Read Dreadful Summit for Free Online

any reason why he would even think of frisking me, but that didn’t stop me from thinking the way I did.
    When I got near him, he said, ‘Hey, LaMain, what’s this I hear about your old man getting beat up tonight?’
    When he said that, everybody else turned around to take a look at me. There was Mr Ehrlich with his glasses slipping down his nose looking worried, and maybe three, four other guys from the block, and they all looked at me. One of the guys said, ‘Yeah, an eyewitness came up to the whore house and told Kennealy all about it, so now he’s coming around to investigate,’ and everybody laughed except Mr Ehrlich. He didn’t like that kind of talk around the store, because sometimes Mrs Ehrlich was there, and maybe Gertrude, the baby.
    I said, ‘He got beat up, but he said to forget it.’
    The same guy made a face like he smelled something bad and said, ‘He must of had it coming to him, all right,’ but another one said, ‘Andy is okay. Maybe he figures to square it his own way,’ and that got a rise out of Kennealy.
    He said very hot, ‘As long as this is my beat we don’t want any of that stuff around here. Is that what he’s got on his mind, LaMain?’
    â€˜No. He said to forget it.’
    One of the guys made a loud raspberry. ‘Go on. Al Judge is too big for him. If he ever started anything, the whole circulation gang of the Press would be down here to take his joint apart.’
    Kennealy waved his hand at the guy to shut him up, and then he waved his empty seltzer-and-chocolate glass at me. ‘Look, kid. You tell your old man I know what happened and I know who was in it, and if anything more comes out of it, I’ll know just where to start looking. You tell him that, kid.’
    One of the guys said, ‘What’s the matter, Kennealy, you figure on Al Judge to get you a promotion?’ and they all started laughing again.
    Only Mr Ehrlich didn’t. He leaned over the counter and said very worried, ‘How is he now, Georgie? Is he hurt bad?’
    I said, ‘He’s all right, only he’s laying down and I don’t want to bother him. So please, Mr Ehrlich, could you lend me a dime?’
    The same guy made a raspberry again and said, ‘He’s an expert at laying down, ain’t he?’ and I thought someday I’ll get that guy and get him good. I wouldn’t even kill him, just beat him up with a lead pipe or something until there wasn’t one little piece left whole, and then I’d just kick him in the face laying there in front of me. Only that wasn’t the important thing then. Getting my dime and getting out of there was the important thing.
    But before I could get the dime, I heard Mrs Ehrlich yelling down the back steps,‘Meyer. Meyer. If that’s Georgie, send him up please. Tell him it’s important.’
    More than anything in the world, I didn’t want to go upstairs then, because I knew what Mrs Ehrlich wanted. Every now and then, she went out to do shopping or maybe to a movie, and she was afraid little Gertrude might wake up and start crying. So she would give me a dime, maybe a quarter, just to sit upstairs and read until she came back. It was all right with me because that meant I could take new comic books and stuff up from the magazine rack as long as I put them back when I went out. But tonight I only wanted to get started, and going upstairs would spoil it.
    I started to tell Mr Ehrlich I had to go somewhere but he put out his hands and smiled. ‘Look, I’ll give you the dime. But do me a favour. It’s only for a couple of minutes so she can go shopping.’
    It was no good to start arguing. With everybody around I was only afraid they would wonder what was so important and maybe start to ask questions. One of them even said, ‘What is it, Georgie? Got a big date tonight?’ but instead of saying anything, I pushed around them