Bad Boy Brawly Brown (26 page)

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“The police killed Henry, but what do you mean about Mr.

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Brown?” If she was lying, she was a master at it.

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“He was killed two days ago at a house owned by a woman 3

named Isolda Moore.”

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Tina shook her head slowly.

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“Don’t you read the newspaper?” I asked.

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“Why would I? It’s all lies anyway,” she said. “Why be blinded by 7

white men’s lies?”

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“Because you might read something that has something to do 9

with you,” I said. “That’s why.”

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“I don’t know what to tell you, Mr. Rawlins. I’ve been staying at 11

different friends’ houses since the night the cops busted up our meet-12

ing. Mr. Strong said that we should keep moving because the police 13

had us all on a list and the leaders might be killed. I only came here 14

tonight to get my stuff and move away. Miss Latour has always been 15

kind and friendly. She told me I should talk with you, but really I 16

don’t know anything about guns and murderers.”

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“Why do you think the cops killed Strong?” I asked her.

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“Because he’s so important to the movement. He told us that the 19

police would try to eliminate our elite either by framing them or by 20

assassination.”

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Before I visited with Colonel Lakeland I would have sneered at 22

the possibility of such a conspiracy; now, I didn’t know.

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“What about Aldridge?” I asked. “Why would the cops kill him?”

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“I don’t know. He never went to our meetings or anything. He 25

just picked up Brawly sometimes and took us out for coffee.”

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“But him and Brawly got along okay?”

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“Yeah,” she said. “I mean, they had a bad history, like I said. But 28

that was all worked out. You could tell that Brawly was still a little dis-29

tant, though.”

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I tucked her words away. It was a puzzle with too many pieces.

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Even if one thing seemed to fit, something else was left to the side.

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“What about you and Strong?” I asked.

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“What do you mean?”

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“You know what I mean. Did he ever come by here without 6

Xavier knowin’ it?”

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“A few times. But there’s nothing wrong with that. Men and 8

women are free to know each other and see each other and —”

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“How much did you show to Mr. Strong?” I asked.

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“What business is that of yours?”

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“Because after this talk here I’m gonna ask you to go with me to 12

see Xavier. I don’t wanna say anything that will make him so mad 13

that he loses reason.”

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“Why would I take you to Xavier, anyway?”

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“I didn’t say I wanted you to take me to him. I know where he 16

lives. On Hoover.” I told her the address. “What I need is for you to 17

pave the way for a calm conversation. Now how are we going to be 18

calm if in the middle of it, it turns out that you’ve been beddin’ the 19

master?”

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The intensity of Tina’s eyes told me that Liselle’s suspicions were 21

right.

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“It wasn’t nuthin’,” Tina said. “He was lonely down here and we 23

liked to talk. One day he put his hand on the back of my neck. . . .”

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I didn’t care about the details. I didn’t care that they had been to-25

gether at all.

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“Where?” I asked.

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“My neck.”

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“No. Where were you when you first . . . um . . . kissed him?”

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“At his place.”

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“The Colorado Hotel?”

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“No.” She gave me a Watts address, not far from Central Avenue.

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“Okay,” I said. “We don’t have to talk about that with Xavier. But 1

did Henry say anything other than he thought he was gonna be as-2

sassinated? Killed?”

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“No.”

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“He was shot over by some tract houses goin’ up over in Comp-5

ton,” I said. “You ever go there with him, or he ever talk about it?”

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“Brawly was out there,” she said, hesitating over the memory. “I 7

think Henry went out there with him once, maybe more times.”

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“Why?”

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“Henry liked Brawly. He said that he was a revolutionary in the 10

rough. He told me that he was cultivating him for the movement.”

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Like he was doing with you,
I thought.

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“You wanna go see Xavier?” I asked.

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“Why?”

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“Because I know things that he should know. Because some-15

body’s killin’ people close to you and it would be good to find out 16

who.”

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“I know who it is,” she said.

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“You think you know,” I said. “But you can’t put a face on ’em.

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You think you know, but why would the cops kill Aldridge Brown?

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Why kill Strong? He’s from Oakland. Xavier’s the head man. Why 21

not him or you — or Anton Breland?”

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“How can I trust you?” Her question cut all the way down to my 23

core. I thought of Mouse and how he went out with me and never 24

came back. And he was my friend.

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“You can’t,” I said. “How could you? You don’t know me. You 26

don’t know who I know. All you know is that I knew where to look for 27

you and that I know where to find Xavier. Come with me, watch me, 28

and maybe you’ll find out if you can trust me or not.”

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/ JASPER XAVIER BODAN
lived on the third floor of a rooming house on Hoover. He was at the end of

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a long hall lit by a single bulb.

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There was a strip of light showing at the foot of his door.

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“Who is it?” he asked after Tina knocked.

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“Tina,” she said. “And the man who pulled me out of the store-7

front the other night. Easy Rawlins.”

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The door opened inward. The room beyond seemed to be 9

empty. I followed Tina with my hands visible at waist level. Xavier 10

was standing behind the door with an extremely small pistol in his 11

hand.

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He pushed the door shut and glowered at us.

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“Why you bring him here?” he asked Tina.

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“He already knew your address,” she said. “He invited me to 15 R

come with him.”

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“Why you talk to him in the first place?”

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“He found my address, and Miss Latour said that he was good at 2

helpin’ black folks out when they’re in trouble,” Tina said. She was 3

another young woman pleading for her black man to listen to reason.

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“I brought him because he says that he wants to help.”

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“I don’t need your help,” he said to me. “I should have let Con-6

rad shoot you the other night.”

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When he held the pistol up in my face, it didn’t seem so small 8

anymore. The proximity of the muzzle affected my lungs. I could 9

breathe in just fine, but my exhaling ability seemed to be paralyzed.

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“Put that gun down, Xavier,” Tina said. “He came here to talk 11

to you.”

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“I don’t need to talk.”

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“Yes, you do,” I said. Forcing the air out of my lungs was one of 14

the most difficult physical tasks I’d ever performed. I was dying for a 15

cigarette. “There’s things you don’t know. Things that will put all of 16

this in a different light.”

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“Listen to him, baby,” Tina said. She moved next to the skinny 18

kid. When she put her hand on his gun arm, I flinched, afraid that 19

he might clench up and shoot me by mistake.

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When Xavier let his pistol down to his side, my whole body re-21

laxed. I realized that I had to use the bathroom but decided that it 22

wasn’t a good time to ask where the facilities were.

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“Can I sit?” I asked.

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“Over there.” He pointed to a solitary wooden chair.

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I sat down and reached for my pocket, remembering again that 26

I’d thrown my cigarettes away.

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“You got a cigarette?”

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Tina reached into her purse and came out with a filter-tipped 29

smoke.

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“What you got to tell me?” Xavier said as Tina lit a match for me.

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I inhaled deeply and my throat and lungs felt a strange cold 2

burning all the way down. For a second I was afraid that I’d been poi-3

soned but then I realized that it was a mentholated cigarette.

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“The cops,” I said, choking on the strange smoke.

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“What about ’em?”

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“They came to me and asked me to spy on you,” I said.

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“Why they want to put a spy on me?” Xavier asked.

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I shrugged.

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“Then why come tell me about it?” Xavier asked.

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“You the one thinks the cops killed Strong,” I said.

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“He says that Brawly’s father is dead, too,” Tina added.

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“Aldridge? Why’d anybody wanna kill Aldridge?”

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“That’s a good question,” I said. “But I got even a better one for 14

you.”

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“What’s that?”

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“I went down to the cops and told them that I was willing to help 17

them, to share information —”

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“You what?” When Xavier’s gun came up again I was less afraid, 19

but not foolish.

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“Hold on, man,” I said. “I already told you that I’m tryin’ to help 21

Brawly. When the cops came to me and started talkin’ ’bout the Ur-22

ban Party, I wanted to find out what they had on him.”

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“That’s what you say.” Xavier kept the gun leveled at my chest.

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“But I don’t know you. You might be planning to turn me over.”

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“He already knew your address, baby,” Tina said. “I told you that.

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He didn’t need to come here to get you arrested.”

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“Then maybe it’s something else.”

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There was sweat on Xavier’s upper lip. He was no more than 29

twenty-two years old but he was standing up pretty well under the 30 S

pressure of the situation. I glanced around the place while he con-31 R

sidered my possible duplicities. You could have called it a compart-1 9 0

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ment rather than an apartment. The most outstanding feature was a 1

small window looking out on a club’s red neon sign — merrian’s.

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There was an aqua-colored vinyl couch that I’m sure he slept on and 3

a table with stacks of books and papers on it.

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“There is a special squad assigned to you,” I said. “D Squad they 5

call it. It’s headed up by a man named Lakeland. He’s from the army, 6

but they tapped him to watch you.”

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It was too much for him to come back at me with doubts or chal-8

lenges.

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“Oh no,” Tina said, looking at her man.

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“We don’t know if what he’s sayin’ is true,” Xavier said.

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I was proud of him for trying to stay on top of the growing 12

problem.

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“But Henry said that they were trying to kill us,” Tina reasoned.

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If I were planning to overpower them, that would have been the 15

moment. Xavier turned his eyes on Tina. Maybe it was because she 16

called Strong by his first name. Maybe it was his anger that she wanted 17

to believe what I was saying.

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“They didn’t kill Henry,” I said.

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“Now how the hell you gonna know that?” he said.

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“Because I was there, in their office, when they found out about 21

it. They were surprised. For cops, they were even upset.”

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“Where’s their office?” Xavier asked.

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“I got to urinate,” I replied.

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Tina giggled. She was close to hysteria.

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“What?” Xavier asked me.

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“I got to go, man.”

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“No,” Xavier said. There was power in his voice and even the 28

trace of an evil smile on his sweaty lip. He moved closer to me and 29

said, “You sit here till I get the answers I want.”

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That was too much.

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