Down the River unto the Sea

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Down the River unto the Sea Page 25

by Walter Mosley


  “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

  The Gift of Fire / On the Head of a Pin

  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

  Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.

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