there for her. It glistened.
She said, “You sure you’re not here to bust people?”
“I give you my word.”
“How much you want to relax?” she asked and let her hand fall into his lap. “I can do some awful nice things for you right here. Depending on what you want is what it’ll cost.”
“I want so much,” he said in a low voice, “here wouldn’t do.”
“We can go someplace, three-minute walk.”
Wade shook his head. His eyes had adjusted, and he could see more of her. “Not tonight. Another night. Tonight I’m hurting, carrying too much inside me.”
“What kind of problems you got?”
“Wife problems. Wife’s two-timing me.”
The young woman’s teeth flashed. “There’s a way to fix that, you two-time her, that way you come out even and both be happy again. What you think of that, huh?”
“I think you’ve got it all together, I just wish that I did.” Somebody was passing by the booth. He could not see who it was, but he sensed it was a man. “This is worth money to you, listening to me talk.”
“I get all kinds,” she said.
“I’m sure.”
Before he left, he slipped a ten-dollar bill onto the table for the drinks and pressed a larger denomination into her hand. She looked at it with the eyes of a lynx and whispered, “You’re an all-right guy.”
On his way out, letting his shoulders droop, he glimpsed Gardella’s people. Their eyes burned into his back, which had been his purpose. He knew that everything he had told the young woman would be repeated.
• • •
Victor Scandura leaned over a cup of cappuccino inside the Caffè Pompei, his elbows on the tiny table, his glasses off. His eyes, flyspecks, seemed blind. He said to Augie, “I’ve got to ask you something, be nice you answer me straight. What are you on?”
Augie made a face. “What you talking about?”
“You’d better tell me,” Scandura said and rubbed the pinch marks on his nose. “Anthony wants to know.”
Augie wrestled with something inside himself and finally said, “So I pop a little, what’s the harm? I got a lot of scores behind me. The Skelly warehouse job was mine, so was the meat truck on Route One.”
“You pop. What do you pop?”
“Uppers, okay? Now and then.”
“You ask the harm, I’ll tell you. You didn’t perform well in Greenwood. Ralph wasn’t there, I don’t know what would have happened. You understand what I’m saying? You dirty yourself on junk, you’re dangerous to us. It wasn’t for Anthony’s regard for your uncle, I wouldn’t be talking to you. You wouldn’t be here.”
Augie’s chinless face, already pale, went white. He tried to lift his cup of cappuccino, but his hand shook too much. “You don’t have to worry about me, I understand.”
“You make a mistake in these things,” Scandura said evenly, “a lot of people have to pay. No more pills.”
“I promise. You tell Anthony I swear. Okay?”
“Sure.” Scandura fitted his glasses back onto his face. “Now get out of here.”
• • •
Rita O’Dea descended the stairs bound in a big robe, her face moist and bright from her bath. She called out for Alvaro and found him in the kitchen, where he had made himself a fruit drink in the blender and was pouring it into a tall glass. Her gaze narrowed in on him. “Who was that you were talking to on the phone?”
“It was nobody,” he said. “It was somebody asking if we wanted to buy a bunch of light bulbs for handicapped people. I told them we’ve got plenty of light bulbs, more than we can use.”
“Don’t give me that crap. Who was it?”
The drink he had made for himself contained banana, pineapple, nutmeg, vanilla syrup, and skim milk. He took a long taste of it and said, “Delicious.”
She said, “Was it from Miami? Was it a woman?”
“One woman at a time, Rita. That’s my rule.”
“That’s a good rule. You break it, I’ll break you.”
“Hey,” Alvaro said with a handsome smile, “you’re forgetting
She said, “You sure you’re not here to bust people?”
“I give you my word.”
“How much you want to relax?” she asked and let her hand fall into his lap. “I can do some awful nice things for you right here. Depending on what you want is what it’ll cost.”
“I want so much,” he said in a low voice, “here wouldn’t do.”
“We can go someplace, three-minute walk.”
Wade shook his head. His eyes had adjusted, and he could see more of her. “Not tonight. Another night. Tonight I’m hurting, carrying too much inside me.”
“What kind of problems you got?”
“Wife problems. Wife’s two-timing me.”
The young woman’s teeth flashed. “There’s a way to fix that, you two-time her, that way you come out even and both be happy again. What you think of that, huh?”
“I think you’ve got it all together, I just wish that I did.” Somebody was passing by the booth. He could not see who it was, but he sensed it was a man. “This is worth money to you, listening to me talk.”
“I get all kinds,” she said.
“I’m sure.”
Before he left, he slipped a ten-dollar bill onto the table for the drinks and pressed a larger denomination into her hand. She looked at it with the eyes of a lynx and whispered, “You’re an all-right guy.”
On his way out, letting his shoulders droop, he glimpsed Gardella’s people. Their eyes burned into his back, which had been his purpose. He knew that everything he had told the young woman would be repeated.
• • •
Victor Scandura leaned over a cup of cappuccino inside the Caffè Pompei, his elbows on the tiny table, his glasses off. His eyes, flyspecks, seemed blind. He said to Augie, “I’ve got to ask you something, be nice you answer me straight. What are you on?”
Augie made a face. “What you talking about?”
“You’d better tell me,” Scandura said and rubbed the pinch marks on his nose. “Anthony wants to know.”
Augie wrestled with something inside himself and finally said, “So I pop a little, what’s the harm? I got a lot of scores behind me. The Skelly warehouse job was mine, so was the meat truck on Route One.”
“You pop. What do you pop?”
“Uppers, okay? Now and then.”
“You ask the harm, I’ll tell you. You didn’t perform well in Greenwood. Ralph wasn’t there, I don’t know what would have happened. You understand what I’m saying? You dirty yourself on junk, you’re dangerous to us. It wasn’t for Anthony’s regard for your uncle, I wouldn’t be talking to you. You wouldn’t be here.”
Augie’s chinless face, already pale, went white. He tried to lift his cup of cappuccino, but his hand shook too much. “You don’t have to worry about me, I understand.”
“You make a mistake in these things,” Scandura said evenly, “a lot of people have to pay. No more pills.”
“I promise. You tell Anthony I swear. Okay?”
“Sure.” Scandura fitted his glasses back onto his face. “Now get out of here.”
• • •
Rita O’Dea descended the stairs bound in a big robe, her face moist and bright from her bath. She called out for Alvaro and found him in the kitchen, where he had made himself a fruit drink in the blender and was pouring it into a tall glass. Her gaze narrowed in on him. “Who was that you were talking to on the phone?”
“It was nobody,” he said. “It was somebody asking if we wanted to buy a bunch of light bulbs for handicapped people. I told them we’ve got plenty of light bulbs, more than we can use.”
“Don’t give me that crap. Who was it?”
The drink he had made for himself contained banana, pineapple, nutmeg, vanilla syrup, and skim milk. He took a long taste of it and said, “Delicious.”
She said, “Was it from Miami? Was it a woman?”
“One woman at a time, Rita. That’s my rule.”
“That’s a good rule. You break it, I’ll break you.”
“Hey,” Alvaro said with a handsome smile, “you’re forgetting
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