A Ticket to the Boneyard

by Lawrence Block

Page 15

 

  I said, "Elaine, this is Mick Ballou. Elaine Mardell. "

  "A pleasure," Ballou said. "Matthew, Ive been saying I wished you would come by, and here you are and I have to be off. Come back again, will you?"

  "I will. "

  "Well tell tales all night and go to mass in the morning. Miss Mardell, Ill hope to see you again as well. "

  He turned away. Almost as an afterthought he raised his glass and drained it. On his way out he left the glass on an empty table.

  After the door closed behind him Elaine said, "I wasnt prepared for the size of him. Hes huge, isnt he? He looks like one of those statues on Easter Island. "

  "I know. "

  "Rough-hewn from granite. What did he mean about going to mass in the morning? Is that code for something?"

  I shook my head. "His father was a meatcutter in the Washington Street market. Every once in a while Mick likes to put on his fathers old apron and go to the eight oclock mass at St. Bernards. "

  "And you go with him?"

  "I did once. "

  "You bring a girl to the most remarkable places," she said, "and introduce her to the most remarkable people. "

  * * *

  Outside again, she said, "You live near here, dont you, Matt? You can just put me in a cab. Ill be all right. "

  "Ill see you home. "

  "You dont have to. "

  "I dont mind. "

  "Are you sure?"

  "Positive," I said. "Besides, Im going to need that sketch Galindez made. I want to get it photocopied first thing in the morning and start showing it to people. "

  "Oh, right. "

  There were plenty of cabs now, and I flagged one and we rode across town in silence. Her doorman opened the cab door for us, then hurried ahead to hold the door to the lobby.

  As we rode up in the elevator she said, "You could have had the cab wait. "

  "There are cabs all over the place. "

  "Thats true. "

  "Its easier to get another one than pay his waiting time. Besides, I might walk home. "

  "At this hour?"

  "Sure. "

  "Its a long walk. "

  "I like long walks. "

  She unfastened both locks, the Segal deadbolt and the Fox police lock, and when we were inside she fastened them all again, the two shed just unlocked and the other, the police lock that could only be engaged from inside. It was a lot to go through given that I was going to be leaving in a minute, but I was pleased to see her do it. I wanted her to get in the habit of setting all the locks the minute she walked into the place. And not just most of the time. All of the time.

  "Dont forget the cab," she said.

  "What about the cab?"

  "All the cabs," she said. "You want to keep track, so I can reimburse you. "

  "Oh, for Christs sake," I said.

  "Whats the matter?"

  "I cant bother with that kind of chickenshit," I said. "I dont go through that when I have a client. "

  "What do you do?"

  "I set some kind of arbitrary flat rate and it includes my expenses. I cant make myself keep receipts and write down every time I get on the subway. It drives me crazy. "

  "What about when you do a days work for Reliable?"

  "I keep track as well as I can, and it makes me a little bit nuts, but I put up with it because I have to. I may be done working for them anyway, after the conversation I had with one of the bosses this morning. "

  "What happened?"

  "Its not important. He was a little miffed that I was taking some time off, and Im not sure hell want me back when its over. Then again, Im not sure Ill want to go back. "

  "Well, youll work it out," she said. She walked over to the coffee table, picked up a little bronze statue of a cat, and turned it over in her hands. "I dont mean keep receipts," she said. "I dont mean itemize everything to the penny. I just want you to get paid back for whatever out-of-pocket expenses you have. I dont care how you arrive at a figure, just so you dont cheat yourself. "

  "I understand. "

  She walked over to the window, still passing the little cat from hand to hand. I moved alongside her and we looked at Queens together. "Someday," I said, "all of this will be yours. "

  "Funny man. I want to thank you for tonight. "

  "No thanks are due. "

  "I think they are. You saved me from a severe case of cabin fever. I had to get out of here, but it was more than that. I had a good time. "

  "So did I. "

  "Well, Im grateful. Taking me to places in your neighborhood, Paris Green and Grogans. You didnt have to let me into your world like that. "

  "I had at least as good a time as you did," I said. "And it doesnt exactly hurt my image to be seen with a beautiful woman on my arm. "

  "Im not beautiful. "

  "The hell youre not. What do you want, reassurance? You must know what you look like. "

  "I know Im not a bow-wow," she said. "But Im certainly not beautiful. "

  "Oh, come on. Howd you get all those houses across the river?"

  "You dont have to look like Elizabeth Taylor to make it in life, for Gods sake. You ought to know that. You just have to be a person a manll want to spend time with. Ill tell you a secret. Its mental work. "

  "Whatever you say. "

  She turned away, put the cat back on the coffee table. With her back to me she said, "Do you really think Im beautiful?"

  "Ive always thought so. "

  "Thats so sweet. "

  "Im not trying to be sweet. I just-"

  "I know. "

  Neither of us said anything for a moment, and the room turned deeply silent. There had been a moment like that in the film we saw, when the music stopped and the sound track went soundless. It heightened the suspense, as I recall.

  I said, "Id better take that sketch. "

  "Youd better. I want to put it in something, though, so it wont smudge. Let me go pee first, okay?"

  While she was gone, I stood in the middle of the room looking at James Leo Motley as Ray Galindez had drawn him and trying to read the expression in his eyes. That didnt make much sense, given that I was looking at an artists drawing instead of a photo, and that Motleys eyes had been opaque and unreadable even in person.

  I wondered what he was doing out there. Maybe he was holed up in an abandoned building sucking on a crack pipe. Maybe he was living with a woman, hurting her with the tips of his fingers, taking her money, telling her she liked it. Maybe he was out of town, shooting craps in Atlantic City, lying on a beach in Miami.

  I went on gazing at the sketch, trying to let my old animal instincts tell me where he was and what he was doing, and Elaine returned to the room and moved to stand beside me. I felt the gentle pressure of her shoulder against my side and breathed in her scent.

  She said, "I thought a cardboard tube. That way you wouldnt have to fold it, you could just roll it, and it wont get smudged. "

  "How do you happen to have a cardboard tube on hand? I thought you didnt keep stuff. "

  "I dont, but if I pull the rest of the paper towels off the roll Ill have a tube. "

  "Clever. "

  "I thought so. "

  "If you think its worth it. "

  "How much is a roll of paper towels? A buck nineteen, something like that?"

  "I dont know. "

  "Well, its something like that. Of course its worth it. " She extended a forefinger, touched the sketch. "When this is over," she said, "I want this. "

  "What for?"

  "I want it matted and framed. Remember what he said, Suitable for framing? He was joking, but thats because he doesnt take his work seriously yet. This is art. "

  "Youre serious. "

  "You bet I am. I should have gotten him to sign it. Maybe Ill get in touch with him later, ask him if hed be willing. What do you think?"

  "I think hed be flattered. Listen, I was going to have a few Xerox copies made, but now youre giving me ide
as. What Ill do is Ill run an edition of fifty and number them. "

  "Very funny," she said. She moved her hand and laid it gently on top of mine. "Funny man. "

  "Thats me. "

  "Uh-huh. "

  There was more of that utter silence, and I cleared my throat to break it. "You put perfume on," I said.

  "Yes, I did. "

  "Just now?"

  "Uh-huh. "

  "It smells nice. "

  "Im glad you like it. "

  I turned to put the sketch on the table, then straightened up again. My arm moved around her waist and my hand settled on her hip. She sighed almost imperceptibly and leaned against me, her head on my shoulder.

  "I feel beautiful," she said.

  "You should. "

  "I didnt just put on perfume," she said. "I got undressed. "

  "Youre dressed now. "

  "Yes, I am. But before I was wearing a bra and panties, and now Im not. So its just me under these clothes. "

  "Just you. "

  "Just me and a little perfume. " She swung around to face me. "And I brushed my teeth," she said, tilting her head, looking up at me with her lips slightly parted. Her eyes held mine for a moment, and then she closed them.

  I took her in my arms.

  * * *

  It was quite wonderful, urgent yet unhurried, passionate yet comfortable, familiar yet surprising. We had the ease of old lovers and the eagerness of new ones. We had always been good together, and the years had been kind. We were better than ever.

  Afterward she said, "I was thinking about this all night. I thought, gee, I like this guy, I always liked him, and wouldnt it be nice to find out if the gears still mesh after all these years. So in a manner of speaking I had this planned, but it was all in the mind. Do you know what I mean?"

  "I think so. "

  "My mind was excited at the prospect. Then you told me I was beautiful and all of a sudden Im standing there with wet panties. "

  "Honestly?"

  "Yeah, instant arousal. Like magic. "

  "The way to a womans heart-"

  "Is through her panties. Cant you see new worlds opening up for you? All you have to do is tell us were beautiful. " She put her hand on my arm. "I think the reason it worked is you made me believe it. Not that I am, but that you think I am. "

  "You are. "

  "Thats your story," she said, "and you stick to it. You know that story about Pinocchio? The girl sits on his face and says, Lie to me, lie to me. "

  "When did I ever lie to you?"

  "Ah, baby," she said, "I figured itd be fun to do this, and I knew it was going to happen one of these days, but who would have guessed wed be so hot for each other?"

  "I know. "

  "When was the last time we were together like this? The last time you were over here was three years ago, but we didnt go to bed then. "

  "No, it was a few years before then. "

  "So it could have been seven years ago?"

  "Maybe even eight. "