Read Online Baby Brother's Blues by Pearl Cleage - Free Book Online Page B

understand completely and I share that goal.”
    “Good.”
    “Now, shall we talk about money? I’m prepared to make you a very handsome offer for your continued cooperation.”
    Lee put down her coffee. “What makes you think I won’t arrest you?”
    Bob smiled. “Because you’re ambitious. You want to move ahead in the big city and you know there’s a place here for somebody like you.”
    Flattered, but wary, Lee didn’t return the smile. “You don’t know me.”
    “Oh, yes I do,” Bob said, sounding strangely seductive. “You’re smart. You’re talented and you’re very photogenic. You can go all the way in this town, but you’re missing one thing that is critical to your success.”
    “What’s that?”
    “A mentor. A person who can show you the ropes, begin to introduce you around, give you the road map.”
    She knew he was telling the truth. Having Bob in her corner would be invaluable. With her hard work and discipline and his contacts, she might make chief before she was thirty-five. Plus, he was very attractive, even if he was old enough to be her father.
    “What’s in it for you?” she said.
    “A way to nurture the kind of young talent that Atlanta needs and a way to show my appreciation for your assistance in my business ventures with Mr. Thomas.” He smiled at her again. “If you won’t take money, you’ll have to take me.”
    This time, she smiled back, realizing her life was about to change. “All right,” she said. “I will.”
    “Good,” he said. “Before we move on, let me say this once more and I’ll let it go. If you ever want to take me up on my original offer of a cut of the proceeds, all you have to do is pick up the phone and I’ll handle it personally.”
    “I think I’ve made the best deal,” she said. “Now, when do I get a look at that road map?”
    Bob was as good as his word and their preservation/public-safety partnership gave them a reason to be seen together without generating the gossip on which Atlanta thrives. Lee was promoted to sergeant, T.G. continued to obey the rules, and things seemed to be falling into place on all fronts. Then her cousin called to tell Lee that Poppy had had a stroke. She hung up the phone, jumped in her car, and headed for Macon.
    Her first stop was the hospital where her grandfather lay unconscious, looking so frail his appearance frightened her. The doctor told her that in addition to the stroke, which seemed to have occurred more than two days before, although he had been admitted only last night, Poppy was suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. Lee was shocked, then angry. She had been sending money regularly to a young cousin who had moved in when Poppy became too frail to live alone. Where was that money going if not to care for her grandfather?
    It didn’t take long to find out. Her first look at the house told her all she needed to know. Even without the gray pallor or the constant shifting of his bugged-out eyes, she would have known he was a crackhead. The house was a wreck. He had moved his girlfriend in, a young white woman whose disfiguring facial scars were a result of the meth-lab fire that had killed her two-year-old when her last boyfriend’s trailer blew up. Her four-year-old had been with his daddy, so he survived and was now living in Poppy’s house, too.
    When she opened the refrigerator, all that was inside were two bottles of cheap beer, a jug of Coca-Cola, and an open package of bologna. Neither her cousin nor his girlfriend seemed to understand why she was so angry.
    “Where you get off actin’ like you lovin’ the old man so much?” the girl snarled. “I been livin’ here six months, and this is the first I seen of you.”
    Lee wanted to slap the woman across her smart mouth, but it was true. She hadn’t been there for Poppy when he needed her. Awash in sudden guilt, she walked out the front door without another word, stopped at the hospital long enough to tell them she’d be back as