IQ(92)

“Another story in our news tonight involves record executive Bobby Grimes,” the anchorwoman said. “Mr. Grimes was found crawling out of a dumpster near his office in Century City. Grimes was suffering from a concussion, contusions, and broken bones, and was bleeding internally. He was taken to Cedars-Sinai Hospital and is listed in serious condition. Curiously, when the police asked Grimes about his assailant and the circumstances surrounding the assault, he refused to answer. And there’s another bizarre twist to this story. An alleged hit man who was in a coma because of injuries suffered in another incident woke up today and implicated Hegan Swaysie, an associate of Grimes’s, in a murder-for-hire scheme. The district attorney will be holding a press conference about the case tomorrow afternoon. On a more pleasant note, we turn to the weekend forecast with our veteran meteorologist, Kaylin Kennedy. So how are things shaping up for the weekend, Kaylin?”

Isaiah brooded. A rapper of dubious value to society was saved but it wasn’t as if good had conquered evil. It was more like good had let a lesser evil survive. But Skip was off the streets and that was something, wasn’t it? That crazy son of a bitch was evil. Maybe he was being too hard on himself, Isaiah thought. Maybe. The upside was definitely the bonus money, Flaco’s condo a real possibility now.


Isaiah drove over to see Tudor about a second mortgage. He was parking in front of the building when Cal’s business manager called. He said he had unfortunate news. The bonus check would not be forthcoming. Cal’s lavish spending and tax obligations had finally caught up with him. He was filing for bankruptcy and there was a long list of creditors. Cal owed Dr. Freeman sixteen grand. Isaiah would have to get in line and could only expect a fraction of what he was owed, if anything at all. On the bright side, Isaiah’s per diem check was cut before Cal’s accounts were frozen and should arrive in a day or two. “GodDAMMIT!” Isaiah said, pounding the steering wheel with both hands. All that work and worry, not to mention nearly getting killed, only to get burned for the money, the only thing that made the case worthwhile.


Isaiah took Flaco to the Hollywood Bowl to see Margaret Cho. She was pretty funny, all tatted up and a whole lot finer than that cutout. Isaiah admired her, walking out on that big stage all alone. No props, no special effects, just her by herself facing seventeen thousand people who expected her to make them laugh. Flaco laughed his head off even during the parts that weren’t funny. When the concert ended he waved both arms like he was trapped on a desert island. “Nargret! Nargret!” he said. “I love you, Nargret! I love you!”

Isaiah and Flaco went Section 8 apartment hunting. The places were shabby and depressing. Isaiah told Flaco he could move in with him and Flaco said he’d think about it. He wanted a cool place that had a lot of girls.


Dodson came over to collect his cut of the per diem money. He wanted it in cash, saying his relationship with the IRS was in transition. “Ain’t this a bitch?” he said as he came in the door. “Cal’s got all the money in the world right up until payday. That’s bad luck right there. All you can do is hope some good luck comes along and puts you in the black and by the way, don’t you think I should get a little extra for solving the case?”

“I’d have figured it out sooner or later,” Isaiah said.

“Yes, I understand. Hard to accept that someone whose intellectual abilities you’ve disregarded and disrespected all these years came along and did your job for you. What was that you said? This is what I do?”

“Don’t you have someplace to be?”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. You know what they say, what doesn’t kill you might come back later and kill you for real. Here. This is yours.” Dodson gave Isaiah a cashier’s check.

“What’s this?” Isaiah said, staring at the amount.

“Junior was carrying eighty-five thousand for the reup. I gave five thousand to Deronda right after the robbery. That’s half of the rest.”

“This is way more than forty thousand.”

“I bought muni bonds. Seven percent coupon. You can’t get that anymore. They didn’t mature ’til a few days ago or you would have had your money sooner.”

“You couldn’t tell me this before now?”

“I wanted to surprise you. Oh, I almost forgot.” Dodson tossed Isaiah a set of keys.

“What are these for?” Isaiah said.

“You catch the Lakers last night?” Dodson said. “Kobe was hurt and coasted for most of the game. Cherise said it was old age and he should retire before he made a fool of himself. I told her Kobe was saving himself up so he could score when it counted. Six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Kobe scored twelve straight and won the game.”

“What’s going on, Dodson?”

“Talk to Tudor, he’s got the paperwork. I made a down payment with my half. Your check should cover the balance and then some. You might want to start a college fund. That shit is expensive. Cherise got student loans won’t be paid off ’til my children need student loans. Did I tell you Cherise is pregnant? Yeah, found out yesterday.”

“Congratulations.”

“Holla at Flaco for me,” Dodson said, turning for the door. “Tell him I seen some fine-ass females over there.”

Isaiah leaned against the doorway holding the check and watching Dodson stroll across the street to his car, a hitch in his stride.