Something Noble Read online

  LeVon had it rough. He said himself that making it to nineteen in the projects was like making it to ninety in the rest of the world. Sad to say, but for a young black man, that’s the truth. He was more likely to end up dead or behind bars than he was to succeed. That’s not right. But that’s the world we live in, until we choose to change it.

  Every time I see that face, I think of the fact that if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have my son anymore. So I touch LeVon’s picture too.

  “Thank you for my son,” I whisper, quiet enough so Dre doesn’t hear. He gets embarrassed by me a lot lately. I don’t care though. Sometimes a mother is going to embarrass her children no matter what she does.

  Dre is already outside, waiting in the car. He’s not just impatient to get to school. He’s impatient to begin the rest of his life. He wants to do something noble with it. He’s got the fire in him to make that happen. Dre knows he has to live two lives now—his and LeVon’s. Nothing is going to slow him down. Nothing is going to stop him.

  “You ready?” I ask him.

  “Yeah, I’m ready,” he says.

  “Put your seatbelt on,” I say.

  “Mama,” Dre says, “it’s on.”

  “Sorry,” I say. I guess I just can’t help myself.

  That’s how it is when you’re a mom. You don’t stop being one just because your kid turns eighteen. Motherhood is for life. And I mean that in more ways than one.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  My thanks to Dr. Kate Johnson and Dr. John Jenkins for their technical assistance in the editing of this work.

  Something Noble is WILLIAM KOWALSKI’s third title in the Rapid Reads series, following on the success of The Barrio Kings (2010) and The Way It Works (2010). Kowalski is the award-winning author of four previous novels, including the international bestseller Eddie’s Bastard. He lives on the South Shore of Nova Scotia with his wife and children.

  Titles in the Series

  RAPID READS

  And Everything Nice

  Kim Moritsugu

  Assault on Juno

  Mark Zuehlke

  The Barrio Kings

  William Kowalski

  Best Girl

  Sylvia Warsh

  The Fall Guy

  Barbara Fradkin

  Fit to Kill

  James Heneghan

  Generation Us

  Andrew Weaver

  Love You to Death

  Gail Bowen

  The Middle Ground

  Zoe Whittall

  The Next Sure Thing

  Richard Wagamese

  One Fine Day You’re Gonna Die

  Gail Bowen

  Orchestrated Murder

  Rick Blechta

  Ortona Street Fight

  Mark Zuehlke

  The Second Wife

  Brenda Chapman

  The Shadow Killer

  Gail Bowen

  Something Noble

  William Kowalski

  The Spider Bites

  Medora Sale

  That Dog Won’t Hunt

  Lou Allin

  The Way It Works

  William Kowalski

  When I Kill You

  Michelle Wan

  A Winter Kill

  Vicki Delany