Free Wrong Ways Down by Stacia Kane Page B

she overhear shit, maybe she mentioning it thinking weren’t a big deal. But iffen she mentioning that, maybe she mention some else, too.”
    Bump thought on it for a long time. Terrible waited. Ain’t really expected Bump to have a say for him just then anyroad; ain’t really expected Bump to give him what he were maybe thinking on how to chatter with Lacey on that.
    Finally Bump said, “You be keeping you fuckin eyes on he, dig, you fuckin watching he hard. Ain’t fuckin letting he near Bump’s dames, yay, keeping he the fuck away an all, nowhere near. Lemme have the fuckin chattering on with Lacey, yay.”
    Terrible nodded. “Any else?”
    “Just you fuckin get em, yay? You finding who fuckin done to Sue, and you finding them fuckin Slobag men over here and make em dead, yay, real fuckin dead. Wanting dump them fuckin bodies right on the fuckin street there, let Slobag fuckin know he needs staying he own fuckin side. You get it done, Terrible. On the soon-as, you get it fuckin done.”

C HAPTER S EVEN

    N OTHING HAPPENING ON any of the streets where he’d gotten knowledge Slobag’s men were before. A couple people he chattered with had seen em, aye—swore they ain’t bought any off em, but he figured on that being lies—and promised they’d give a ring-up iffen they seen em again, but that ain’t done him much good then. He stopped on Sixtieth to chain up the door to the tunnel there. Wouldn’t matter, causen they’d just cut the chain, but it were a reminder. A way of giving em that he knew what they was pulling there.
    At least that were one thing he knew, and knew who were behind. Made a cool change from all the other shit.
    What weren’t a cool change was getting a phone call from Felice. What did she want? He’d been out to see Katie just a week and a half past, and while he’d be happy to go more often Felice made it clear she ain’t really wanted him around that much. Would look weird, she said. Would make people wonder.
    He’d say she ain’t exactly cared what people thought when she were showing up at his place nine years past wearing almost nothing and dragging him to bed, but really, that had been all about what other people thought, hadn’t it? About what her parents thought and her friends thought, and about using him to make sheself feel like she were daring and rebellious or whatany the fuck. He’d known it then—ain’t really minded, and liked her company anyway, but he’d known—and he guessed she knew it now, and that were why she got so antsy. Nobody liked to be reminded they’d gone ahead and done exactly what they’d said they wouldn’t do.
    Guessed he’d find out what she were wanting. “Hey. You right?”
    “Do you have a minute?” She sounded annoyed. Not good.
    “Be a problem?”
    “Katie keeps asking when she can go sleep at your house. Why haven’t you told her she can’t?”
    Fuck. He didn’t reply. This again, and it all being shoved on him again, too, when it were harder and harder to think of ways to say no. Especially when he ain’t wanted to say no, not really; well, coursen he did, it weren’t right bringing her to Downside, but the thought of getting to spend a whole night with her, putting her to bed and all … like being her dad for real instead of just by blood, and he’d never gotten to do that. 
    “Terrible? Are you there?”
    “Aye.”
    “Well? Do you have anything to say about this?”
    “What you wanting me to say?” He tried to keep the annoyance from his voice, but didn’t think he succeeded. Tension crept up his back, into his muscles. “Told her I work nights an she gave me the ask take a night off. Told her my neighborhood ain’t safe for a little girl, she say she certain I can keep her safe. Told her I ain’t got a place for her, she ask why don’t I love her enough to let her sleep my bed. You wanting her stay off my place, you give her a fuckin no, aye? Quit makin me lie like I ain’t wanting her here.”
    “You