Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 Otis had four other boys with him, each of them lugging a large sack. Otis was carrying a painting in a fancy gold frame. Oscar immediately understood: Otis and his gang had been looting — stealing from houses whose owners had fled the fire. Oscar pulled Jennie closer to him and held Bruno tight. Maybe the boys would just walk by, Oscar told himself. Maybe they were too busy with their stolen treasures to even notice them. But Otis was the type who didn't miss a thing.

奥蒂斯带着另外四个男孩，每个人都拖着一个大麻袋。 奥蒂斯手里拿着一幅镶着精美金框的画。 奥斯卡立刻明白了:奥蒂斯和他的同伙一直在抢劫——从那些主人逃离大火的房子里偷东西。 奥斯卡把珍妮拉得更近，把布鲁诺搂得更紧。 也许男孩们只是路过，奥斯卡对自己说。 也许他们太忙于他们偷来的财宝而没有注意到它们。 但奥蒂斯是那种不会错过任何事情的人。

His yellow-tinged eyes scanned the alley and then landed right on Jennie. He stopped short, and the other boys nearly knocked into him.

他那双泛黄的眼睛扫视了一下巷子，然后正好落在珍妮身上。 他突然停了下来，其他男孩差点撞到他。

"Jennie," he said. He sounded almost friendly. Oscar studied him. The other boys looked around the same age, maybe fourteen or fifteen, and two were bigger than Otis. But Otis was the leader, without a doubt. For a second, Oscar wondered if Otis wasn't so bad. Sure, he was a crook. But maybe Otis was good to the kids in his gang. Didn't Papa say that Earless treated the guys in his gang like brothers? But Oscar saw that Jennie's hands were shaking. "Hi, Otis," she said softly. "Glad we found you," he said. "We need more hands. It's a big night for us! We won't have to work again for a year." Jennie kept her eyes on the ground. "So come on," he said. "Leave the baby with your buddy here." "I not baby," Bruno growled. At least one person here wasn't terrified of Otis. Otis smiled. "Tough kid," he said, spitting on the ground. "We'll take him along, too."

“珍妮，”他说。他听起来几乎是友好的。 奥斯卡仔细打量着他。其他男孩看上去也差不多大，大概十四五岁，其中有两个比奥蒂斯大。 但奥蒂斯无疑是领袖。 有那么一瞬间，奥斯卡想知道奥蒂斯是不是没那么坏。 当然，他是个骗子。但也许奥蒂斯对他帮派里的孩子们很好。 爸爸不是说Earless对待他的帮派里的人就像兄弟一样吗? 但是奥斯卡看见珍妮的手在发抖。 “嗨，奥蒂斯。”她轻声说。 “很高兴我们找到了你，”他说。 “我们需要更多的人手。今晚对我们来说很重要!我们一年都不用再工作了。” 珍妮的眼睛一直盯着地面。 “那就来吧，”他说。"把孩子交给你兄弟吧" “我不，宝贝。”布鲁诺咆哮道。 这里至少有一个人不怕奥蒂斯。 奥蒂斯笑了。“坚强的孩子，”他说着，朝地上吐了口唾沫。 “我们也带他一起去。”

"No!" Jennie said, her face suddenly fierce. Otis raised his eyebrows. "I quit," she said. "You quit?" Otis laughed, a strange highpitched giggle that raised the hairs on Oscar's neck. He looked around at the other boys, who laughed nervously. But then his face went dead. "No one quits my gang," he said in a low voice. "You know that. That's how it works." Anger rose up in Oscar as he imagined how Otis had gotten all these kids to work for him, how he picked the ones whose parents were gone, who were starving and desperate to stay out of orphanages. How helpless Jennie must have been when her mother died! She was willing to do anything to keep herself and Bruno out of the orphanage — even work for that snake. "Leave her alone," Oscar said, louder than he'd meant to. And now Otis turned his menacing stare on Oscar. For the first time, he realized he'd seen Oscar before. He smiled chillingly.

“不!”珍妮说，她的脸色突然凶狠起来。 奥蒂斯扬起眉毛。“我辞职了，”她说。 “你辞职了?”奥蒂斯哈哈大笑，奇怪的高亢笑声使奥斯卡的汗毛都竖起来了。 他看了看其他男孩，他们都紧张地笑了起来。 但随后他的脸变得死气沉沉。 “没有人能退出我的帮派，”他低声说。 “你知道的。这就是它的运作方式。” 当奥斯卡想到奥蒂斯是如何让这些孩子为他工作的，他是如何挑选那些父母不在的孩子的，那些饥肠辘辘、不顾一切地想要离开孤儿院的孩子的，他的怒火就涌上心头。 她母亲死的时候，珍妮该是多么无助啊!为了不让自己和布鲁诺进孤儿院，她愿意做任何事——甚至为那条蛇工作。 “别烦她，”奥斯卡说，声音比他想的要大。 现在奥蒂斯把威胁的目光转向了奥斯卡。 他第一次意识到他以前见过奥斯卡。 他冷笑着。

"You!" he said. "You looking for your suitcases? You think Jennie's gonna get them back for you?" Jennie looked at Oscar in confusion, but then her face seemed to crumble. Otis put the painting down and lunged toward Jennie. "No!" Oscar cried. And before he realized what he was doing, he sprang forward and gave Otis a hard push in the chest. The thug stumbled back, stomping on the painting. Snap! It broke in half. Time seemed to stop. The four boys behind Otis backed up, as if they were afraid Otis might explode. And he did. Otis reached into his jacket and pulled out a huge knife. Jennie staggered back, and Bruno went running into her arms.

“你!”他说。“你在找你的手提箱吗?” 你觉得珍妮会替你把它们拿回来吗?”珍妮困惑地望着奥斯卡，但随后她的脸似乎要崩溃了。 奥蒂斯放下画，扑向珍妮。 “不!”奥斯卡哭了。在他意识到自己在做什么之前，他跳上前去，在奥蒂斯的胸口狠狠地推了一下。 暴徒踉跄着往回走，重重地踩在那幅画上。 中计了!它断成两半。时间似乎停止了。 奥蒂斯后面的四个男孩往后退，好像他们害怕奥蒂斯会爆发似的。 他做到了。奥蒂斯把手伸进夹克，掏出一把大刀。 珍妮摇摇晃晃地往后退去，布鲁诺跑到她怀里去了。

But it wasn't Jennie whom Otis came at with the knife. It was Oscar. Otis sprang forward and placed the blade against Oscar's cheek. Oscar closed his eyes, bracing himself for the slicing metal. But it was Otis's other hand that came swinging up. Smack! His rocklike fist smashed into Oscar's nose. Oscar fell to the ground, the flash of pain in his head burning brighter than the blazing sky.

但是奥蒂斯拿着刀冲来的并不是珍妮。 是奥斯卡。奥蒂斯跳上前去，将剑顶在奥斯卡的脸颊上。 奥斯卡闭上眼睛，准备好迎接这一刀。 但奥蒂斯举起的是另一只手。 打!他像石头一样的拳头打在奥斯卡的鼻子上。 奥斯卡倒在地上，他脑袋里的剧痛比灼热的天空还亮。