Adrian Del Valle - Diego's Brooklyn

by Adrian Del Valle

  The Geek shook his head. “What the hell are you asking her for? It doesn’t matter if you piss on the floor. You’re a crook, remember? Who’s going to complain? Go use it, so I can think.”

  The door to the hallway was left wide open as Fast Eddie searched for the door to the bathroom. He left that one open as well, before going on with his business.

  Two inches of Jimmy’s cigar was left, and smoking them any farther always left an after taste in his mouth. He aimed for the sink and got it in on the first try. He thought to check that his gun was fully loaded, but didn’t want to prematurely upset anyone into screaming and waking up the neighbors. Especially, since he wasn’t ready to leave yet. His next appointment wasn’t for another two and half hours and the ride to the Bronx, at this time of day, took less than one.

  “Can I make ju some coffee?” Ana meekly asked, her voice barely audible.

  “Yeah, you read my mind?”

  “Juss, only, I have Spaneesh coffee?”

  “As long as it’s strong. I’m on the night shift and I got a lot of work to do tonight. I got two in the Bronx and another one in Queens that I still gotta see. What did you spend that money on, kid?”

  “I bought my mother a new dress.”

  “Oh…for her birthday?”

  “No…church. She hadn’t been to church in a long while. I wanted to do something special for her.”

  “Yeah, my mother goes to church every Sunday and look what happened to me. So, tell me…were you making plans to spend the rest of this money?”

  “I thought I would buy her another dress for a wedding she’s supposed to go to on Saturday, but Mom made me promise not to spend another penny of it.”

  “Is that right, lady?”

  Anna responded, cautiously. “I done want heem to find no more trouble with thees moe-ney.”

  “Well, At least you didn’t give it to the cops, because, then I would’ve been up shits creek without a paddle. My boss would have had to kiss this money goodbye. How much was the dress?”

  “Around $14.00. I bought her shoes, too.”

  “You’re a good boy to your mother. Especially when the money ain’t yours.” Jimmy Huffed.

  From the bathroom, a prolonged pouring sound, like a horse relieving itself in a galvanized pail, splashed into the bowl. It was followed by a loud flush. Fast Eddie returned and took his place at the table to the smell of coffee brewing.

  “So, uh…what, are we’s all in a diner, now? What’s with the making the cawfee, crap?”

  “I said it was okay. Leave her alone!”

  “We gotta go. What if the coppas are casin’ da joint?”

  “They ain’t, because Spillane would have known that before he made us come back here. We got eyes and ears in the street, or did you forget?”

  Eddie puckered up his lips. “Well, den give me some cawfee. Hey, so what’re we doin’ with dese two?”

  “Nothing!”

  “Nuttin’! Waddya talkin’ ‘bout…nuttin’?”

  “Just what I said, nothing.”

  “So, whadabout da 50? You plannin’ to do nuttin’ ‘bout dat?”

  “That’s right! I’m going to take my time and finish this coffee, and then we’re taking a ride to the Bronx.”

  “But da 50?”

  “That’s peanuts! We got almost all of the money and that makes me very happy. And it’s also going to make Spillane very happy.”

  “Jeesh. You’re gettin’ soft, Big Jimmy.”

  “What’s the point? Can’t you see how nice this lady is, and none of it is the kids fault, neither. He found the money. He didn’t try to steal it from us like the Barnes did, so what the hell are you mad at?”

  “Because!…Dats why! We gotta make an example oudda da boat o’ dem.”

  Ana grabbed Diego’s hands and held them in her lap.

  “You see, Eddie, that’s why Spillane puts me in charge. You don’t think straight. Number one, we got our money. Number two, if anything was to happen to a little boy and his crippled mother, in the same building where Barnes lived, there would be a lot more pressure to find out who it was. They already got their eyes on Spillane for what happened to Barnes and Sally Boy. They just can’t prove which one of us knocked him off. Well…you know who I mean?”

  “Da Barnes? Yeah, dat wuz you!”

  “Did you have to mention that in front of them, knucklehead?”

  “Whud about Tommy? They don’t know nuttin’ ‘bout dat neida!”

  “And that was you! Hey, I hope you don’t really think they care about Tommy, do you?”

  “I don’t tink his own mudda cares ‘bout him.”

  “And don’t forget the cop that fell off this very same roof. And that was only a couple of days ago. This place is very hot right now. And there will be a lot more heat on you and me…and Spillane…than there is, if something else was to happen in this same building. And no amount of payoffs will keep the cops off our backs. As far as the 50 goes, they can keep that for taking care of our money. They could have skipped town with it. Did you ever think of that?”

  Fast Eddie squirmed in his seat and looked the other way. “Mumble, mumble.”

  “And that takes us to number 3, or 4, I lost count.”

  “Which is?”

  “That you’re an idiot!”

  “So I’m an idiot. So shoot me. Oh…shit! Forget I said dat. Hey, we bedda go. We been in dis place too long, already.”

  “What are you being so jumpy about?”

  “Somebody mighta called da coppa’s.”

  “Who? Poor people don’t have phones.”

  “Mary, Mary did, and by now dey gotta knows who we are.”

  “So what? We didn’t rob the place?”

  “What about da Barnes. We wuz in his room? We’s was boat in dere, rememba?”

  “What does that prove? We had a key.”

  “An’ Mary? You broke her front daw, did ya’s forget aboud dat?”

  “I didn’t forget nothing, Eddie. And who cares? You don’t believe she’s gonna rat us two out, do you? That was somebody else that broke that door in. Not us. And even if she does snitch on us, who’s going to pick us out of a line-up? Not her! If she ever did, she’d be signing her own death warrant, and Spillane would let her know that.”

  “What ‘bout finga prints?”

  “Sometimes I wonder why I even let you hang out with me. You’re a knucklehead! So what? What the hell does that prove? Barnes was a good friend of ours. We paid him a visit a long time ago, right? In fact, he’s the one who introduced us to his girlfriend, fatty Mary. So if they find our finger prints in her room it don’t matter, see?”

  “Say, do you mind if I go upsteahs right now and see if maybe, uh…you know…if maybe, um, uh…”

  “No!”

  “Okay!”

  “You’re also forgetting something else, Eddie. We got ears inside the squad cars. If anything comes down, we’re going to know about it first. So, stop fidgeting around and relax. We’ll leave when I’m good and ready to leave. In fact, do me a big favor?”

  “Whaddya want now?”

  “How about you carry that skinny ass of yours out to the car on those pencil legs and wait for me there. You’re annoying me.”

  “Whaddya gonna do to dem.”

  “You’ll see! Just go!”

  The Geek stood alongside the couch and stretched. He left his half-filled cup at the edge of the table and followed Eddie to the door. Adjusting his gun, he closed his jacket around it, eased the door shut from the inside, and released the knob gently to silence the clicking sound.

  Ana put her arm around Diego with her head on his chest, closed her eyes, and silently prayed.

  Returning to stand by the table, Jimmy picked up the cup and slowly sipped what was left of the coffee. He put the cup down and opened his jacket, carelessly knocking the gun to the floor. He glanced at the both of them, huddled together in an embrace, and bent down to pick it up. After another glance at Ana, he
promptly stuck it back under his waistband.

  “I like you two. I don’t beat up nice people. I’m letting the both of you go. Like I said before, I got nothing against neither one of you.”

  Reaching under his Jacket, he repositioned the gun to double check that it was securely in place. Taking out his wallet, he gestured with a slight head nod toward Diego. “Here, kid, take this twenty and buy your mother a nice new dress for that wedding. It’s on me.”

  He followed with another twenty, tossing it onto the table. “That’s for shoes, so you can match the dress? And here’s twenty more to make up for that dickhead partner of mine. Have a nice life…and stay out of chimneys.”

  END

  EPILOGUE

  Ana borrowed a coat from Karen and went to the wedding with Danny. They eventually married. She got her hip fixed and now lives happily in South Setauket, Long Island. And yes, they dance quite often.

  Diego completed college and got his law degree. When time allows, he visits the Jacksons.

  Bill and Beulah love the elevator in their building even though they only live on the second floor. It’s next door to the Senior Center where Beulah’s corn bread and chocolate chip cookies are enjoyed by everyone there. They have a small dog named, Chico, and are often seen arm in arm strolling the landscaped grounds.

  Diego’s good friend Larry is with the New York City Transit System, having worked his way up from subway conductor to motorman. He’s fat as a whale.

  Mary, at the insistence of her sister, Ellen, eventually moved in with her. Ellen is a faithfully committed vegetarian who prides herself in her organic and herb garden. Mary has devoted herself to the entirely new life style and has become as thin as Ellen. They both hate Twinkies.

  Jerry is a cop in a neighboring precinct and has a family of four. When in the neighborhood, he also checks in on the Jacksons.

  Leroy teaches High School and coaches baseball.

  Jimmy moved to New Jersey, studied business in college and now manages a chain of stores.

  Luigi; well, let’s call him by his real name, Louis. He owns the building and still lives upstairs. He has a pretty wife and a little girl named Antonia. They vacation every year at Anthony’s house in Naples, Italy, where Anthony grows grapes and makes his very own wine.

  Now, who do we have left? Oh, yeah, Jose. The D’avino’s retired. Jose bought the store and renamed it, “Pier 34 Pet Shop”.

  So next time you visit Brooklyn, and if you get lost in Boerum Hill like a lot of people do, stay a while and have a pizza.

  Otherwise…fugedaboudit!

  Dats it