“And you aren’t anymore?”
I took in a deep breath and looked at my friend.
“It’s okay, Glad. I get it now. Back then I didn’t understand. I thought I knew the rules, but now I see that the rules don’t cover every damn thing.”
My eternally smiling friend frowned a little then.
“You still wanna be in that poker game?”
“Sure I do. After all you did, I should let you win a little of that money. And you’re right, you did save my life.”
Late that night I put the memory chip into a reader connected to my computer. An icon appeared on the screen and I clicked on it. Immediately the image of A Free Man appeared. He was wearing a loose shirt of a yellow hue. His dreads were tied back and then piled up at the back of his head. His smile seemed to want to lift up off his face and fly around his head.
“Hey, babe. I went to sleep a condemned man and woke up in freedom. I’m in the bright sun and as happy as a man could be. I can’t tell you where I am or how I got here, but you and Lil Sugar have to know that I love you and we’ll be together as soon as I can make that happen. I will be in touch and if you need to get to me all you have to do is remember that North Blue thing we used to do.
“Hi, Lil Sugar! I know you’re there too. I love you and I never did anything wrong. Don’t listen to what they say. Your heart knows the truth.”
I felt that I was set free along with Man. It was a deep grinding feeling that hurt but at the same time felt like the hand of some momentary apparition of God.
About the Author
Walter Mosley is one of America’s most celebrated and beloved writers. A Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, he has won numerous awards, including the Anisfield-Wolf Award, a Grammy, and a PEN USA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as several NAACP Image Awards. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. His short fiction has appeared in a wide array of publications, including The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, and Playboy, and his nonfiction has been published in the New York Times Book Review, the New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, and The Nation. He is the author of the acclaimed Easy Rawlins series, including most recently Charcoal Joe. He lives in New York City.
Also by Walter Mosley
The Easy Rawlins Mysteries
Charcoal Joe
Rose Gold
Little Green
Blonde Faith
Cinnamon Kiss
Little Scarlet
Six Easy Pieces
Bad Boy Brawly Brown
Gone Fishin’
A Little Yellow Dog
Black Betty
White Butterfly
A Red Death
Devil in a Blue Dress
The Leonid McGill Series
And Sometimes I Wonder About You
All I Did Was Shoot My Man
When the Thrill Is Gone
Known to Evil
The Long Fall
The Further Tales of Tempest Landry
Inside a Silver Box
Debbie Doesn’t Do It Anymore
Odyssey
Parishioner
Merge / Disciple
Stepping Stone / Love Machine
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey
The Right Mistake
The Tempest Tales
Diablerie
The Wave
Killing Johnny Fry
Fear of the Dark
Fortunate Son
The Man in My Basement
47
Fear Itself
Futureland
Fearless Jones
Walkin’ the Dog
Blue Light
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned
RL’s Dream
Nonfiction
Twelve Steps Toward Political Revelation
This Year You Write Your Novel
Life Out of Context
What Next: A Memoir Toward World Peace
Workin’ on the Chain Gang
Folding the Red into the Black
The Graphomaniac’s Primer
Plays
The Fall of Heaven
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