11:58 p.m.
Tong hordes and cops. A rope line between them. Face-off at Ord and North Main.
Sixty Four Families punks. Sixty Hop Sing. Thirty cops culled for their penchant to cause pain. Darktown bruisers. Alien Squad goons. Scotty Bennett—in uniform tonight.
The punks jabbered. The cops held parade rest. Parker stood on the balcony at Daddy Wong’s Chow Mein. Thad Brown and Jim Davis stood with him. Two-Gun held a plugged-in bullhorn.
The blues guarded stacks of brass knuckles. It was Two-Gun’s idea. State the terms of truce and let the Chinks blow off steam. Clear out the jail ward at Queen of Angels. Reserve ten ambulances. Chinatown would flow red tonight.
It felt cumulative. It felt overdue. Somebody snuffed Ace Kwan’s niece. Scotty B. snuffed the real somebody or some convenient Chink. A Four Families punk got snuffed in Griffith Park. That put Hop Sing one death up. Ace Kwan was the PD’s favored warlord. The situation mandated parity.
Parker scanned the cop line. He noted Lee Blanchard. He noted Fritz Vogel and Bill Koenig—77th Street thugs. Thirty cops. Two Kay Lake lovers. The war had L.A. all fucked-up.
Brown said, “The natives are restless.”
Davis said, “Now, Bill? Jack Horrall gave me carte blanche.”
Parker said, “Now, Jim.”
Davis raised his bullhorn and spritzed Chinese. He sounded like Chiang Kai-shek inbred with Donald Duck. Parker knew the gist. No more killing, boys will be boys, let’s joust before the truce. No rackets enforcement through 1942!
The punks tossed a heathen fit. The cops distributed knuckle dusters, one per punk.
The rope went down. Male nurses pushed gurneys out of bars and chop suey pits. Firemen screwed hoses into hydrants. High-pressure water knocked rioters flat and washed away blood.
Parker walked away. He took rear stairs down to the alley and headed for Kwan’s. Crazy jabber trailed him. He cut through the kitchen and muted it.
Brown and Davis beat him there. They sat with Uncle Ace. Lychee nuts and rumaki were laid out.
Parker pulled a chair up. Two-Gun said something in Chink. Ace made the jack-off sign. Thad slapped his knees.
Two-Gun said, “No more grief with Four Families. They’ll reciprocate if you give your word.”
Thad said, “They’ve agreed to pay you ten grand in reparations for your niece.”
Ace said, “I accept.”
Thad waved a rumaki stick. “Chief Horrall is adamant about no more killing. He’ll close Chinatown down if even one more killing occurs.”
Ace said, “I will comply.”
Two-Gun said, “No investigation on the Griffith Park killings. That’s straight from Jack Horrall.”
Ace said, “It is the best for all concerned.”
Two-Gun grabbed two rumaki sticks. “A Chinaman killed himself at the New Moon Hotel. We can pin the job on him.”
Uncle Ace beamed. Parker made fists and stared at him. Ace made the jack-off sign.
Ambulance sirens kicked on. Hydrant water whooshed. It all reeked of Dudley Smith.