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

me.
    --That's it? We're letting him go after that lame bullshit?
    --We're letting him go because it is not our nature to hold people against their will, Tom.
    --But he knows something. Look at him, he's gloating. He knows something and he's making
     fun of us right now.
    I glance at Tom as I walk past him.
    --What's eating you, Tom? Still can't find a vegan substitute for blood?
    He lunges at me and Lydia throws an arm bar on him. She locks him up tight and looks at
     me, tsk-tsking her head back and forth.
    --Tacky, Joe.
    --Yeah, well.
    I'm halfway up the stairs, Hurley behind me, when Terry calls after.
    --By the way, what happened to your face?
    --Rolled out of bed this morning and pulled open the curtain. Don't know what it is, I just
     keep thinking I'm still alive or something.
    --Be careful about that, Joe. Thinking like that, it gets us dead.
    --So I hear.
    Then I'm through the basement door, into the hallway, and out onto the street, Hurley
     right behind me. We're on Avenue D between 5th and 6th. Hurley starts walking north toward
     6th and I follow him.
    --So how 'bout my guns, Hurley?
    --Terry says I gotta walk ya a ways first.
    --OK.
    We turn west onto 6th.
    --Sorry 'bout clobber'n ya from behind an all.
    --Yeah, sure.
    We're about halfway down the block when he stops and turns to me.
    --Sorry, Joe.
    --So you said, Hurley.
    --Naw, I mean sorry bout dis.
    --Sorry about what?
    --Terry says I got ta rough ya up some.
    I blink.
    --When the hell did he say that? I didn't hear him say that.
    --He told me when ya was still out.
    --What the hell for?
    --He said it was fer ben a smart mout.
    --What the hell? I was out cold, I hadn't even had a chance to smart off.
    --Yeah, but he said ya would. He said yer always a smart mout.
    --This ain't right.
    --Like I said, sorry, Joe, but I got ta do it. It's my job.
    --Calling it your job don't make it right, Hurley.
    --Whatever.
    And he goes to work on me. He's pretty good about it, stays away from my face, and only
     cracks a couple ribs. When he's done I'm slumped down on the sidewalk with my back against
     a building. He tosses the guns on my lap and heads back to Society headquarters.
    --Keep yer nose clean, Joe.
    --Yeah, thanks for the advice.
    I could go back, take my guns, kick down the door and blast away. With any luck I'd take
     out two of them. With a lot of luck I might get them all. But what would be the point?
     Their people would come after me. And Terry and me really do go back a ways. Hell, there
     was a time I almost bought all that Society line of crap. Terry's dream of uniting all the
     Vampyre and taking us public to live like
    
    
     normal
    
    
     people; maybe get the resources of the world to help find a cure for the Vyrus. Yeah, I
     believed all that. For awhile. Then I figured what I was around for, the kind of jobs
     Terry handed me, and was gonna keep handing me. So I got out.
    It takes over half an hour for me to hobble home clutching my ribs. By the time I crawl
     into bed it's almost four in the morning and I'm not even thinking about looking for that
     carrier anymore.
    The phone rings about an hour after I fall into a painful sleep.
    --
    
    
     This is Joe Pitt. Leave a message.
    --Hey, Joe, it's me. If you're in bed don't pick up.
    Evie's voice. I pick up the phone.
    --Hey.
    --You asleep?
    --Thinking about it.
    --You're asleep, aren't you?
    --Just barely. What's up?
    --Nothing, I just got off work.
    --You OK?
    --Yeah, a little lonely.
    --You want to come over, watch a movie?
    There's a brief silence.
    --No. You should sleep. You don't sleep enough.
    --I'll sleep when I'm dead. Come over.
    --No, I just wanted to hear your voice. I'll be OK now. You get some sleep.
    --Yeah, sleep.
    --You around tomorrow night?
    I think about the carrier still out there and the deadline that I've already blown.
    --Think I'm gonna be tied up.
    --Maybe you can drop by the bar and say hi.
    --I'll do that.
    --OK. Sleep tight.
    --You too.
    She hangs up