Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 Barry turned and put his hands over his face, bracing for the feeling of teeth ripping at his neck. But nothing happened. He peeled open his eyes and saw that Cruz was still on his leash, standing next to Abe, who was laughing his head off. Why did he think it was so funny to scare them? Barry wished he could find the courage to step forward and say, "Get off my property!" He'd practiced that in the bathroom mirror, squinting his eyes to get a fierce look.

巴里转过身，双手捂着脸，准备迎接牙齿撕咬脖子的感觉。 但是什么也没发生。他睁开眼睛，看到克鲁兹还拴着皮带，站在亚伯旁边，亚伯笑得前仰后。 为什么他觉得吓唬他们很有趣呢? 巴里真希望他能有勇气站出来说:“滚出我的地盘!”他对着浴室的镜子练习过这个动作，眯着眼睛想看个凶狠的样子。

But who was Barry kidding? He was about as fierce as one of Mom's peanut butter cookies. If only Barry was more like his father. Nothing ever got to Roddy Tucker. And then, as though Barry's thoughts had sent out an SOS, the front door opened and Dad appeared on the porch. "Hello there, Abraham," he said with a smile. Abe pulled Cruz closer and lost his usual what are you looking at? glare. Suddenly he looked like the old Abe, the pudgy guy in the Saints jersey who tried to show Barry and Jay how to shoot layups. Dad had that effect on people. He could smile at a T. rex, and next thing, they'd be making plans to have a burger together. Barry's dad was a little famous in the Lower Nine: His band, Roddy Tucker and the Blasters, played in jazz clubs around New Orleans. But Mom said that wasn't why people respected him. "Your father's got sweet music in his heart," Mom always said. "And everyone can hear it." Now Dad looked at Barry. "We're leaving in an hour," he said. "You need to pack up. That

但巴里在骗谁呢? 他就像妈妈做的花生酱饼干一样凶猛。 要是巴瑞更像他父亲就好了。 罗迪·塔克从来没有受到任何影响。 然后，好像巴里的思想发出了求救信号，前门开了，爸爸出现在门廊上。 “你好，亚伯拉罕，”他微笑着说。 亚伯把克鲁兹拉得更近了，失去了惯常的表情你在看什么? 眩光。突然间，他看起来就像以前的亚伯，那个穿着圣徒队球衣的矮胖的家伙，他试图向巴里和杰展示如何上篮。 爸爸对人有这种影响。 他可以对着霸王龙微笑，接下来，他们就会计划一起吃汉堡。 巴里的父亲在Lower Nine有点名气:他的乐队Roddy Tucker and the Blasters在新奥尔良附近的爵士俱乐部演出。 但妈妈说这不是人们尊敬他的原因。 “你爸爸心里有美妙的音乐，”妈妈总是说。 “每个人都能听到。” 现在爸爸看着巴里。“我们一小时后出发，”他说。 “你得收拾东西了。那

hurricane's getting nasty. It looks like it might be a direct hit on the city. We're leaving town." Barry stared at Dad. Leaving town for a hurricane? Not the Tuckers! Never before. Every year a few storms fixed their sights on New Orleans, and they always petered out at the last minute. There hadn't been a bad hurricane in New Orleans in forty years. Was Dad making this up to get Abe to hustle on home? "I'm serious," Dad said, reading Barry's doubtful look. "There's a mandatory evacuation. First time in New Orleans history." "What's that?" Jay asked. "It means if you can leave, you've got to leave," Dad said. "Your mom already called, Mr. Jay. You're heading up to Birmingham." "What about us?" Barry asked. "Houston," Dad answered with a sorry smile. Barry groaned. He loved Mom's Texas cousins, but all of them, five wild little girls and their grumpy mama, lived in a tiny little house. Barry always went home with a whopper headache after visiting them. Dad too. The

飓风越来越严重了。 看起来像是直接袭击了这座城市。 我们要离开这个城市。”巴里盯着爸爸。 为了飓风离开小镇? 塔克一家不行!从来没有。 每年都有几场风暴瞄准新奥尔良，但总是在最后一刻逐渐消失。 新奥尔良已经有四十年没有遭受过严重的飓风了。 是爸爸为了让亚伯快点回家而编的吗? “我是认真的，”爸爸读到巴里疑惑的神情说。 “有强制疏散。 新奥尔良历史上第一次。” “那是什么?”杰问道。“这意味着如果你能离开，你就必须离开，”爸爸说。 “你妈妈已经打过电话了，杰伊先生。 你要去伯明翰。” “我们怎么办?”巴里问。 “休斯顿，”爸爸带着遗憾的微笑回答。 巴里呻吟着。他喜欢妈妈在德克萨斯的堂兄弟姐妹，但他们所有人，五个狂野的小女孩和她们脾气暴躁的妈妈，都住在一间很小的房子里。 巴瑞每次拜访他们之后，回到家总是头痛得要命。 爸爸也是。的

hurricane must be bad to get Mom and Dad to head to Houston. Barry looked around his neighborhood — the little houses, the scraggly lawns surrounded by chain-link fences, the palm trees and big oaks. He and Jay used to pretend that those big oak trees were ancient creatures rising from the earth's core. There were better neighborhoods in New Orleans, and sometimes Mom and Dad talked about moving to a block where police cars weren't always blaring their sirens, where Mom would feel safe walking after it got dark. But the Tucker family had been on this block in the Lower Nine for seventy years. Gramps had helped his daddy build this house back when folks kept hogs in their backyards. Barry couldn't walk half a block without someone shouting hello from a porch and waving him up for a chat and a glass of iced tea. The Lower Nine was home. And that was that. Abe started to slink away. "They're opening up the Superdome, Abraham," Dad called after him. "For folks

飓风一定很厉害，爸爸妈妈才会去休斯顿。 巴里环视了一下他的邻居——小房子，被铁链栅栏包围的凌乱的草坪，棕榈树和大橡树。 他和杰伊过去常常假装那些大橡树是从地核里冒出来的古老生物。 新奥尔良有更好的社区，有时爸爸妈妈会说要搬到一个街区去，那里的警车不会总是鸣笛，天黑后妈妈走在那里会感到安全。 但是塔克一家已经在下九区住了70年了。 当人们在后院养猪的时候，爷爷帮他爸爸盖了这所房子。 巴里走不到半个街区就会有人在门廊上喊你好，挥手让他过来聊天，喝杯冰茶。 低九是家。就是这样。 亚伯开始偷偷溜走。 “他们正在打开超级圆顶体育场，亚伯拉罕。”爸爸在他身后喊道。 “对人

without cars. You should get your grandma over to the stadium soon as you can." Abe waved and went on his way. Dad opened the door to go inside, and the news playing on the radio echoed out to the porch. "That's right," a man's voice boomed. "This storm is a monster. It's time to leave. Get out now. Get out while you can!" "You heard the man," Dad said, starting to close the door behind him. "Time to get moving."

没有汽车。你应该尽快带你奶奶去体育馆。” 亚伯挥了挥手，继续赶路。 爸爸打开门走进去，收音机里播放的新闻在门廊上回响。 “没错。”一个男人的声音洪亮地说。 “这场风暴是一个怪物。该走了。 现在就出去。趁早滚出去!”“你听到他说的了，”爸爸说着随手把门关上。 “是时候行动了。”