The night of Seth’s funeral, Maggie was back at Double Visions, working. When she came out on stage, many of the onlookers felt a twinge of sadness as they watched her dance. Shiver had told several of Maggie’s regulars that Seth had died. As Maggie went around the bar and collected her tips, many of the men gave her a little more money than usual, tipping her two or three dollars instead of one. At the end of her rounds, Maggie spotted Tony and Vincent watching her. They hadn’t been back to Doubles since the police took Emma away. The only reason they had come in was to keep an eye out for Emma—on their boss’s instruction.
Seeing them suddenly made Maggie miss Emma, as well, compounding her sense of loss.
“Hi, guys,” she said in a low voice.
“Little Maggie, how ya holdin’ up? Vincent and me, we heard ’bout what happened to your kid and came by to offer our condolences. Is there anything we can do?” Tony said.
“Thank you for coming to see me,” she responded modestly. “It really means a lot. I appreciate everything, but there’s really nothing anyone can do.”
“We heard from some of the people here that the kid had AIDS,” Vincent said wanting to know for sure.
“Yeah, he did,” she said, gulping.
“How’d a kid that young get it?” Vincent pressed, wanting to hear it from Maggie.
“I imagine from when he was a small boy. There were so many men…” Maggie’s voice trailed off.
“Holy shit. What da fuck is wrong wit’ these rotten bastards? If I ever run into one of those mudder fuckers, they’ll be sorry,” Vincent exclaimed, forgetting about Maggie’s feelings.
Maggie gave him a weak smile. “I don’t doubt it, Vincent. But it won’t bring Seth back to me.”
“You’re so insensitive, Vin. I mean, the girl just lost her kid, and you’re talkin’ ’bout the perverted dick bags that did this to him,” Tony scolded.
“Ah, I don’t mean nothin’ by it, little Maggie. It just boils my blood, is all I’m tryin’ to tell ya,” Vincent said with remorse.
Maggie put her hand over Vincent’s. “It’s OK. I understand. It’s not like I haven’t given those assholes a lot of thought over the past weeks. I just figure someday they’ll get everything they deserve.”
Then she changed the subject. “So do you two know where Emma is? Since she was taken out of here by the police, we haven’t heard anything from her,” Maggie said.
“Nah, all we know is that Emma ain’t comin’ back for a while,” Tony said.
“How long?” Maggie asked.
Tony fidgeted with the cigarette lighter sitting on the bar in front of him. “Don’t know for sure. We ain’t heard too much ’bout what’s goin’ on,” he lied.
“OK, well if you see her, tell her that I would love to talk to her. Emma always seemed to relate to the things I’ve been through. I miss talking to her. I envy her strength. She doesn’t take shit from anyone. I could use her ‘fuck ’em all’ attitude right about now,” Maggie told them.
Tony and Vincent nodded, thinking about Emma. She was a straight shooter, all right. Emma would cut someone to their knees sooner than look at them.
“We’ll tell her ya were askin’ for her if we see her,” Tony promised.
Tony reached up on the bar and grabbed a cocktail napkin. Then he gestured to the bartender for a pen. He scribbled something on the napkin and handed it to Maggie.
“We just came by to see how you’re doin’. We don’t get back here much, so if ya need anythin’, ya just give us a ring,” Tony said with a protective edge in his voice.
Maggie’s eyes welled up. “Thank you. If anything comes up, I promise I’ll call you.”
As Tony and Vincent left Doubles, Maggie followed them to the door with her eyes. She put the cocktail napkin into the cup of her bra, recalling what Emma had told her: if there ever comes a day when you can’t handle Rock, then you need to talk to Tony and Vincent. I don’t know if they can help you, but if there was ever a chance for someone to go up against that piece of stank dog shit, it’s the two of them.
For some reason that Maggie didn’t understand, having their phone number made her feel as if she had a tiny bit of control. But that was nothing compared to the feeling of empowerment she’d have in the weeks to come.