Joe Pitt 1 - Already Dead by Charlie Huston Read Free Book Online

intentionally have
     him causing trouble on our territory. He's a saboteur, he's a fucking saboteur and we
     should execute him right now.
    Terry pushes his slipping glasses back up his nose.
    --Well I, for one, certainly think that would be more than extreme. Even, for the sake of
     argument, even if it came to the point where we
    
    
     might
    
    
     execute him, I think our first step should be to question him.
    --Fucking fine, let's interrogate him then. Let's wake his ass up and teach him a lesson
     about the revolution.
    He picks up a short length of pipe from the card table. Lydia is looking right at me.
     She's staring me in the eyes just as she has been since right after I opened them. She
     smiles and turns to the boys.
    --He's awake.
    They both turn to look at me sprawled on the cot. Tom takes a quick step in my direction,
     the piece of pipe still in his hand.
    --OK, fucker.
    Terry reaches out and lays a hand on Tom's shoulder.
    --Easy, Tom, just mellow out a little, guy.
    Tom stops and squeezes his eyes shut. He turns to Terry as if he'd like to wrap the pipe
     around his head instead of mine.
    __How many times do I have to tell you? How many, man? Don't tell me to mellow out. You be
     as mellow as you want, but don't tell me what to do. Terry smiles.
    --Sure, Tom, no prob. I'm not trying to disrespect you. I just want us all to calm down a
     little here and find some things out before we think about resorting to violence. There
     are always options, man, we just need to explore them.
    I sit up.
    --Yeah, Tom, let's explore some options.
    He turns back to me.
    --You just shut up, Pitt. You want to stay alive, you just shut up until someone tells you
     to speak. You got practice shutting up, taking all those orders from the Coalition. I look
     at Terry.
    --Hey, Terry, what are you doing letting this kid run around loose, anyway? People could
     get hurt.
    I look at Tom again.
    --He could get hurt.
    Tom makes a move at me, but Terry and Lydia pull him back. I sit on the cot being bored.
     Some people's buttons are so easy to punch it's barely worth the effort. Terry and Lydia
     get Tom into a chair. Lydia stays next to him while Terry walks over and drops down on the
     cot, a big smile on his face.
    --Tom's a hothead, Joe, we all know that, it only takes the slightest provocation to set
     him off. But we're adults here, so what say we put aside the immature mind games and
     name-calling and just have a little communication, air things out?
    --How 'bout you buzz off and show me to the door so I can go about my business.
    Terry shakes his head sadly.
    --In a perfect world, that's what I'd like to do. After all, it was never my plan that you
     get dragged here, but here you are, and I have to say that as hostile as Tom is toward
     you, he does raise some valid points. So I think, and this is just me talking, but I think
     there is a real need here for some open and honest communication.
    I start to get up.
    --So sit here and communicate, Terry Me, I got places to be, so I'll just be on my way.
    Terry puts an oh so gentle hand on my forearm.
    --Sorry, Joe, but there really are some questions I need to have answered.
    He tilts his head in the direction of the stairs and Hurley steps out of the shadows. How
     the fuck I missed Hurley is a tribute to my lack of awareness. The guy is a giant. Really.
     Six eight and over three-fifty. And on top of that he just happens to be one of us. So
     what you got here is your basic gargantuan Irish Vampyre. Oh, and he's retarded. I
     shouldn't say that. What I mean is he's dumb as a sack of hammers. Whether he's actually
     retarded, I don't know.
    I sit back down.
    --Sure thing, Terry. You got questions. Shoot.
    Terry smiles and nods.
    --See, man, that's the way it should be, just two guys sitting and talking. People, people
     talking about their problems with each other, finding solutions. If everybody could do
     this, if we could get the world together