Read Online Dreadful Summit by Stanley Ellin - Free Book Online Page B

Mr Reardon and Flanagan all hot. Mr Reardon started telling about the fights Tuffy Walsh had and who he licked, and Flanagan said all the Irish were full of music and poetry and it was nothing to be ashamed of. Then one of the guys said all the Irish were full of — and there would have been a fight only my father broke it up. But Flanagan went into the toilet with the True Story magazine and wouldn’t come out for an hour.
    When I was standing outside Tuffy’s with Dr Cooper I didn’t think about that. The thing on my mind was if I walked into Tuffy’s and Al Judge saw me and remembered me, there would be trouble. I didn’t know what kind of trouble, just trouble. Because if he made some kind of crack or did something I didn’t like, I might pull out the gun in front of everybody and give it to him right there.
    Dr Cooper was half way in the door but I was still outside. He turned around and said, ‘What’s the matter? Losing your nerve?’
    I said, ‘No. But if he sees me there might be trouble right away, and I don’t want that to happen.’
    He said, ‘Hell, you’re the one that’s looking for trouble. Come on in and look him in the eye. Besides, I owe you that drink.’
    I couldn’t stand there and argue it out. I followed him into the bar, but I kept my hand tight on the gun and moved it a little to make sure it would slip out easy if I needed it.
    The first one I saw inside was Al Judge. There were some guys all along the bar drinking, and then it curved around until it hit the wall, and he was right in the corner by the wall with a drink in one hand and a pencil in the other writing on a piece of paper in front of him. You couldn’t miss him the way that white scarf stood out against the black coat, but I had to take a good look before I saw the handle of the cane hanging on the bar.
    When we went up to the bar, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Dr Cooper said, ‘For Christ sake, the way you’re looking at him, I think I’ll lay a bet on you. What have you been doing, training on raw meat?’
    Then the bartender came over and stood there with his hands resting on the bar and Dr Cooper said, ‘What’ll it be?’
    The way he said it and the way the bartender stood waiting made me feel good. Flanagan said nobody in the world can figure your age better than a bartender because if he makes a mistake they take his license away. Plenty of times I saw him chase away guys who looked like real big stuff only they were really kids, and he was never wrong. So when the bartender was waiting to give me a drink, I knew I would pass all right and that’s why I felt so good. And I knew what to say and do too, because when you hang around a bar all the time you pick up all the angles.
    I said, ‘I’ll take whatever you do,’ and Dr Cooper said to the bartender, ‘This is an occasion, general. Make it two Metaxas.’
    That was stuff my father never had, but I didn’t want to look dumb so I didn’t ask about it. I figured it was brandy because the bartender poured it into brandy glasses, the very little kind, and it must have cost plenty because Dr Cooper passed over a five-dollar bill and hardly got back any change at all. He picked up the glass and said, ‘To the Greeks,’ and started drinking it down slow. I started to do that but I didn’t like the taste, so I slugged it all down in one shot.
    It was strong all right. For a couple of seconds I couldn’t catch my breath, and when I did it felt like my face was on fire and I was hot inside all the way down to my belly. But it wasn’t the kind of hot you get from eating bad stuff. It was like all my juice was percolating and I was so strong I could squeeze my hand around the glass and break it into little pieces.
    I looked at Al Judge, the way he was writing on that piece of paper, and I started to figure I couldn’t wait much