She was out of town when 7
he was killed, at least that’s what she said. She never went back to her 8
house.”
9
“Damn,” Clarissa said. “Brawly got the worst luck in blood. If 10
they alive or dead, with him or not with him, they still bring him 11
grief.”
12
“His mother, too, you think?” I asked.
13
“She love him and all, but she don’t understand him. She wanna 14
be tellin’ him what to do and don’t wanna hear ’bout the ideas he got 15
for himself.”
16
“Like what?” I asked.
17
“Like what he believe in,” she said. “Like what he think people 18
oughtta be doin’.”
19
“Like with the Urban Revolutionary Party?”
20
“Maybe.”
21
Clarissa was a slight girl with knotty features. Her hair was frosted 22
gold. Her eyes were so light a brown that you might have called them 23
gold, too. She was at an age when the clothes accented rather than 24
covered her figure, and her skin seemed to glow. I felt a flush of em-25
barrassment just looking at her.
26
“John and Alva think that the First Men is just a gang,” I said.
27
“That’s why they got me lookin’ for Brawly.”
28
“Older black folks is just scared’a what groups like the First Men 29
stand for. They’re scared to stand up and demand what the white S 30
R 31
9 3
REAL PAGES
12374_i-vi_1-314_r4sw.qxd 4/18/2002 2:00 PM Page 94
Wa l t e r M o s l e y
1
man owes them. They just don’t understand that the only way to get 2
somethin’ is to fight for it.”
3
“They plannin’ a war?” I asked.
4
“Only if there’s no other way. What they want is better schools 5
and jobs, history books that tell the truth, and people who look like 6
us in government.”
7
“Sounds like a tall order.”
8
“It’s only fair. And Xavier knows that we got to take it slow. He 9
wanted us to turn that storefront into a place where the community 10
could come and talk about our problems. But now the cops busted 11
in, the people will be too scared to trust in it.”
12
“So now what?” I really wanted to know.
13
“We got to find another way. That’s all.”
14
There was something that she wasn’t saying, something that 15
lurked behind her resolute words.
16
“So they’re into the revolution and not protection?” I asked.
17
“Protection from what?” she replied.
18
I laughed then. Maybe I was getting old.
19
“You got a pencil, Clarissa?”
20
“Uh-huh, why?”
21
“Because I’m going to write down my phone numbers — day and 22
night. I don’t wanna mess with Brawly. If he’s happy with what he’s 23
doin’, then that’s okay with me. But if he gets in trouble or if you see 24
that the Party’s not what they say — then you call on me. All right?”
25
She didn’t answer the question but she did give me pencil and 26
paper. I put down my numbers at work and at home.
27
Before I left I asked her, “Why do you sound so mad at Isolda?
28
Do you know her?”
29
“I know what she did to Brawly,” Clarissa said with a sneer.
30 S
“What?”
31 R
“That ain’t for me to say.”
9 4
REAL PAGES
12374_i-vi_1-314_r4sw.qxd 4/18/2002 2:00 PM Page 95
B A D B O Y B R AW LY B R O W N
1
2
I T WAS AFTER one in the morning. If I were living the life that I 3
had promised myself, I would have gone home and tucked the 4
kids into their beds. But the fever was still in me and there was 5
someone I needed to talk to who I knew never went to sleep before 6
sunrise.
7
He lived in a rented house on a street called Ozone Court, only 8
half a block from the beach. It was just a tiny tar-roofed structure, but 9
he was the only black man I knew who had managed to get a place 10
in that neighborhood. While pressing the buzzer I planned to ask 11
him how he got away with living in an exclusively white neighbor-12
hood. But the way he answered the door threw that question right 13
out of my head.
14
“Who’s there?” he asked in a
he was killed, at least that’s what she said. She never went back to her 8
house.”
9
“Damn,” Clarissa said. “Brawly got the worst luck in blood. If 10
they alive or dead, with him or not with him, they still bring him 11
grief.”
12
“His mother, too, you think?” I asked.
13
“She love him and all, but she don’t understand him. She wanna 14
be tellin’ him what to do and don’t wanna hear ’bout the ideas he got 15
for himself.”
16
“Like what?” I asked.
17
“Like what he believe in,” she said. “Like what he think people 18
oughtta be doin’.”
19
“Like with the Urban Revolutionary Party?”
20
“Maybe.”
21
Clarissa was a slight girl with knotty features. Her hair was frosted 22
gold. Her eyes were so light a brown that you might have called them 23
gold, too. She was at an age when the clothes accented rather than 24
covered her figure, and her skin seemed to glow. I felt a flush of em-25
barrassment just looking at her.
26
“John and Alva think that the First Men is just a gang,” I said.
27
“That’s why they got me lookin’ for Brawly.”
28
“Older black folks is just scared’a what groups like the First Men 29
stand for. They’re scared to stand up and demand what the white S 30
R 31
9 3
REAL PAGES
12374_i-vi_1-314_r4sw.qxd 4/18/2002 2:00 PM Page 94
Wa l t e r M o s l e y
1
man owes them. They just don’t understand that the only way to get 2
somethin’ is to fight for it.”
3
“They plannin’ a war?” I asked.
4
“Only if there’s no other way. What they want is better schools 5
and jobs, history books that tell the truth, and people who look like 6
us in government.”
7
“Sounds like a tall order.”
8
“It’s only fair. And Xavier knows that we got to take it slow. He 9
wanted us to turn that storefront into a place where the community 10
could come and talk about our problems. But now the cops busted 11
in, the people will be too scared to trust in it.”
12
“So now what?” I really wanted to know.
13
“We got to find another way. That’s all.”
14
There was something that she wasn’t saying, something that 15
lurked behind her resolute words.
16
“So they’re into the revolution and not protection?” I asked.
17
“Protection from what?” she replied.
18
I laughed then. Maybe I was getting old.
19
“You got a pencil, Clarissa?”
20
“Uh-huh, why?”
21
“Because I’m going to write down my phone numbers — day and 22
night. I don’t wanna mess with Brawly. If he’s happy with what he’s 23
doin’, then that’s okay with me. But if he gets in trouble or if you see 24
that the Party’s not what they say — then you call on me. All right?”
25
She didn’t answer the question but she did give me pencil and 26
paper. I put down my numbers at work and at home.
27
Before I left I asked her, “Why do you sound so mad at Isolda?
28
Do you know her?”
29
“I know what she did to Brawly,” Clarissa said with a sneer.
30 S
“What?”
31 R
“That ain’t for me to say.”
9 4
REAL PAGES
12374_i-vi_1-314_r4sw.qxd 4/18/2002 2:00 PM Page 95
B A D B O Y B R AW LY B R O W N
1
2
I T WAS AFTER one in the morning. If I were living the life that I 3
had promised myself, I would have gone home and tucked the 4
kids into their beds. But the fever was still in me and there was 5
someone I needed to talk to who I knew never went to sleep before 6
sunrise.
7
He lived in a rented house on a street called Ozone Court, only 8
half a block from the beach. It was just a tiny tar-roofed structure, but 9
he was the only black man I knew who had managed to get a place 10
in that neighborhood. While pressing the buzzer I planned to ask 11
him how he got away with living in an exclusively white neighbor-12
hood. But the way he answered the door threw that question right 13
out of my head.
14
“Who’s there?” he asked in a
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