'I met'im once or twice.'
'Did Coretta say anything about him that night?'
'Not a word.' It felt good to tell the truth.
'How about your friend Dupree? Did he say anything?'
'Dupree drinks. That's what he does. And when he's finished drinking, then he goes to sleep. That's what he did. That's all he did.'
'I'm a powerful man, Mr. Rawlins.' He didn't need to tell me. 'And I wouldn't want to think that you were lying to me.'
'Do you know why the cops took me in?'
Matthew Teran picked up the little Mexican boy and hugged him to his chest.
'What do you think, honey?' he asked the boy.
Thick mucus threatened to flow from the boy's nose. His mouth was open and he stared at me as if I were a strange animal. Not a dangerous animal, maybe the corpse of a dog or porcupine run over and bleeding on the highway.
Mr. Teran picked up an ivory horn that hung next to his head and spoke into it. 'Norman, take Mr. Rawlins where he wants to go. We're finished for the time being.' Then he handed the horn to me. It smelled strongly of sweet oils and sour bodies. I tried to ignore the smells as I gave Norman the address of John's speak.
'Here's your money, Mr. Rawlins,' Teran said. He was holding a few damp bills in his hand.
'No thanks.' I didn't want to touch anything that that man had touched.
'My office is listed in the book, Mr. Rawlins. If you find something out I think you might find me helpful.'
When the car stopped in front of John's I got out as fast as I could.
'Easy!' Hattie yelled. 'What happened to you, baby?' She came around the counter to put her hand on my shoulder. 'Cops,' I said.
'Oh, baby. Was it about Coretta?'
Everyone seemed to know about my life.
'What about Coretta?'
'Ain't you heard?'
I just stared at her.
'Coretta been murdered,' she said. 'I hear the police took Dupree outta his job 'cause he been out there with her. And I knowed you was with'em on Wednesday so I figured the police might'a s'pected you.'
'Murdered?'
'Just like Howard Green. Beat her so bad that it was her mother who had to tell'em.'
'Dead?'
'What they do to you, Easy?'
'Is Odell here, Hattie?'
'Come in 'bout seven.'
'What time is it?'
'Ten.'
'Could you get Odell for me?' I asked.
'Sure can, Easy. You just let me get Junior t'do it.'
She stuck her head in the door and then came back. In a few minutes Odell came out. I could see that I must've looked bad by the expression on Odell's face. He rarely showed any emotion at all but right then he looked like he'd seen a ghost.
'Could you give me a ride home, Odell? I don't have my car.'
'Sure thing, Easy.'
Odell was quiet for most of the ride but when we got close to my house he said, 'You better get some rest, Easy.'
'I sure intend to try, Odell.'
'I don't mean just sleep, now. I mean some real rest, like a vacation or somethin'.'
I laughed. 'A woman once told me that poor people can't afford no vacations. She said that we gotta keep workin' or we end up dead.'
'You don't have to stop workin'. I mean more like a change. Maybe you should go on down t'Houston or maybe even Galveston where they don't know you too good.'
'Why you say that, Odell?'
We pulled up to my house. My Pontiac was a welcome sight, parked there and waiting for me. I could have driven across the nation with the money Albright had given me.
