THE LOUD KNOCK came just as I turned off the water in the shower. I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around my waist, and headed out, anxious to see my friend Drago. I stood to the side of the door and leaned over to look in the peephole as I dripped water on the carpet.
Someone out to do you harm on the other side of the door might be watching the peephole from his side, see the shadow shade the hole, know someone stood in front of it, and fire through the door. Caution, not paranoia, ruled the day.
I couldn’t see much other than a man the size of a small planet that filled the outside hall.
I swung the door open. “Hey, buddy.”
Drago’s smile lit up my world. He shoved his way in, wearing a huge black with white lettering Raiders jersey and aqua sweatpants, just as Marie came from the bathroom, a towel wrapped under her arms and another one on her head. She looked radiant.
Drago shook my hand, but his attention went to Marie. “Howya doin’, kid?” he said to her.
She made a circular movement with her finger. “Turn around. I’m not presentable to the public.”
“I’m not the public, I’m a friend.”
I closed the hotel room door. “I’ll second that.”
“Drago,” she said.
“All right.” He turned around and away from her. “Please tell me you two weren’t taking a shower at the same time?”
“You just wandered deep into the personal zone, pal,” I said. “Hey, I saw you on the news last night.”
“That ain’t normal. How long you been together now, what four, five years?”
“Five and some change,” I said.
“This far into your relationship you’re supposed to hate each other and barely be getting along. Not still scrubbin’ each other’s privates in the shower.”
“Haven’t you heard, California’s in a drought,” I said. “We’re just doing our part to conserve.”
Behind him, Marie grabbed some clothes from the dresser and scurried back into the bathroom.
“I only say that”—Drago lowered his voice—“ ’cause I was hopin’ she’d finally come to her senses and dump your sorry ass.”
“What, like you’d have a chance with her if I’m outta the picture?”
“Damn straight. I know I could satisfy the woman in ways you couldn’t even imagine. And don’t get the wrong idea, I’m talkin’ emotionally here.”
I went to the dresser and took out some clean clothes. I felt a little self-conscience dropping the towel in front of Drago but did it anyway. I stepped into some underwear.
He raised his eyebrows. “Confirmation, bro. I wouldn’t have a problem keeping her happy.”
“You know, I should’ve shot you a little higher up on your leg than I did, like maybe in the hip.”
Drago laughed. When he walked over to the bed, his feet shook the floor a little, and it made me less secure with the building’s structural integrity. He didn’t show any sign of the injury from the bikers’ beating or from the gunshot wound to the leg I’d given him.
When we first met, and before I got to know him, I kidnapped Drago at gunpoint right out from under the nose of the FBI. Then, when he wouldn’t tell me where he’d hidden the money from the armored car heist, and because he lunged at me, I shot him in the leg.
He stomped his foot a little, his hand on his leg in the area of the wound. “Yeah, I still owe you for that one, darkie.” He smiled.
He used to call me much worse.
I pulled my pants on and went over and shook his hand. “We’re even.”
He wouldn’t let go of my hand, and instead, stood and pulled me into a hug. He held me there a second or two longer than what felt normal for a couple of dudes.
Marie came out of the bathroom dressed in slacks and a red peasant blouse. “You boys have something you wanna tell me? Do I need to go downstairs, get a coffee and a scone, let you have some quality time alone?”
Drago let go of me and took a couple of quick steps over to Marie. He picked her up and swung her around. “Nope, we were just talking, and I just gave Bruno ten bucks. He said I can have you. He sold you off just that quick.”
“Careful with her, big man. Take it easy,” I said.
Drago lost his smile, his expression turning to concern as he gently set her down. “What’s the matter? You hurt or somethin’?”
“Oh, don’t listen to Bruno.”
She’d avoided his question. He turned to me and said, “What, Bruno? Tell me.”
“It’s not that, it’s just . . .”
“Bruno?” Marie said.
We’d agreed not to tell him, and now I’d gone and screwed that all up.
He held on to her shoulders. “What’s wrong, kid, you sick or somethin’?”
I said, “Now you have to tell him.”
“All right. I’m pregnant.”
It took a second for this information to process before his face lit up with a huge smile. “That’s wonderful.” He picked her up as if she were made of delicate porcelain and set her on the bed. He sat on the bed next to her, and it tilted like a ship going down in the ocean.
His short hair pulled back in a tight ponytail stretched the skin on his flat, pie-tin face. He used to have a shaved head. Every square inch of skin on his exposed arms contained jailhouse ink, tattoos depicting Vikings, shotguns, and big-breasted women, and mirrored his violent life. His presence, picking Marie up and setting her on the bed—which bothered neither of us in the least—made me think we’d somehow crossed over into a parallel universe. In the real world I’d never let someone who looked like he did get anywhere close to my Marie.
“Ho, ho,” he said, “you poor girl. You’re gonna have a kid with the likes of this poor ugly slob?”
She smiled. “No, no, no. I never said he was the father.”
His expression fell. “What?”
She’d gotten him good with that one.
“No, just kidding.”
I sat on the bed.
Drago asked me, “What’s that all about?”
“Inside joke. You weren’t here a little while ago,” I said. “My lovely wife was goofing on me about Randy Travis.”
“Randy Travis? Solid dude, great voice.”
“Don’t tell me you listen to that crap? Never mind,” I said. “Let’s get down to why we’re here.”
“You came to help me get the gold from the clubhouse, right? For the money, right? That’s why I torched it last night. You’ll get half of the gold once we go dig it out of that foundation. Like I told you before. I’m a man of my word. Your half’ll help raise this new little Bruno bambino.”
“No, that’s not why we’re here. And we wouldn’t take your money anyway. You’ve sacrificed far too much for it already.”
“Oh, now my money’s not good enough for you?” He grinned.
“Stop it.”
“Okay, then spill it, why are you here?”
“The Sons are mad over what happened and they want a piece of me.”
He jumped to his feet and spun around to face us. The bed rebounded from the weight. “The hell you say. They’ll have ta go through me first. So what’d they do to you? What happened?”
I couldn’t talk. Just thinking about it made the ire rise up inside me.
Marie spoke in a calm and controlled tone. “They came down to Costa Rica. They got to Toby, our little Toby, and wrote their phone number on his back. Bruno called them. They want Bruno back so . . . so . . .”
Drago’s hands turned to fists the size of canned hams. “You two go on back home. You don’t have ta worry about this anymore. Not for one minute do you have ta worry about this, you understand me? You should’ve just told me over the phone. I’ll take care of this. No problem. I got this.”
I stood and took a step toward him. “They didn’t ask for you, they asked for me. And I’m not going to ask you to do something that I have to do myself.”
He raised his hand and pointed his finger at me. “You get no part of this. You’re going to be a daddy. This falls squarely into the middle of what I’m all about. This is mine. This is my gift from me to you.”
“Bruno?” Marie pleaded. I knew what she wanted. She wanted me to go along with Drago. Only it wasn’t the right thing to do. And I knew she really didn’t mean it. Not after she had a moment to think about it.
I turned to her and shook my head.
She gave me those big eyes, hesitated a moment, and then nodded in agreement.
Drago saw the nonverbal communication between Marie and me. “Then what?” he asked. “Why did you call me?”
“I need you to stay with Marie and keep her safe.”
Marie stood and stomped one foot. “No. No. I won’t have it. He’s going with you. You have to have someone backing you up.”
“He stays here with you,” I said, not leaving any room for interpretation in my tone.
“Drago, what do you say about it?” she asked.
“Ah, I wanna go with Bruno, but I think I should stay with you. No question, stay with you. But, then again, I, ah, also think I need to go with Bruno. That’s where the action’s going to be, that’s where the fun’s gonna be.”
She moved closer to Drago, picked up his hand, and looked up into his eyes. “I’m asking you as a friend to go with Bruno and keep him safe.”
His mouth dropped open a little as he nodded. She went up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
He turned to me. “Looks like you lose, pal. I’m going with you.”