Page 15

Suddenly, Jerad's face melted into a smile again.

"Well, that's what I would expect a good brother to do for his sister. You're a lucky girl, Rain. You got a big brother watching over you." He turned back to Roy and looked slyly at me. "You sure you're only watching her like a brother?" he asked.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know. It might mean something. It might not. He always trail in the back, keeping his eyes on your behind, girl?"

I looked at Beni, who kept her eyes down, and then at Roy. His face was full of rage. I saw the way he tightened his grip on the tire iron, and I shook my head vigorously.

"Maybe he wants to keep you all to himself," Jerad continued.

&nbs

p; Roy glanced at me and then he turned to Jerad, stepping toward him, his body filling up with fury.

"Only a mind grown in garbage would think that."

Jerad laughed. He frightened me because he wasn't in the slightest intimidated by my brother and my brother was so much bigger than him.

"Okay, watch behind her." He stopped smiling and glared at Roy. "But who watches over you, big brother?"

"I watch over myself:'

"That might not be good enough."

"I'm okay with it," Roy said, not blinking. Jerad smiled again. It was so frigid a smile, it made his teeth look like pieces of ice.

My heart felt as if it had collapsed like a punctured balloon. I don't think I'd taken a breath from the moment Roy had appeared.

"All right. Long as you're okay with it," Jerad said. He glanced at me. "See you soon, baby," he muttered and stepped back.

I didn't think my legs would work. Beni had her eyes to the sidewalk. We started away.

"Just keep walking," Roy ordered. "Don't look back."

I didn't say a word. I sped up and Beni did the same. That was how we learned that Roy had been watching over us all week. He escorted us to The Projects.

"I gotta get back to work," he said when we arrived. "Just stay off the street for a while. You need anything for dinner tonight, Rain?"

"Mama didn't say," I told him. He stared at me for a moment. I couldn't help it that I was still trembling and I was sure he saw it.

"You okay?"

I nodded and he looked at Beni. She still looked frightened, but she wasn't trembling like I was.

"Maybe we should call the police, Roy?" I asked.

"Naw, they won't do anything, Rain. We have to take care of ourselves. That's why," he emphasized, looking more at Beni than me, "we've got to be careful about where we go and who we see around here."

He gazed at me once more and then he turned and headed back to Slim's. I started for the front entrance, Beni right behind me.

"How come he was there? He must be following us, watching us all the time," she said.

"And I'm glad of that," I said, even though I was more worried for him than I was for myself now.

"He's just lucky Jerad didn't have his gang with him," she muttered. "He probably had a knife or a gun, too. That was crazy. Roy's crazy."

I stopped and turned on her.