Read Online No Show of Remorse by David J. Walker - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: David J. Walker
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should have backed off a little, but I was angry, too. âSomeoneâs leaning on me, Coletta, and I intend to lean back, hard, on whoever it is. If youâre there youâll getââ I finally caught myself, and took a deep breath. âRight now, though, Iâm here just to talk ⦠about what really happened that night at Lonnie Brightâs place.â
âYou donât need to talk to me. What happened is just what the police reportsââ He stopped, and there was another shift in his expression. He looked down at his hand on the arm of the wheelchair.
âIâm listening,â I said.
He looked up at me and seemed angry again. âIf somebodyâs following you around, threatening you, thatâs between you and them. I donât want to talk to you.â
âBut I said I wanted to talk to you, and you said to come out.â
âYeah, well, I changed my mind. I donât like being pushed either,â he added, âso get outta here.â
âDamn,â I said. âWhy donât you give me aââ
âI donât really care if they give you back your blood-suckerâs license, Foley. I just want you away from me.â He leaned forward; heâd lost the battle to control his temper. âAnd legs or no legs, I can still whip your tail.â
I stood up ⦠and walked away. Jimmy Coletta couldnât whip my tail. With both legs and his dead brother back to help him, they couldnât have whipped my tail. So what should I do? Tell him that?
The gymnasium door fell closed behind me. Thereâd be other days. Besides, much of what Iâd wanted from the man heâd told me.
Iâd learned that, whatever heâd been before, Jimmy Coletta was a good man now, even if he had a temper he couldnât always keep under rein; and that he was worriedâfrightened, in factâabout my asking for my license back. Heâd been relieved to think I might drop the idea, and then scared again to find out I wouldnât. I couldnât tell whether he knew who was putting the squeeze on me, but I was damn certain he wasnât involved. Most important of all, though, Iâd learned Jimmy Coletta was a man whoâd stop short when he caught himself about to tell a lie.
CHAPTER
12
I LEFT THE COMMUNITY CENTER and drove up to Fifty-fifth Street, then east to the Dan Ryan. Rain poured down as though it were the skyâs last chance to prove it couldnât be pushed around.
I didnât know the whole story about what happened the night Jimmy Coletta got shot, but what I did know was enough to hurt Jimmy if it came out. Thatâs exactly what he was afraid of. But why would Jimmyâor some others whoâd be hurt as bad, or worseâwhy would they think Iâd break open now, after all these years? Iâd said right in the petition I filed that I still didnât intend to reveal what my client Marlon Shades told me in confidence. Didnât they know me well enough toâ
And then I understood.
Whether they knew me and thought I wouldnât tell wasnât the point. They knew Jimmy Coletta. He was the one they were worried about. He couldnât bring himself to lie to me even when he was angry. If the commission subpoenaed Jimmy and put him under oath he might not be able to get himself to lie, even if telling the truth meant dragging himself down, as well as the others.
Iâd filed my petition thinking Iâd see whether the supreme court would give my license back even though I still wouldnât tell what my client had told me. If I got the license, fine. If not, so be it. Now it seemed that if there was a hearing, even if I didnât tell what I knew to be the facts behind the shooting at Lonnie Brightâs, Jimmy Coletta would.
Did I still want to go forward with the petition? Chances are I wouldnât get my license back. And if Jimmy brought himself and the others
âYou donât need to talk to me. What happened is just what the police reportsââ He stopped, and there was another shift in his expression. He looked down at his hand on the arm of the wheelchair.
âIâm listening,â I said.
He looked up at me and seemed angry again. âIf somebodyâs following you around, threatening you, thatâs between you and them. I donât want to talk to you.â
âBut I said I wanted to talk to you, and you said to come out.â
âYeah, well, I changed my mind. I donât like being pushed either,â he added, âso get outta here.â
âDamn,â I said. âWhy donât you give me aââ
âI donât really care if they give you back your blood-suckerâs license, Foley. I just want you away from me.â He leaned forward; heâd lost the battle to control his temper. âAnd legs or no legs, I can still whip your tail.â
I stood up ⦠and walked away. Jimmy Coletta couldnât whip my tail. With both legs and his dead brother back to help him, they couldnât have whipped my tail. So what should I do? Tell him that?
The gymnasium door fell closed behind me. Thereâd be other days. Besides, much of what Iâd wanted from the man heâd told me.
Iâd learned that, whatever heâd been before, Jimmy Coletta was a good man now, even if he had a temper he couldnât always keep under rein; and that he was worriedâfrightened, in factâabout my asking for my license back. Heâd been relieved to think I might drop the idea, and then scared again to find out I wouldnât. I couldnât tell whether he knew who was putting the squeeze on me, but I was damn certain he wasnât involved. Most important of all, though, Iâd learned Jimmy Coletta was a man whoâd stop short when he caught himself about to tell a lie.
CHAPTER
12
I LEFT THE COMMUNITY CENTER and drove up to Fifty-fifth Street, then east to the Dan Ryan. Rain poured down as though it were the skyâs last chance to prove it couldnât be pushed around.
I didnât know the whole story about what happened the night Jimmy Coletta got shot, but what I did know was enough to hurt Jimmy if it came out. Thatâs exactly what he was afraid of. But why would Jimmyâor some others whoâd be hurt as bad, or worseâwhy would they think Iâd break open now, after all these years? Iâd said right in the petition I filed that I still didnât intend to reveal what my client Marlon Shades told me in confidence. Didnât they know me well enough toâ
And then I understood.
Whether they knew me and thought I wouldnât tell wasnât the point. They knew Jimmy Coletta. He was the one they were worried about. He couldnât bring himself to lie to me even when he was angry. If the commission subpoenaed Jimmy and put him under oath he might not be able to get himself to lie, even if telling the truth meant dragging himself down, as well as the others.
Iâd filed my petition thinking Iâd see whether the supreme court would give my license back even though I still wouldnât tell what my client had told me. If I got the license, fine. If not, so be it. Now it seemed that if there was a hearing, even if I didnât tell what I knew to be the facts behind the shooting at Lonnie Brightâs, Jimmy Coletta would.
Did I still want to go forward with the petition? Chances are I wouldnât get my license back. And if Jimmy brought himself and the others