Sometimes one of those Stranger females, she sashays over here, all young and sassy, looking for a little action—a real piece of ass, you know? Myself, I’d rather fuck ’em than kill ’em. But some of the guys, they get carried away. We don’t like Strangers here. Still, sometimes she’ll suck up to one of the guys and before you know it he sorta ease her into the gang.
In our gang everybody knows their place. Females especially. They do what they’re told. Or else. Sometimes they make believe like they don’t want it, but I know what they really want. Sometimes you gotta slap ’em around a little. Mostly you give ’em a look and right away, they’re shaking their ass, they got that smile, their eyes are staring, they’re moaning. Most of the time they beg for it.
Us guys, we don’t want the Big Guy to get nervous. We show respect. So we let him climb all over us. It’s not real; it’s just for show. We suck up to the Big Guy. I’m high up, but on this I’m like the rest. He’s my boss. If some tight-assed young guy don’t wanna show respect, he better change his mind or he don’t last long.
Big Guy, he’s really something. I seen him fight off two, three, lots of Strangers, all at once, all by himself. One time he save a little kid that fall into the water. Would’ve drowned for sure. Big Guy, he’s got balls.
After Big Guy it’s pretty much what I say goes. I’m high up. Besides Big Guy, hardly anybody gets on me. ’Course, I need help now and then from the other guys. I spend a lot of time stroking them. But that’s OK. You should see some of the guys my kid brother has to let get on him. Sometimes if Big Guy’s pissed off, you can calm him down just by touching his cock. Sometimes you gotta do more. It just means you’re cool.
When there’s enough to eat and there’s no Strangers around, everybody chills out. Guys get calm. In the early afternoon they all get sleepy, you know, and take naps. Not much trouble then. Too much calm, though, you get itchy for patrol.
I come up through the ranks. I don’t get to be number two by accident. When I start out, I’m not grown yet, nobody give me respect. I want respect so bad back then. When I get big enough, some of the other kids, then some of their mothers and sisters, they start giving me respect. Then all the females. Then I gotta start working myself up with the guys. It was hard. Sometimes I gotta beg food from them. Meat especially. Sometimes, when they give me a little piece, I’d grab it all and run. They’d get real pissed off. It wasn’t easy then. Now it’s different. Now everybody give me respect. Even Squint, sometimes. Even the Big Guy, sometimes.
We get on good. I help him, he help me. He scratch my back, I scratch his, know what I mean? I’m real close to him, closer than anybody except maybe Squint. But one time he got mad at me for not showing enough respect. He think he’s gonna teach me some manners. We have a big fight. Lots of other guys join in. More fights break out. More guys jump on. Maybe they’re helping their brother, or maybe they’re nervous about Big Guy and me fighting. Guys who’re fighting ask for help from guys who’re just watching. Pretty soon everybody’s fighting.
But Big Guy, he don’t look at nobody else but me. And he whip my ass. Then he start calming everybody down. I had to respect him. That was like a real Boss. Still, he beat me in front of everybody. One of these days I’m gonna make my move. He’s been good for me. But I want him off me. Someday I’m gonna be all over him.
Right now, though, Big Guy and Squint and me, we gotta stick together. Some of the young guys are getting restless. They want to stick it to us. I know what those guys are like. When they see us they suck up to us. They show respect. But inside, they think “Up yours.” They think, “My time’s gonna come.” Well, my time’s gonna come first.
——
One thing I wouldn’t let even the Big Guy mess with. That’s my kid. That’s where I draw the line. No one messes with him. When we’re out together, scrounging for something to eat, and I see my kid looking up at me, I know I’d sooner die than let anybody hurt him. He feels like that about me too. When the guys—even top guys—threaten me, my kid come over and try to protect me. They respect him for it. ’Course, just like every other kid around here, all he’s really got is his mother. If I don’t protect him, who will? When he was little he’d eat stuff that make him sick. I gotta stop him. I gotta show him what’s good to eat. He really need me then. He still does, more than he know. Sometimes the guys babysit and they seem to like him. But you can’t trust guys.
One of the young guys wanna fuck his mother. She don’t want to. One of these days he gonna hurt her bad. He can fuck his sister, but he should leave his mother alone. When the mood comes over the guys, though, they can’t help themselves. They go crazy. They act like animals.
Sometimes guys go so crazy, they beat a kid to death for nothing, just for being there. A guy, he gets to be a pain in the ass, he gets chewed out by some big shot. So he go look for somebody to kick around, some nobody—some female, some kid. When guys get pissed off it’s no good for anybody—least of all females and kids. You work real hard to get them calm.
One time my sister’s kid, he musta got sick or something. All of a sudden he can’t move his legs no more. He can’t walk. He just drag himself along by his hands. He look real weird. First, folks look away. None of the guys come ’round to babysit no more. Later, they hassle him. Then they attack him. Then they kill him off, snap his neck. I was sad for my sister.
My kid, all he lives for is to be in the gang, get respect, go out on patrol. He’s too little now, but his time’ll come. He’d do anything for a pat from the Big Guy. Me, too. I love it when the Big Guy touches my hand.
And he stop the young guys from fighting. He’s got a look that says “Up your ass.” Most of the time he just flash that look and the guys, they calm down. Grown-ups, they know how far they can go. They make lots of threats. Except for Strangers, though, nobody gets hurt much. But real young guys, they don’t know the difference. After they get to a certain age they can hurt each other bad. I don’t want my kid hurt by some asshole who don’t know his own strength. Big Guy puts a stop to that.
And he takes care of me. The Big Guy—or Buddy, but I know the Big Guy put him up to it—sometimes goes ’round handing out food. Meat especially. Meat’s not so easy to come by. They always give me and the kid some. They give it mostly to the good-looking females, like me, to make sure we’ll come across. But I’d do it for free, anytime he wants. A lot of folks beg for more when they hand the food out. Not me. I don’t have to.
When the guys leave me alone, I spend all my time with my sister, my girlfriends, my grown-up daughter. We watch out for each other. We give each other respect. I’d be nowhere without them.
One time when I was young—before anybody fucked me except for play—I got fed up. I wasn’t getting no respect. I was off by myself taking a walk and I see this cute guy. He don’t see me. He’s a Stranger—you can tell right away—but he’s real cute. Then all of a sudden he’s gone. After, I keep thinking about him. Maybe all Strangers are as cute as him. Maybe Strangers gimme respect. So I go to check ’em out.
It’s a long walk and I don’t wanna run into our patrols. But I get there OK. Pretty soon I find a guy. A Stranger guy. I don’t think he’s the same one I seen the first time, but he’s real cute, too. I give him a look, and I can see he’s eager. There’s two females there, though, his kind, and they’re not happy to see me like he is. They come at me, yelling and scratching and biting, and I run back home. It’s a long way. When I get here, it don’t seem anybody notice I’m gone—except for Mom, of course. She gimme a big hug. I miss Mom.