Gangs With Greek Names: Episode 4: A Phone Call From Uma

De: Steve Potter

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Excerpt:

“Oh... My... God. Secret handshake? Seriously, Billy? Do they have a tree fort, too? Knock-knock. What's the password?”

“No tree fort, but yeah we've got a password... sort of. A secret motto.”

“Wait, we? You said, 'we.' You're in one of these fraternities?”

“Um, yeah. Yes, I am. But don't mention it to my mom. She doesn't know yet.”

“Does not compute, does not compute!” Uma was doing a robot voice. Maybe it was supposed to be the robot from Lost In Space. I'm not sure. She likes to do impressions, but she's terrible at them. You always have to ask who she thinks she's trying to sound like.

“Explain,” she demanded.

I told her about how I saw Greg getting jumped in the alley and all the rest of it, but she kept interrupting me with questions because none of what I said made the slightest bit of sense to her.

“They jumped him for his colors,” I explained.

“His what?”

“His colors. You know, his shirt with the name of the frat and the, like, logo or whatever you call it and --”

“Jumped him?”

“Correct. These three big hoods from the hood frat jumped him and, well he's a really cool kid, so I jumped in.”

“You what?”

“I jumped in, Uma. I, like, went tearing down the alley and – ”

“And jumped into a fight, Billy?”

“Yeah, I –”

“Oh... My... God. Don't even!”

“Don't even what?”

“Press release: former Oskanutu Springs High School honor student, president of Oskanutu Springs Young Poets Society and Oskanutu Springs Young Naturalists Society, assistant editor of Oskanutu Springs High Beacon, and member in good standing of Oskanutu Springs High Chess Club caught fighting in alley! Alleged gang member! Witnesses claim, 'he jumped in!'”

“You should've seen it, Ooms. It was amazing. I tackled this huge kid.”

“Tackled him,” she mocked in disbelief.

I didn't blame her in the least. It was a preposterous story I wouldn't have believed about me either. Except, of course, it was true, strangely enough.

“Yup. I still kind of can't believe it myself,” I said. “I tackled him... and then he beat the crap out of me.”

“Well... then... maybe I believe you,” Uma acquiesced.

“Yeah, I mean, if I was going to make something like that up, Ooms, I'd tell you that I, like, pinned him to the ground and punched him 'til he was begging for mercy or something. Right?”

“Well, it sounds dreadful,” Uma said. “More exciting than boring, ol' Oskanutu Springs, I guess. If you like that sort of thing, punching people and whatnot.”

Synopsis:
Billy Esposito, the son of two college professor poets, has been living a quiet, nerdy life in an upstate New York college town. In the summer of '79, his life is turned upside down when, due to family circumstances, he and his mother move to the south shore of Long Island a few miles east of Queens. When the school year starts in September, Billy is thrust into a new world and must learn to navigate his way in huge, overcrowded Seaview High School. By rushing to the aid of a classmate who is being attacked, he falls into the strange, often violent subculture of high school fraternities or, as many of the teachers, administrators, cops, and other local adults call them, "gangs with Greek names." HIs situation improves when he discovers that Jillian, the gorgeous, smart, rock 'n' roll obsessed girl he is crazy about likes him too... but some things aren't meant to last.