'Com'on man, we gotta get yo' boy back here.' He jerked his head toward the door he'd come through.
Joppy was on the floor in the kitchen. His arms and legs were behind him, hog-tied by an extension cord. There was thick blood coming from the top of his bald head.
'Les get him to the other room,' Mouse said.
We got him to the chair and Mouse strapped him down. Daphne wrapped herself in a blanket and shied to the end of the couch. She looked like a frightened kitten on her first Fourth of July.
All of a sudden Joppy's eyes shot open and he shouted, 'Cut me aloose, man!'
Mouse just smiled.
Joppy was sweating, bleeding, and staring at us. Daphne was staring at the floor.
'Lemme go,' Joppy whimpered.
'Shut up, man,' Mouse said and Joppy quieted down.
'Can I have my clothes now?' Daphne's voice was thick.
'Sure, honey,' Mouse said. 'Right after we take care on some business.'
'What's that?' I asked.
Mouse leaned forward to put his hand on my knee. It felt good to be alive and to be able to feel another man's touch. 'I think you an' me deserve a little sumpin' fo' all this mess, don't you, Easy?'
'I give you half of everything I made, Ray.'
'Naw, man,' he said. 'I don't want your money. I wanna piece'a that big pie Ruby over here sittin' on.'
I didn't know why he called her Ruby, but I let it pass.
'Man, that's stolen money.'
'That's the sweetest kind, Easy.' He turned to her and smiled. 'What about it, honey?'
'That's all Frank and I have. I won't give it up.' I would have believed her if she wasn't talking to Mouse.
'Frank's dead.' Mouse's face was completely deadpan.
Daphne looked at him for a moment and then she crumpled, just like a tissue, and started shaking.
Mouse went on, 'Joppy the one did it, I figure. They found him beat to death in a alley just down from his bar.'
When Daphne raised her head she had hate in her eyes, and there was hate in her voice when she said, 'Is that the truth, Raymond?' She was a different woman.
'Now am I gonna lie to you, Ruby? Your brother is dead.'
I had only been in an earthquake once but the feeling was the same: The ground under me seemed to shift. I looked at her to see the truth. But it wasn't there. Her nose, cheeks, her skin color—they were white. Daphne was a white woman. Even her pubic hair was barely bushy, almost flat.
Mouse said, 'You gotta hear me, Ruby, Joppy killed Frank.'
'I ain't kilt Frankie!' Joppy cried.
'Why you keep callin' her that?' I asked.
'Me an' Frank known each other way back, Ease, 'fore I even met you. I remember old Ruby here from her baby days. Half sister. She more filled out now but I never forget a face.' Mouse pulled out a cigarette. 'You know you a lucky man, Easy. I got it in mind to follah this mothahfuckah when I seen'im comin' outta yo' house this afternoon. I'as lookin' fo' you when I seen'im. I had Dupree's car so I follahed him downtown and he hooked up with whitey. Once I seed that you know I was on his ass for the duration.'
I looked at Joppy. His eyes were big and he was sweating. Watery blood was dripping from his chin. 'I ain't killed Frank, man. I ain't had no cause. Why I wanna kill Frank? Lissen, Ease, only reason I got you in this was so you could get some money—fo' that house.'
'Then why you wit' Albright now?'
'She lied, man. Albright come t'me and he told me 'bout that money she got. She lied! She said she ain't hardly had no money!'
'Alright, thas enough talk,' Mouse said. 'Now, Ruby, I don't wanna scare ya but I will have that money.'
'You don't scare me, Ray,' she said simply.
Mouse frowned for just a second. It was like a small cloud passing quickly on a sunny day. Then he smiled.
'Ruby, you gotta worry 'bout yourself now, honey. You know men can get desperate when it comes to money …' Mouse let his words trail off while he took the pistol from his waistband.
He turned casually to his right and shot Joppy in the groin. Joppy's eyes opened wide and he started honking like a seal. He rocked back and forth trying to grab his wound but the wires held him to the chair. After a few seconds Mouse leveled his pistol and shot Joppy in the head. One moment Joppy had two bulging eyes, then his left eye was just a bloody, ragged hole. The force of the second shot threw him to the floor; spasms went threw his legs and feet for minutes afterward. I felt cold then. Joppy had been my friend but I'd seen many men die and I cared for Coretta too.
Mouse stood up and said, 'So let's go get that money, honey.' He picked up her clothes from behind the couch and dropped the heap in her lap. Then he went out the front door.
