "Be
careful; he might wake up."
She stopped and nodded in response, then
quickly stepped up to the young
man. Leaning over, she looked at his face and ran back to her friends.
"Well, who is it?" they asked.
''It's their leader. You know,
that real tough guy. Frankie-Chino!"
"No kidding, him?"
"Wow. "
"Yes. And you know,"
said the first girl, "His eyes are closed . . . and he's not breathing!"
''Really?"
"Honest?"
"Go see for yourself," she told her friends.
"I'm scared he might wake up," said the second girl.
"He won't. He's not breathing," said the first
girl.
Holding hands, they went up to
him and quickly bent over, looking into his face. They ran back down, a little
less scared than before.
"I think he's dead," the second girl said. The
third girl nodded in agreement.
"What should we do?"
asked the first girl. "I know," she went on, "let's go tell them
about it at their clubhouse. It's down in the basement, right next to the candy
store on
They all looked at each other and shrugged their
shoulders.
"Let's do it," said the first girl. "Come
on."
"All right."
"Sure.
All three ran down the stairs and
out into the street. They hurried, talking in short, anxious sentences,
planning how they would tell their story.
"They are real tough guys.
Wow, my mother better not find out we went there," said the second girl.
"Oh, we won't tell nobody. It's our secret.
Right?"
"Also, we have to promise
that we won't let nobody else know . . . about him. Except the Puerto Rican
Leopards, of course."
They all promised.
They reached
They walked in slowly, entering a
large unkempt room that was damp and dark. A studio couch with large holes,
where the stuffing spilled out, was against the center wall. Several old rusted
metal kitchen chairs were scattered about the room, some overturned. A broken
radio was set on two wooden crates. The center of the cement floor was covered
by a large piece of broken and peeling linoleum. Dirty paper cups and plates
were strewn about. The room looked dusty and neglected.
"Nobody's here," said
the second girl. "It looks deserted," said the third girl.
"Let's get out of here," said the first girl. All three walked out of
the dark basement and out into the street. The afternoon sun shone brightly; it
was hot and humid.
"Whew," said the first girl, "it was so
much more cooler down there."
Slowly, they walked along tossing
the ball to one another until they got back to their building.
"What do you think?"
asked the second girl. "Should we tell somebody what we seen?"
"I think we should just
forget it. That guy was probably sleeping and woke up already," said the
third girl.
"Yeah. We better not; then
they'll ask us what we was doing up on the roof and all," said the first
girl.
"Let's have another game of ball," said the
second girl.
"Let me go first," said the third girl. "I
was last before."
"O.K." "All
right."
Bouncing the ball and throwing
her leg over it on every third bounce, she sang,
Once upon a time
A baby found a dime. The dime
turned red, And the baby fell down dead!