Des ordered them hamburgers, spiral fries and chocolate shakes, and Sandy headed off to the kitchen, grumbling under her breath.
“Talk to me about your brother,” Des said to Ricky. “He give you that eye?”
Ricky frowned at her. “Why you asking me that?”
“Because if he did, that’s one thing. But if your dad did, then it’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because your dad’s supposed to know better, that’s why.”
The little boy fell silent. “Ronnie gets nasty when he drinks.”
“Does he drink a lot?”
“Ronnie does everything a lot.”
“He smokes, too, I noticed. Does he ever smoke unfiltered cigarettes?”
“You mean like Joe Camels? Sure.”
“How about Luckies? Does he smoke those?”
“Ronnie smokes whatever. He doesn’t care.”
“Does he smoke dope?”
Ricky started to squirm in his seat. “Do I have to answer that?”
“Not if you don’t want to.”
Sandy returned with their food. Ricky dumped a half bottle of ketchup on his fries and attacked them first. He ate like a starved animal.
“Okay, now you can ask me something,” Des offered, biting into her burger.
“I can?”
“You bet. That’s how it works with friends.”
“Um, you got a boyfriend?”
“Yes, I do.”
“He a black man or a white man?”
She took a sip of her milk shake, staring over her glass at him. “He’s white.”
“How come?”
“You don’t choose the people who you get involved with. It’s not like you order them out of a catalog or something. Stuff just… it happens.”
Ricky nodded, frowning. “Do you suck on his dick?”
“Boy, what is wrong with you?” Des erupted angrily. “Here I am, sitting down with you, treating you like a person, and you talk trash at me like I’m some gutter whore! Why are you disrespecting me this way, huh? Answer me!”
Ricky didn’t answer. Just sat there with his eyes downcast, greasy hands in his lap.
“You don’t belong with people,” she huffed at him. “You should be in a cage. Feed you peanuts, hose you down once a day. Have you got anything to say to me?”
“I-I’m sorry,” he murmured, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.
“And you’ve got the table manners of a coyote-use your napkin! Sit up straight! Where’s your mother anyway?”
He wiped his mouth with his napkin and said, “She lives in Pennsylvania somewhere.”
“Do you miss her?”
“She’s been gone since I was a baby. I don’t know her at all, except from pictures.”
Des popped a spiral fry in her mouth, mulling this over. Jay Welmers had definitely tried to spin it that she’d left him very recently, thereby explaining the lack of furniture. Clearly, the man was in deep financial trouble, his spanking-new McMansion merely a shell. How long did he have before he’d lose it? “What about Ronnie? Does he miss your mom?”
“He doesn’t say much about her. Dad gets pissed off if we mention her.”
“Does your dad have a girlfriend?”
Ricky shook his head.
“How about Ronnie?”
“He’s in love with Claire Danes,” he answered, snickering. “The movie star.”
“Who does he hang with?”
“Lots of people.”
“Boys mostly?”
Rocky chomped on his burger, nodding.
“What about Phoebe Beddoe? Does he ever hang with her?”
“Nah, she’s real stuck-up. Won’t have anything to do with him.”
“Why did Ronnie do that to your eye?”
Ricky dropped his gaze, his eyes avoiding hers. “I wanted to hang with him and his friends. He didn’t want me to. So he punked me.”
“Hang with them where?”
“Antics,” he answered, shrugging. “Y’know, stuff they do for fun. This can be a real boring place. There’s not a whole lot going on.”
“Hmm… I may have to start keeping a closer eye on Ronnie and his boys.”
“No, you can’t do that!”
“Why not?”
“Because he’ll know I told you something and then he’ll…”
“He’ll what, Ricky?”
Ricky stuck his jaw out. “Nothing. I ain’t no snitch.”
“I’m going to tell you something straight up. Strictly because you and I are friends, okay?”
He looked at her guardedly. “Okay…”
“I think Ronnie might be getting into something that he’ll be real sorry about when he’s old enough to know better.”
“You don’t have to worry about Ronnie-he’s way smart.”
“I know he is. I’m just trying to help. That’s my job.”
“I thought your job was to bust people.”
“That’s only when I fail. I’m just like a fireman, okay? Sure, I know how to put out fires. But what I really want to do is prevent those fires from ever getting lit. Understand what I’m saying?”
He shook his head at her. “You’re still the law.”
“I’m somebody who you can talk to about things,” Des persisted, handing him one of her cards. “You have a problem, call me anytime, twenty-four seven.”
He pocketed it without comment. “My dad gave me money for dinner.”
“Your money’s no good here. When I ask a man to dinner, I pick up the tab.” After she’d paid it and said good night to Sandy, they headed back outside together. “Yeah, I think I’d better go have myself a talk with Ronnie.”
“No, don’t!” Ricky pleaded. “He’ll pound me.”
It was a crisp, starlit evening. Des stood there by her cruiser, inhaling the fresh sea air and waiting the little tough guy out.
“What if I tell you a secret?” he finally offered. “Will you stay away from him then?”
“Depends on what it is.”
“Something he told me. But you have to promise not to tell anyone else.”
“I can’t do that, Ricky. I’d be lying to you if I said I could. What I can do is promise not to tell anyone where I heard it. And I’ll do my best to keep Ronnie’s name free of it. But I have to know what it is.”
Ricky thought this over carefully as they got back in the car. Then he took a deep breath and told her Ronnie’s secret.
Town hall was buzzing that evening. Lights blazing all over the building. The WE CARE leaders were holding a strategy session in the upstairs meeting room. The Planning Commission was having its monthly meeting in the main conference room. And the Major Crimes Squad was working the Moose Frye murder in the spare conference room.
