Something Noble Read Online Free Page B

boy LeVon.”
    For a while I don’t hear anything. Then the door opens. She stands before me, a tiny black woman with frazzled hair. She doesn’t look too good. She’s some kind of user, I think. Maybe not the hard stuff. Maybe just booze. But she’s not holding down a nine-to-five, that’s for sure. She’s blinking like she hasn’t seen daylight in a while.
    â€œWhat you wanna know about LeVon?” she demands.
    â€œI need to find him,” I say. “Terrell and I had a child together sixteen years ago. His name is Dre.”
    â€œIf you woulda come to me first, I woulda told you stay away from Terrell Jones,” Angelique announces. She puts one hand on her hip, and her head starts bopping side to side. “That fool ain’t nothin’ but trouble.”
    â€œI know that,” I say. “Here’s the thing. My son needs blood. And he has a rare blood type. Same kind your son has.” I just told my first lie in years. It doesn’t feel great. But it’s only a little one. And Angelique isn’t really listening to me anyway. She’s the kind of person who only cares about her own problems.
    â€œYeah? You need to find LeVon? Good luck. Only time I ever see that boy is when he wants money. He ain’t been around lately ’cause I got none to give him. As you can see.” She spreads her arms out, as if to show me her entire life. I look past her into the house. It’s a mess. There’s hardly any furniture. Just a bunch of trash. And lots more empty bottles.
    â€œHow old is your son?” I ask.
    â€œHe’s eighteen. No, wait, he’s nineteen now.”
    That means Terrell already had a son when he met me. I never knew that, of course. He didn’t say a word.
    â€œTerrell never told me about you,” I say.
    â€œWhere he at? He owes me child support.”
    I tell her where Terrell is at. “Good luck getting it,” I add. “He never paid me a dime either.”
    Angelique stares me up and down. For a moment I think she’s going to get hostile. I’m her rival in getting child support from Terrell. But then her expression changes.
    â€œWhat do I care? Ain’t neither of us ever gonna see a dime from that deadbeat,” she says.
    â€œYeah, you’re right there,” I say. “Some guys oughta just be kept away from women.”
    â€œI’ll tell you where LeVon hangs,”she says. “Go down to the projects here. The one with the big fountain out in front that don’t run anymore. You see a bunch of punks hanging around, one of them is LeVon. That’s where he is every day.”
    I know exactly where she’s talking about. It’s one of the most notorious places in the city. Shootings, stabbings, drug deals, you name it. It all goes down at the Fountain.
    Normally it’s the kind of place I would steer away from. But if Dre’s life depends on it, I’m going in, full steam ahead.
    â€œWhat’s he look like?”
    â€œTall like Terrell. Face just like him too. You know Terrell, you’ll know LeVon.”
    â€œThank you, Angelique,” I say. And as I turn to leave, I add, “Good luck.” Because I think she needs it even more than I do.
    â€œHey,” she croaks as I’m walking away.
    I turn again. I already know what she’s going to ask.
    â€œYou think you could help a sister out? I’m in a bad way. Look at me.” She stares at me with a zombie’s eyes. She’s holding her hand out, and it’s trembling. “Terrell left me high and dry,” she says.
    Yeah, nineteen years ago , I want to say. What have you done for yourself since then?
    Instead I reach into my purse and give her my last five dollars. I seriously cannot afford to do this. And I know she’s just going to drink it. But I feel like I owe her something.
    She snatches the money out of my hand and sticks it inside her bra. She