Read Online Gone Fishin' by Walter Mosley - Free Book Online Page A

he returned.
    ‘What
if Reese use it?’
    ‘He
ain’t likely to be in no lea t’night. If he go out
huntin’ it’a be wide awake.’
    We laid
side by side in that flat tent of leaves and baling wire. The grippe
came full on me.
    ‘Wh-what
you kill them dogs fo’?’
    Raymond
put his arm around me and held on tight to keep me from shivering. He
said, ‘Shhh, Easy, you sick. Git some sleep and in the mo’nin’
you be fine.’
    ‘I-I-I
just wanna know why. Why you kill them dogs?’
    I felt
like a cranky baby half napping on a Sunday afternoon.
    ‘I
was mad, that’s all, Ease,’ Mouse whispered. ‘Reese
talk ‘bout my momma like that an’ I’m like to
kill’im.’
    ‘But them dogs didn’t hurt you.’
    ‘Go t’sleep now, Easy. Shh.’
    I never
knew Mouse to be so gentle. He held me all night and kept me warm as
much as he could. Who knows? Maybe I would’ve died out there in
Pariah if Mouse hadn’t held me to his black heart.
     
     
Chapter Seven
     
    When I
woke up things seemed better. Dew weighed heavily on the grass and
leaves around us. It was bright and early. A jay stood not five feet
from us with a grasshopper crumpled in its beak. The jay looked at me
and for some reason that made me happy.
    I could
smell Mouse’s sour breath from over my shoulder; there was a
tiny wheeze coming from him. Dead dogs and crazy family were far away
for the moment. I felt a cough coming on but I stifled it to stay
quiet just a little longer.
    ‘You ‘wake, Easy?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘How you feel?’
    I tried to say ‘fine’ but that started me coughing.
    When I
finally stopped Mouse crawled out of the lea and said, ‘We
better get you someplace inside so you can rest. We better git you
back t’Jo’s.’
    ‘Uh-uh.
I ain’t goin’ there.’
    ‘Jo
ain’t gonna do nuthin’ when you sick, Easy. And she’s
the closest thing to a doctor for twenty miles.’
    ‘I
ain’t goin’ t’Jo’s. No!’
    ‘You
cain’t be comin’ wit’ me, Ease. Reese come up ‘hind
me an’ I gotta move, fast.’
    ‘Why’ont
we go on home?’
    ‘I
ain’t finished yet. I made up my mind I’ma git what’s
ines outta that man an’ that’s what I’ma do.’
    ‘He
tole you no.’
    ‘That’s
all right. I ain’t hesitatin’ yet. We got some more
ground t’cover - me an’ daddyReese.’
    ‘I
ain’t goin’ t’Jo’s.’
    ‘Okay.
I take you over to Miss Dixon’s. She always willin’
t’he’p if she think you know Dom.’
    ‘Who
is she?’ I asked, not trusting Mouse too much anymore.
    He laughed
a good laugh and said, ‘Don’t worry, Easy, she too old
t’be thinkin’ bout love. Anyway, she’s white.’

    It was a
beautiful day.
    We made it
down to some railroad tracks and followed them for a few miles. It
was one of those sultry southern mornings when all of the sounds of
birds and insects are muffled by the heavy air. I was so weak that I
couldn’t bring myself to worry about what Mouse was planning;
all I wanted was a bed somewhere and some food.
    After
almost an hour we came to a large field that abutted a smooth dirt
road. Across the road was a house. It was a real house with a garden
and a fence and all the walls standing straight.
    ‘That’s
Miss Dixon’s place,’ Mouse said. ‘Now you let me do
the talkin’, all right?’
    ‘Uh-huh.
But I ain’t gonna stay there if I don’t like it.’
‘Don’t you worry, even a white man’d like this.’
There was a swing chair out front. The porch was dosed by a lattice
covered with forsythia. When we walked up the front stairs Mouse took
the lead, but before he could knock on the screen door the inner door
opened.
    ‘Raymond
Alexander.’ It was a statement. ‘What you want here?’
    Mouse
doffed a make-believe hat and said, ‘Miss Dixon, I come out
here on a piece of business for Domaque.’
    ‘I
didn’t know you were back in Pariah, Raymond. Why is that?’
    Whether
she was asking why she wasn’t told about Raymond’s return
or she just