“If I want to bust potheads and drunks.”
“Lot more goes on down there at night. Trust me.”
“I imagine you could probably point me in the right direction.”
“Possibly. Don’t know many names, just seen a lot of weird crap last few months. Keep your eyes open. The weed smokers are the least of your problems. You want to get the harder stuff off the streets. I can tell you where some of the deals go down.”
“How much do you know?”
“Like I said, I’ve seen some stuff. Kept my eyes open. You live on the streets, you learn to be aware of your surroundings. You see stuff going down, you keep your distance if you know what’s best for you.”
“Man, I have lived a sheltered life.”
“I wish I had your life.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying, kid.”
“I think I do. You’ve been through some…stuff…but you came through it pretty good. You’re a little cranky sometimes, but I don’t blame you. You act like this grumpy old man, but that ain’t you.”
“You don’t know how grumpy I can be.”
“Whatever dude. You’re hard on the outside and soft on the inside. You can’t fool me.”
“Maybe you bring out the best in me.”
“Nah…you always been that way. You just let things get to you is all.”
“Maybe. You want to let me know which streets I should keep an eye on?”
“I might, but you gotta watch my back.”
“What for?”
“You bust someone that knows me, I don’t want any of them comin’ after me.”
“How many folks know you?”
“Hey…it ain’t like that. I wasn’t into any of the junk…but I was on the streets for a bit. Anyone thinks I ratted ‘em out…” He drew his finger across his throat.
“I gotcha. I think. Nobody likes a snitch.”
“Exactly. I don’t know many names, like I said, but you roll too many dealers up, and any of their people think I had anything to do with it, I’ll have to lie low.”
“You’re already lying low at my place.”
“We’ll just have to be careful, okay?”
“We’ll have to watch when you go in and out, and how often you’re seen with me.”
“Might be too late for that. We’ve been seen all over town. There’s a photo of us in the paper.”
“Might be good for you, help you with the ladies.”
Franklin took another bite and said nothing.
“Man kid, you’d be blushing if you weren’t black. You do have an eye for the ladies, don’t you?”
“Uh…yeah…been a while.”
“A while since what? Since you had a date?”
“Well…yeah…never had a way with them. Get all nervous and everything.”
“Hey, I was that way when I was your age. Hell, I was scared stiff the first time I asked Marcy out.”
“How’d you do it then?”
“Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. This guy on the football team had a thing for her too. I knew if I didn’t make a move, he would. I just did it. Almost wet myself, but I did. We went steady until school was over…well…as steady as school kids do. We got out of school I asked her dad if I could propose to her.”
“You asked her dad?”
“Yeah, kid. Things were like that back then, least with her family. Real old fashioned Baptist family. First thing he asked me was if I knew the Lord. Nobody that didn’t know the Lord was gonna marry his daughter.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I lied. Then I talked to Marcy. A week later it wasn’t a lie. We married the next year, only nineteen and neither of us knew what we were getting into, but it worked. Lord, I miss that woman something fierce. But that’s how it is, kid. Courage isn’t not being scared. It’s being scared and still doing what you have to do. That’s how you overcome fear. You don’t stop being afraid. You just tell the fear to go to hell and you fight through it.”
“Wow,” the server said, “That was real inspirational. Here’s another plate of pancakes.”
“Hey kid,” Walter said as he buttered another pancake, “She’s kinda cute…and probably about your age.”
Franklin stuffed another bite of food into his mouth and looked down at the table.
“You can’t tell me you didn’t notice. If I wasn’t old enough to be her grandfather…”
“Come on Gramps…you wouldn’t.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t…but you could.”
“Man…what you talkin’ about? I’m just some street kid. She’s got a job and everything.”
“Well, that’s something we’ll have to work on then. First step, tomorrow morning. You can’t tell me you didn’t notice her.”
“Maybe.”
“No maybe about it…hey, is that my phone buzzing or is it yours?”
“It’s yours. Looks like your cop friend.”
10
Walter picked up his phone and walked outside. “Whatcha got, Larry?”
“Got a pretty serious bomb threat.”
“Where?”
“Downtown, Taft Theater. Some comedian performing tonight, packed house.”
“And someone just threatened the place?”
“Worse than that. It’s gonna hit the news pretty soon. Some group claiming they got a bomb in the place already and if they don’t get twenty mil in the next hour, they’re gonna blow it.”
“Nothing you guys can do?”
“They’re saying if they see a cop approach the place they’ll blow it. They see people evacuating, they’ll detonate. Our hands are tied. That’s the ultimatum. We wire the twenty mil or they detonate. It’s a sold out show.”
“What do you think I can do?”
“Exactly how fast are you?”
“Never really timed myself. Went to Africa in a minute or so.”
“That’s pretty darn fast.”
“Yeah, it was pretty cool. What you thinking, Larry?”
“We need to get you in that building. If you can find the bomb, you could get it out of there pretty fast, I’d imagine.”
“Probably, but I’m pretty recognizable.”
“Come by the station. I think we can manage a quick disguise, at least enough to cast a bit of doubt. We also got a ticket to the show.”
“Thought you said it was sold out.”
“StubHub. Got you covered. Just get here as soon as you can. The show starts in a few minutes.”
Walter went back in and dropped some money on the table. “Hey kid, gotta run. Take care
