Payback: A Novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra

Author:Lorenzo Carcaterra [Carcaterra, Lorenzo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2020-08-25T00:00:00+00:00

33.

INWOOD HILL PARK

LATER THAT NIGHT

EDDIE KENWOOD LEANED AGAINST THE side of a large oak tree, hands thrust inside the pockets of a worn pair of blue jeans. He watched quietly as three men in dark clothing dragged a bloodied and beaten J. J. Livingstone closer to him. They were just off the park entrance on West 215th Street and Indian Road. It was dark and the park was deserted, the lights from the street shrouded by the thick leaves from the many low-hanging branches that circled the area.

Inwood Hill Park is where, according to city legend, Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan Island from Native Americans for an armful of trinkets and beads. It is also said to be the last remaining primeval forest on the island. But neither of those factors mattered much on this night.

“Lift him up,” Kenwood said to the three men, “and rest him against the tree. The two of us need to have a little chat.”

J.J. was hoisted, and his large body was slammed against the side of a massive tulip poplar tree. One of his eyes was swollen, and blood streaked down the sides of his face. His right hand was broken and dangled by his side. His left arm hung at an angle. He had trouble breathing, his nostrils crusted with dried blood, and both lips were swollen. Eddie Kenwood walked over to him and stood inches from his battered face.

“You got caught, J.J.,” Kenwood said. “That’s what happened. You tried playing one side against the other and you got caught. All this time, all these years, I figured you were one of the ones I could trust, and then you go out and burn me.”

“I don’t know who’s been filling your head with that bullshit,” Livingstone managed to say, blood spurting out of his mouth as he spoke. “I’m not playing on any side but yours.”

Kenwood shook his head. “That’s not what they’re saying on the street, J.J. They’re saying you’re playing ball with Tank and Pearl. If that’s true, it puts you up against me.”

“I wouldn’t play you that way,” J.J. said.

“But you did talk to Tank,” Kenwood said. “Or is that part bullshit, too?”

“He came to talk to me,” J.J. said. “Stopped and asked a few questions. None of them had to do with you.”

“Who did they have to do with?” Kenwood asked.

“That kid from back in the day,” J.J. said. “Randy Jenkins. The guy they said killed Rachel.”

“The same guy Tank is looking to set free,” Kenwood said. “He knew you and Jenkins used to run together?”

“That ain’t no secret,” J.J. said. “We was from the same neighborhood, same street. Who else you gonna run with other than the ones you know? That don’t mean I knew jack shit about what happened that night.”

“If Tank knew you were running pals, then he also put two and two together and figured you had the hots for Randy’s squeeze,” Kenwood said. “The girl he killed.”

“I knew her, that much he could zone out on his own,” J.

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