Sleepers

I moved further into the hall, trying to keep the folders dry, trying to absorb all that Michael was telling me. He had waited twelve years for this moment, pla

He insisted that John and Tommy be told nothing of our plan, that it would play better in court if they didn't know. There was to be no jury tampering. The 'not guilty' we sought had to be a verdict that no one would dare question. Da

Michael would relay the information I needed through a system of messengers and drop boxes. I would pass information back to him in a similar ma

For the plan to succeed, we needed total secrecy and the involvement of only people we completely trusted. My first step was to get to King Be

I also needed Fat Mancho to turn over some rocks and Carol Martinez to open some more files.

After this night, Michael would not be available to any of us. The only time we would see him would be in court.

It was a foolproof plan in one respect. If it worked, we would avenge our past and, in the process, bring down the Wilkinson Home for Boys. If it didn't work, if we were caught, people would want to know why we did what we did. Either way, information would get out.

Michael's way, however, insured that John and Tommy would walk with us and share in the victory.

'Is that it?' I asked, gazing down at the folders in my arms. 'Is that all you need?'

'Just one more thing,' Michael said.

'What?'

He sighed, leaving the best for last. 'We've got four witnesses who say they saw the shooting and are willing to testify. We need to knock that number down.'

'I'll work on it,' I said. 'But if you lose more than two, it might get some people nervous.'

'I'll take two,' Michael said. 'If you can get us one for our side.'

'One what?' I asked.

'One witness. A witness who'll put John and Tommy somewhere else the night of the murder. Anywhere else. A witness they can't touch. Strong enough to knock out whatever anybody else says.'

'Don't they have a name for that?' I asked.

'A judge would call it perjury,' Michael said.

'And what are we calling it?'

'A favor,' Michael said.

FOUR

King Be

'Tony,' King Be

Tony dropped the slips from his hands, pulled back his chair and walked over.

'Bring Da

'Da

'You know more than one Da

'No, King,' Tony said.

'Then bring me the one you know,' King Be

King Be

Then, for the first time in many years, King Be

FIVE

'You got time for me, Fat Man?' I said, standing in the middle of Fat Mancho's bodega, watching him as he bent over to open a carton of Wise potato chips.

'I'm a busy man, fucker,' Fat Mancho said, standing up, hugging his bulky pants above his waist, a smile on his face. 'I got a business. Ain't like you paper boys, with time on my fuckin' hands.'

'This won't take long,' I said, grabbing a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum from one of the racks. 'I'll wait for you outside.'

'You go

'I never did before,' I said, putting two pieces in my mouth and walking out into the cool of the day. 'Why ruin a good habit now?'

Fat Mancho came out carrying two wood crates for us to sit on and a cold, sweaty Yoo-Hoo for him to drink. I sat down next to him, leaned my back against his storefront window and stretched my legs. I pointed to the fire hydrant in front of us.

'Kids still use that in the summer?' I asked.

'It still gets hot, don't it?' Fat Mancho said. 'That pump's the only beach they know. Just like you fuckers. You all cut the same.'

'I need your help, Fat Man,' I said, turning to look at him. 'A big favor. It would be easier for you to say no. A lot smarter too. And there's no problem if you do.'

Fat Mancho downed his Yoo-Hoo in two long gulps and wiped his mouth with the rolled-up sleeve of a green shirt dotted with orange flamingos.

'I bet you would like me to say no,' Fat Mancho said, laying the bottle by his feet. 'Then you can tell your buddies that the Fat Man don't stand up. Don't back his friends.'

'Are you callin' me your friend?' I said with a smile. 'I'm touched, Fat Man.'

'I ain't callin' you shit,' Fat Mancho said. 'I'm just tellin' you I'm here. You fuckers can't pull off anything alone. You ain't got the brass and you ain't got the brains. There's two of you in jail right now. Ain't lookin' to make it four.'

'I guess King Be

'Some fuckin' team we puttin' together,' Fat Mancho said. 'A drunk lawyer on one side, fuckin' kid lawyer on another. A paper boy makin' like Dick Tracy. Four eyeballs swear they saw the whole thing. And the two on trial killed more people than cancer. That motherfucker Custer had a better shot at a walk.'

'Nobody's expecting it,' I said. 'That's the biggest card in our favor.'

'This ain't no fuckin' book, kid,' Fat Mancho said. 'You best remember that. And this goes bad, it ain't a fuckin' year upstate in a kid jail. This is real. You get caught on this, you lookin' straight at serious.'

'There's no choice,' I said. 'Not for us.'

'They were good boys,' Fat Mancho said. 'That little fucker Joh

He turned to look at me. 'But they ain't good boys anymore. They killers now, cold as stone.'

'I know,' I said. 'I know what they were and I know what they are. It's not about that.'

'Ain't worth throwin' away a life just to get even,' Fat Mancho said. 'You and the lawyer got a shot. You can make it out the right way. You ready to flip that aside? Just to get even with three fuckin' guards?'

'I think about what they did every day,' I said, looking away from Fat Mancho, my eyes on the street in front of us. 'It's a part of me, like skin. When I look in a mirror, I see it in my eyes. Sometimes, I see it in other people's faces. It's a nasty feeling. It's a feeling that makes you think a piece of you is already dead. And there's no way to bring it back.'