Free Bad Boy Brawly Brown by Walter Mosley Page A

told him that she couldn’t 9
    love him and that he shouldn’t come to see her anymore.”
    10
    “Why did you call Alva, Miss Moore?”
    11
    “Call me Issy,” she said. “That’s what I go by, mainly.”
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    “Why aren’t you at your own house, Issy?”
    13
    “I haven’t been back there for a few days. I went up to Riverside 14
    and when I came back, Brawly had — I mean, Aldridge was dead. I 15
    didn’t go back because I was afraid for Brawly.” She looked away.
    16
    Maybe that meant she was taking it hard, or maybe she was going 17
    through the motions — practicing for a more serious interrogation.
    18
    “Why do you think it was Brawly?” I asked. “And why didn’t you 19
    go to the cops?”
    20
    “Aldridge had come into town a few weeks ago. He came to 21
    see me.”
    22
    “He was your boyfriend?”
    23
    Isolda shifted her eyes toward the window. Again they glittered in 24
    the light. I doubt if she was looking at anything. Her gaze was defi-25
    nitely of the internal variety.
    26
    “We were close. I mean, Aldridge kept his own schedule. If he 27
    come to town and I was with a man, he let me alone. But if I was 28
    free, he’d stay with me awhile.”
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    “Did Alva know about you two?” I asked, looking for some kind S 30
    of thread.
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    “I haven’t spoke to Alva in ten years.”
    2
    “Did Brawly know that his father was shacked up with you?”
    3
    I had hoped the rough language would get under her skin, but 4
    Isolda wasn’t worried about me or what I thought.
    5
    “He came by when Aldridge was there, about two weeks ago.
    6
    They were eyein’ each other like wild animals in the entryway, but I 7
    had them sit down at the table like two normal human beings. I 8
    made tea and brought out some bread and butter. I told them that 9
    they was father and son and that they had to start actin’ like it.”
    10
    Isolda turned her gaze on me again. I didn’t mind the attention.
    11
    I wondered how those men felt.
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    “It went okay at first,” she said as if I had asked my question.
    13
    “They talked and asked each other ’bout what they been doin’.
    14
    Brawly even laughed once.”
    15
    Isolda had the wistful tones of love in her voice. I wonder if it was 16
    love for Brawly or for his father.
    17
    “But then Aldridge had to come out with that damn flask,” Isolda 18
    said. “Said he wanted to make a toast to their seein’ each other after 19
    so long.”
    20
    “He was a bad drunk?” I asked.
    21
    “Both of ’em,” she said with a sneer. “Both of ’em. That’s why I 22
    give ’em tea. They drank to their reunion. They drank to me. They 23
    drank to a long life and who knows what else. Then Aldridge made 24
    the mistake of toastin’ Brawly’s mother. Brawly told his father that he 25
    never wanted to hear her name outta his mouth again.”
    26
    She said these last words in the tone Brawly must have used. It 27
    made me cringe. I’d seen drunken men kill over just that tone of 28
    voice.
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    “The only reason one or the other wasn’t killed right then was 30 S
    that I put my body in between ’em.” Isolda put a hand in the air, 31 R
    swearing.
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    She pulled down the left shoulder sleeve of her polka-dot dress, 1
    revealing an ugly green bruise just above the curve of her breast. It 2
    was one of those deep marks that last for months.
    3
    “That’s what I had to get before they stopped,” she said. “I 4
    pushed Brawly out the door and told him not to come back until he 5
    learned how to be civil.”
    6
    “So where were you when Aldridge was killed?” I asked.
    7
    “In Riverside, like I said,” she said. “I heard about a man gettin’
    8
    killed on my block on the radio and I called a neighbor to find out 9
    what happened. As soon as I knew, I came back down —