Love Conquers All

by Galia Albin

  Chapter 35

  “Talia, I called last night at twelve o’clock, and you weren’t in.” “That’s right, I was out.”

  “May one ask who’s the lucky guy? Anyone I know?”

  “No, one may not ask. But being a policeman, you don’t need any advice. You could, for example, have me tailed.”

  “I was just curious, you needn’t be so sarcastic.”

  “Larry, you’re not just being curious. The investigation is long over, and you’re still harassing me. Why is it so important to you what I do in the evenings?”

  “Can’t you guess?”

  “It’s too late for me to engage in guessing games. Good night.”

  But Larry did not give up; he was quite sure she would need his help, as indeed was the case once Haliwa the ex-con knocked on her door and declared, “I’m Haim Haliwa. I was in the detention center with your husband. He promised to give me money when he got out.”

  Jonathan had not promised anything, of that she was sure, and not just because Haliwa wasn’t from the same background or social class as Jonathan and his friends. He didn’t like any pressure put on him. Whenever he detected a whiff of extortion, it immediately brought out a harsh streak in his character. On the other hand, he was extremely generous when it came to charity, as was amply proved by the many unfortunates who assembled in her house after his death. Talia continued in his footsteps: every month she paid the rent of a destitute woman on dialysis whose husband had shared a detention cell with Jonathan, and who shortly afterwards had died of heart failure.

  Charity, yes, extortion, no, she resolved, face to face with another “cell buddy” of her husband. Haliwa was a giant of a man, bald and paunchy, dressed in Bermuda shorts that barely covered his potbelly and an open plaid shirt that displayed his hairy chest adorned with gold chains. A large scar disfigured the right side of his face.

  “Lady, don’t fall asleep while I’m talking to you,” the giant’s voice boomed, a big grin spreading across his face, belying his threatening appearance.

  “My husband?” Talia stared at him.

  “Your husband promised to give me a loan, not a gift, a loan. I’ll pay it back, as god is my witness.”

  “But he’s dead, you know, there’s been an accident.”

  “But you’re his wife, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, I’m his wife.”

  “So it doesn’t matter if he’s dead or alive or in hell. Jonathan promised, so you have to keep the promise.”

  “I’m sorry, you’re not he first to come here with such a story. He— he’s departed, so go find him...”

  The expression on Haliwa’s face changed instantly. The smile and casual tone disappeared. The scar on his face turned scarlet with rage. He came so close to Talia that she could smell his acrid sweat, he almost prodded her with his pointer between the eyes. “Listen, lady, if you don’t do what I tell you, I’ll tear you to pieces, and no police will ever find you. You don’t upset Haliwa, get it?!”

  That evening, she called Larry and told him of the threats.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll teach this criminal a lesson; he won’t threaten anybody anymore,” Larry promised, with an unmistakable tone of satisfaction in his voice. Finally, reluctantly, she had to acknowledge that he was indispensable to her.

  In the nights that followed, Haliwa’s exploits were the topic of Larry’s nocturnal conversations. “He freaked out in jail, threatening to make mincemeat out of you after his release. Pinny Geiger, lawyer to the underworld, asked for a plea bargain, but I refused. The little hood will get the maximum penalty and sit it the stir a good couple of years.”

  Haliwa fell into Larry’s hands just at the right time, Talia thought.

  The poor felon will never know why the police meted out the maximum punishment possible.