When Vows Are Broken by Samuel L. Hair

Author:Samuel L. Hair [Hair, Samuel L.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: United States, Urban, African American, Genre Fiction, Literature & Fiction
Amazon: B00E1OBVG8
Publisher: Urban Books
Published: 2013-08-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

Canvas the Neighborhood

The Gathings family was well liked in the neighborhood. They were thought of as good people. They lived with their three young kids directly behind the Bradfords. The uniformed officers who were canvassing the neighborhood, thinking that somebody might have heard something, rang the bell.

After the officers explained what they wanted, the children—Jonasia Gathings, age nine; Antonio Gathings, age seven; and Robert Jr., age six—told the police their story.

They arrived home on the school bus at approximately four o’clock that Monday afternoon. Afterward they did homework, and after that they watched cartoons in the den. Their father had taken a couple of pain pills and had fallen asleep. During the cartoons, they heard a noise.

“What did it sound like?” the officer asked.

“Pow! pow! pow!” Jonasia said.

“I thought it was firecrackers,” Antonio said.

“Sounded like a gun, though,” Jonasia added.

Robert Jr. nodded, agreeing with his brother. “Yep, it sounded like somebody was shootin’ at our house,” Robert Jr. said, and like always when he spoke, he began laughing.

Antonio added another assumption. “I thought the coyote was shootin’ at Bugs Bunny on TV.”

“Couldn’t been,” Jonasia said quickly. “The coyote didn’t have a gun. You talkin’ about Yosemite Sam.”

The kids laughed simultaneously as the officer began drawing conclusions. If the kids were telling the truth, and heard the shots at the time they said, then Daryl couldn’t have murdered April. Bradford would have been en route to or at Jack Rabbit Liquor & Jr Market.

Still, there were questions about the kids’ account. It seemed likely that all of them had heard something, but what? Were their memories reliable enough to determine a time?

Another factor that made their account even more questionable was the report of a neighbor who heard and saw a truck backfire around the time the Gathings kids heard the noise. He had even given a description of the truck to police. Instead of a gunshot, could that have been what the kids heard?

Other neighbors who resided on Castlegate Avenue and the surrounding streets wondered about the time of the gunshots too, speculating on why no one else heard anything. Some decided that if the gunshot happened between three fifty-five and four twenty-five, when school buses travel down the street, stopping every few blocks and setting their brakes with a loud noise, no one would have paid attention.

“At that time of day, I would have thought it was just a loud bus,” most neighbors said.

The more interesting alternative theory for the officers involved another of the Bradfords’ neighbors. The teenager who lived next door to the Bradfords could be angry enough to have resorted to violence. The kid went by the name of Killa Mike.

Michael Thomas, aka Killa Mike, was a dark-complexioned reputed bully, who both sold and smoked marijuana, and ditched school on a regular basis. Neighborhood rumors had it that Michael had been seen, but not caught, breaking in vehicles, stealing stereos, batteries, and other valuables one could easily exchange for quick cash.

The reputable thug was also

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