Cry Revenge by Donald Goines Read Free Book Online

clutching the money in her hands. As Curtis watched her walk unsteadily across the balcony toward the stairway, he knew that there would be no problem from her-ever.
    From that moment on, Curtis began working out of his new pad. It was easy going. The junkies liked it there and felt safe. The people who lived around him never knew what was coming down. They were all too busy with their own lives to worry about the lean, dark dude who had moved in upstairs. It was a good scene, and was to get even better.

    Curtis saw Shirley the second day. He was standing out on the balcony, having just made a good three hundred off of one dude who was about to take a little journey to L.A. and needed some warmth for his ride on the bus. Curtis was feeling good, sipping a beer and watching the women and their children down by the pool.
    Shirley was sitting with her three children on the patio. She was light-skinned, Mexican, with a head of the finest, blackest hair he had ever seen. Most of the other women around the pool were fat and showed signs of too many children. But not Shirley. Her bikini was small enough to reveal her long, lean legs and her rich, full thighs. Her stomach was flat, and her breasts pushed evenly against her tiny bra. Curtis watched her for the better part of an hour as she relaxed beneath the hot New Mexican sun.
    Curtis' attention was diverted by a tall, black dude who ambled into the courtyard. He watched as the man walked across the patio below directly toward Shirley. The beautiful woman said something to one of the other ladies, then got up and walked back toward her first-floor apartment. The black dude followed her, making his way along the opposite side of the pool. Curtis watched as he disappeared into her apartment.
    He had never spoken with the girl, but Curtis was fuming. He couldn't understand the anger he felt, or the disappointment. It seemed impossible that he would even have a chance with such a beautiful woman, but nevertheless, the rage was still there.

    When the man appeared after only a couple of minutes, Curtis was relieved. At least the chick wasn't a working whore. He had seen so many housewives take on afternoon jobs to keep the spending money coming in that he automatically assumed that was what she was doing. But two minutes wasn't even long enough for them to get mellow.
    The black man walked across the patio and left the apartment building. Shirley came out of her apartment a moment later. While she walked back toward her kids, she looked up at Curtis and smiled. It was the kind of look that made Curtis uncomfortable, because it revealed a knowledge in her.
    The next day, Curtis watched from his living-room window. He saw his old friend and one-time partner, Dan, walk into the courtyard and go to Shirley's apartment. Dan emerged a second later, strutting happily back toward the entrance.
    "Dan, my man. What it is?" Curtis shouted down.
    Dan stopped in his tracks and looked up at the figure of Curtis. "Hey! Curtis, baby. Wha's happenin'?"
    "Come on up, Dan. Show you my pad.... I just moved in here!"
    Dan looked around for a moment. He was always suspicious. When he had decided that there was nothing going on, he climbed the steps to the second story, ambled up to Curtis and gave him a slap.
    "Long time, man," Dan said, smiling.
    "Yeah, baby. Come on inside and have a beer. I got some things I got to know."

    Dan looked at his old friend curiously, then followed Curtis into the apartment. There was still the tension between them of that night with Fat George, and Dan was highly aware of his own feelings. He was also badly in need of a fix. But that would have to wait because Dan wasn't about to admit to Curtis that he was mainlining. A few snorts had been his scene when they had been together ripping the Fernandez brothers off for a few nickels and dimes. But that had been the limit. Curtis was one of those dudes you didn't admit to using in front of, because Curtis didn't use himself. And