Unhooking the Moon

by Gregory Hughes

‘Hey, boys! I’ve got something you might be interested in.’ Tommy looked around him and then he pulled up his sleeves. ‘Top-of-the-range Swiss Army watches. They sell at six hundred dollars retail. You can have one for a hundred and fifty dollars and they’re still in their boxes.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said this large-jawed sailor. ‘Let’s take a look.’

  Tommy brought the sailors toward me and I opened up my rucksack. He pulled out a few boxes and passed them around.

  ‘They’re hot, right?’ asked one of the sailors.

  ‘Let’s just say, they’re a little warm,’ said Tommy.

  The large-jawed sailor had a quick talk with his shipmates. ‘OK, they look genuine enough. And I should know, I’ve had a few. We were all going to get a tattoo but a watch will do. We’ll take one each and, since we’re taking six, you’ll take a hundred bucks a watch.’

  ‘Are you kidding? That’s a third off!’

  ‘Forget about it, boys, he doesn’t want our business.’

  ‘OK, you win,’ said Tommy.

  They handed Tommy $600 and wandered away while looking at their wrists.

  ‘Why did you give them the impression they were stolen, Tommy?’

  ‘People prefer buying stolen stuff. They think they’re getting a better deal. Tells you something about human nature, don’t it?’

  I cringed but I had to ask him. ‘Shall I hold on to the money, Tommy?’

  ‘What, your friend don’t trust me? Here, take it.’

  I felt bad taking the money but I was glad he handed it over without a fuss.

  Anyway, after making his first sale Tommy made one sale after another. And the more he sold the happier he seemed. My only problem was the money. Sometimes he would give it to me and other times it would go in his pocket. I was hoping he would hand it over when the time came, but I could see there being a problem.

  Then a guy came and stood next to me. His face was pale and his eyes were red, and greasy blond hair dangled from his head.

  ‘What’s in the rucksack?’ he asked.

  ‘Oh nothing.’

  ‘Give it to me!’

  ‘I can’t.’

  The man’s teeth clenched. ‘You can’t or you won’t?’

  ‘He won’t,’ said Tommy.

  The man straightened up. ‘Suppose I take it!’

  Tommy pulled out a small black baton and slapped it in his hand. ‘This is Harry. He’s leather on the outside, but inside, he’s lead. Now you move away or Harry goes over your head!’

  The guy moved away glaring at Tommy as he went.

  ‘You OK, Bob?’

  ‘He was kind of scary.’

  ‘Full moon always brings them out. Don’t worry kid. Shout if you need me.’

  As the night wore on the bright lights began hurting my eyes. I was hoping we wouldn’t be out there much longer. Times Square is a strange place when you’re tired. But when I saw Joey running towards us I knew it was about to get stranger.

  ‘Is she here?’ he shouted. ‘Marie Claire, is she here?’

  ‘No,’ I said.

  ‘I turned my back for a minute and she’d gone! I’ve looked everywhere for her! I can’t find her!’

  ‘OK, calm down,’ said Tommy. ‘Where was the last place you saw her?’

  ‘Around 47th and Broadway. I thought she might have gone to the bathroom or something, so I waited. Then I had a good look around. I can’t find her anywhere.’

  ‘How long since you last seen her?’

  ‘Half an hour, maybe more.’

  ‘Bob and me will head up Broadway. You get the car and cruise the area.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Bob!’ said Joey, and ran off to get the car.

  The fear hit me hard. ‘We have to find her, Tommy! We have to find my sister!’

  ‘What? Is that panic I hear? Come on, Bob, she’s probably just wandered off. If that idiot had stayed put, she would have wandered back again.’ Tommy put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Come on, kid, we’ll find her.’

  We walked up on to Broadway and waded through thousands of people. Then, crossing to the other side of the road, we doubled back. Tommy stopped every now and again to speak to various people. They stood in doorways or leaned against walls or hid in the shadows of Times Square. I wouldn’t have noticed they were there if Tommy hadn’t spoken to them. ‘Fairhaired girl, selling watches, you seen her? There’s a hundred in it for you if you spot her, answers to the name of Marie Claire.’ His tone was serious when he spoke to the street people, but when he saw me watching him he smiled. ‘When we find her, Bob, we’ll make her pay for supper.’ But when he went back to scanning the street, he looked worried. I’d only known Tommy for a short time but I knew he wasn’t the sort of person to worry. That look frightened me more than anything.

  I scanned the crowd until my eyes hurt. I looked in the corners of the buildings and down the dark alleys. I looked at every person who passed me. I looked at hundreds of faces and then I looked at thousands. I looked in restaurant windows. I even looked in the bars. I checked the coffee shops hoping to see her. I looked into the passing cars desperate not to see her. I turned and turned until the lights and the buildings went round me like a merry-go-round, but I couldn’t see her anywhere.

  Then Joey cruised along, looking around him as he came. He pulled up by us. Tommy put his hand on the roof of the car and they exchanged a few words. They never looked at each other as they spoke; their dark eyes scanned the streets. And for the first time I saw they were like father and son.

  ‘Keep looking,’ said Tommy and the car cruised away.

  Then the Rat’s words ran around in my head like the plague Take me home, Bob! Something bad is going to happen! But I hadn’t taken her home! And it must have been half an hour since Joey told us he couldn’t find her. That means she had been missing for at least an hour.

  ‘You have to find her, Tommy!’

  Tommy made no attempt to smile now. His face was as grim as an undertaker’s. I stopped looking for her. I only watched him. Only Tommy with his hustler’s instinct could find her. He moved slowly. He stopped. His head turned from side to side. He moved on. He mumbled something to himself. Then he crossed Broadway and stood on the central reservation where me and the Rat had stood that first night. I followed him across. He turned 360 degrees. But then he froze. Something had caught his eye!

  ‘There she is!’ he shouted and pointed across the street.

  I looked but I couldn’t see her! ‘Where?’

  He pointed in a different direction. ‘There!’

  A police car was weaving its way through the Times Square traffic. Her small face appeared in the back window. My eyes locked on to hers. She held my glance for a second. And then she was gone.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When I woke it was daylight. I reached for my phone but it wasn’t there. I jumped up and went outside. Tommy and Joey were sitting in the sunshine.

  ‘It’s OK, Bob. I’ve got it here,’ said Tommy handing me the phone. ‘You were sleeping pretty good. I was scared she’d send you a message and you wouldn’t hear it.’

  ‘I tried calling her, Bob,’ said Joey. ‘But her phone’s switched off.’

  ‘She’ll have done that to stop the cops from taking it off her. But she’ll send me a text message as soon as she gets a chance.’

  ‘The kids said you used to be a lawyer,’ said Joey. ‘What will happen now?’

  ‘They’ll call Social Services and they’ll take her to a children’s home. They’ll keep her there until they figure out what to do with her.’

  ‘When she contacts you, Bob, we’ll go get her,’ said Joey. ‘Then I’ll take you kids back to Canada. I’ll carry on looking for your uncle, don’t worry about that, but I think it would be best if you went home.’

  ‘There could be implications if you take her out of the home,’ said Tommy. ‘They could throw a dozen charges at you. They could even charge you with kidnapping.’

  ‘Like I told you, Pops, I stan
d by my friends. What do you say, Bob?’

  ‘We have to get her back!’

  ‘OK, then it’s settled. Now how about a late breakfast?’

  ‘I’m not hungry.’

  ‘I know it’s bad, Bob. But not eating won’t help.’

  ‘Joey’s right,’ said Tommy. ‘I’ll fire up the barbecue and we’ll have a good breakfast. Come on, kid. You can help. It’ll keep your mind off things.’

  Tommy put bacon and eggs on the barbecue while Joey did the coffee and toast inside. When it was done we ate it outdoors while watching the trains go by. A woman waved at me from one train. She looked kind of sad when I didn’t wave back. When the train had gone I felt bad for not waving, but I felt bad anyway.

  We drank more coffee and Joey smoked one cigarette after another. A lot more trains went by. I paced back and forth between the trailer and the train tracks, and then I crossed the train tracks and walked down by the river. I couldn’t stop thinking about where she could be. I wondered if she was frightened or feeling lonely like me. I thought about her in the police station joking around with the cops. The guys were right. She would be safe with the cops.

  But what if she escaped? She might try and find her way back here. She’d have such a long journey. No, she wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t find her way back here. She would probably go back to the den. She might even go to Ice. But I don’t think she could escape from the cops, not by herself. So they would take her to a home. I wondered what sort of home they would take her to. What if she had a fit? I should give myself up. But they might put me in a boys’ home and keep her in a girls’. I looked at my cellphone for the thousandth time and then I wandered back to the guys.

  They played cards outdoors while asking each other did they know various people, most of whom sounded like gangsters. Pete the Performer and Frank the Fence. Sal and Moe, and do you know Sonny the Saint? What about his brother Joe the Boxer who killed Silent Steve in Havana’s that night because he was looking at his girlfriend? Or what about Crazy Carl and those Benson Hurst boys? You hear about the fallout with the Russians?

  Turns out they knew a lot of the same people but they disagreed over the stories that surround them, mostly because Tommy was older than Joey and had been around a lot more. And he let Joey know this in a not-so-subtle way. Joey slapped the cards on the table and came towards me. ‘I’m going to the store. That guy gets on my goddamn nerves!’ And, jumping in his car, he sped away.

  I took a seat at the table and watched Tommy play solitaire. ‘Youth, they know nothing but make out they know everything. But not you, Bob. You are wise beyond your years.’

  ‘I’m worried, Tommy.’

  ‘It ain’t time to worry yet. I’ll let you know when it is.’

  The sun was almost setting and she still hadn’t contacted me. I was just about to suggest we go to the cops when my phone gave out a high-pitched beep.

  ‘Told cops nothing. In Don Children’s Home. Don’t know address. The kids here are very quiet. Guys who run it seem strange. Don’t leave me here, brother!’

  ‘The Don Children’s home is in New Jersey off the New Jersey Turnpike,’ said Tommy. ‘They keep a lot of the immigrant kids there.’

  Joey made his way into the trailer. ‘Text her back, Bob. Tell her we’re on our way.’ When he came out he was carrying a crowbar.

  ‘What’s the plan, Joe?’ asked Tommy.

  ‘When we get there we text Marie Claire telling her we’re outside. She gives us a signal like flashing a light on and off. We crack open a window or a door,’ said Joey holding up the crowbar. ‘We get Marie Claire and head for the border.’

  Tommy stood up. ‘Head to the George Washington Bridge. We’ll cross from there.’

  Joey looked surprised. ‘You want in on this?’

  ‘You’re not the only one who stands by his friends.’

  We piled into the car and, driving up the dirt road, we headed out on to the main road. I was so happy I found myself smiling. I could already see her telling us the story of how she got caught. And I could see her asleep in the car as we drove back to Canada. I didn’t know what would happen after that. But I was so glad we’d met Tommy and Joey. They were great guys and I’d never forget them for helping us.

  But as we neared the George Washington Bridge my phone beeped again.

  ‘They’re paedophiles, Bob. Kids are really small and they’re hurting them. One of them has a gun. I’ve seen it. Don’t come alone. Bring Ice.’

  I could feel the fear sink into my soul.

  ‘Let’s get the cops!’ said Joey. ‘Let’s get them right now!’

  ‘It’s too late for that!’ said Tommy. ‘The cops are too slow. They’ll send a couple of rookies to investigate what’s no more than an allegation. They’ll talk to whoever’s in charge, make a report, and send it to Social Services. In a few days, if we’re lucky, they’ll send someone to investigate. It’s a slow process, believe me. And I’ve dealt with these goddamn paedophiles before. You don’t know how slippery they can be!’

  ‘What are we going to do?’ asked Joey.

  ‘Head to Fifth Avenue. We’ll pick up Ice.’

  ‘You think Ice will come?’ I asked.

  ‘Of course he’ll come! The kid’s in trouble!’ Tommy took a pen from his pocket and wrote on a piece of paper. ‘I’m writing down the address of the home and I’m telling Ice what’s happened. If he’s out, we’ll leave it with the doorman.’

  The car weaved in and out of the traffic like a video game played to the max. Joey ran red lights and took corners so fast I slid in my seat. Then, when we were held up in traffic, he banged on the steering wheel. He kept his hand on the horn for large parts of the journey and he cursed the other drivers for being in his way. How he never got pulled over I’ll never know, but we soon reached Ice’s building.

  ‘Just here!’ I said.

  The car screeched to a halt. Me and Tommy jumped out and ran inside.

  ‘Can I help you, gentlemen?’ asked the doorman.

  ‘We need to see Ice!’ I said.

  The doorman picked up a phone. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Bob.’

  ‘He’s having a party and Miss Moore said there should be no uninvited guests. But I remember seeing you with him … We have a gentleman here by the name of Bob. He has a friend with him … Very good, sir. OK, you can go up.’

  I tapped on the button until the elevator came. When we reached Ice’s floor I saw the door open and people standing outside.

  I rushed into the apartment. There was music playing and there were smartly dressed people drinking in the hallway. I made my way into the packed living room, which was noisy with loud talk, and laughter, and the clinking of cocktails. Then I saw Ice and Mia. I pushed through the partiers, knocking past a fat man smoking a cigar and a waitress serving snacks. ‘Ice, you have to help us! My sister’s in trouble!’

  The party people looked us up and down like we were peasants.

  Ice looked embarrassed. ‘We’ll talk outside.’

  We followed him out into the hallway while Mia apologized for our behaviour.

  ‘Can I have a minute?’ said Ice. The hallway guests drifted back into the apartment. ‘What’s the problem, Bob?’

  ‘The Rat – my sister – has been put in a home and it’s run by paedophiles!’

  ‘How do you know this?’ said Ice.

  ‘She sent me a text message.’

  ‘I like Marie Claire, she’s a really nice kid. But she has a strange imagination.’

  ‘What are you saying, Ice?’

  ‘Come on, Ice, we’ve got a car outside! Let’s go!’ said Tommy.

  ‘Ice isn’t going anywhere!’ said Mia. ‘I don’t know what your game is but you’re not playing it here!’

  ‘It’s not a game,’ I said. ‘One of them has a gun!’

  ‘Sure he does, little boy,’ said Mia. ‘Ice, they’ve probably got a TV crew waiting around the corner. It sounds like a set-up to me.’ />
  Ice’s manager, Barry, came out into the hall. ‘What’s going on, Ice? The head of the company is asking for you.’

  ‘Some white-trash kids that Ice befriended have got themselves in trouble, or so they say.’

  ‘Don’t call them that, Mia!’

  ‘OK, Ice. But remember, I’m a little older than you and—’

  ‘You’re a lot older than me, Mia. Now shut up!’

  ‘You have to help her, Ice!’ I said.

  Ice looked torn to the point of pain. ‘It’s not a good time for me, Bob.’

  ‘When would be a good time?’ said Tommy. ‘When they find her body?’

  Everyone froze with those words. And my mind froze with the image.

  ‘Ice!’

  He looked away from me.

  Tommy looked disgusted. ‘What? Your fancy party means more to you than a child in trouble?’

  ‘Marie Claire could be lying.’

  ‘She could,’ said Tommy. ‘But my instinct tells me different. Either way I’m not willing to take the chance. Are you?’

  Ice just stood there looking uncomfortable.

  ‘I think you people should leave,’ said Mia. ‘Now.’

  ‘Give me the address, Tommy.’ He gave me the address and I threw it at Ice’s feet. ‘In case you change your mind. Come on, Tommy. Let’s go.’

  Tommy stepped towards Ice. ‘I’m a lousy hustler, but I’ll never be as low as you!’

  ‘Tommy, come on!’

  We dropped down to the street and went outside. Joey flicked his cigarette away and jumped in the car. ‘Where’s Ice?’

  ‘He’s not coming,’ said Tommy. ‘It’s just us.’

  I jumped in the back and Joey started the engine.

  ‘Take the Lincoln Tunnel to Jersey,’ said Tommy. ‘I’ll direct you once we get to the other side.’

  The car screeched away.

  I was sick about Ice. He was the Rat’s hero and I thought he cared about her. But I was wrong and Tommy was right. Ice only cared about his career. And I hated him for it.

  Joey cut through Central Park, screeched around a roundabout, and headed downtown at high speed. We were lucky with the lights all the way to the Lincoln Tunnel. But once there we got held up in traffic. Tommy rattled his fingers on the side of the door while Joey put his hand on the horn.