Cut to the Bone(31)
“Earl, there’s no way I can let you-”
“You got no choice, Danny,” Earl said. “You’re gonna walk out of here and not look back. You’re so horrified at what I did that we’re not brothers anymore. No further contact between us. No letters, no calls, no nothing. From now on, you don’t know me.”
Danny shook his head so hard his hair couldn’t keep up. “I can’t do that, Earl. There’s no way I’ll abandon you.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because you gotta take care of Mom.”
Silence.
“Face it, Danny,” Earl said. “I’m a gangster. Mom loves me, but she’s not proud of me. Can’t be, not with what I do. You, on the other hand, are Mr. College. You’re smart, striding, gonna grab the world by the throat and shake it up. With your degree, you’re gonna work for NASA or some other important program. You’re the son Mom can be proud of.”
“What’s that got to do with the price of Sanka?”
“Everything,” Earl said. “The state’s gonna kill someone for this massacre, Danny. That’s carved in stone - someone killed family, and someone’s going to pay. That someone is me, ‘cause Covington told ‘em so. Trial’s just a formality.”
“But if I tell Covington-”
“That will do exactly one thing - put you in the chair next to mine. Meaning Mom will bury both her sons, not just one. We can’t do that to her.” Earl motioned for the water jug. Danny poured a cup. Earl drank deep, smacked his lips.
“Covington’s not gonna let me go,” he said. “To him, I’m a stone-cold gangster who killed his baby brother. Buzzing me is personal now - a family obligation. If you tell him you’re involved, he’ll execute you with me. Not instead of. Because you’re my, uh, what do you call it . . .”
“Accomplice?”
“Yeah. Accomplice.” He cranked his head to look Danny square in the face. “One of us has to survive this. To keep the family name alive, and to take care of Mom. I can’t, so you have to.” He swallowed, hard. “Something else.”
“What?”
“I don’t want you to die,” Earl said, so quietly Danny strained to hear. “I can’t handle what’s coming to me at Stateville unless I know you’ll be all right. You’re doing this for Mom and the family honor, Danny. But you’re doing it for me, too.”
Silence.
“Five minutes,” the cop in the hall said.
“Thank you, Officer,” Earl chirped.
“Don’t get wise,” the cop said.
Earl smirked, went back to Danny.
“So that’s it,” he said. “I’m taking the fall. You’re going on with your life. It’s gonna be a great one, and you’re gonna take care of Mom. You won’t contact me again. No cards, letters, or calls. Especially no visits - cops see us together after today, they’ll start thinking you’re maybe involved. They’ll get you kicked from school, maybe drafted. They’ll ruin your life.”
Danny kept shaking his head.
“You got no choice,” Earl snarled, full metal gangster. “You messed up doing those grenades, and this is how you’re gonna pay for it. It’s my job to do this. It’s yours to take care of our mother and have a life worth bragging about. Savvy?”
Danny made a little sound in his throat.
“Gonna be hell for me, too,” Earl said. “We been thicker than thieves all these years, the Monroe brothers. Two peas in a pod. Not seeing you again is gonna hurt like cancer.”
“Worse than that.”
“Right. But we have to protect Mom. You have to protect Mom. Dad can’t do it ‘cause he’s dead, and I can’t ‘cause I’ll be there soon. It’s up to you to handle it, Danny. Will you?”
Danny closed his eyes.
“Yes,” he said.
“Look me in the eye and promise,” Earl said.
“I’ll handle everything,” Danny said, staring. “I give you my word.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Earl said. “I’m gonna make a little show for the copper. He’s gonna report this visit to the detective bureau, and I want it our way. Now c’mere.”
Danny stood, leaned over.
Earl patted his cheek with deep affection.
Then punched it, hard.
“You want nothing to do with me?” Earl roared as Danny stumbled back. “Fine! Who the hell needs ya? You’re dead to me now, Danny! Dead! Get out of my room, you traitor!”
“You’re the traitor, Earl, killing those poor officers!” Danny shouted back. “You’re a disgrace to our family! Man like you isn’t any brother of mine!”