"If you'll go with me."
"No. Maybe I'd go with you… if you had that hundred thousand dollars. But I won't go with you now. Not like this. Marve would kill us. Even if he didn't, I'd be no better off than I am now."
"I'd love you, Lily."
"I'm sick of love."
"Do you think what you have with that animal is love, Lily? He's making you what he is. I'll take care of you, Lily. I swear it."
She laughed, a sharp bitter sound in the ageless silence about the sagging house. "How?"
My voice was hoarse. "You're not going to stay with him."
She turned to walk away. I felt the hopelessness like an injection paralyzing me. Sure, it's easy to say forget her, she's no good. It's easy to love the good ones, but nobody ever proved a woman had to be good to be loved. I had been through hell that started on the river when she stopped me with that knife at my throat. It had built past anxiety to a frantic compulsion as I watched Marve with her. I knew all along I couldn't have her. She was what Marve Pooser called her, she was his woman. No matter what fine things she wanted, she had no will to resist him.
I grabbed her arm, spun her around again.
"What's the matter with you?"
"Don't you know, Lily?"
"I don't even want to know."
"How crazy do you think you can drive a man, Lily, and get away with it?"
"You touch me and Marve Pooser will kill you."
"You don't give me any odds, baby. He'll kill me anyway, the first chance he gets."
"Listen to me." She spun away from my arms. "He's killed other men-when they just kissed me."
"Good. Since I'm going to die for it, I'm going to have it all."
She writhed free, tried to run. I caught her and twisted her around in my arms. She opened her mouth to scream and I clamped my palm across her lips. She closed her teeth, sinking them in until my hand bled. I backhanded her across the face and she staggered against the side of the house.
I moved forward and she went limp until my arms were around her. She brought her knee up and I twisted her away. She moaned and I caught her hair in my fists, closing them.
"Stop fighting, Lily. I'm going to have it."
Head back, her eyes stared wide at the metallic sky.
"Not unless you kill me."
"I'll do that, Lily, if I have to."
"Must make you feel fine."
"It's past that, Lily. I tried to be nice to you. You wouldn't have that. All you know is Marve Pooser. Okay. I'm going to show you-"
"How powerful-when I hate you."
"Shut up. You talk too much," I said.
"You'll never make me shut up."
"No. I'll only make you wish you had."
"I'm going to kill you. When I get back, I'm going to tell Marve. If he don't kill you, I'm going to."
"Sure."
"If not now, later. When you're not looking. When you're asleep. When you turn your back."
"All right."
"You think I won't."
"I don't care. Just shut up."
"Is this the way you want it? The only way you can get it?"
I thrust her back against the porch. "It's one way."
The breath was hot and sharp across my mouth. She moved back on the porch. She was not trying to get away from me now, and I caught her and her body pressed against mine and she screamed. The blue jays and the mockingbirds fluttered up from the cottonwood and she went on screaming and the birds screeched and the whole scrub was savagely loud with the sound. But then she was moaning and then making no sound at all and only her head moved back and forth in slow rhythm on the boards of the porch.
THE VENOM
We were walking back through the jack oaks of the scrub and I was conscious of the gun pushed under my belt, the rifle in the crook of my arm, and of the way the sun cooked the back of my neck and my shoulders. About myself I was most aware of the sense of being tired, of wishing I could lie down with Lily close beside me, her black hair against my face and her body against mine so that we could lie together and rest, the way it should be now. I shook my head, watching the way she walked ahead of me, the sun on her hair, the way her shoulders were set.
"It was not bad, Lily. There was nothing bad about it."
She did not say anything but walked faster, as if trying to run away from me and escape what we had done together on the porch of the ruined old house.
"I couldn't help wanting to love you, Lily. I never could." There was the sound of her catching her breath against the stillness of the scrub.
"You think I won't tell Marve because you call it love?" She stared over her shoulder at me, her expression bewildered.
"I only know what it is. With me."
She paused for a moment and for just that moment there was the sweet scent of roots and plants, and the feeling of the sun warm against us. In that second I thought her eyes clouded. I thought she was going to cry and I wanted to move forward and clasp her in my arms and make it all right, make her know how right it was.
Her voice was scalding and indignant. "I don't think I believe in love. Unless love is just taking what you want."
"Lily for God's sake. You've got to believe somebody sometime," I said gently.
"Do I?"
"Not everybody is Marve Pooser."
She laughed. "Marve doesn't pretend to love me but he doesn't try to sweet-talk me either," she said bitterly.
"I love you, Lily."
She shook her head, turned and walked away from me, moving swiftly.
I walked behind her and neither of us spoke again. Her lithe body moved magically beneath that cheap dress. It was more than I had ever dreamed of, more than I could ever forget. But in my mind I could picture how she would tell Marve what I had done to her, because she had sworn she would, to spite herself, perhaps even to spite Marve. She knew she had no will, no defenses against Marve, but she could taunt him now with what happened between her and me. I wanted to laugh aloud in bitterness. She wasn't so blind that she couldn't see the jealousy in Marve and me; it was like a tangible thing in that shack. It spilled out the windows, it seeped across the yard and ran wetly across the dry sand. She could hit back at us all right; she could drive us both crazy.
We came out of the scrub and crossed the sand yard. I did not glance toward the pen where Marve kept the bull alligator. I couldn't force myself to do it.
She seemed to slow as we approached the steps. Or perhaps she didn't. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. Maybe I wanted her to slow. Maybe I still hoped she would turn around and walk out of this scrub with me.
Something was wrong inside that shack.
How did I know? Everything inside me warned me, but not until I saw the way Lily hesitated at the doorway. It was only the slightest slowing down, but I saw it. My nerves were drawn taut, and I saw everything. Her hand flexed at her side, and this was movement even more imperceptible and I saw it, too.
When she was just inside the door, I held the automatic in my right hand. I said, "Wait, Lily. Stand right there."
She paused as if I had caught her at the small of her back. She stood rigidly, shoulders straight. She kept her face forward, that hair long and hacked between her shoulder blades. She looked neither left nor right and this was the final warning.
I moved in close behind her so that I could see inside the shack and yet was shielded behind Lily.
Marve was not on the floor.
Over her shoulder I saw the wires were there where he had been and there were bits of wrist-flesh and blood on the wires and drops of blood on the floor. He had worked free of the wire somehow.
"Step away from that wall, Marve," I said.
There was silence, then movement from the right side of the doorway. I put my hand against Lily's back and shoved her hard all the way across the room.
Marve came away from that wall. In his upraised hand he wielded an iron skillet, black from the fireplace. He was ready to bring it down across my skull. His f
ace was white and drawn, eyes distended.
"What's the matter with you?" I yelled at him. "You gone nuts trying to pull a dumb trick like that?"
He didn't stop, he kept plodding toward me. I was too far inside the door to move backwards through it. I sidestepped along the wall, lifting the gun. His eyes were empty, didn't even see the gun.
One thing was sure. He wouldn't have stopped if he had.
His voice was wild. "I'll kill you." For an instant his gaze jerked around and he stared at Lily. "I'll kill both of you."
"Put down that skillet, Marve. So help me, I'll shoot you if you don't."
"You better shoot. I told you that. You should have killed me first chance you got."
"It isn't too late, Marve."
"Oh, yes it is. It's too late. It was too late from the minute you laid with her on that porch over there."
Lily gasped. "Marve."
His voice broke. He mocked her. "Marve. Yeah. Marve. Before God, Marve. Nothing happened. Nothing happened, Marve. Well, I didn't see you that night on the river, slut, but I saw you today. I saw you."
"Marve. He made me do it. He made me."
"Stop lying. You're nothing. You never been nothing but trash. Oh, you lied to me. You cried and you made me believe you. Well, I don't believe you now. I know what you are. I saw what you are. I saw it. On that porch-I saw it."
Before any of us could speak again, he heeled back around and hurled that skillet at me. It grazed the side of my head.
I stumbled back. Only the wall saved me from going all the way. The room skidded out of focus for a moment. Lily and the bed and the fireplace spun outward the way the skillet had, and for a moment there was nothing but a red haze before my eyes.
Marve remained in focus. He followed that skillet, coming toward me, fists flailing, growling like that bull 'gator.
I stepped sideways, moving back, trying to bring the gun up between us.
The impact of his body dislodged the rifle. It clattered from beneath my arm and hit the floor.
He yelled, "Lily, get that rifle."
I had to stop moving away. I stayed there with the rifle slightly behind me. I waited for Lily to spring between my legs and get that rifle for him.
"Lily," he yelled again. His voice was savage.
"Back up, Marve." I was panting so hard I could scarcely speak. "I'm pulling this trigger."
"Hell you are. You greedy bastard. You wouldn't pull that trigger no matter what happened. You're too damned anxious to get your hands on that money. My money. My woman. That's what you want."
His fist crashed into my face and I staggered under the impact. It was as if blood was jarred through my sinus, my eyes and my throat. The only taste was blood, the only smell was blood. My legs weakened and I knew that if Lily got to that rifle I was dead, this time for sure. No matter what plans Marve had had for keeping me alive before, they would no longer mean anything.
I was pressed against a two-by-four and could not retreat any more. The gun was useless. Marve snagged my wrist and was twisting down on it.
His voice was savage. "Lily, get that rifle!"
I brought my left up into his stomach and the breath exploded out of him. I kept hitting with everything I had and the pressure on my wrist weakened. He freed me suddenly, grabbed me around the waist and tried to wrestle me away from the wall and that rifle. I fought against him with all my strength. I brought the gun upward and slashed it down across the side of his head. I felt his arms weaken and he staggered.
I hit him in the face and he fell backward, dragging me with him.
We hit the floor hard. The shack shook. All I could think was that Lily would get that rifle and in a moment I would feel it thrust into my back.
Marve released me for an instant and I sprang free of him, rolling away and trying to get up to my knees.
As I came up I jerked my head around, looking for Lily. She was gone. She had run out of that shack when Marve jumped me.
I felt crazy bitter laughter choking up in me. She had been returning here to tell Marve I'd attacked her, but since he had seen it himself, she knew what he would believe. She knew suddenly if Marve ever killed me, she was next.
He moved up from the floor, yelling for Lily. He looked around and saw that she was gone.
The wild angry laughter that was in him poured out, and now he no longer even saw the automatic as a weapon. His hands were claws and he lunged at me.
I brought the gun up. "I don't have to kill you, Marve," I was yelling, hoping he'd hear me through the insanity that was deafening him, making him insensible to anything except the compulsion to kill.
"Kill me."
"I won't kill you. I'll fix you. So you'll wish you were dead."
His laughter raged. "You think I don't?"
His hands closed on my throat. I jabbed the gun low against his groin. I could hardly speak because his hands were cutting off my breath. I squawked it, gagging. "Right in the gut, Marve."
"Marve."
It was Lily. She ran across the porch and into the shack. She slammed the door and barred it.
"Marve." Her voice shook and she was beating on his back, her fists clenched. "Marve. For God's sake. Listen to me. There's somebody out there."
I felt his hands relax on my throat. He shoved me away from him.
He was staring at Lily. I sprawled forward, landing on top of the rifle. My life depended on it. Whether I got that money or not, I was going to have to kill Marve, or he was going to kill me. I wanted that rifle and automatic on my side.
On his knees, Marve stared at Lily.
They had both forgotten me.
"Where'd you see him, Lily?"
"Out there." She jerked her head toward the front of the shack. "I started running across the yard. I saw him. He ran back into the scrub."
"How well did you see him?"
"Pretty good."
"What did he look like?"
"Tall. Skinny. Thin face. He was wearing a hat and a dark suit."
Marve laughed. "Sure. Old brains. Old Claude Piper. Right out there. Right in back of Brycki." He laughed again. "Just the way he always was."
Lily glanced over her shoulder at the guns in my hands. Her face was white. "What you going to do, Marve?"
He was loud, as sure of himself as ever. He never glanced toward me or the guns.
"Hell, I'm going to kill him, baby. That's what he's asking for, ain't it?"
***
I moved to the chair, sat there with the rifle across my knees.
Marve stood up, looked at me, mouth twisted. "There he is, Jake-boy. Another one looking for that hundred grand. You want that money. Why don't you stop him?"
I looked at him, holding the rifle across my knees. "Why should I? I can just leave him to you. Maybe you'll kill each other."
"Don't count on it, Jake."
"Feed this one to the alligator."
"Don't tell me, Jake. I'll tell you." He shrugged his shirt up on his shoulders. "It's up to you, Jake. He's out there. You got trouble enough with me, or do you want Claude in on it?" He laughed. "Claude's a smart boy. Brains. He'll tell you so himself. Claude's so smart he figured I was so dumb I'd stand around waiting for him with a hundred grand in that satchel. Maybe that's the only mistake Claude ever made."
"Don't tell me your woes."
"That's where you're wrong, Jake. They're your woes now. You came out here looking for that money. Sure, you got out here and got Lily on your mind. That's okay. You want Lily and not the money." He laughed. "Think you'll ever have Lily-without the money?"
"That man out there wants to kill you, Marve. Not me."
"Sure. And think, Jake. Maybe he will. He's pretty smart. He let me out-think him once, but he'll be on his toes now. If he kills me without finding out where that money is, looks like none of you will get it." His face hardened and he glanced at Lily. "Not even you, baby."
Her voice was cold. "I came up here before I even knew about that money. But I gue
ss that don't mean nothing to you now."
"Not a thing. I always knew, Lily, you'd walk out on me for money. I've known that ever since the first. But I thought I was the only guy that could get to you. I had that. I don't have that any more, Lily." He shook his head. "It makes a big difference."
Each of us held our breath. We heard the sound of movement out there in the silent yard.
"He's still out there," Lily whispered.
Marve sat there grinning.
"Sure he is. It's up to you, Jake. Looks like you not only can't kill ole Marve, you got to protect him just as hard as you ever protected anybody."
"Marve." The man from outside called. "Marve, it's Claude. I want to talk to you."
"Well, hi there, Claude. Been looking for you."
"You ain't been looking for me, Marve. You crossed me. Took me a long time. I'm out here, Marve. I want my cut."
Marve glanced at me. "He don't know you're in here, Jake. You sit facing that door. When he walks in, he'll think you're me. Until it's too late. Play along, Jake. We'll pull the smart boy's teeth."
I moved the chair around, sat facing the door. I said, "What you planning, Marve? I'm out of this, I don't want any part of your killings."
He pressed his back against the wall so that he would be hidden when the door was pushed open. He jerked his head toward the bed and Lily went there. "Lie down," he told her. "Look happy. Like you and me was here alone."
She lay down, tense on the bed, her fists clenched at her sides. We were going right along with him, playing his deadly game.
"I won't help you kill, Marve."
He shrugged. His whisper was soft. "Who asked you to?" He shook his head. "You got the gun. I'm clean. We'll just remove Claude's gun. Then he'll listen to reason a lot better."
"Marve. You in there?"
"I'm here."
"I want my money, Marve. If I get it, maybe I don't kill you."
Marve laughed. "You can't kill me, Claude. The money ain't here. You better come in and be friendly."
"Maybe I'll kill you without the money, Marve. I don't like being crossed."
Marve laughed again. "I feel safe."
"Come out here, Marve. Where I can see you. Come out empty handed."
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