The Last Days of Il Duce
Page 17
“One more,” I yelled out to Gino, and I lit a cigarette.
Gino didn’t come.
I put the cigarette to my lips. I inhaled its dark smoke, and all the smoke in that bar, it seemed. This was the moment I had been moving towards all along.
There was another siren now, closer. Any minute the cops would be at the end of the block, turning the corner. I could imagine them already, climbing from their squad cars, hurrying down the sidewalk, Leanora Chinn out in front, of course, moving crisply, her head held so straight and true. She would be the first one through the door, pausing under the picture of Il Duce. I wondered for a minute about those other cops behind her, whether they would be men or women, and whether their skin would be brown or yellow or white as the driven snow. In this city it was impossible to say. They could be any color at all, I thought, but one thing I knew for certain, their uniforms would be midnight, the deepest shade of blue.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1988 by Domenic Stansberry
ISBN: 978-1-5040-1198-3
The Permanent Press
4170 Noyac Road
Sag Harbor, NY 11963
www.thepermanentpress.com
Distributed by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
EBOOKS BY DOMENIC STANSBERRY
FROM THE PERMANENT PRESS AND OPEN ROAD MEDIA
Available wherever ebooks are sold
Founded in 1978 by Martin and Judith Shepard, the Permanent Press is committed to publishing works of social and literary merit. Since the press’s inception, its authors and titles have received over fifty honors, including the American Book Award, the PEN New England Award, the Macavity Award, the Nero Award, the Hammett Prize, the Small Press Book Award, ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award, and the New American Writing Award. They have also been finalists for the National Book Award, the Edgar Award, the Chautauqua Prize, and the Shamus Award.
FIND OUT MORE AT
WWW.THEPERMANENTPRESS.COM
FOLLOW US:
@tpermanentpress and Facebook.com/thepermanentpress
The Permanent Press is one of a select group of publishing partners of Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Open Road Integrated Media is a digital publisher and multimedia content company. Open Road creates connections between authors and their audiences by marketing its ebooks through a new proprietary online platform, which uses premium video content and social media.
Videos, Archival Documents, and New Releases
Sign up for the Open Road Media newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign up now at
www.openroadmedia.com/newsletters
FIND OUT MORE AT
WWW.OPENROADMEDIA.COM
FOLLOW US:
@openroadmedia and
Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia