Bad Boy Brawly Brown (18 page)

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Authors: Walter Mosley

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“You’re asleep, Daddy.”

9

I opened my eyes. There was a static buzz coming from the tele-10

vision. Feather was pressing against my chest with both hands.

11

“We fell asleep,” she said.

12

I carried her to her room and put her under the covers fully 13

dressed.

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T
HE PHONE RANG
but at first I thought it was the alarm. Who set the alarm, anyway? I called out Bonnie’s name. I knew that it 18

must have been her, that she had some early flight and set the alarm 19

and now was going to sleep through it.

20

“Bonnie, shut that thing off,” I said.

21

And then I remembered that Bonnie was out of town. She was in 22

an airplane somewhere. I imagined a plane high in the sky. I was sit-23

ting in the pilot’s seat, looking out of the broad windows at the pano-24

rama of deep blue. There was no limit to the space overhead.

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Then the phone rang again.

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“Mr. Rawlins?” a deep voice asked when I answered.

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“Who is this?”

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“It’s Henry Strong,” he announced.

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“Man, what time is it?”

30 S

“I must speak with you, Mr. Rawlins. It’s urgent.”

31 R

I looked at the night table. The clock’s turquoise luminescent
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numerals read 3:15. I blinked and started to slide into that big sky 1

again.

2

“Mr. Rawlins, are you awake?”

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“There’s a doughnut shop on Central at Florence,” I said. “It’s an 4

all-night place that they use for the Goodyear tire plant down there.”

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“I know it.”

6

“Be there in forty minutes,” I said, and then I hung up.

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I turned on my back and took a deep breath.
Graveyards and
8

blue skies.
The phrase ran through my mind. It was a good title for a 9

jet-age blues song.

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19
/ I PUT ON WORK CLOTHES
so that I’d blend in with the crowd at Mariah’s Doughnuts and Deli.

3

I made it in twenty-five minutes, my car rattling now and again 4

along the way.

5

Strong wasn’t there when I arrived. But the large room was half 6

filled with workmen and -women smoking cigarettes and downing 7

coffee.

8

It was way down in the black neighborhood, but the room was 9

filled with all the races of L.A. Black and white, yellow and brown.

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All sitting together and talking. Norwegian, Nigerian, and Nipponese 11

derivatives all speaking the same language and getting along just fine.

12

“Coffee,” I said to Bingham, the nighttime counterman at Ma-13

riah’s.

14 S

“How you want it, Easy?”

15 R

“Black as it gets.”

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He went to fill my order and I let my eyes roll over the three 1

dozen or so late-night workers. The nearby Goodyear plant ran 2

twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. The people who worked 3

there had simple, straight-ahead lives. They got up an hour and a 4

half before they were supposed to be at work, then they worked eight 5

hours, and maybe a little overtime. They were citizens of a nation 6

that had won the major wars of the century and now they were en-7

joying the fruits of the victors: mindless labor and enough of any-8

thing they wanted to buy.

9

Everyone in the room looked as though they belonged there. No 10

one was looking at me, and no one was looking away.

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I sat at a small table near the cash register and guzzled the strong 12

coffee. Every word spoken or cup banged down exploded in my ears.

13

My fingertips were numb, and if I moved my head too fast, my vision 14

shook a bit.

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After my third cup of coffee things began to settle down.

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Strong came in the front door at 4:19 and strode up to my table.

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He had tried to dress for the occasion, wearing black slacks and a 18

square-cut dark blue shirt with orange circles around the hem. But 19

his head was too elegant for the clothes, and the clothes were too 20

sporty for the twenty-four-hour diner.

21

Strong would have had a hard time fitting in anywhere he was 22

not the center of attention.

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“Coffee?” I asked him.

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I gestured at Bingham, who called a waiter from the back to 25

bring a plate of hot beignets and two fresh cups of coffee.

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“You hung up on me,” Strong said.

27

“You woke me out of a sound sleep.”

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The standoff lasted until after the young man had delivered our 29

breakfast.

S 30

“I have to talk to you, Rawlins,” he said.

R 31

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“That’s why I’m here.”

2

“But not here. There’s too many ears around here.”

3

“Here is where they ain’t gonna be listenin’, man,” I said, letting 4

my country upbringing soak each word. “Here is where people mind 5

their own business. They don’t care about us.”

6

Strong had a long face with deep, soulful eyes. He used those 7

eyes on me.

8

“Are you a race man, Mr. Rawlins?”

9

“I can run if I have to,” I said.

10

“That’s not what I mean.”

11

“I know what you mean. You one’a them better-than-thou kinda 12

Negroes tryin’ to explain everything by your own book. But I’m just 13

a everyday black man, doin’ the best I can in a world where the white 14

man’s de facto king. I got me a house with a tree growin’ in the front 15

yard. It’s my tree; I could cut it down if I wanted to, but even still you 16

cain’t call it a black man’s tree. It’s just pine.”

17

I had given him everything he needed to figure me out. If Strong 18

was smart enough to read me, then I’d have to take him seriously; if 19

not — well, I’d see.

20

His rubbed his fingers across his lips, digesting my words. He 21

stared even more deeply into my eyes.

22

Then he smiled. Grinned.

23

“Okay,” he said. “I’m not trying to convert you. I just wanted to 24

know where you stand in relation to the First Men.”

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“Next question,” I said.

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“What do you have to do with Brawly Brown?”

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“I’m looking for him. For his mother, like I said.”

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“Is that all?”

29

Strong was taller than I was and heavier by thirty pounds. His 30 S

question had the hint of a threat in it. But I wasn’t afraid.

31 R

“This is a waste of time,” I said.

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I sat back and bit into one of the best beignets I’d ever tasted.

1

“I’m worried about Brawly,” Strong said.

2

“How’s that?” I asked.

3

“I believe that he’s part of a radical fringe in Xavier’s group. De-4

spite the name, the Urban Revolutionary Party is a cultural organi-5

zation, Mr. Rawlins. They want to have better education for our 6

children, to bring the proper nutrition and political clout to the 7

neighborhood. But some of our youngsters aren’t patient with the 8

process. They’re angry and want to lash out. I believe that Brawly is 9

part of that element.”

10

“How’d you get my number, Mr. Strong?”

11

“I got it from Tina,” he said.

12

“I didn’t give Tina my number.”

13

“No, but you did give it to Clarissa. She went to Tina after you 14

came to her house. She’s worried about Brawly, too.”

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“She worried about his safety, and you worried ’bout what he 16

might do to you.”

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“Not to me, but to the group. You saw what the police did the 18

other night. You know what they’re capable of. If we just get out in 19

the street and urge people to vote, they break down our walls and put 20

us in jail. What do you think they’d do if we formed into guerrilla 21

squads armed to the teeth?”

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“That’s what Brawly’s into?”

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“I’m not sure,” Strong said with all the honesty of a hungry croc-24

odile. “I know that they’re trying to raise money in order to buy 25

weapons.”

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“Maybe they want the money for the school,” I said.

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“Don’t talk shit, man.”

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“Okay. Okay,” I said. “You the one should know.”

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“Why are you looking for Brawly Brown?” he asked.

S 30

“For his mother.”

R 31

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In years past when I did favors for people, I lied all the time.

2

Gave the wrong name, never admitted to what my true purposes 3

were. As a rule, people believed my lies. This was the first time that 4

I told the truth consistently and the result was that no one believed 5

what I said.

6

“If that’s true,” Strong said, “then you had better get to Brawly 7

and take him back home. Because the only thing he’s headed for is 8

an early grave.”

9

“At least we agree on somethin’,” I said. “I would love nuthin’

10

better than to get Brawly into a room with his mother. But, you 11

know, I seen that boy once — he threw me across the room and I 12

don’t think he was even mad.”

13

“Maybe if I came along with you,” Strong said. “Maybe he’d lis-14

ten to me.”

15

“You think so?”

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“It’s worth a try. That Brawly’s a hothead. With him out of the 17

picture, I might be able to reason with the rest of them. And with you 18

there representing his mother, he just might turn around.”

19

From what I had seen, Brawly was more brute strength or blind 20

hope — not so much a driving force. But what did I know? And even 21

if my suspicions were right, that was no reason to disagree with 22

Strong. If he was willing to help, then I was willing to let him.

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“I know where he is,” Strong said.

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“Where?”

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“I could take you to him.”

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H
E PAID THE TAB
and then walked me out to his car, which was parked across the street. It was an old Crown Victoria, as beau-30 S

tiful as the day it rolled off the production line. The radical leader 31 R

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was vain about his automobile. For some reason, that made me like 1

him more.

2

But something was nagging at the back of my mind.

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On the way I asked Strong, “Are Xavier and Brawly friendly?”

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“I don’t really know.”

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“No? I’d think the head of a group like the First Men would 6

know all about what his people were doing and how they got along.”

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“I’m not the head of the organization. As a matter of fact, I am 8

not, strictly speaking, a member.”

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“No? Then why they treat you like some kind of king?”

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“I’m an activist from the Bay Area. I live in Oakland. I have a 11

small following up there.”

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“But they said that you started the First Men.”

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“That was just an accolade of generosity,” he said. “I was a good 14

friend of a man named Harney, Phillip Harney. He was their spiri-15

tual model. His aura spilled over on me.”

16

We drove down toward Compton. Down past Rosecrans Avenue 17

and Alondra Boulevard not far from John’s tract of homes.

18

The nagging doubt stayed with me.

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When the road turned to gravel I looked up at the temporary 20

street sign, which read a227-f. It made sense to me that Brawly 21

would hide out in some empty house near the construction site 22

where he was employed for so long. He knew the area, the security 23

systems, and the schedules of the workers.

24

That’s when it came to me. Strong didn’t strike me as the kind of 25

man to pick up the tab for some stranger. Maybe for a pretty girl or 26

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