Harlem Sunset by Nekesa Afia

Author:Nekesa Afia [Afia, Nekesa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-06-28T00:00:00+00:00

23

THE RADIO HAD gone staticky. Louise was lying on the couch, flipping through the Negro Voice, trying to listen to the radio. But the radio wasn’t working. It was old, seven or so years at this point. She and Rosa Maria had bought it because it was cheap, and she knew how to deal with it. Louise often played the radio when she was home by herself. It was so much better than being alone with her thoughts. Louise got up and smacked the radio as hard as she could, a hollow noise sounding from within. She turned it off and turned it on again. The static continued. She squinted at it, knowing that her knowledge in fixing the thing was limited.

She flicked it on again. She looked toward the wall. Faint red letters still showed there, no matter how hard she scrubbed. And Louise had scrubbed until her fingers were raw and bleeding.

She was guilty and she knew it.

The radio still fussed. She thought she heard the serious voice of a newsman break through. Louise flicked the knob, changing the station. The static died down and she could hear what was being said.

“And in other news”—the voice was stunning and clear in its diction—“famed murderess Louise Lloyd is scheduled to hang later today. Miss Lloyd, as everyone knows, is the Detective Killer. She was convicted of the murder of former NYPD detective Theodore Gilbert—”

When Louise awoke, she was covered in a thin layer of sweat. She was lying on her bed, on her back, her heart beating. She had been dreaming. It was a dream. It wasn’t real. Rosa Maria was lying next to her, snoring lightly. It was about two in the morning. After the Dove had closed, there was no reason to stay up to all hours.

Tea. Louise needed tea. She pulled herself from bed, wrapped her dressing gown around herself, and put water in the kettle. She and Rosa Maria weren’t tea drinkers, but there was always a package or two in the cupboards to be offered to visitors. Louise pulled out a tea bag, put it in her cup.

She often thought about how things would have turned out had Detective Gilbert not been the man he was. And in spite of everything, he had been her mentor. She could picture him sitting across from her in his impeccable suit, waistcoat unbuttoned. He would look at her, discerning blue eyes trying to figure out what she knew.

“What do you know, Miss Lloyd?”

He would ask the question after taking a moment to light a cigarette. She could see it so clearly: him sitting at his desk in the little office, the summertime Harlem sun streaming through the window, all of it idyllic and lovely.

“I know that someone is trying to set me up, and I don’t know why. Someone killed Nora to frame Rosa Maria to get back at me.” Louise said the words out loud, although she was alone. “I know that someone wants to see me fall.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.