Read Online Bad Boy Brawly Brown by Walter Mosley - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Walter Mosley
Ads: Link
PAGES
12374_i-vi_1-314_r4sw.qxd 4/18/2002 2:00 PM Page 60
Wa l t e r M o s l e y
1
“Who?”
2
“You remember Alva told you about her ex-husband?”
3
“Yeah.”
4
“He was killed yesterday at her cousin Isolda’s house.”
5
“How you know that Brawly did it?” I asked.
6
“I don’t know. It’s Isolda. She called Alva last night, only Alva 7
wouldn’t talk to her, so instead I got on the line.”
8
“Yeah?”
9
“She said that Brawly and his father had had a big fight and that 10
she was tryin’ to keep ’em apart but she had to go away and she thinks 11
that they run into each other at her house.”
12
“So she didn’t actually see Brawly kill Aldridge,” I said.
13
“I don’t know,” John said. “I don’t know what that woman saw 14
and what she didn’t. All I know is that Alva’s takin’ it bad and I’m 15
worried about her. I’m real worried.”
16
“About what exactly?”
17
A shadow moved over John’s already dark visage. I got the feeling 18
that he was about to say something and then decided against it.
19
“Easy, just go talk to Isolda. Okay? She’s holed up in a place 20
down off Alameda. Just go talk to her. And if you can shake Brawly 21
loose someplace, call me and tell me where he is. I’ll take care of the 22
rest.”
23
“All right. Gimme the address and I’ll see what she has to say.”
24
When it came down to it, I couldn’t send John away. I’d been in a 25
few tight spots in my time and he had never turned his back on me.
26
“You want me to go with you?”
27
“No. You go back to your lots. Put up some timber for me. I’ll 28
talk to Isolda and I’ll find Brawly, too.”
29
There was a powerful emotion on John’s strong face. If I hadn’t 30 S
known him better, I would have thought that he wanted to kill me.
31 R
That’s how hard love was for all black men at one time.
6 0
REAL PAGES
12374_i-vi_1-314_r4sw.qxd 4/18/2002 2:00 PM Page 61
B A D B O Y B R AW LY B R O W N
1
2
H ELLO?” HE SAID, answering the phone on the seventeenth 3
ring.
4
“Jackson?”
5
“Easy?” I could hear his fear through the line. “Easy, how’d you 6
get my number?”
7
“I always got your number, Jackson. I always got it.”
8
He was looking around, I was sure, worried that I might be at 9
some window or at his front door.
10
“Don’t worry, Jackson. I ain’t hidin’ outside your front door.” I 11
paused. “I ain’t at the back door, neither.”
12
“I was lookin’ out the window, man,” he said. “You cain’t fool me.”
13
“Where’s Jesus’s money, Jackson?”
14
“Say what?”
15
“You heard me, man. Where’s the two hundred forty-two dollars 16
you took out from under his bed?”
17
“Wasn’t no two hundred dollars up under there,” Jackson whined.
18
“Shit. Not even one-forty.”
19
Jackson Blue was by far the most intelligent person I had ever 20
known but if he was rattled, he could be fooled by a child.
21
“I want the boy’s money,” I said.
22
Jackson had been our houseguest for a few days when he was on 23
the run from some Westside gangsters. He was playing a numbers 24
game in their territory and they wanted a few ounces of flesh. I 25
thought I was doing him a favor until he disappeared with Jesus’s sav-26
ings can.
27
“All right. Okay, man,” Jackson said. “I just borrowed it, anyway.
28
You know them men was out after me. They still are.”
29
“I could come by and pick it up,” I said.
S 30
Jackson sputtered. His fearfulness made me laugh. He was al-R 31
6 1
REAL PAGES
12374_i-vi_1-314_r4sw.qxd 4/18/2002 2:00 PM Page 62
Wa l t e r M o s l e y
1
ways in trouble, always around the hardest of hard men. But still, he 2
was afraid of his own shadow.
3
“Where you get my number, Easy?”
4
Jackson was a brilliant thinker and as well read as many a uni-5
versity professor, but when it came to reading people, he hadn’t
12374_i-vi_1-314_r4sw.qxd 4/18/2002 2:00 PM Page 60
Wa l t e r M o s l e y
1
“Who?”
2
“You remember Alva told you about her ex-husband?”
3
“Yeah.”
4
“He was killed yesterday at her cousin Isolda’s house.”
5
“How you know that Brawly did it?” I asked.
6
“I don’t know. It’s Isolda. She called Alva last night, only Alva 7
wouldn’t talk to her, so instead I got on the line.”
8
“Yeah?”
9
“She said that Brawly and his father had had a big fight and that 10
she was tryin’ to keep ’em apart but she had to go away and she thinks 11
that they run into each other at her house.”
12
“So she didn’t actually see Brawly kill Aldridge,” I said.
13
“I don’t know,” John said. “I don’t know what that woman saw 14
and what she didn’t. All I know is that Alva’s takin’ it bad and I’m 15
worried about her. I’m real worried.”
16
“About what exactly?”
17
A shadow moved over John’s already dark visage. I got the feeling 18
that he was about to say something and then decided against it.
19
“Easy, just go talk to Isolda. Okay? She’s holed up in a place 20
down off Alameda. Just go talk to her. And if you can shake Brawly 21
loose someplace, call me and tell me where he is. I’ll take care of the 22
rest.”
23
“All right. Gimme the address and I’ll see what she has to say.”
24
When it came down to it, I couldn’t send John away. I’d been in a 25
few tight spots in my time and he had never turned his back on me.
26
“You want me to go with you?”
27
“No. You go back to your lots. Put up some timber for me. I’ll 28
talk to Isolda and I’ll find Brawly, too.”
29
There was a powerful emotion on John’s strong face. If I hadn’t 30 S
known him better, I would have thought that he wanted to kill me.
31 R
That’s how hard love was for all black men at one time.
6 0
REAL PAGES
12374_i-vi_1-314_r4sw.qxd 4/18/2002 2:00 PM Page 61
B A D B O Y B R AW LY B R O W N
1
2
H ELLO?” HE SAID, answering the phone on the seventeenth 3
ring.
4
“Jackson?”
5
“Easy?” I could hear his fear through the line. “Easy, how’d you 6
get my number?”
7
“I always got your number, Jackson. I always got it.”
8
He was looking around, I was sure, worried that I might be at 9
some window or at his front door.
10
“Don’t worry, Jackson. I ain’t hidin’ outside your front door.” I 11
paused. “I ain’t at the back door, neither.”
12
“I was lookin’ out the window, man,” he said. “You cain’t fool me.”
13
“Where’s Jesus’s money, Jackson?”
14
“Say what?”
15
“You heard me, man. Where’s the two hundred forty-two dollars 16
you took out from under his bed?”
17
“Wasn’t no two hundred dollars up under there,” Jackson whined.
18
“Shit. Not even one-forty.”
19
Jackson Blue was by far the most intelligent person I had ever 20
known but if he was rattled, he could be fooled by a child.
21
“I want the boy’s money,” I said.
22
Jackson had been our houseguest for a few days when he was on 23
the run from some Westside gangsters. He was playing a numbers 24
game in their territory and they wanted a few ounces of flesh. I 25
thought I was doing him a favor until he disappeared with Jesus’s sav-26
ings can.
27
“All right. Okay, man,” Jackson said. “I just borrowed it, anyway.
28
You know them men was out after me. They still are.”
29
“I could come by and pick it up,” I said.
S 30
Jackson sputtered. His fearfulness made me laugh. He was al-R 31
6 1
REAL PAGES
12374_i-vi_1-314_r4sw.qxd 4/18/2002 2:00 PM Page 62
Wa l t e r M o s l e y
1
ways in trouble, always around the hardest of hard men. But still, he 2
was afraid of his own shadow.
3
“Where you get my number, Easy?”
4
Jackson was a brilliant thinker and as well read as many a uni-5
versity professor, but when it came to reading people, he hadn’t
Similar Books
