Joshua: A Brooklyn Tale Read Online Free

hour, then try again. He had to try again. He was sure Big Bob already had some thugs out looking for him. He had to get the envelope to Big Bob before Big Bob got to him. He had to explain things.
     
    The door burst open. The light went on. Loretta’s voice. “Joshua, what’re you doing sleeping in your clothes like that?”
    He looked himself over, barely awake, eyes squinting from the brightness, and suddenly realized he’d fallen asleep. He felt a surge of terror as he frantically started feeling around the bed for the envelope.
    “What you looking for, Joshua?”
    “Nothing, Mama,” he said, continuing to survey the sheets and blanket. “I just thought I saw a bug.” He started slapping his hands all over the bed. Quick thinking. There were always bugs in this house.
    “Well, never mind that. A cab will be here in about fifteen minutes, so get yourself together.”
    “Fifteen minutes! We leaving in fifteen minutes?”
    “That’s what I said. It’s about time you start hearing me.”
    He ran his hand over the outside of his jacket pocket, trying to be inconspicuous, and felt the envelope inside. “Don’t I even get a chance to say good-bye to my friends?”
    “You mean those hoodlums? They’re not your friends, and you’ll never be seeing any of them again where you’re going.”
    “Where’s that?”
    “We’re going to live in one of Mr. Sims’ buildings over in Crown Heights.”
    “We’re gonna live with white folk, Mama?”
    “Yes we are. And if you’re smart, maybe you’ll learn something from them.”
    “But Mama, how they gonna let coloreds like us live over there?”
    “Don’t you worry. Mr. Sims has everything arranged. You just get your stuff together and cut this talking.”
    “Was that who you were talking to last night, Mr. Sims?”
    “If you need to be knowing, yes.”
    “And he’s gonna do all this for us? Why he’s gonna do that?”
    “Mr. Sims is a good man. And, I keep telling you, this ain’t none of your concern. The car’ll be here in ten minutes. There’s some cereal left on the counter and milk in the ice-box. You best be ready on time.”
    Loretta went back into the living room to finish her own packing. Joshua was still sitting up and looked around the bedroom in which he had lived for the past nine years. It was about as modest as a room could be. The walls were bare and the only furniture aside from the bed was a rickety old wooden chair and table that Mrs. Sims had given Loretta when Paul’s room had been redecorated. Joshua’s clothing and belongings were kept in the closet, except for his shoes which were under the bed.
    He would miss this place. Perhaps another child might still have harbored hopes of staying. Not him. His mother never wavered.
    He removed the envelope from his pocket and stared at it. He had always honored Big Bob’s privacy, but it didn’t seem to matter much now. He would be a marked man anyway, so why not see what for. He stared at it a few more seconds until he heard Loretta yell, “Joshua, what you doing in there? I don’t hear you packing and the cab’s due to be here any minute.”
    His heart began to pound as he tore open the flap, removed the contents, and counted five one hundred dollar bills. The pounding intensified. He had never imagined what so much money would even look like, and here he was, holding it in his hands. He heard Loretta coming towards the room again, shoved the money back into the envelope, and stuffed it in his pocket. At that moment, notwithstanding his fear of his mother and Big Bob, he felt a strange surge of power. He was rich; he had five hundred dollars. Little did he know, just how much that would one day cost him.
     
    So they moved to their new home in Crown Heights, only about a mile away from where they had been living, yet worlds apart. Loretta would finally have her own bedroom with a genuine queen size bed provided by none other than Mr. Alfred Sims. No more sleeping on the