“No. He was dead,” Fearless assured me.
“But how could that be? Aren’t the nurses supposed to check?”
“How should I know?” Fearless said defensively. “Maybe they looked in and saw that he looked peaceful. I don’t know.”
“So he didn’t say nuthin’?” I asked.
“How he gonna say somethin’ if he’s dead, Paris?”
I had no reply, no question to follow up. I wanted Sol to be alive more than anything. He was the only one who really knew about the money everybody was after. And that was the only reason I was still looking for answers. At least with some cash, I could rent another bookstore. But now that he was dead, I knew that it was time to move on.
“You want to go down to Louisiana and visit my mother?” I asked.
“Sure,” Fearless said. “Right after I find who killed Sol and Fanny.”
“The trouble is too deep,” I said. “It’s time for us to split.”
“You go on, Paris. It’s my word on the line here.”
“Your word what? You didn’t promise to find out who killed them.”
“But I promised to protect Fanny, and I didn’t. I bet because she wasn’t comin’ here, that’s why Sol died.”
“Mr. Jones,” I said as a plea.
“You go on, man. You didn’t promise.”
“I was with you, wasn’t I? I got you here. Maybe I even think you’re right, but I’m scared, man, scared to death with all these men fightin’ and killin’.” The truth came out of me without my intention.
Fearless put his steely hand on my shoulder.
“You scared, but you ain’t no coward, Paris. Uh-uh. Matter’a fact, you a hero.”
“What?” I never knew Fearless to try and play anybody, much less me, his best friend.
“Yeah. Hero is just bein’ brave when there’s trouble. An’ bein’ brave means to face your fears and do it anyway. Shoot. You can’t call me a hero ’cause I ain’t scared’a nuthin’ on God’s blue Earth.”
He got me again. Shamed me into going in on something that I should have left alone.
“You go on home,” I said. “I’m’a go over and see Gella and the fool. I’ll be back later on.”
29
GELLA GREETED ME at the door looking over my shoulder for Fearless. He had that kind of effect on people; that’s why I never wanted him to meet my girlfriends before we were solid.
“He couldn’t come,” I said.
Gella smiled, realizing she had been rude. “Come in, Mr. Minton.”
The tiny house was neat and sweet smelling. I imagined that gawky Gella had spent the whole day cleaning, trying to wipe away the stigma of death.
I remembered that Sol was dead and wondered if she had been notified. I decided to leave it up to the hospital. It wasn’t my job to announce death, and anyway, I wouldn’t want any evidence that I was the first one to know. It struck me as strange that the nursing staff was unaware of Sol’s passing for so long. Being safe was still my motto, regardless of Fearless calling me a hero.
“Please have a seat, Mr. Minton.”
“Paris,” I said while lowering myself onto a brown leather chair.
From the outside the Greenspans’ house looked like a plaster castle painted a dull orange. But inside the layout was the same as Sol and Fanny’s house. One contractor must have built tract homes for miles. Back in my little parish in Louisiana every home was different. We were poor, but at least we were different, I thought. That’s how jealousy works sometimes.
I was jealous of the fine wood furnishings and the long, plush drapes that covered an entire wall. There was a grandfather clock with a brass pendulum that must have weighed half a pound and gold-brown carpeting so thick that you’d think you were standing on an ancient pine forest floor.
Her skinny neck had a gold chain on it, and the diamond of her engagement ring was no chip like the wedding stones you found around where I lived.
For a moment I felt sorry that I didn’t send Fearless. Why shouldn’t he be in that house and have that woman
