Read Online Go With Me by Castle Freeman - Free Book Online Page B

— nothing against him — and Blackway’s a stand-up guy in his own way.”
    “You better hope he ain’t standing on you, then,” said Whizzer.
    Coop laughed. “Yeah, well, I won’t fight with you on that one, I don’t guess,” he said.
    “Best to leave Blackway alone,” said D.B.
    “Even if you’re Wingate,” said Coop.
    “So, I guess she did right to come here for help, didn’t she?” said Conrad. “Lillian. She came to the right place, I guess. Anyway, there wasn’t anyplace else for her to go. It’s too bad Scott Cavanaugh wasn’t here. To help her.”
    Whizzer chuckled. “Scotty might not think so,” he said.
    “Scotty knows Blackway,” said Coop.
    “I guess he does,” said D.B.“Do you remember that thing at the Fort that time?”
    “I was there,” said Coop.
    “What thing?” Conrad asked them.
    “God,” said Whizzer. “Ten years ago? Twelve?”
    “More,” said Coop.
    “What was it?” Conrad asked.
    “Oh,” Coop said, “Scotty and his brother and a couple of their friends got into it with Blackway one night at the Fort. I never knew why. There were four of them. Blackway was by himself. They figured the numbers were about right. They went after him.”
    “Big mistake,” said D.B.
    “Big one,” Coop agreed.“Blackway put three of them in the hospital. Scotty had his jaw wired up for a couple of months. Couldn’t eat stuff. One of his friends didn’t come to for three days.”
    “What did he do to them?” Conrad asked.
    “Kicked Scotty’s brother in the balls,” said Coop. “He was the only one didn’t have to go to the hospital.”
    “No permanent damage,” said D.B. “Had to hurt, though.”
    “Scotty swung at Blackway,” Coop said. “Blackway took it on his shoulder and gave him one right back. That was it for Scotty. Broke his jaw. One of the other guys Blackway hit with something.”
    “Some kind of a bar he had,” said Whizzer.
    “It wasn’t a bar,” Coop said. “It was a chair. He hit him with a chair.”
    “He hit him with a thing like a tire iron,” Whizzer said.
    “He hit him with a chair,” Coop said.
    “Might have been a jack handle,” said Whizzer. “Made of steel, couple of feet long.”
    “He hit him with a chair, Whiz,” said Coop. “He picked up a chair and hit him with it. I was there.”
    “So was I,” said Whizzer.
    “You were?” said Coop. “Where were you?”
    “Coming out of the gents’,” said Whizzer. “I could walk then.”
    “Where were you?” Conrad asked Coop.
    “Looking for the exit,” said Coop. “Me and everybody else in the place. Whole thing took about half a minute.”
    “What happened to the fourth one?” Conrad asked. “Scotty had his jaw broken. His brother got kicked in the balls. His one friend was out for three days. What happened to the other?”
    “Still running,” said Whizzer.
    “So, we’re saying Nate and Lester can take on Blackway when those four couldn’t?” Conrad asked.
    “I ain’t saying it,” said Coop.
    “I ain’t saying it,” said D.B.
    “They got a shot,” said Whizzer. “That was a long time ago. Blackway’s not as young as he was. Nate the Great’s got twenty years on him, more than that. Plus, he’s bigger.”
    “He ain’t a lot bigger,” said D.B.
    “Bigger enough,” said Whizzer. “And strong? You remember that thing with Perry and his car.”
    “What thing?” Conrad asked.
    “Perry’s car rolled onto him,” said D.B.
    “He had a flat,” said Coop. “On the river road. Had a flat, got out, got the thing jacked up. An Escort, it was.”
    “Chevette,” said Whizzer.
    “It was an Escort,” said Coop. “White.”
    “It was white,” said Whizzer. “But it was a Chevette.”
    “What happened?” Conrad asked.
    “Slipped the jack,” said D.B.
    “Car slipped off the jack,” said Coop, “knocked Perry over, rolled onto his arm, stopped.”
    “Pinned him,” said D.B.
    “There he was,” said Coop.
    “Couldn’t move,” said