Ravens by George Dawes Green Read Free Book Online Page B

she thought he might be trembling.
    He said, “Listen. If you oppose us in any way, I’ll kill the people you love.”
    He was silent a moment. Then he said, “You believe me?”
    “Yes.”
    “I will, I really will. Your friend Clio? I’ll kill her. You hear me?”
    “Yes.”
    “I’ll kill your grandmother. That’s just… Fuck it. And your cousin Alfred. And your cousin Vanessa, and your uncle Shelby
     and his whole family. Everybody. When Shaw sends me the signal. Or if I call to check in, and he doesn’t answer? I go. In
     whatever order I choose. You won’t be able to stop me. You think I’m scared? I
am
scared. All I want is to get the hell out of here, go home. But so what. I’ll do what I have to.”
    She nodded.
    He said, “For my friend. Not for the money. For him. I hate this whole deal, but I won’t fail him.”
    Silence.
    He said, “You don’t care about the money either, do you, Tara?”
    “No.”
    “So then. It’s up to us. You and me. Not Shaw, not your parents, just us. You hear what I’m saying?”
    “Yes.”
    Then a plaintive tone — almost begging: “So let him have what he wants.”
    Romeo, two hours later, was driving through the dark to Nell Boatwright’s bungalow — guided by the map that Shaw had made for him.
     ‘Points of Interest’ had been marked with stars, and Nell’s house was the southernmost of these. It was in an old, leafy part
     of town. When he got there, he pulled over across the street and cut the engine. She was in her bedroom. He saw the TV glowing,
     the footboard of her bed, her slippered feet. He waited.
    Presently she rose (first carefully relocating the cat she’d been holding), waddled past another window, and showed up in
     what he guessed was her bathroom. He couldn’t see her face, but he liked how she walked. A directness, despite her stooped
     carriage. There was another cat on the bathroom sill, and Nell gave it a brisk knuckle rub. Then she vanished and Romeo didn’t
     see her till she went back to the bedroom, regathered the first cat into her arms, and lay down again.
    If Shaw were to text him: Go, it would mean the Boatwrights were in open rebellion, and Romeo would have to step into her
     house and kill her without hesitation.
    He wondered, could I do that?
    I told Shaw I could. Why did I tell him that?
    He stayed there watching till the old woman shut off the TV and turned out the light.
    Then he drove out to Rt. 17, the main north-south drag. He went to the neighborhood called Belle Point, where Tara’s Uncle
     Shelby and Aunt Miriam had a rangy house and a basketball hoop and a badminton net, and a big backyard that unrolled right
     to the edge of the marsh. According to Shaw, Shelby and Miriam had two children. In an emergency, Romeo would be expected
     to execute the whole family.
    He headed south on 17. He put Cradle of Filth in the CD player and let the music batter his cerebrum. That crematory stink
     was in the air. It was so heavy he could almost taste it.
    At Island View he turned off and drove to Clio’s house, which bordered an empty, jungly lot. He pulled over, got out and clicked
     the door closed, and ventured into the palmettos. It was heavy going, and with everything so dry and brittle he couldn’t help
     but make a racket. But all over the neighborhood air conditioners were blasting away. He doubted he’d be heard, and even if
     he were, he was making pretty much the same noises that a deer or a dog would make, so who would give a shit?
    He broke through to Clio’s lawn, finding himself at the back of the house. White vineflowers, and deep grass, and one lighted
     window. He moved till he was below this, till he could look up and see Clio in her bedroom. At her desk, her laptop. She was
     tall and loose-limbed. Tattoos all over her arms and that silver serpent coiling through her cheek. Shaw had shown Romeo her
     pics on MySpace. It was as if Shaw had been goading him, trying to get him hot and bothered, knowing