Calypso Read Online Free

happened."
        "We were walkin along, that's what happened, talkin about the concert…"
        "What concert?"
        "George done a concert at a hall on Culver and Eighth. We were headin uptown to where I parked the car- What's gonna happen to my car, man? Am I gonna go back there and find a parkin ticket on it?"
        "Tell me where you parked it, I'll make sure it isn't tagged."
        "It's in front of a pawnshop on Culver and Twelfth."
        "I'll take care of it. When you say a concert…"
        "George done a concert."
        "What kind of concert?"
        "He sung calypso. You ever hear of King George?"
        "No, I'm sorry."
        "That's George Chadderton. That's the name he used. King George. I'm his business manager. Used to be, I guess," he said, and shook his head.
        "What time did the concert begin?"
        "Eight-thirty."
        "And when did it end?"
        "Eleven or so. Time we left the hall, it musta been, I don't know, eleven-thirty. Had to get the bread, you know, say hello to some people…"
        "How much did the job pay?"
        "Three fifty. I took fifty as my commission, he was left with the three bills."
        "In hundreds?"
        "Yeah."
        "Okay, go on. You left the hall at…"
        "Eleven-thirty, something like that. We were walkin toward the car, rainin like a bitch, talkin about the concert, you know, when all of sudden somebody cuts loose from the buildin there."
        "Did you see the person shooting?"
        "Not just then."
        "When?"
        "When he was standin over me tryin to kill me. I'd already been hit then, I was layin flat on the sidewalk."
        "Was he white or black?"
        "I don't know, man. I only saw that gun pointin at me."
        "How about his hand? Did you see his hand?"
        "I saw his hand, yes."
        "White or black?"
        "Damn if I know. All I saw was… first I saw his boots, black boots, and then these skinny pants legs, and then I looked up and saw that gun pointin at me."
        "Was the hand around the gun white or black?"
        "I don't know. He was wearin a black coat, the sleeve of the coat was black."
        "And the hand?"
        "I don't know, man. All I saw was that big mother gun lookin me in the eye."
        " How big?" Carella asked.
         "Big, man."
        "Are you familiar with guns?"
        "Only from the army."
        "Would this have been as big as a forty-five, for example?"
        "Big as a cannon, man! When a gun's pointin at your head, it's a cannon, never mind what caliber it is. Anyway, why you askin me? Can't your own people work that out? Don't you have people can tell what kind of gun it was? The caliber and all that?"
        "Yes, we have people who can do that."
        "Cause, man, all I know is I thought it was all over-goodbye, nice to've met you. I was layin there lookin up at that thing and thinkin. In two, three seconds there's gonna be a hole in my head. Then click, man, the thing's empty! He pulled that trigger three times tryin to do me in, but the gun was empty."
        "What happened then?"
        "He ran off, that's what. Heard people comin, figured he'd best get out of there, stead of standin in the rain with a gun ain't doin the job."
        "Tell me about the concert," Carella said. "How'd it go?"
        "Beautiful."
        "No problems?"
        "None. Crowd loved him."
        "Nobody heckling him from the audience or-"
        "No, man, they were cheerin him, they loved him."
        "How many people would you guess were there?"
        "Three-fifty, cordin to the guy runs the hall. But he's a crook, and maybe he sold more at the door than he let on."
        "What do you mean?"
        "We were spose to get a dollar a head. Capacity was four hundred, it sure looked to me like the place was near full." Harding sighed, and then shook his head, and then sighed again. "Don't seem