Free No Show of Remorse by David J. Walker Page A

you had nothing to do with killing anyone. But you have to tell me what happened.
    How I know you ain’t gonna jus’ tell everyone what I say? Shit. You another one of them—
    Hush up, boy. This here’s your lawyer. He can’t tell nobody, ’cause o’ that … whatchacallit … priv’lege. Ain’t that right, Mr. Foley?
    Yes, and—
    I ain’t tellin’ where I was. Y’all don’t … INAUDIBLE …
    You have to speak up, Marlon. My … uh … my hearing’s bad. I didn’t hear that last part.
    Nothin’. I said I ain’t tellin’ you where I was.
    It’s up to you, but what your mother says is true. Anything you say here is privileged. The rules say I can’t tell. I could lose my license if I did.
    Fuck the rules! Rules don’t mean shit when—
    Marlon! You watch your mouth, boy.
    Sorry, Mama, but … but how I know … INAUDIBLE … Plus, how I know they ain’t gonna change the rules, man? Then they make you tell.
    Goddammit, Marlon, I don’t care if they erase all the rules, or what they say, or do, or … whatever. I won’t tell anyone, that’s all. I just won’t. Not ever. You have my word on that.
    Yeah, but … INAUDIBLE …
    Well, that’s fine. But I won’t represent anyone who doesn’t trust me. Sorry, Sally Rose, but—
    It ain’t I don’t trust you, man. My mama trusts you, so I guess I do, too. Problem is … INAUDIBLE … So I don’t know. Maybe … I guess I tell you.
    Good. So when Lonnie Bright and Fay Rita and the police officers got shot, where were you? What were you doing?
    OK. I’ll tell y’all what I was doin’.… LENGTHY SILENCE … Shit.
    Marlon?
    Yeah. OK … I had been stayin’ with my uncle—Lonnie, you know?—up at his crib since … I don’t know…’bout January. But I wasn’t up in there when it happened. The shootin’, I mean. I didn’t know nothin’ about none o’ that. When I heard them shots I was … INAUDIBLE …
    What? You gotta speak up.
    I was in the alley, behind Lonnie’s place. I was—
    Wait. Who was with you? Anyone who can back up your story?
    It ain’t no story, man. It’s the truth. My uncle an’ his lady know … but they dead. And … and the only other ones who could back me up ain’t gonna do it.
    Why are you so sure?
    â€™Cause one of ’em dead, man.
    Dead?
    Yeah. And two be up in the hospital. And another one … well, I don’t know who he is, but he ain’t gonna help me any.
    Why not?
    â€™Cause he a cop, that’s why. Jus’ like the others.
    You mean four police officers know where you were? Is that what you’re saying?
    Yeah. Well, it was four of ’em in on it, I think. But at least three I seen. ’Cept one of ’em dead.
    Sal Coletta.
    Right.
    Damn. And his brother? James, is it?
    It’s Jimmy, far as I know. The one still up in the hospital.
    Okay, and another one whose name you don’t know?
    Right. An’ then there was one, like, out in front I think, but I don’t—
    Marlon, when the shooting happened, what were you doing in the alley?
    It was a car there, an’ I was … I was unloadin’ some shit outta the trunk o’ one car and into another.
    Some shit? What kinda shit? Drugs, you mean? Heroin? Cocaine? What?
    Coke, man. Bags and bags of it. My uncle had made this deal with the cops. It was a lotta shit, man. A whole lot.
    And whose car were you taking it from?
    It was a unmarked police car, man. One of the cops had pulled it up in the alley. The other one, he had opened—
    What other one? Who?
    The one they be callin’ Jimmy, man … the dude still up in the hospital?… he had opened up the trunk, so Lonnie could check the shit out, man. Then him and