Lying to Live (9 page)
Authors: Darrien Lee
“Thank you.”
“Okay, Julius. If it's okay with your parents and it won't affect your schoolwork, I have a job for you.”
Julius eyes widened with excitement. “Yes, sir, I would love a job. What do you do?”
“I do landscaping for most of the business complexes in the city. I have a little shop in Arrington. It's hard work, but it's honest work.”
“You don't own a car?” Julius asked.
He smiled and said, “I do, but I take the bus three days a week to conserve gas and to help the environment. What about you? Are you going to be able to do this in the afternoons and some weekends?”
“I have to talk to my parents, but I should be able to.”
The bus stopped, and the man stood and gave Julius his business card. “Give me a call after you talk to your parents, and we can work out a schedule for you.”
With a smile on his face, Julius took the card and said, “Thank you, Mr. McElroy.”
He shook Julius's hand and said, “I look forward to hearing back from you.”
Julius watched Mr. McElroy get off the bus and walk down the block. He stared at the card and hoped that this was a sign of his luck changing for the better, then tucked it inside his book bag and got back to the business at hand. Three stops later, he reached his destination and jumped off the bus and walked toward the dingy pool hall frequented by Viper and his crew. When he walked in, he was stopped at the door and frisked by a couple of men.
“Where do you think you're going? What's in the bag?” one of them asked.
“Just my school books,” Julius replied.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the library somewhere, bookworm?”
The other man laughed upon hearing that statement.
“Leave him alone,” Viper said as he made his way on crutches over to the men. “I know this kid. You're Denim's friend, right?”
Julius nodded and said, “Yes, I'm Julius.”
Viper walked him over to the pool table and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Julius sat down on a stool and said, “I need to talk to you about something.”
Viper waved off the two men and picked up a pool stick and said, “Okay, talk.”
With sweat forming on his forehead, Julius realized he was trembling as he watched Viper hit the balls into the pocket. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it wouldn't budge, so he forced the words out of his mouth. “I heard some guy took a shot at you the other day.”
Without looking up, Viper said, “Somebody's always trying to take a shot at me for some reason or another.”
“Do you think it could be revenge over something you did to them?” Julius asked nervously.
Viper stopped playing pool for a second and asked, “What's this about, kid?”
“Who's the guy that shot at you at the barbecue joint?”
He laughed.
“You heard about that, huh?”
“Everybody knows about it,” Julius answered. “That was the day you had your accident with Denim.”
“Yeah, that's too bad. I'm glad she didn't get hurt too bad. Anyway, that was some fool that's been pissed off ever since his brother was put six feet under because he didn't know how to conduct business. He'd better hope I don't find his non-shooting ass.”
“What's his name?” Julius asked as Viper knocked a ball in the corner pocket.
Viper motioned for the bartender to bring him a bottle of beer. “They call him Rock. Why? Do you know him?” he asked.
Julius rubbed his forehead and said, “I had the pleasure of meeting him today, when he pulled a gun on me.”
Viper took a sip of beer and frowned. “Why did he pull a gun on you?”
“His little brother threw a snake on Denim at school today, so after school I hunted him down and kicked his ass,” Julius revealed, trying to appear tough. “His brother rolled up on us and pulled out a gun.”
Viper laid the pool stick down and asked, “Is Denim okay?”
“Yeah, but it scared her pretty bad.”
“Why did he throw a snake on her?”
Julius hopped off the bar stool and said, “Because she saved you from a burning car.”
Viper grabbed Julius by the arm and asked, “Are you serious?”
“Yeah, I'm serious. Look, Viper, I need to get home, but there's something I have to tell you.”
He sat, finished off the beer, and said, “I'm listening.”
Julius's heart started pounding in his chest. He was going to do it. He was going to reveal his most feared secret to the man he feared the most, and it made him sick to his stomach.
“I was in the store the night you shot Remy. I saw the whole thing.”
Viper dropped his crutches and nearly fell upon hearing that revelation. He stared at Julius and said, “No way.”
Julius nodded and said, “No, it's the truth. After you shot him, you walked to the back of the store, grabbed a case of beer, and walked out.”
Viper couldn't take his eyes off Julius. Who in their right mind would put their life on the line like this and not expect deadly repercussions?
He picked up his crutches and asked, “Why are you telling me this? Do you have a death wish or something?”
“No, I'm just tired of looking over my shoulder, like you are. That guy, Rock, will eventually catch up with you, and if you get to him first, there will always be another Rock out there, waiting to take a shot at you for something you did to someone they loved. Hell, maybe even someone from Remy's family.”
Angry, Viper asked, “What do you want from me, kid? Why are you telling me this?”
“I'm telling you because I don't want to be labeled a snitch or end up dead for what I know. I've been lying to live for weeks, and I'm sick of it. I think you've outgrown this city. It would probably be in your best interest to start over somewhere else.”
Viper laughed and asked, “Are you trying to run me out of town, kid?”
“Would you rather be locked up for life or have a needle in your arm?” Julius asked.
Viper pulled out a gun and said, “I could kill you right now and dump your body in the river and no one would ever know.”
Lying, Julius said, “Yes, they would, because I made a videotape confession about everything. I put it in a safe place, so if anything happened to me or I came up missing, my parents and the police would know why. I think you should go to jail for what you did, but living around here will make it hard for me to turn you in. I'm giving you an out by suggesting that you leave town. It's best for all of us.”
Viper started laughing and tucked the gun back in his waistband and said, “You can forget it, kid, because I'm not going anywhere, and for the record, I didn't mean to shoot the store clerk. That was an accident.”
Before Julius could respond, an argument broke out between one of Viper's men and a guy at the pool table next to them. This distraction stopped their conversation and caused the two men at the door to move away from their post. That was when the room erupted in a hail of gunfire, and Julius was struck and fell to the floor.
Chapter Nine
“He's okay,” the paramedic said as Julius came to. He was disoriented and had no idea what had happened to him.
“What happened?” Julius whispered.
“You're okay. You just got hit with some broken glass,” the paramedic revealed.
“What happened to Viper? The guy I was talking to?” Julius asked.
Detective Daniels leaned down over Julius and said, “He didn't make it, son, but you got us everything we needed to charge him with killing that store clerk.”
Julius sat up and asked, “What do you mean? He's dead?”
“It's not the way we wanted this to end. We wanted him alive, but somebody else wanted him dead.”
When Julius looked up, he saw Rock, the man who had pulled a gun on him, being put on a stretcher in handcuffs.
“Did that guy shoot Viper?” Julius asked.
Detective Daniels looked across the room. “Yes. Mr. Jackson had a lot of enemies. We've had you under surveillance for some time now in hopes of getting the evidence we needed to get to the truth, but we didn't expect anything like this to go down,” the detective confessed.
Angry, Julius said, “You almost got me killed!”
“We're sorry about that, but we protected you as much as possible. You see that gentleman over there?” he asked as he pointed to a large, unshaven man leaning against the pool table. “That's Detective Dunn. He's one of the best undercover officers in our division, and he was able record your conversation with Mr. Jackson before the shooter came in and shot Mr. Jackson. Detective Dunn was watching over you the entire time, so when the shooter came in and shot at Mr. Jackson, he shot the assailant. You were the only witness to the murder at the store, and we weren't getting any cooperation from you, so we had to do what we had to do. It's behind you now. We got the confession we needed, and we got our man.”
Julius looked over and saw Viper's body on the floor, covered with a sheet. He couldn't believe how close he had come to dying, but he was glad that it was over.
Detective Daniels helped Julius up and said, “Come on. Let's get you home. You shouldn't have been here, anyway. He could've killed you if we hadn't had you under surveillance.”
As Julius stood, he noticed blood on the wall. As he walked out of the pool hall, the glass crunched under his feet. Outside he saw Viper's entourage in handcuffs in the back of a couple of police cars. On the way home all Julius could think about was how angry his father was going to be. He was happy that justice had been served for the store clerk, but he felt a sense of sadness given that he had basically watched a man die . . . until he remembered that it could've been him.
When they arrived at Julius's house, the detective walked him to the door and explained to his parents what had happened and why Julius had the bandage on his head. Mrs. Graham was in tears as she hugged her son, but Mr. Graham immediately yelled at the detective for allowing his son to be put in harm's way. Before slamming the door in the detective's face, Mr. Graham let him know that he planned to sue the police department for their reckless behavior. Then he hugged his son and told him how much he loved him.
Exhausted, Julius skipped dinner and headed straight to bed. It wasn't until he was safe in the confines of his room that he really exhaled and thought about what he had been through over the past few weeks. He had a major headache, but before going to bed, he called Domingo and told him everything that had happened at the pool hall. Domingo couldn't believe his ears, and while he was thankful his friend was not hurt, he was also angry that he'd gone to the pool hall alone. Before hanging up, Julius asked Domingo to call Denim and tell her what happened so she wouldn't worry that someone would attack her again for her association with Viper. Once Julius ended his call, his little sister, Zakia, entered his room to check on him. She was a brat at times, but he loved her dearly.
She touched his bandage and asked, “Does your head hurt?”
He could see the concern in her eyes, so he smiled and said, “Just a little bit.”
Zakia climbed onto the bed with her brother and hugged his waist. “Can I stay in here with you for a while?”
He kissed her forehead and said, “Of course you can.”
Zakia started softly singing to her brother, and before long Julius drifted off the sleep, and so did Zakia.
Epilogue
Two months later Julius joined Dré on the basketball court for the opening game. His grades were good, and after some convincing conversations with Dré and Denim, he decided to try out for the team, and he made it. Surprisingly, not only did he make the basketball team, but his skills also allowed him to make the varsity team as a freshman, something not accomplished by many. Julius was no longer being tutored by Denim, but they maintained a close friendship, and he was happy to see her cheering for them on the sidelines. Denim was happy to see the smile back on Julius's face. He had been so unhappy for a long time, and now she knew why.
Before the tip-off of the ball game, Denim blew Dré a kiss and quickly pulled her denim diary out of her purse so she could jot down her thoughts.
As I look at Julius, so happy on the basketball court, I think he's finally found a place to fit in. Life is hard enough on freshmen coming into high school. The burden he was carrying, and the fear he must've felt after witnessing the murder, had to have been eating him alive, and it affected him emotionally and mentally. I hope that I was able to help Julius in some way and that he knows that I'll always be here for him and so will Dré. It's senior year and the last season that I'll get to cheer for my school, but tonight is less about me and more about Julius and his new beginnings. Julius, I love you. Make me proud tonight, and show your teammates, classmates, and the city what you're made of. Somebody has to take Dré's place on the court once he graduates. LOL!
Smooches!
D
The referee blew the whistle for the tip-off, so Denim tucked her diary back into her purse and began cheering, as she had done each year. By the end of the game Dré had scored thirty-two points and Julius had racked up twelve. It was an amazing feat for Julius, and his parents couldn't be prouder. It seemed that things were turning around for the family. His father had found a job that paid more than the previous job he'd had, and they were lucky to find a home in a safer and nicer neighborhood. Their son had blossomed in only a few months, and so had their lives, especially with Julius and his father finding employment. They had no doubt that the best was yet to come.
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