Not Long for This World by Gar Anthony Haywood Read Free Book Online

it.”
    “But he can’t prove that Rookie did, can he?”
    “No. He can’t prove anything.”
    “Uh-huh. That’s what I thought. He knows it was Rookie who was driving the car, but he can’t say who Rookie was with. I love it.” He forced himself to grin. “They call themselves honorable, these kids. One for all and all for one, and all that brotherhood crap. A Blue would never rat on another Blue, they tell you. But let one of ’em mess up, find himself squarely behind the eight ball, and you see what happens. They get religion. They finally feel the need to confess … to someone else’s sins, of course.”
    “You obviously don’t think your brother had anything to do with Lovejoy’s murder,” Gunner said.
    “What should be obvious is that I don’t have much faith in what Rookie’s friends have to say about anything,” Davidson said. “They’re nothing but infantile thieves and liars, and murderers of women and children, when the mood moves them. As for what I think about Rookie rolling on Lovejoy, the truth is, I don’t know whether he did or not, and I consider myself lucky that way. The less I know about his business, the better.”
    “He lives with you periodically, doesn’t he?”
    “Whenever he and the King decide they need a vacation from one another, yeah. He’s my little brother, I love him, and it’d be un-Christian of me to turn him away. But the King is his legal guardian; he’s the man you people should be harassing, not me.”
    “I just came from his place. Nobody’s home. I expect I’ll catch up with him sooner or later, but I’ve been told not to expect much help from him. I thought in the meantime I’d talk to you. But if asking a few questions is your idea of harassment …”
    “I didn’t say that. I just said that Rookie lives with the King, not me. The only reason Rookie stays with me at all is because life with that man is no picnic; the kid’s got to get away from the drunken idiot sometime. And where else is he going to go?”
    “Was he staying with you at the time of Lovejoy’s murder?”
    “No. Last time I put him up was back in February.”
    “But you have seen him since then?”
    “A couple times, yeah. But not since the murder.” He saw how his anticipation of Gunner’s next question had surprised the detective, and said, “I’ve been through this line of questioning before, remember? I’ve got the routine down.”
    “So where do we go from here?” Gunner asked him.
    “If we stick to the script, you ask me where else I think Rookie could be hiding. And I tell you I don’t have any idea. I’m his brother, not his bodyguard. Then you ask if I’m aware of any grudge Rookie or the Mills kid may have held against Lovejoy, and again, I say no, I’m afraid not.”
    “It sounds like if we stick to the script, you’re not going to be of much help to me yourself.”
    Davidson shrugged. “I don’t think I did the police much good, either.”
    He didn’t laugh when he said it, but the thought seemed to please him all the same. He had a serene look on his face that begged to be slapped off.
    Gunner ignored that temptation and said, “They catch you harboring a fugitive, you’re gonna have to run this place from a jail cell. I assume you know that.”
    “The police have promised me that would be the case, yes. But I’m sure, with God’s help, I’d manage somehow.”
    “No. You wouldn’t. You’d lose your shirt, and the pants that go with it. And for a man who looks like he’s worked hard for what he’s got, that’s a hell of a lot to risk for an ‘infantile thief and liar,’ and sometime ‘murderer of women and children.’ Or does that description only apply to Rookie’s friends?”
    “It applies to any gangbanger. Anybody stupid enough to fall into that lifestyle and ignorant enough to stay in it. Rookie’s no exception.
    “These kids have choices, Mr. Gunner, despite what they and others would have you believe. I stand as evidence