Free Less Than Human by Gary Raisor Page B

feet. Now, that was a real stupid thing to do. He would have laughed if he wasn't so scared.
    Then he wanted to look away. Because he knew. He knew.
    The concrete floor had a dip in it and the jar began rolling backward, coming ever closer to him. He could almost make out what was inside. It was gold, all right, but it wasn't rings. The jar bumped up against his feet, splashing them with coldness, then it began rolling back down the dip.
    That was when Leon saw the golden lacquered nails peeking from the brine. "Dorinda," he whispered, and then he started toward Earl with his huge hands curled open. It was apparent he meant to strangle the smaller man, gun or no gun.
    Earl began scrambling backward.
    "Why?" Leon said.
    Steven stepped up behind Leon and hit him in the back of the head with a gardening spade. The metal made a dull, flat, whacking sound. Caked dirt hit the wall.
    Leon staggered, but didn't go down
    Steven hit him again, harder this time.
    Leon grunted, went to his hands and knees. Began crawling forward.
    Steven hit him a third time. Blood and sweat shot from the black man's head, splattered Earl.
    Steven raised the spade a fourth time, but Leon was through. His eyes showed white and he toppled over sideways, unconscious. The jar that had held his daughter's hand continued rocking back and forth for a while longer, finally coming to rest against his head. It looked as if the disembodied hand were trying to comfort him.
    Steven put the spade down. He looked vaguely disappointed that he didn't have to use it again.
    Earl hobbled to his feet and looked over at Steven. "Jesus Christ, did you see where he hit me? I can't believe it; he hit me in the ribs! The same ones that kid over in Corpus Christi kicked the other night"
    "You still love playing hide-and-seek?" the younger man asked.
    W hen Leon came to, he was tied to a chair and Steven was shooting pool. Earl was eating a pig's foot. "Is she dead? Is Dorinda dead?"
    Steven nodded, shot. A ball fell.
    "Why did you have to kill her?" The good side of his face was as dead as the scarred side.
    "She wasn't a very good pool player," Steven answered, as though that explained everything. "I came to town for a game and I didn't get one. You see, I've got this problem with my temper. I guess I just got a little upset." He lined up another shot. "Besides, I wanted you to know I was serious about getting my cue stick back."
    "What's so important about a cue stick that you'd kill a sixteen-year-old girl over?"
    "I thought she was seventeen," Steven interrupted. Another ball dropped into a pocket.
    "No," Leon answered, "she was only sixteen. She wanted to be an artist when she grew up." He looked at her hand on the floor and then at Earl, who looked away.
    Steven stopped shooting and turned his attention to Leon. "You want to know why that cue stick is so important to me? It's because it has something inside it that I need, something that I can't live without. I've got a few spares put away, but not that many." He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out two beers, handed one to Earl. "We came here because I think you know who has my stick."
    Earl hobbled slowly over to the wall and took down one of the pictures hanging there. The snapshot was of three guys in the Army, one was Leon, a much slimmer younger Leon, the second guy Earl had never seen before. The third face was familiar—from Leon's pool hall earlier tonight. "We need this guy's name and an address."
    "You can go screw yourselves. I ain't telling you nothing."
    Glancing at the snapshot, a slight smile tugged at Steven's face. "Earl, did you notice anything odd about this little group here?"
    "Yeah, they all look like they put on a lot of weight since then?"
    "No, no. There's a black guy, a white guy, and an Indian. What the shit is this, you guys poster boys for racial harmony?"
    "We were friends a long time ago, that's all," Leon said. "The Indian's dead. I don't know where the white guy is. He just stops by