Shadow Man Read Free Page B

You’re doing it !
    Don’t worry about spelling and punctuation now. Just get those thoughts on paper .
    And no, you don’t get extra credit for extra words. Nice try , though. Learning is its own reward. Right? Write !
    Keep up the good work .
    C.S .

7
    David McCloud
    Man, this place is a madhouse. What a way to start the day. My brother’s dead and my head is killing me. I wish I had some vodka.
    The sun’s too bright bouncing off the coffee table. We need more curtains. Ma should get some curtains. Jeez, do I feel lousy.
    My little brother’s dead. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe he’s gone. The first thing I heard is my mother screaming. Five o’clock in the morning. The cops at the door. All the lights go on. I’m lying on the living room couch. Ma’s reeling around the room with her hands on her mouth. Frank’s pulling on his pants. He almost fell down.
    â€œAre you sure?” he’s saying. “How’d it happen?” So then he was supposed to go identify Gabe, like the cops didn’t already know he was ours. I kept my eyes closed so I wouldn’t have to go. The cops said it wasn’t a rush kind of deal.
    Ma said she was going. Frank said no, it wasn’t something for a woman.
    I didn’t see what happened next, but it sounded like she spit at him.
    Ma went into her room and shut the door. I was lying there thinking. I kept wishing I were dreaming. I wanted to get up and get something to drink, but I didn’t want to talk to my father.
    After a while they went down to the funeral parlor. Since they got back, Ma hasn’t said a word. Not a thing. She’s sitting on her bed, just staring, not crying. Gerald went out of here raving like a maniac, saying he was going to kill James. Ma didn’t even try to stop him.
    When he left, Gerald almost ran over the dog. Frank had tied him up outside because he wouldn’t quit barking. He still wouldn’t stop. Frank said, “I’m going to shoot him!” So I went out and let Jack loose. He ran down the road, looking for Gabe, I guess.
    Oh, man, my head is pounding.
    Got to pull myself together and quit doing all this stuff. It’s getting me all screwed up. Gabe says—
    There’s the damn phone again. It won’t stop ringing. Everybody’s calling. Ma won’t come to the phone. Even when it’s her own sister. Frank said, “Kat, it’s Abby.” She still wouldn’t take it. He’s got to do all the talking.
    I wonder who he’s talking to now. He’s pissed. If this was the old days, he’d rip the phone out of the wall. He’s saying, “Yes, yes, I’ll be right down,” looking lean and mean as a knife. We never called him Dad. He’s just our father. Some people call him Francis or Franny.
    When I was little I used to think he wasn’t my real father ’cause he didn’t act like I was his son. People say I look just like him and his dad, my grandpa. I hated that old bastard, but I loved my grandma. She died when I was little. Her name was May June. Her hands were real soft. She smelled like perfume. I can’t picture her in my mind anymore, though, and Frank tore up all the pictures one time when he was drunk. But I remember her being huggy and warm and singing me baby songs.
    I was trying to pretend I was still asleep, but Frank’s standing by the couch, talking to me.
    He says, “I have to go down to the police station. Get the phone if it rings.”
    â€œWhat about Ma?”
    â€œWhat about her?”
    â€œShe won’t talk.”
    â€œShe’s upset.” Frank blows out blue cigarette smoke, which makes him cough, which makes him even madder. But I’m not afraid of Frank anymore. I’m twice as strong as him. The old days are over.
    He puts on a jacket. “I’ll be back in a while. Clean up that mess.”
    â€œWhat mess?”
    He points. “You