Free A Good Dude by Keith Thomas Walker Page A

never catch CC,” Delia informed. “He got some long legs. He can jump a fence without climbing it.”
    “Yeah, I seen him do that before,” Trisha agreed.
    Candace felt like she couldn’t get enough air in her lungs. The Hamburger Helper became a petrified log in her gut. How unfair was that? If not for CC, Rilla wouldn’t have gotten wrapped up in the dope game again. He would have been more focused on his music, and would probably have his demo ready by now. Rilla had a girlfriend from out of state who depended on him. He had a baby on the way ( maybe ). Candace wouldn’t wish jail on anyone, but CC deserved to be there much more than Rilla did.
    “I can’t believe he got away from all those police,” she said.
    “He just ate me an hour ago,” Delia countered. “I’m pretty sure I know what I’m talking about.”
    That’s messed up.
    “He talked to Rilla,” Delia said.
    “When?”
    “A little while ago. You could have talked to yo man, too, if yo ass was at home to answer the phone.”
    “What he say?” Candace asked. Her heart thumped so hard she felt it in her ears.
    “Rilla said he had a whole bunch of dope in his pocket,” Delia informed her. She dropped the bomb as casually as if she was giving directions. “They charged him with possession with the intent to distribute. He said they’re already trying to railroad him. Because he’s kind of famous, they set his bail at a hundred thousand dollars.”
    “ A hundred thousand ?” Trisha gasped.
    Candace didn’t know how to feel yet. “Is that a lot?”
    “Hell, yeah, that’s a lot,” Trisha said. “A dope case ain’t supposed to have nothing but a five, ten thousand dollar bail. A hundred thousand—for dope? ” She wrinkled her face like she smelled something foul. “That’s wrong. Your bail is only gonna be fifty thousand if you kill somebody.”
    “So what does that mean?” Candace asked. Her face was scrunched up, too. She couldn’t stop her leg from shaking.
    “It means he ain’t getting out,” Delia said.
    And then it hit. Candace felt like a pipe bomb went off in her rib cage. The floodgates released in her eyes again, and she wanted her mama. More than anything in the world, she wanted to feel her mother’s arms around her.
    “They can’t hold him forever , can they?”
    Delia looked down at her like she was a mangy dog. “You don’t know shit about jail, do you?”
    Candace shook her head and dug for a napkin in her purse. Everything she pulled out was used and wadded. Trisha tossed her the baby’s face towel, and Candace blew her nose into it loudly.
    Delia sat next to her on the couch. “Here’s how it works, youngster. Rilla’s charged with something big. He’s going to either say he did it, and take some time, or he can go to court and fight it. If he do that, he gotta get a lawyer. But before that, he gotta bail out of jail—if he can.”
    “He has to pay a hun-hundred thousand to bail out?” Candace’s eyes were red and puffy. Her nose was pink. Her lips quavered.
    “You have to get a bail bondsman to make your bail,” Trisha said. “Like if your bail is five thousand, most people don’t have that. But if you pay the bondsman ten percent he’ll pay the rest for you.”
    “So Rilla can get out for ten thousand?” Candace asked. That was more money than she’d ever had in her entire life, but still, it sounded a lot better.
    “Right,” Trisha said.
    “So unless you know somebody rich,” Delia added, “Rilla has to stay in jail until he goes to court.”
    The only people Candace knew with that kind of loot were her parents, and they weren’t even close to being an option.
    “How, how long before he goes to court?” she asked.
    “I told you about my nephew,” Trisha reminded. “But it usually takes about three to six months.”
    Candace wondered what would happen to her in six months without Rilla. Or would it be only six months? Rilla got caught red-handed, and he was definitely