Gulliver had the bat in his hand when he strode into the offices of Kid Finders, Inc. Stevie Flax was sitting behind his desk, smoking a cigarette. He acted as if all was good with the world and he didn’t have a care. As if he was happy to see the little man standing in front of him, baseball bat in hand.
“What you got there, Dowd?”
“What’s it look like, Stevie?”
“Baseball bat,” said Flax. “Want some coffee?”
“Sure.”
Flax went over to the coffeepot. Poured a cup for Gulliver. Gave it to him. Pointed to the milk and sugar.
“You thinking of taking up baseball, Dowd? Given that you’re such a shrimp, I suppose it’s better than basketball or football. You’ll sure walk a lot.”
“Nah, Stevie, I’m here to give it back to you,” Gulliver said. He sipped his coffee. “Jeez, this stuff is terrible.” He put the cup down.
“I know. It’s from yesterday. I save it for company I don’t like or didn’t invite over. And what’s this about giving the bat back to me? I’ve never seen it before in my life.”
“No, huh? I guess we’re going to do this the hard way. You aren’t going to like the hard way. Because as big as you are, I’m still going to kick your ass all over this office.” Gulliver smiled a cruel smile. “The best part of it is, there won’t be a thing you can do about it. And let me tell you something, Stevie. I came in here hoping you would deny you came after me last night. You know why? I’ll tell you why. Because the woman I love told me she’s leaving me, and I’m in the mood to take that out on someone. And you just volunteered for the job.”
“Wait! Wait!” Flax yelled, putting his palms up. “I swear, I got no idea what you’re talking about. On my mother’s soul.”
“You swear, huh?”
“I swear.”
Gulliver said, “Funny, because the guy who swung this bat at me last night wears the same cheap aftershave as you do. He smells of old cigarette smoke the way you do.”
“Wasn’t me. I swear.”
“Yeah, you keep saying that. One quick way to prove it.”
“How’s that?” Flax asked, then laughed a nervous laugh.
Before Flax could blink, Gulliver had dropped the bat. A knife appeared in his misshapen hand. He was on Flax. There was a ripping sound. The sound of denim shredding. Then it was Gulliver laughing. He was laughing because Flax looked silly with his right pant leg slit open to his thigh.
“Hell of a bruise you got there, Stevie. Odd thing is, I kicked the guy who attacked me last night. Kicked him right there where that bruise of yours is,” Gulliver said, pointing at the ugly purple mark. “I bet if I looked close enough, I’d find the imprint of my boot heel in the bruise. Should I look and see?”
Flax shook his head.
“I didn’t think so. I know Joey Vespucci fired your ass. I told him to. But coming after me was stupid, Stevie. I may just have to tell Joey what you did last night. I hear his guys have a fondness for using baseball bats. You ever see the movie Casino? Remember what happened to Joe Pesci and his brother?”
Flax turned white and fell back into the nearest chair. “I needed this job, Dowd. I’m broke.”
“Then maybe you should stop playing the ponies and going down to Atlantic City. Very stupid of you to try and soak a guy like Joey Vespucci. When I read your report, I could tell you were jerking him around. He would have caught on sooner or later. Getting you fired probably saved your life. How much are you into the shylocks for?”
“Thirty grand.”
“When this is over, I’ll see what I can do for you. Then maybe you can come work for me. In the meantime, go get yourself some help.”
“Whatever you say, Dowd. Whatever you say.”
But as Gulliver left Flax’s office, he knew nothing would come of it. Flax would only get deeper in debt. He’d spend the rest of his life trying to pay back the vig without ever cutting into the real debt. Some men were born to lose.