When I half stumbled from the bedroom, sleep still thick in my eyes, muted-orange filled the living room window, the sun low on the horizon, the last remnants of a dying day. Three hours’ sleep wasn’t near enough. My body ached and begged for more. Anxiety to have it all over was too strong a stimulant. I went to the phone and dialed Jumbo’s number for the third time. No answer. He was dodging me. I’d have to go after him. The anger that he was going to cheat me cleared the rest of the sleepy cobwebs from my mind. The task ahead wouldn’t be an easy one, getting him to turn loose that kind of cash.
We didn’t have to have the money, it wasn’t part of the plan, but now that I had earned it, the amount would make things a lot easier later on. Jumbo would be at his pad laying low while his number-one thug, nasty Crazy Ned Bressler, searched for me.
I leaned over to the window and pulled the sheer away to look out, something I did a lot since my release from Chino, let out of that six-by-eight barred chamber. I had an itch, reached back and scratched a butt cheek.
“Those aren’t your boxer shorts.”
I jumped, spun around, hands coming around front—an involuntary modesty instinct. Chantal sat unmoving on the couch in the shadowy recess of the living room. On the table, strewn haphazardly, lay a syringe, rubber tie-off, a spoon, and a couple of balled-up red toy balloons—her outfit along with Mexican brown heroin. Tears rolled down her cheeks. I went over and sat next to her. She wore an eggshell chiffon blouse with Kelly green slacks, her feet naked. The big toe on her right foot sported a slim, gold ring.
I took her hand. “What’s the matter, kid?”
Her eyes large and brown, the kind you could get lost in if you stared too long. This evening they didn’t have the usual spunky bring-it-on look. They were soft and vulnerable. Scared.
She scooted over, put her hip up against me, her hands grabbed mine. “I’m scared, Bruno. I’m scared to death.”
“Of what? What’s the matter?”
The fear in her eyes flamed bright, then extinguished as quickly as she changed her mind about the truth she wouldn’t reveal. She looked away. “I … I found another wrinkle today. Bruno, what am I going to do when I get old?” She pointed to the corner of her left eye. “What’s going to happen to me when I can’t live this life anymore?”
Her hesitation said aging wasn’t the real problem. Something was up. Her outfit on the table lay unused. Her hands were cold and shook with an alcoholic’s palsy. She released my hands, reached up, and put her arms around my neck. She smelled of lilac and Colgate toothpaste. She put her head on my shoulder in an awkward position. I was too tall. I scrunched down and put one hand on the side of her face and gently stroked it. “Tell me, kid, what’s up?”
Her body started to shake as she wept. I turned and took her in my arms. Gooseflesh rippled across her back, coarse enough to be felt through the thin satin material.
“He’s going to dump me. I know he is. Then what’s going to happen? He was the best, the—” She buried her face in my chest and let out a muffled wail.
I felt helpless and sorry for her at the same time as my t-shirt turned wet. “You’ll be all right. You have some money put away, don’t you? You do, don’t you?”
She pulled back, her eyes angry. “Not that kind of money. Not enough to live like this, not forever.”
Right then I saw it. It flashed big as life like a hungry animal in the back of her eyes. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”
Before she could catch herself, her mouth sagged a little. “That’s not fair.” She balled up a little fist and socked me in the chest, not nearly as hard as Marie. “The ex-cop in you lets you interrogate people when they don’t know they’re being interrogated. Yes, for your information, I am very fond of the gentleman. I’m not totally materialistic, you know. I do have emotions.”
“Never said you didn’t. You have a fight with him?”
“No, I just sense things. I’m a woman, but you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
Boy-howdy did I know. She was pure, one hundred percent woman, but I wasn’t going to throw my dog into that fight. I knew women well enough to stay out of it.
“Bruno, will you do me a favor?”
“Anything. Name it.”
“My hands are too shaky. Will you shoot me up?”
“Anything but that. I won’t be a party to something so detrimental to such a beautiful young woman.”
“You really think I’m beautiful?”
“Babe, you are absolutely gorgeous.”
She sat back and primped her hair, carefully wiped her wet cheeks with the backs of her wrists to avoid smearing makeup, most of which had already transferred to my t-shirt. “Then how come you won’t—” She brought her hand down to my thigh. I saw it coming and jumped up. “’Cause I’m a one-horse kinda guy.” I headed for the safety of the hall.
“Those aren’t your boxer shorts.”
Once I was safe out of view, I slipped off the boxer shorts and flung them around the corner at her. She giggled.
I dressed in more of the pear’s clothes and got out of the apartment. I couldn’t stay cooped up, even though I needed the sleep. I missed Marie something fierce. She was like a narcotic. I jonesed for her if I stayed away too long.