Bad Boy Brawly Brown (24 page)

have surprised me if she would tell the X-man that she was goin’ to 22

the beauty parlor and spend the afternoon studyin’ revolution at 23

Henry Strong’s feet — on her knees.”

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“That’s all?” I asked.

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“Yeah . . . sometimes that Conrad come by, but usually he was 26

with his uncle.”

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“Uncle? What uncle?”

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“I don’t think that they were really related. He come to the door 29

one day and I asked him who was that with him and he said his un-S 30

cle, but then he smirked like it was some kind of joke.”

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“What he look like?” I asked.

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“Husky man. Thirty-five, maybe even forty. He looked all right 3

but never spoke a word in my presence, never talked to anyone at 4

all.”

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“He have a name?”

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Liselle twisted her face, trying to remember. All she came up 7

with was the memory of the whiskey in her hand. She took a sip and 8

said, “No. I don’t remember a name. A heavyset man. Big, you know, 9

and dark.”

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“Could the name have been Aldridge?” I asked.

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Liselle shook her head. “I don’t remember,” she said.

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I sat back then. The yen for a lungful of smoke hit me hard, but 13

I refrained from asking Liselle for a cigarette.

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“Do you know Tina very well?” I asked.

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“Uh-huh.”

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“Do you trust me?”

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Liselle stalled and then said, “I know that you aren’t a bad man, 18

Easy. But like I said, you hang around some real hard times.”

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“There’s been two murders already,” I said. “Those cops came 20

here are more like vigilantes than they are law.”

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“What you want with her?”

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“You know John the bartender, right?”

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“Yeah?”

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“His girlfriend, Alva, got a boy named Brawly. He’s all messed up 25

in the First Men. I’m tryin’ to get him outta trouble. But if I can help 26

Tina, I’ll do that, too.”

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“And how is Christina messed up in all’a this?”

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“She knows Conrad, who’s a dirty piece’a work. . . .”

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Liselle hummed her agreement.

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“Brawly’s father was killed and the other man, Henry Strong, was 31 R

murdered just this morning —”

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“What?” Liselle said.

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“So I think anybody on Tina’s side would be welcome.”

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“What you want me to do, Easy?”

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“I want you to talk to her, tell her who I am and what you think 4

about me. If she hears that and wants some outside help, have her 5

call me at home.”

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“She ain’t been here in a couple’a days,” Liselle said. “But she 7

bound to show up. All her clothes still up in her room.”

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I wrote down my number on an egg carton that Liselle had 9

thrown out.

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When I opened the door to leave, Liselle put a hand on my arm 11

and said in a conspiratorial tone, “I told you ’bout you an’ trouble 12

now, didn’t I, Easy?”

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“Yes, ma’am.”

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/ FEATHER RAN AT ME
the second I came in the door.

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“Daddy, I got a B-plus on my Joan Arks book report,” she shouted.

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She ran up and tackled me around the waist.

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“Do you have to jump all over me?” I complained.

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“I got a B-plus, Daddy,” she said again, ignoring my objections.

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“Let me go,” I said.

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Feather backed away from me with pain in her eyes.

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The little yellow dog came up behind her, baring his teeth.

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“I got a B-plus,” she said, and the first tear appeared.

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“I’m sorry, baby, but I had a hard day. That’s good about your B.

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It’s good.”

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“It’s a B-plus.”

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“Hi, honey,” Bonnie said from the kitchen.

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It struck me then that there was the smell of cooking in the air.

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She was wearing a yellow wraparound dress with a red and blue 1

silk cloth coiled in her hair. Her feet were bare.

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“I forgot you were coming home today,” I said.

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“You say that as if you want me to leave.”

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“No. No, baby.”

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Feather moved over to Bonnie and leaned against her side, frown-6

ing and staring at my shoes.

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“Did you hear about Feather’s B-plus?” Bonnie asked.

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“Yeah,” I said. “That’s really great. I mean, I think we should 9

have some special ice cream for dessert after a grade like that.”

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Feather’s frown softened and she looked up as far as my shoulder.

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I heard the faint sound of sawing coming from the backyard.

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“What’s that?”

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“Jesus working on his boat.” It was Bonnie’s turn to frown.

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“We’re talking about it,” I said.

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“A child does not have the right to make up his mind whether or 16

not he’s going to school,” she said.

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“Jesus been a man as long as I can remember,” I told her. “If I 18

died tomorrow and you disappeared, he would raise Feather all by 19

himself. You could bet the farm on that.”

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“Are you sick, Daddy?” Feather asked.

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“No, honey. I’m fine.”

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“All I’m saying,” Bonnie continued, “is that he needs to finish his 23

education. He needs to understand how important it is.”

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“How the hell you gonna tell me what that boy needs an’ you 25

didn’t even know he was alive six months ago?” I said. “You don’t 26

know. You don’t know what he’s thinkin’ or where he’s goin’. There’s 27

all kindsa people up and down this block got education way over me.

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But we still livin’ on the same street, goin’ off to work every day. How 29

am I gonna tell Juice that he got to do somethin’ I ain’t never done?

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How am I even gonna believe that shit?”

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“Easy,” Bonnie said.

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She glanced down at Feather, who was transfixed by my anger.

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“I just mean let me work this out on my own, okay?”

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“I’ll get dinner,” Bonnie said.

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She headed for the kitchen. Feather followed in her shadow.

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I reached for my shirt pocket but it was empty. I’d discarded the 7

pack of Chesterfields earlier that day. There was half a carton on the 8

top shelf of the hall closet, I knew. But I clenched my teeth and sat 9

in my recliner. Nothing was going to beat me. Not Jesus’s demands 10

or Lakeland’s designs, certainly not a flimsy little cigarette.

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The fabric of the chair smelled of tobacco smoke. So did my fin-12

gertips. For five minutes all I could think about was smoking, or not 13

smoking.

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When I finally calmed down, Brawly Brown was waiting there in 15

my mind. Big and clumsy, strong and easily influenced. Or was he 16

smarter than he seemed? Was he the First Men’s fool, or was it John 17

and Alva who were fooled by him? I couldn’t trust Alva’s opinion.

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John only cared about his woman.

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If the heavyset man who’d come to Tina’s with Conrad was 20

Aldridge, then I had at least one other person who was connected to 21

both men.

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I took a deep breath.

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Something was missing.

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What was I missing?

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A cigarette.

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“Dinner,” Bonnie called out the back door.

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Brawly had to be involved in something serious. That’s the only 28

way I could see the ambush set up outside of the housing tract near 29

John’s places. There was no other way. Anyway, Strong told me that 30 S

he was bringing me to Brawly, but that could have been a lie.

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But if Brawly tried to kill me, if he murdered Henry Strong, then
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there was nothing I could do to help him. At least there was nothing 1

I should do.

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“Sure I killed him,” Mouse once said to me about a man who 3

had been his friend. “Motherfucker turned on me. An’ you know 4

once a dog taste your blood, he always got a hunger for more.”

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How could I put a murderer back in the house with John? Back 6

on the street with the rest of us?

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“Easy.” Bonnie was standing there over me.

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“Yeah?”

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“Didn’t you hear me? Dinner’s ready.”

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B
ONNIE’S LASAGNA WAS
always a treat. The tomato sauce was 13

dark red and spicy. She used four kinds of cheese and shredded 14

veal rather than ground round. The salad had lots of Parmesan 15

cheese and garlic in the dressing. The food tasted wonderful but it 16

was somehow weaker than usual. I craved a cigarette. I kept taking 17

deep breaths through my nose, but still I had the feeling of slow suf-18

focation.

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“Is something wrong, Easy?”

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“No,” I said sharply. “Why you keep askin’ me that?”

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“Because you keep sighing,” she said.

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“Listen, if a man can’t sit down to a meal and take a deep breath, 23

then maybe he shouldn’t even come home. You been pesterin’ me 24

since I come in the door. What do you want?”

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That silenced the table for more than a minute. It would have 26

been even longer but I spoke again.

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“I’m goin’ out for a while,” I said, standing up from the table.

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“Don’t go, Daddy,” Feather pleaded.

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“Where are you going, Easy?” Bonnie asked in a maddeningly S 30

reasonable tone.

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I took another deep breath that came out in a sigh.

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“To the market,” I said. “For our B-plus special ice cream. You 3

want pistachio or chocolate chip, Feather?”

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“Both,” she said.

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T
HE LITTLE MARKET
down the street was always open until ten.

Mr. Tai was a night owl and everyone around the neighborhood 9

knew that his was the only place, besides the overpriced liquor 10

stores, where you could get prepared and packaged foods after eight.

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“Sweet tooth tonight, Mr. Rawlins?” Tai asked when I brought 12

the two half-gallon containers up to the register. I also had a pint of 13

vanilla, which was for me.

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“Good grade,” I said. “Feather got a B-plus.”

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“That’s good. I got one girl get really good grades. She likes the 16

books and the homework.”

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“What about your other kids?” I asked.

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I liked Tai. He had a slight build and a gentle disposition but he 19

also had a vicious scar down the left side of his face. I’d once seen 20

him throw a six-foot drunk on his ass out in front of his store.

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“Two more girls. They will get married and make my grandchil-22

dren. One boy who fail everything,” Tai snickered. “Everything. If they 23

gave him a test on what he ate for breakfast, he would fail that, too.”

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“Doesn’t that bother you?”

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“No.”

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“What are you going to do?”

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“I wait till he’s sixteen and then he come here and work with me.

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Eight o’clock we open up and ten we go home. If that don’t make 29

him go back to school, then I have a partner. Tai and Son.”

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The grocer gave me a wide grin.

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/ I MANAGED NOT TO BITE
anybody’s head off 1

over ice cream. Feather spent most of her time eat-2

ing from her bowl on Bonnie’s lap. Jesus, who probably knew me 3

better than any other living being ever had, stayed away from me. He 4

didn’t talk about his boat or dropping out. As a matter of fact, I don’t 5