Bad Boy Brawly Brown (37 page)

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“What question?”

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“How come you in your house in your underwear in the after-3

noon? I mean, who pays the rent?”

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“Somebody who thinks that my studies are something impor-5

tant, that’s who.”

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I could tell that he wasn’t going to reveal his golden goose. And 7

it really wasn’t any of my business, so I went back to the reason I had 8

come.

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“I need you to apply for a job, Jackson,” I said.

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“A job? I don’t know what the fuck’s got into you, brother. But I 11

done worked more in my forty-two years than most white men twice 12

my age. An’ I’m a lazy mothahfuckah.”

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I had to laugh. It was funny and it was true. I celebrated the mo-14

ment of joy by lighting up a cigarette.

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“I ain’t askin’ you to work. I mean, maybe one day, tops. I just 16

want you to apply for the job and then take it. But you don’t have to 17

build up no real sweat or nuthin’.”

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“What kinda job?”

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“Construction.”

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“Construction? Damn, Easy, that’s the hardest work out there.

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Just spendin’ the day out under that sun like to give me heat stroke.”

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“Two hundred fifty dollars for one day,” I said.

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“Where do I sign up?”

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“Manelli Construction Company down in Compton. You can 25

use John for a reference.”

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“What you wanna know from them?”

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“Everything you can find out. Who’s in charge. Who’s workin’

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there. I wanna know about payroll and catering trucks and who’s on 29

duty what hours. I wanna know about security and what anybody S 30

knows about Henry Strong’s murder three nights ago.”

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Jackson digested the order, nodded.

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“This about Brawly and the First Men?”

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“Strong got killed out to there. John’s crew worked for Manelli 4

when John couldn’t make the paychecks and they needed help.

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Somehow Mercury and Chapman got sumpin’ to do with what’s 6

happenin’ with Brawly. I just need to know.”

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Jackson nodded again and then extended his palm. I laid one of 8

Mr. Strong’s hundred-dollar bills across it. That made Jackson smile.

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We settled up quickly after that. He’d go down to Manelli’s that 10

afternoon and show up for work the next day. Because the amount of 11

time crossed over two days, I promised to pay for his expenses, as 12

long as they didn’t get out of hand.

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After that we talked about Newton some more. Jackson told me 14

that the kind of calculus Newton created was called
differential cal-15

culus.
He tried to explain that mathematics was the language of the 16

way things worked, that that was the real secret men were always go-17

ing for — to speak in the language of things. I barely understood 18

him, even on an everyday level, but I knew that he was saying some-19

thing that was important to my life.

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/ I CAME HOME
to find Jesus and Feather in the 1

front yard with Bonnie. They were trimming rose-

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bushes that I’d cultivated on either side of the front door. Bonnie 3

loved the apple-sized, mottled red and yellow roses. When she 4

agreed to come live with me, she’d said, “Only if you promise to keep 5

those roses by the door. That way I’ll think that they’re flowers you 6

give me every day.”

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Feather was collecting the roses in a tin pail that looked too big 8

for her to carry. She was laughing while Jesus used his shears on one 9

of the bushes. It was getting close to sunset and the sky was full of 10

clouds that were a brilliant orange and black with the light at their 11

back.

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“Daddy!” Feather cried. She ran at me and tackled my legs. “I 13

got another B-plus.”

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“That’s great, baby.” I lifted her over my head and then brought 2

her down for a kiss on the cheek.

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Bonnie was taking off her thick gardening gloves, but Jesus kept 4

hacking at the bush. He was doing a good job of it, too. I had taught 5

him when he was Feather’s age. I didn’t need him to work, but he 6

wanted to. He wanted to work with me, eat with me, walk with me 7

down the street. If he was out in the world in trouble, I’d do anything 8

to save him.

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By then Bonnie was kissing me.

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“Are you okay?” she asked, looking deep into my eyes.

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“Okay,” I said, turning away as I spoke.

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I went in the house, followed by Feather. Her B-plus paper was 13

about “Betsy Washington” and the flag.

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While I made us grilled-cheese sandwiches, Bonnie and Jesus 15

joined us in the kitchen. I offered them sandwiches, but Jesus never 16

had much of an appetite and Bonnie didn’t eat between meals.

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“I know,” Feather said when we were all together. “I could read 18

you my paper out loud.”

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“Not right now, baby,” I said. “First I got somethin’ to say.”

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Feather flashed an angry glance at me. The woman she was to 21

become flickered a moment upon her face. She pouted and looked 22

down. Then she took Jesus’s hand and leaned against his side.

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“I wanted to talk to the family,” I said. “I want to say something 24

to the kids.”

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They were all looking at me. I took a bite out of my sandwich. I 26

felt a little dizzy.

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“School is the most important thing in the world,” I said. “With-28

out an education, you can’t do anything. Without an education, they 29

will treat you like a dog.” I glanced at the cabinet and saw the little 30 S

yellow dog’s snout sniffing out my scent. “I expect you to go to col-31 R

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lege, Feather. Either you’ll become a teacher or a writer, or some-1

thing even better than that. Do you hear me?”

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“Yes, Daddy,” she said.

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We were staring at each other.

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Jesus was staring at the floor, clenching his fists.

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“All right,” I said. “That’s important because Juice is going to 6

learn in a different way. From now on he’s going to study being a 7

boatbuilder. He’s found his calling in that, and I won’t stand in his 8

way. But if he’s going to do that, he has to study even harder than if 9

he was in school. I know all of the curriculum for school and I’m go-10

ing to make you read out loud to me for forty-five minutes every 11

night. And after you read, then we’re gonna spend another forty-five 12

minutes talking about what you read. You hear me? And if you ever 13

stop working on that boat, you have to get right back in school. I 14

don’t care if you just turned eighteen, you still have to go back. You 15

hear?”

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Jesus looked up then and nodded with the kind of conviction 17

that only young men can have. If he was any other child, I would 18

have dismissed the hard look in his eye. But I knew my boy. Not only 19

would he finish the boat but it would be seaworthy and so would he.

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And he would read to me every night. And he would love it. I real-21

ized that he wasn’t the type of child who could learn from white 22

strangers who couldn’t hide their natural contempt for Mexicans. I 23

had seen it at Sojourner Truth. Most children ignored the signs or 24

connected with the two or three teachers who really did care about 25

them. But Jesus wasn’t like that. He was connected to me, and it was 26

my job to make sure that he learned what he needed to make it 27

through life.

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“I’d rather you stay in school,” I said. “ ’Cause you know it ain’t 29

gonna be easy goin’ through your lessons every day. Some days I S 30

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might be late. Some days I might miss, and then you’ll have to do 2

double duty the next night.”

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Jesus grinned and I realized that this was what he had always 4

wanted.

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“I’ll help on nights that you can’t be home,” Bonnie said.

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“You got them papers up in your room?” I asked Juice.

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He nodded.

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“Leave ’em on the table for me. I’ll read ’em after you go to bed.”

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RE YOU REALLY
going to do all that, Easy?” Bonnie asked me after I’d signed the papers and we were both in bed.

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“What?”

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“Read with Jesus every night.”

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“Oh yeah. Now that I made the promise, I got to do it. That’s our 16

deal.”

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“What do you mean? What deal?”

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“When he came to live with me. He couldn’t even talk, because 19

he’d been through so much. But he’d sit by my side and listen to 20

every word I said. And if I said somethin’, then he took it for truth. If 21

I said to jump off a building ’cause he wouldn’t break his leg, then 22

he would jump. And if he hurt himself, he would know that I had 23

tried to tell him what was right but somehow had made a mistake.

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And if I told him to jump again — he would. That kinda faith makes 25

a truthful man outta you.”

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“But suppose you can’t do it?” Bonnie asked.

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“Can’t do what?”

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“Can’t keep your word.”

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“But I will keep my word,” I said. “That’s what you don’t under-30 S

stand. I have to keep my word to that boy.”

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“But what will you teach him?”

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“The
Iliad
and the
Odyssey, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under
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the Sea, Treasure Island.
Anything with a boat and a man in it. That’s 2

what I’ll teach him first. And then I’ll take whatever math he’s got to 3

know to make the boat and try and make sure he understands it.

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Work with what you have, that’s what I always did.”

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“But wouldn’t it be easier if he just stayed in school?”

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“No, baby. I mean, I understand what you sayin’, but what me 7

and the boy got between us is hardscrabble road as far back as we can 8

remember and as far up as we ever gonna go. If Jesus don’t trust you 9

or like you, he won’t let you in. He sure as hell ain’t gonna learn 10

from teachers he doesn’t respect. And anyway, while I been lookin’

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around for Alva’s son I found out a couple’a things that helped me 12

come to this decision.”

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Bonnie was already convinced. I knew by the way she put her 14

head on my shoulder. But she asked, “What’s that?”

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“First it’s just Brawly himself. I haven’t seen the boy more than 16

five minutes but I know from lookin’ that he’s a mess ’cause he didn’t 17

have a mother or a father the way a boy needs to have parents. He 18

was abandoned and then, when he was found, he was abused. He 19

could have the best education in the world, but it wouldn’t help 20

him. I knew that when I saw the diplomas on a killer cop’s wall. He 21

got the education but he ain’t learned a goddamned thing.”

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A
FTER BONNIE WAS ASLEEP
I got up and called Liselle Latour.

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“Yeah?” she said in a sleepy voice.

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“Hey, Liselle. It’s Easy.”

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“What time is it?”

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“ ’Bout ten-thirty,” I said. It was really ten to eleven. “I’m sorry to 29

bother you, honey, but did Tina come back in?”

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“They had her in jail.”

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“Tell her that I’ma come by tomorrow morning, about eight-2

thirty. If she doesn’t wanna talk to me, maybe she should already be 3

gone.”

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“Okay,” Liselle said.

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Her breath sounded as if she might have had a question, but I cut 6

her off with thank-you and hung up the phone.

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