Read Online Queens Noir by Robert Knightly - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Robert Knightly
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to not have grown up around
here. But too bad, he'd kill for a house like this, on the beach.
At the door, he gave her a card. In case she saw anything
unusual. Then O'Donnell was beckoning him away, to the
neighbor's, setting Blacky off all over again.
"Fires on the beach are illegal; you should know that,"
said the policemen when they arrived, that first time. "We
could give you a ticket. Burnin' some good wood there too,
looks like oak. We could haul your crazy ass in." When they'd
finally gone, it took Rose a long time to bury the rest of the
charred leaves beneath the sand. And still, a dog had it partially dug up by daylight. Vin saw it and said, "So?" If Rose
wanted a buffet, well, he'd just invite more company. Then he
drag raced his moped into a Green Line bus.
The kids on the beach used to always say they were digging a
hole all the way to China. And once, for a few months somewhere in the '70s, she'd fashioned a hair ornament out of
chopsticks like she'd seen on that actress, what's her name, in
that film, whatsitcalled?
"Other than that, I gotta admit, when it comes to things
Oriental, I'm one big dummy."
Li starts to nod but an involuntary shiver overtakes him.
His eyes close. He slumps against the table's pedestal. Rose
imagines his mother teaching him to swim. A river it must have
been, not a curly, raging ocean. A nice, manageable river.
At first, he looked like some kind of sea monster soaked
through and wrapped in the moldy shower curtain. You could
see his chest go in and out, but close up that rusty, tentative
sound it made scared her. Every now and then he'd erupt with
the cough. The shower house itself was a dank lair, reeking of
vomit and adorned with wet leaves, cobwebs, and the butts
of cigarettes she'd long suspected her teenage grandson of
smoking.
"I can help you," Rose said. "My daughter-in-law is a
doctor."
The stranger bowed, moaning himself up onto his hands
and knees, but then he heaved up saltwater and collapsed
again.
"You come into my house," she insisted. "I have a nice
house."
"Ma! Ma! You okay? Did ya trip? What are you doin down here
under the table? The traffic, ohmygod. That Golden Adven-
Why don't you have the TV on?"
"I'm sleeping?" Rose opens her sticky eyes to see a short,
wide man with a graying goatee wheeling several bulging
Samsonites. "What are those for?" She pushes up on to her
forearms, blinking.
"Thought I'd start the process. Since I was comin' anyways." Paulie crosses his furry arms.
According to the window it's now morning. Low tide.
Soon enough he's eying the empty bottle of Sambuca near her
foot and swearing.
"You know you're not allowed-"
"I thought she was decaying. I thought they were closing
the beach!"
"You're still talking about a damn whale? MA! A dozen or
two people drowned right out there last night-"
Her confusion clears, leaving panic. "Where is he? What
did you- Oh!" Li's beside her, his chest moving up and down,
kind of. "Call Maureen!"
But Paulie's too busy hating her to notice. "They got some
cement trucks to bury the big ugly fish, all right? The beach is
safe. NOW CALM THE FUCK- Oh god, not again!"
Now he's spotted his father's shirt-the ivory cowboy
number.
"You keep tellin' me you don't need takin' care of, so how
come every time you get blicked, you gotta carry this shit
around?" Grabbing for the sleeve, he-'Aah! "-discovers
there's an arm inside it, and there's a man under the dining
room table attached to the arm.
Rose can't help but giggle. She was waiting for that. "You
should see your face, Paulie!"
"What the hell-"
And it just keeps getting funnier. "SHHHH," Rose has to
gasp between laugh spurts. "This is Li. He's not well."
"Have you gone fuckin' nuts? Where did you-why-"
"I was hoping Maureen-"
"What? You can't ask her to do that."
"Why not?" With effort, Rose pulls Li's dented too-still
skull onto her lap. "He's a Christian."
"You mean criminal!" Paul yells,
here. But too bad, he'd kill for a house like this, on the beach.
At the door, he gave her a card. In case she saw anything
unusual. Then O'Donnell was beckoning him away, to the
neighbor's, setting Blacky off all over again.
"Fires on the beach are illegal; you should know that,"
said the policemen when they arrived, that first time. "We
could give you a ticket. Burnin' some good wood there too,
looks like oak. We could haul your crazy ass in." When they'd
finally gone, it took Rose a long time to bury the rest of the
charred leaves beneath the sand. And still, a dog had it partially dug up by daylight. Vin saw it and said, "So?" If Rose
wanted a buffet, well, he'd just invite more company. Then he
drag raced his moped into a Green Line bus.
The kids on the beach used to always say they were digging a
hole all the way to China. And once, for a few months somewhere in the '70s, she'd fashioned a hair ornament out of
chopsticks like she'd seen on that actress, what's her name, in
that film, whatsitcalled?
"Other than that, I gotta admit, when it comes to things
Oriental, I'm one big dummy."
Li starts to nod but an involuntary shiver overtakes him.
His eyes close. He slumps against the table's pedestal. Rose
imagines his mother teaching him to swim. A river it must have
been, not a curly, raging ocean. A nice, manageable river.
At first, he looked like some kind of sea monster soaked
through and wrapped in the moldy shower curtain. You could
see his chest go in and out, but close up that rusty, tentative
sound it made scared her. Every now and then he'd erupt with
the cough. The shower house itself was a dank lair, reeking of
vomit and adorned with wet leaves, cobwebs, and the butts
of cigarettes she'd long suspected her teenage grandson of
smoking.
"I can help you," Rose said. "My daughter-in-law is a
doctor."
The stranger bowed, moaning himself up onto his hands
and knees, but then he heaved up saltwater and collapsed
again.
"You come into my house," she insisted. "I have a nice
house."
"Ma! Ma! You okay? Did ya trip? What are you doin down here
under the table? The traffic, ohmygod. That Golden Adven-
Why don't you have the TV on?"
"I'm sleeping?" Rose opens her sticky eyes to see a short,
wide man with a graying goatee wheeling several bulging
Samsonites. "What are those for?" She pushes up on to her
forearms, blinking.
"Thought I'd start the process. Since I was comin' anyways." Paulie crosses his furry arms.
According to the window it's now morning. Low tide.
Soon enough he's eying the empty bottle of Sambuca near her
foot and swearing.
"You know you're not allowed-"
"I thought she was decaying. I thought they were closing
the beach!"
"You're still talking about a damn whale? MA! A dozen or
two people drowned right out there last night-"
Her confusion clears, leaving panic. "Where is he? What
did you- Oh!" Li's beside her, his chest moving up and down,
kind of. "Call Maureen!"
But Paulie's too busy hating her to notice. "They got some
cement trucks to bury the big ugly fish, all right? The beach is
safe. NOW CALM THE FUCK- Oh god, not again!"
Now he's spotted his father's shirt-the ivory cowboy
number.
"You keep tellin' me you don't need takin' care of, so how
come every time you get blicked, you gotta carry this shit
around?" Grabbing for the sleeve, he-'Aah! "-discovers
there's an arm inside it, and there's a man under the dining
room table attached to the arm.
Rose can't help but giggle. She was waiting for that. "You
should see your face, Paulie!"
"What the hell-"
And it just keeps getting funnier. "SHHHH," Rose has to
gasp between laugh spurts. "This is Li. He's not well."
"Have you gone fuckin' nuts? Where did you-why-"
"I was hoping Maureen-"
"What? You can't ask her to do that."
"Why not?" With effort, Rose pulls Li's dented too-still
skull onto her lap. "He's a Christian."
"You mean criminal!" Paul yells,
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