The Dead Parade Read Online Free

shouted, as his stomach started doing back-flips. “FOR GOD’S SAKE, STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING!”
    Johnny pulled the gun from his mouth and eyed the weapon suspiciously.
    “ Let me talk a minute,” James said. “Please!”
    Keeping his fingers ready, Johnny lowered his hand. “It won’t do any good. There’s nothing you can say.”
    “ Fine. But give me a chance, will you? Can we talk a little before you blow your friggin’ head off?”
    Johnny exposed his dirty teeth. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll give you five minutes.”
    “ Five minutes?”
    “ Yeah.”
    James thought about his nephew lying on the hospital bed, a thick circle of bandages around his mouth, both of his legs in casts, suspended in the air, looking like something from a discovery channel emergency program. He didn’t know where the thought had come from. Somehow it didn’t seem like the obvious thing to think about when your buddy sticks a gun into his mouth and yanks on the trigger.
    He said, “My brother Joe died last night. So did his wife Penny. My nephew Mathew is in the hospital. He might not make it. Things haven’t been good.”
    “ Really?”
    “ Yeah. Car accident.”
    The insanity drained from Johnny’s eyes a little. “Are you serious?”
    “ Unfortunately, I am. It happened on the highway around eleven-thirty. We got the call early this morning. My mom is at the hospital now; she’s with Mathew. You remember Mathew, right? Joe’s five-year-old… blonde hair, built like a baby lumberjack.”
    “ I remember.” Johnny said. His eyes lost their ultra focused lunacy. His shoulders, which had been raised, came down an inch and his voice softened a notch. “Honest? You’re telling me the truth?”
    “ Honest.”
    “ Damn, James. I’m sorry to hear that.”
    “ Thanks.”
    “ No, really. I’m sorry.”
    The two men looked at each other, each feeling ashamed of the moment.
    “ Do you mind if we talk about it?” James asked, wondering if the sympathy angle would hold.
    “ Go ahead.”
    James cleared his throat. “But what am I supposed to do here, have a heart-to-heart with you, then watch as you blow your head off? Jesus man. We both have problems, but I was thinking we could help each other, make things right.”
    Johnny shrugged. “I don’t know what to say, James. I’m backed into a corner here. This is my way out.”
    “ Don’t say that.”
    “ It’s true.”
    “ No man, it’s not. Is that gun loaded?”
    Johnny shuffled the gun from one hand to the other. “Yeah, it is. The next time I pull the trigger, it’ll be the money shot.”
    “ You’re being stupid.”
    “ Okay. If you say so.”
    “ And why the hell is it so cold in here? I’m freezing.”
    “ Is this really the way you want to spend the last minutes of my life? Talking about the fuckin’ temperature?”
    “ But Johnny… it’s August.”
    “ So?”
    James shook his head. The small talk wasn’t working, however, Johnny was more coherent now. Much more. He wasn’t mumbling, rolling his eyes, or talking crazy. That had to be worth something.
    “ My mother’s pretty upset,” James said. “In fact, she’s a bloody mess.”
    “ That’s understandable.”
    “ She says I’ll have to adopt Mathew. Between you and me, I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I can be a father. I mean… I love the little guy, but I’m not ready. Mathew is such a handful and I can be… well, you know me.”
    Johnny didn’t respond so James kept talking.
    “ You know me,” he repeated. “I’m scattered at the best of times. Always have been; always will be. I’m the guy that walks to the store to buy milk and comes home with a loaf of bread.”
    With an expression, Johnny agreed.
    “ But you know what?” James said, considering a new approach. He figured he could dilute Johnny’s issues with his own. Maybe it would work, maybe not. It was worth a try. “Once upon a time, I wasn’t such an idiot and my head was on a little