George Pelecanos Read Online Free PDF Page A

chuckled some, and said, "I am high."

    I
turned and walked back to the road, tripping a little I stepped off the curb.
As I got onto Quebec, I saw a car ing down Park Lane, sliding a little, rolling
too fast. It was a dark color, and it had them Chevy
headlights with the rectangle fog lamps on the sides. I patted my pockets,
knowing all the while that I didn't have my cell.

    I
ducked into the alley off Quebec. I looked up at that rear porch with the
bicycle tire leaning up on it, where that boy stayed. I saw a light behind the
porch door's window. I scooped up snow, packed a ball of it tight, and threw it
up at that window. I waited. The boy parted the curtains and put his face up on
the glass, his hands cupped around his eyes so he could see.

    "Little man!" I yelled, standing by the
porch. "Help me out!"

    He
cold-eyed me and stepped back. I knew he recognized me. But I guess he had seen
me go toward the police unmarked, and he had made me for a snitch. In his young
mind, it was probably the worst thing a man could be. Behind the window, all
went dark. As it did, headlights swept the alley and a car came in with the
light. The car was black, and it was a Caprice.

    I
turned and bucked.

    I
ran my ass off down that alley, my old Timbs struggling for grip in the snow.
As I ran, I pulled on trashcans, knocking them over so they would block the
path of the Caprice. I didn't look back. I heard the boys in the car, yelling
at me and shit, and I heard them curse as they had to slow down. Soon I was out
of the alley, on Princeton Place, running free.

    I
went down Princeton, cut left on Warder, jogged by the front of the elementary,
and hung a right on Otis. There was an alley down there, back behind the ball
field, shaped like a T. It would be hard for them to navigate back in there.
They couldn't surprise me or nothing like that.

    I
walked into the alley. Straight off, a couple of dogs began to bark. Folks kept
'em, shepherd mixes and rottweil with heads big as cattle, for security. Most
of them was inside, on account of the weather, but not
all. There were some who stayed out all the time, and they were loud. Once they
got going, they would bark themselves crazy. They were letting Marquise know
where I was.

    I
saw the Caprice drive real slow down Otis, its head-lights off, and I felt my
ears grow hot. I got down in a crouch, pressed myself against a chain-link
fence behind someone's row house. My stomach flipped all the way and I had one
of them throw- up burps. Stuff came up, and I swallowed
it down.

    I
didn't care if it was safe or not; I needed to get my ass home. Couldn't nobody hurt me there. In my bed, the same bed where I always
slept, near my brother James. With my mother and father down
the hall.

    I
listened to a boy calling out my name. Then another boy, from somewhere else,
did the same. I could hear the laughter in their voices. I shivered some and
bit down on my lip.

    Use
the alphabet, you get lost. That's what my father told me when I was a kid.
Otis, Princeton, Quebec...I was three streets away.

    I
turned at the T of the alley and walked down the slope. The dogs were out of
their minds, growling and barking, and I went past them and kept my eyes
straight ahead. At the bottom of the alley, I saw a boy in a thick coat, hoodie
up. He was waiting on me.

    I
turned around and ran back from where I came. Even with the sounds of the dogs,
I could hear myself panting, trying to get my breath. I rounded the T and made
it back to Otis, where I cut and headed for the baseball field. I could cross
that and be on Princeton. When I got there, I'd be one block closer to my home.

    I
stepped up onto the field. I walked regular, trying to calm myself down. I
didn't hear a car or anything else. Just the snow crunching
beneath my feet.

    And
then a young man stepped up onto the edge of the field. He wore a bulky coat
without a cap or a hood. His hand was inside the coat, and his smile was not
the smile of a friend. There were