The Bird Saviors by William J. Cobb Read Free Book Online Page B

play the badass, his asthma acts up.
    Â Â Â Â Elray watches crestfallen, afraid now that this little dustup is turning into something ugly and complicated. Domestics are always like this: One minute you think it's over, the next you're rushing a shirtless drunk to the St. Mary's ER or answering questions at a disciplinary hearing.
    Â Â Â Â He going to be okay?
    Â Â Â Â I think so. The woman helps Jack Brown sit up. He just can't breathe is all.
    Â Â Â Â Elray asks for their names and an explanation of the dispute. Hers is Rebecca Cisneros, friends called her Becca. Long black hair like a show horse's mane and high cheekbones. She's the kind of woman who could be the mother of beautiful children or the teller of a First National Bank. Or end up broadcast on the Internet in a sex video shot in a no- tell motel like the Buffalo Head Inn, with bad lighting, shag carpet, a painting of elk and pines on the wall, and beneath her naked skin an ugly bedspread.
    Â Â Â Â When he can talk Jack Brown says, My name is Smith. He stares at Becca as he says this.
    Â Â Â Â Smith? Elray repeats. First name?
    Â Â Â Â William. That's right. A vein pulses down the middle of Brown's pale forehead, and at each breath he grimaces. I'm guessing you've probably heard my name before.
    Â Â Â Â Elray looks him straight in the eyes and does not blink. Sounds like an alias.
    Â Â Â Â I'll get a lawyer, Brown says. Once this gets settled, you'll be sorry.
    Â Â Â Â Elray has been holding the pepper- spray can at the ready, like it's an aerosol quick- draw contest. He tucks it back into a belt loop and says, Now I'm scared.
    Â Â Â Â Jack Brown keeps wheezing. Yeah, well, you should be.
    Â Â Â Â Becca wears the queasy smile of a woman who has swallowed a diamond ring worth twenty thousand dollars and now realizes the only way to retrieved it will be slow, painful, and unpleasant. Most likely the only witness to its egress will be herself, in her mind the rightful owner of the pricey bijou and symbol of undying eternal affection.
    Â Â Â Â Elray adjusts his hat and looks at the two of them. I tell you what. I hate domestics, you know? I don't like to get in the middle of other people's disagreements. Can we end this here?
    Â Â Â Â He's not getting that ring, says Becca. Not now. Not a week, month, or year from now.
    Â Â Â Â Forget it, says Brown. His face is blotchy and eyes bloodshot. He smooths his bushy hair with one hand. I can buy another one, he adds. And get another sweetheart. Same difference.
    Â Â Â Â Let's hold off the insults, okay? says Elray.
    Â Â Â Â Can I leave? Without you pulling a gun and plugging me in the back?
    Â Â Â Â Go, says Elray. It will be my pleasure.
    Â Â Â Â Brown walks away, wearing the look of a man who has lost a battle but is planning a war. The stairwell shudders under his boots and the weight of his body bounding down the steps. He goes to the parking lot and picks up his cap, brushes it off. Moments later a Jeep wheels out of the parking lot, squealing as it takes a right on the avenue.
    Â Â Â Â You know how to make friends, don't you? says Becca.
    Â Â Â Â I suppose, says Elray. He shrugs. Funny how people obey if you have them by the throat.
    Â Â Â Â Becca touches his arm and tells him she appreciates his help, his standing up for her like that. She explains that Jack Brown gave him a fake name. You can't trust him. He gave me this engagement ring and then demanded it back. I said no way, she says. Then he got all huffy about it, insisted it was worth twenty thousand dollars.
    Â Â Â Â Elray puts away his notebook. You're better off not married to any man who would ask for the ring back, what I'm thinking. You deserve better than that.
    Â Â Â Â Becca smiles. You're sweet. Can I tell you a secret?
    Â Â Â Â Does it involve