The Arrangement by M. Ravenel

Author:M. Ravenel [Ravenel, M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Hard-Boiled Detective Mystery, Crime Fiction
ISBN: 9781736491300
Publisher: Chikara Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Lu’s trail ended up going cold in Hunt’s Point, and after I’d called in the old man’s death to the chief, Mitts and I took a bus back to Queens. Before I decided to call it a night and head home, I needed to take care of one last thing. Around a quarter to three in the morning, we stepped off the bus at the corner near Kronos Lounge. As we walked, Mitts stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked ahead, his face clouded with gloom.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” he muttered.

“Don’t sound like it. You still bent up about the old man?”

“Naw… well, yeah… well… I mean… I’m just…” He sighed. “Damn… I can’t believe Theo joined a gang.”

I scrunched my brow. “You mean that kid you knew? What was up with him, anyway?”

“I’ve known Theo since we were kids. My grandma used to babysit us after school sometimes. Theo was swell. I was eight years older than him, but we still had fun playing together. He always looked up to me like a big brother. I never had a sibling, so he pretty much took that role.”

“When did you last see him?”

“After I left home.”

“You mean ran away.”

He bristled. “Hey, I was sixteen and stupid. But there ain’t no harder lesson than life, I’ll tell ya what.”

“You’d think after thirteen years, he’d be happy to see you.”

Mitts frowned. “Yeah… I don’t get it.”

“Maybe he felt lonely after you left. No more, uh… ‘positive’—in a manner of speaking—role models to look up to, so he eventually turned to alternatives.”

He averted his gaze to the ground and sighed. “I wish there was something I could do to help him. He don’t deserve that life.”

I shook my head. “He’s gotta help himself first. Maybe now that he’s seen you again, he’ll rethink his choices.”

Mitts looked back at me pleadingly. “Can you at least make sure he doesn’t get charged for murder? I mean, he was the only one in the group who didn’t actually touch the guy.”

“I can’t make any promises. But I didn’t mention him when I talked to the chief. Let’s just hope that if his friends end up getting caught, they don’t rat Theo out.”

“Yeah…” Mitts said in a choked-up voice.

We arrived at Kronos Lounge. Only a few cars remained parked along the curb, and no new patrons were on the way inside. Collins, another of Roy’s doormen, leaned against the wall next to the entrance, looking more bored than a kid in an empty room. He saw us and perked up, pushing off the wall.

“Mitts? What are you doing here? Roy said you were sick,” Collins said.

“I was. Now I’m not.” He flashed a gap-toothed grin.

Collins’s gaze bounced from Mitts to me, then his eyes widened. “Wait… Were you two—”

“Hey, lay off that jive talk,” I warned. “Is Roy still here?”

Collins nodded. “Yeah, but he’s not in a good mood.”

“When is he ever?” Mitts muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Eh, a couple came here earlier, looking for him.

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