DADDY'S NEVER COMING HOME
How did Starsky's father die and how did he end up in California? This story is told from a young Starsky's POV.
CHAPTER 1
My name is David Michael Starsky and I am twelve years old. I live in Brooklyn, New York with my parents, Michael and Rachel Starsky. I have a kid brother, Nicky who is six years old. My pop is a cop. He goes to work while my ma stays home and takes care of me and Nicky.
School is out for the summer and that gives me more time to hang out with my friends. At least when I can ditch Nicky. He wants to follow me around all the time. He was in the kitchen helping Ma make chocolate chip cookies so I slipped out the back door and ran down the alley behind our house to meet up with my friends.
Pete and Joey were waiting for me on the corner. They were talking to Ice, an older boy that belonged to a local gang called The Scorpions. We'd been hanging out with the gang for the past few weeks just drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. It made us feel cool and we all liked the attention we got from the older boys. I knew my dad would really skin me alive if he found out what I'd been up to but I was careful not to get caught.
"Hey, Curly," Ice greeted me with a crooked smile around the cigarette dangling from his mouth. "We were just getting ready to head over to the clubhouse. You comin' along?"
"Sure," I said with a shrug of my shoulders as I tried my best to look nonchalant about the invitation. "Whatever…sounds good to me." It didn't look good to act too eager to hang out with Ice and the rest of the gang.
The four of us began to stroll down the sidewalk. As we crossed to the opposite side of the street and headed east, my lower middle class neighborhood merged with a more desolate, unkempt area where the crime rate was significantly higher. The 'clubhouse' was actually an abandoned house six blocks away. The gang used it as a place to party and to take the girls that liked to hang out with them. Most of the other houses on the block were either empty or rented to addicts and hookers who didn't care what happened in their neighborhood.
Two of the other gang members, Snuff and Billy, were already there with a couple of six packs of beer. I sat on the ratty old sofa beside Snuff and reached out to snag a beer. I schooled my face not to show any distaste as I took a long swallow of the lukewarm brew. Drinking and smoking were just a couple of the bad habits I had already picked up from the older boys. I also knew how to hotwire a car, roll a joint, and pick a lock. All hidden talents that I knew my folks would never approve of.
When you're a Jewish and a cop's kid too it can be hard to fit in. I learned how to fight down and dirty early on. I liked hanging out with Ice and the other guys because they didn't judge me or treat me like a kid. All I wanted was to be accepted as I was and the guys in the gang did that. I knew they were grooming me to become part of the gang but I didn't care. I just wanted to belong.
"Hey, Curly," Snuff slurred "I scored some real good blow. You want a taste?" He looked at me with an amused smile already anticipating my answer.
"Naw, maybe later." I replied. The truth was I was scared to try anything besides pot. It gave me a nice easy buzz that mellowed me out but still allowed me to choose if I wanted to smoke it or not.
"Leave the kid alone." Ice said in a warning tone as he threw a pointed glare in Snuff's direction. Ice seemed to have made it his personal mission to watch out for me and not to let the others pressure me into doing anything I wasn't comfortable doing. I think it had to do with me reminding him of his kid brother who had died a couple of years ago. I don't know exactly how he died but I know it had something to do with the gang.
"I'll take some," Joey said with a smug look at me. He had always been more daring than the rest of us and a lot more reckless. His dad had left when he was born and his mom worked all the time so he was pretty much on his own. He'd already been in trouble with the cops and had spent a night in juvie.
"Later, dude," Snuff told him with a sneer as he glanced at me and Pete who was crouching on the floor beside me. "After the kiddies go home for din din."
"At least I got a home to go home to." I said without thinking. I immediately regretted my words. Sometimes I just didn't know when to keep my mouth shut.
Snuff jumped to his feet, his hands balled into fists at his side. In a menacing voice he got in my face. "You think you're a big man? You think you can take me? Then come on…let's get it on."
"Enough. Back off." Ice ordered firmly before I could reply. He didn't even raise his voice. As the informal leader of the gang everyone knew that Ice was in charge.
Snuff glared at me for a minute and then abruptly turned. "I'm outta here. Gonna go find me some sweet thang to cuddle up to…" He threw open the front door and left with a few choice words coloring the air.
"Geeze…what an ass," Billy muttered as he helped himself to another beer as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He leaned back against the cushions and closed his eyes drifting into a drunken haze.
Ice was sitting at the battered table in the far corner of the room. He pulled some papers out of his pocket and began to roll a joint. When he finished, he took a long drag and then held it out offering the rest of us a hit. Joey immediately jumped up to take a drag and then passed it to Pete, who took a hit and then offered it to me.
I took another swallow of my beer and sat the bottle down on the floor at my feet. Shaking my head at Pete, I stood up and said, "I gotta go. I'm gonna be in enough trouble as it is for sneaking out without telling ma where I was going. If I'm not home when Pop gets home, I'm really in for it."
Ice nodded as he helped himself to one of the remaining bottles of beer. "Take care of yourself, kid." He said "If you can make it…we're having a little party later. That cute little Chicano you like is gonna be here. You know she's got the hots for you. Maybe you'll get lucky."
"I'll see what I can do." I promised even though I knew it would be impossible to sneak out of the house once Pop got home from work. I strutted over to the door and opened it stepping out into the sunshine. I walked home as fast as I could. I knew I was in for it when I saw Pop's car parked in the driveway. Slowing my steps, I walked towards the front door and quietly opened it hoping to slip into the house unnoticed.
"POP! DAVY'S HOME!" Nicky squealed as he glanced in my direction from where he was sitting on the floor watching tv.
"Snitch," I growled under my breath as he jumped to his feet and ran into the kitchen out of my reach.
Pop came out of the kitchen and looked at me sternly. "Where have you been, David?" he asked in his no nonsense voice. "You had your mother worried sick when she couldn't find you."
"Sorry," I mumbled, quickly lowering my eyes to the floor and shifting my weight nervously from one foot to the other. "Pete wanted me to walk down to the Samuel's deli with him. I guess I forgot to tell Ma."
"I'm disappointed in you, David. You know better than to just take off like that," Michael Starsky scolded his eldest son. "You're going to have to be punished for ignoring the rules. Go to your room and stay there for the rest of the evening."
"Yes, sir," I said with a sigh. With heavy steps I climbed the stairs towards the second floor bedroom that I shared with Nicky. I knew I was getting off easy by just getting sent to my room without supper instead of getting whipped. But, having Pop say that he was disappointed in me hurt more than any whipping ever could.
I walked down the hall to my room and went in slamming the door behind me. Walking over to the window, I pulled back the curtain and looked outside. Darkness was starting to fall and lights were coming on up and down the street. Briefly I thought about trying to sneak out to the party with Ice and the gang but quickly discarded that idea. It wasn't worth taking the chance of getting caught. My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten since lunch. My body seemed determined to remind me of my punishment.
"Oh, shut up…" I muttered in a disgusted voice. It wasn't the first time I'd been sent to bed without supper and I knew it probably wouldn't be the last. Turning away from the window I flopped down on my bed and stared at the ceiling above me. Being sent to my room for the evening was boring as hell with nothing to do but stare at four walls. I guess that's why parents like to use it as a punishment.
Nicky came to bed at eight-thirty dressed in his little kid pajamas with the feet. I was already undressed and ready to turn in for the night. Nicky crawled under the covers on his bed and then turned to look at me with those puppy dog eyes.
"You still mad at me, Davy?" he lisped. He had recently lost both front teeth and it sounded funny when he talked.
"Naw, just forget it, kid." I said as I punched my pillow and tried to get comfortable. "I should have told Ma where I was going." I knew that was a lie. Ma would never have let me go anywhere near Ice and the rest of the gang. I reached out to turn off the lamp on the stand between our twin beds. As the room fell into darkness, I rolled over and closed my eyes to try and sleep.