Free Cry Baby by David Jackson Page A

help me?’
    The man looks at her, long and hard.
    ‘Girl, I don’t know what troubles you. All I know is that I am what I am because I’m no good. I was no good to my family, and I can’t do no good for you either. Now go home, before you make me angry.’
    He moves off, wheeling his collection of items that are of meaning to him alone.
    ‘You’re losing him, Erin. There goes your chance of seeing Georgia again. Maybe your only chance tonight.’
    ‘Wait!’ she calls. She jogs after the man, then puts a hand on his shopping cart to stop him. He halts, but turns worried eyes on her hand. She pulls it away.
    ‘I want to show you something,’ she says. She is almost breathless, and not because of the jogging. It’s because she has decided.
    ‘Show me what?’
    ‘Show you how you can help me.’
    ‘I told you. I can’t help nobody.’
    ‘Yes. Yes, you can. Two minutes of your time, that’s all I’m asking.’
    He studies her, and while he does so it seems to Erin that a bubble has enclosed them. It is just the two of them in the world now, debating moves that will lead to life or death.
    ‘You’re a strange one,’ he says.
    ‘How so?’
    ‘Asking me for help. Normally it’s the other way round. Me asking folks for stuff. Money, food, a drink. Something I can sell.’
    ‘Must be hard.’
    ‘It’s all I know. What I don’t know is people be asking me for things. Makes me feel…’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Special.’
    No, she thinks. Don’t say that. Don’t turn this into something it’s not. Don’t make me feel guilty about this.
    ‘Then maybe you should help me. Maybe it’s an opportunity you shouldn’t waste.’
    ‘Excellent, Erin. Nice move.’
    The man pulls on the wisp of white chin-hair.
    ‘Two minutes?’ he says. ‘I guess I can find two minutes in my hectic schedule. What’s on your mind, girl?’
    ‘Not here,’ she says. ‘Over there.’
    She nods at the building to her right. It’s a huge apartment building in brown brick. It’s only about ten stories high, but it has a massive footprint. The ground floor level is set back, the upper stories being supported at the building’s perimeter by thick brick columns. The passageways running behind those columns are shrouded in darkness.
    The man turns his head slowly, following her gaze. ‘You want me to go over there with you? Why?’
    ‘That’s where it is. What I want to show you.’
    ‘Yes, Erin. Brilliant.’
    She finds the voice intrusive. She doesn’t need his fatuous remarks. She just wants to get this over with.
    She wonders if the homeless guy will refuse her. If he does, she’s not sure what her next step will be. Desolate though the street is at the moment, she feels far too exposed out here on the sidewalk to do what she needs to do.
    But he relents. ‘Show me,’ he says simply. And as he starts pushing his cart toward the building, she almost wants to tell him he’s making the worst decision of his life. Almost wants to call him an idiot for being so trusting of her. Yes, she looks like a harmless young woman, but doesn’t he know that appearances can be deceptive? All these years on the streets, and he hasn’t learned how to avoid risking his life?
    But maybe that’s it. Maybe he doesn’t care anymore. Maybe he’s had all the shit that life can throw at him, and what’s another pile of crap to add to his load? Maybe he just doesn’t give a damn whether he lives or dies.
    That’s what she tells herself. That’s her rationale. That’s what will make this easier.
    She walks with him. Leads him into the murkiness behind one of the brick columns. There is a faint smell of urine here. Somewhere in the distance a dog barks, and the sound of an argument escapes from one of the open windows above them.
    ‘Dark here,’ says the man.
    ‘Yes,’ she says. ‘And cold too.’
    ‘I don’t feel the cold no more. Got used to it. One night it’s gonna take me in my sleep, and I won’t even feel it.’
    ‘Is that