Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0)(75)

There’s no sign of Tony in any room or in the backyard. After a while, I figure I may as well go wait at his bus stop. I head back to the living room, and guess who happen to walk through the front door?

Tony freeze. His eyes get big. Just as his name reach the tip of my tongue, he take off.

“Ay, Tony! Wait up.”

Crackheads fast as hell. Tony haul ass down the sidewalk. He start to dart around a corner, but I grab his shirt.

“Let me go!” He try to shake me off. “I didn’t do nothing!”

I put my hands up. “Ay, ay, chill. I didn’t say you did.”

“Them cops told you they questioned me, didn’t they? I told them I ain’t do nothing! They wouldn’t listen to me!”

He almost in tears. Cops get real dirty when they want some info. Who knows what they did to a crackhead? “I believe you,” I say. “You wouldn’t kill nobody.”

“I wouldn’t! Dre was a good fella. I wouldn’t do that!”

“I know. But Tony, did you see anything that night?”

He scratch himself. Them look and smell like the same clothes he had on the night he snuck up on me and Dre. “I don’t want nobody coming after me.”

“Nobody’s gonna come after you. You got my word.”

“I don’t want a word! I want a hookup!”

“Tony, man—”

“I know you got something on you. You Li’l Don! You just like your daddy! He used to hook me up all the time. Gave me my first crack rock!” Tony flash a gummy grin.

He right, I could easily hand him something to get him to talk. My hand drift toward my pocket.

I stop myself. Fast as he is, he may take off without talking. “I’ll hook you up, but first you gotta tell me what you saw.”

Tony stare at my pocket, licking his lips. “You promise?”

“I promise. What did you see?”

“I was down the street from your house, near Mr. Randall’s house. That ol’ mean man. Ain’t he mean, Maverick?”

I nod. Mr. Randall got one of the prettiest front yards in the whole Garden, and he’ll cuss kids out if they get too close. Me and King egged his house once for the hell of it.

“What happened next?” I ask.

“I was minding my business. Minding my business, I swear, and I heard the gunshots. Liked to scared the mess outta ol’ Tony. Had my heart racing! I dove into Mr. Randall’s bushes. Ended up pissing myself right there.”

That’s what Mr. Randall get. “Did you see the car?”

“I did. It was red. Looked like an ol’ Impala.”

And there’s my proof. That’s the same kinda car Red used to drive.

That son of a bitch. I swear, I could choke the life outta him. Make him stare at nothing at all like he made Dre—

“Now give me my hookup!”

I’m snapped back to the corner with Tony. He got a hungry glint in his eyes as he stare at my pocket.

I dig in my other pocket for my wallet and hand a couple hundred to Tony. “Go get you some new clothes and a meal, then get a room at a motel for a few nights, a’ight? You need to clean up.”

His eyes light up more and he reach for the money. I hold it back. “I’m serious, Tony. Don’t go blowing my money on drugs. Go get some food, some clothes, and a motel. Don’t make me come looking for you.”

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” he claims, and snatch the money. He count it out and go, “Oooohwee! I can get me some name-brand clothes with this. Ol’ Tony gon’ be sharp!”

He whistle down the sidewalk.

That was the first time in a long time that anybody ever said that I’m like my pops. Straight up? It don’t feel as good as I thought it would.





Twenty-Six


There’s a lot of things I never wanted to know ’bout my pops. It come with the territory when your father is Big Don. I’d rather hear that he bought kids’ shoes and fed families at holidays. Not that he got people hooked on crack.

Sometimes one person’s hero is another person’s monster, or in my case, father. Yet it’s hard for me to judge him when I’m plotting to kill somebody else’s father. But see, taking Red out is the best way for Dre to get justice. It ain’t much different from a judge sentencing Red to death row.

I think.

I ain’t real sure why, but I drive three hours to Evergreen Prison. Ma let me use her car like she promised. It’s real weird looking for a table in the visiting area without her. I grab one in a corner with only two chairs so I don’t take one a family could use. There’s lots of mommas here with their kids. It kinda surprise me, since it’s Friday, a school day. Then again, Ma would sign me out early so we could come see Pops. You visit when you can, not when you want.

All the kids look real nervous or real excited. I remember them days. First time we came to see Pops, I couldn’t sleep the night before. I told everybody all week that I was gonna see my daddy. Ma explained that I wouldn’t be able to play with him. It didn’t matter to me. I bounced in my seat the whole drive up here.

Until I saw the prison. That big mountain surrounded by barbwire drained the excitement right outta me. The stone-faced guards with their guns made me think I was in trouble. Any kid who can still be excited just don’t know better.