Then her lips moved and she said a single word; its first letter was formed by her top teeth pressing firm against her bottom lip, the action necessary to create all words that started with the sixth letter of the alphabet. She wanted to turn around. But Eddie Coyle was behind her, and so were more people who were desperate to get out of the cold. My wife had to go forward. Once again her bottom lip and her top teeth became intimate, once again she tensed her face and uttered a word that started with the letter F and ended with the letter K. I nodded and whispered the same wonderful expletive, only with two words, one a personal pronoun, the last word the proper name for a female dog.
Her laughter had died. So had her smile. She adjusted her designer glasses, lowered her head.
My wife went the other direction, toward the bathrooms.
Eddie Coyle walked closer to me. The gun was inside my pocket, but the Mexican switchblade had been slipped up the sleeve of my coat. Bullets were reserved for Eddie Coyle, but not yet.
He said, “You’re looking pretty bad, Dmytryk. Like you’re in a hurt locker.”
“Nothing a Z-pack and a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”
I wanted to let the blade drop down and put that blade inside his heartless chest. In the background, police cars kept passing by to get to their precinct. One patrol car was across the street at the Bank of America. I wanted to hurt Eddie Coyle in a bad way and he knew it.
I said, “Based on Cora’s reaction, I take it she didn’t know I was in on this deal.”
“Not even a clue.”
“That’s not the way to do business, not even for a man like you.”
“She didn’t need to know who I was bringing in on this one. It’s better this way.”
“And you said Jackie Brown is the fourth person. What about your brother?”
“And Bishop is the fifth.” He nodded. “Sammy and Rick were in on this with me. It was supposed to be a five-man operation, but we’re down to three and there’s not enough time to recruit anyone else but you. I’ll need you to handle both stages of the getaway.”
“Five men? So, I have to handle two getaway cars and four are going in?”
“We’ll get to that part later.”
“Sammy knew you were with my wife?”
“Once again, as I said before, and this is the last time, I can’t attest to what any man or any woman knows, only myself.”
“You expect me to trust you?”
“Hit the front door if you feel like you can’t. I’m the one taking the big risk here. You might be wanted on a capital case and any association with you could be a big risk for me.”
“I guess I couldn’t trust you with my wife.”
“Women and money are two different things. A man can’t keep either for long. And while he has either one, he best enjoy it, has to use them for what they’re worth, because when it’s gone, it’s gone.”
I should’ve shot him right then. I should’ve shot him and left him bleeding on the floor of the café, the way Michigan has been bleeding people for the last five years. He evaluated me and nodded.
The waitress came and led us to the booths on the left side of the U-shaped eatery. We sat down in a booth about midway. I took the side facing the streets, the man’s side of the table.
Cora returned; her hands were deep inside her pockets and her steps were slow and cautious. She was shaking her head. She stopped at the edge of the booth and frowned at me, then used her middle finger to push her glasses up on her face before she slid inside the booth next to Eddie Coyle. A thousand wasps stung my heart when she took her seat. Eddie Coyle asked her to let him out and she did, then he motioned for her to sit on the inside. Now she was unable to leave the table or run away without climbing over the top like an animal trying to escape this zoo. She moved to the wall and wouldn’t relinquish any more eye contact, no matter how hard I stared at her.
My hand was inside my coat by then, my finger on the trigger.
But when I saw her, when I smelled her, my finger slipped away from the trigger.
I swallowed, cleared my throat, and said, “Cora.”
She nodded. “Dmytryk.”
I said, “¿Cómo amaneciste?”
“Bien.”
Eddie Coyle said, “No Mexican talk. This is north of the border so both of you speak American.”
I said, “Go to hell.”
Cora said, “You’re looking bad, Dmytryk. You’re looking bruised and pale.”
“Thanks for your concern, Cora, but I’ll survive.”
She softened her voice. “Who beat you up like that?”
“Life.”
Cora picked up a menu. Without reservation, I stared at my wife.
I said, “About six months ago, I went to Texas, came home, and you were gone. I thought that maybe you had Alzheimer’s and wandered away from home. And now Eddie Coyle has found you and he’s sending you home to me, untouched. Is that what has happened?”
Stress lines grew in her face, a face that wore perfect makeup, and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She looked like a child who was doing her best to wish me away.
I put on a smile. “Where is your wedding ring?”
“Pawned it in Guthrie, Oklahoma.”
“Pawning a ring doesn’t pawn a marriage.”
Eddie Coyle said, “Look, you haven’t heard from her in half a year. The marriage between you and Cora is done. She said it was over long before we met. She just didn’t have the guts to tell you.”
“Is that what she told you?”
“You understand what’s going on here, right, Dmytryk? If there are any hard feelings, put them all on the table so we can have the waitress come along and throw them away with the other trash.”
Still I received nothing from Cora. Her leg was bouncing and vibrating the booth. Underneath the table, my gun was aimed at her pretty stomach. I’d make her look at me. I’d make her feel my pain.
I said, “I was with you for six years, and at this moment, no matter how much I respected you, all I can think is that a slut is just a slut, no matter if she wears a wedding ring or not.”
Cora growled. “You’re a nasty, pathetic, vulgar jerk, you know that?”
“And you’re sloppy seconds.”
Eddie Coyle said, “Okay, Dmytryk, that’s enough of that. This is where I draw the line.”
I gritted my teeth and pointed in his face. “Stay out of this, Eddie Coyle.”
My wife leaned forward like she wanted to stab me with her fork.
Eddie Coyle smiled like he wanted her to, but he patted her hand like she was a trained animal. She took a sharp breath and sat back. It was invisible, but her leash was there, dangling from her neck.
I said, “So, wife, you were unhappy with me.”
She softened her voice and said, “You knew I wasn’t happy.”
“I knew you weren’t happy with our situation. I wasn’t happy with our situation. Only a fool would be happy. I’m asking if you were unhappy with me.”
“What’s the difference? You were my situation, Dmytryk.”
I softened my tone in response. “You were unhappy with me.”
“Yes. And when you went to sleep, I used to sit in the bathroom and cry half the night.”
“And you’re happy now.”
She sat back and looked like she aged fifty years. I pulled my lips in, the aches inside my body pulling at me as I turned and faced Eddie Coyle. He was a spectator at a circus and he would jump up and applaud if the lioness devoured the ringmaster.
I nodded and faced my wife. “I see the choices you’ve made, but I haven’t heard why.”
“I was done. Do you hear me, Dmytryk? I was done. I’d had enough. I quit.”
“You quit?”
“Yes, I quit.”
“This isn’t high school, Cora. And if standing before God meant nothing to you—”
“God means everything to me.”
“Walking out is not the way to dissolve a marriag
e. Whether we’re rich or poor, we’re married, so we are rich or poor together. ¿Comprendes, mujer?”
“I couldn’t stand one more day with you. And seeing you now, this brings back all of the stress. I feel it in my back. I feel it in my neck. I feel it in my jaw. I feel it in my head. I’m in a vise grip. It feels like I’m back in Detroit. It feels like I’m back inside that house. It feels like I’m back onstage dancing. And I hate the way I feel. I hate the way I feel when I think about you. I hate everything we ever had.”
“You hated me.”
“I look at you and see failure. Nothing has changed.”
“I’m your husband. Your failures are mine and mine are yours.”
I looked at Eddie Coyle. He looked like he had a lot to say but was chewing his words.
Cora shot me a quick glance before her eyes returned to Eddie Coyle. Eddie Coyle had done an excellent job of stealing her balance. Seeing her had done the same for me.
I said, “You’re pushing the envelope on this one, Eddie Coyle.”
Cora shook her head and put her eyes back on her menu. After that, she didn’t move.
Eddie Coyle said, “Cora Knight, this is where you can change sides of the table and there will be no argument, no penalty, no attitude. We can still move forward and work as a team.”
She took her fedora off, placed it on the table, then took it off the table and placed it on the bench, before she ran her hand over her hair, clenched her teeth, shook her head, did every move slowly.
I said, “Is there a problem, wife?”
“Don’t call me wife anymore.”
Eddie Coyle said, “Well, I guess that since the truth is out in the open, we can work together?”
“The damage is done. Can you do this, Cora?”
She nodded. “It’s too late to turn this deal around. Time is running out.”
I smiled. “You’ve robbed me and now you need me to help you commit a crime.”
Eddie Coyle said, “This will benefit you, Dmytryk.”
“I’m talking to Cora, Eddie Coyle. I’m having a conversation with my wife.”
It hurt her, but she nodded. “There isn’t a lot of time and you’re familiar.”
I said, “Since we’re working together, we need to make sure we can be . . . cordial. If we can’t be friends, for lack of a better word, then we can’t work together. If we can’t be professional, then this marriage will not work. I know how to make a marriage work, no matter how contentious. Respect and trust. We don’t have to have respect, but we need trust to get to the other side of this thing.”
She said, “You can trust me, Dmytryk.”
“Really?”
“When it comes to money, you have nothing to worry about. I never stole a dime from you. When I left, I didn’t take anything. I took nothing from you. You can never say I robbed you.”
“What about you, Eddie Coyle? Can I trust you?”
He said, “I might have that gun you touched the night we were in Detroit.”
“The gun with my fingerprints. Do you still have that?”
“If I do, I’ve never given you reason for alarm.”
“Not yet.”
“If I have it, it’s for my own protection.”
“I guess I’m supposed to say thank you for not setting me up.”
“I’ve never stabbed you in your back.”
“Well, that’s debatable. My wife is sitting on your side of the table.”
Cora jumped in. “Both of you, just stop it. Now, for the scorecards, I’m legally married to you, Dmytryk, but I’m sorry, really sorry, things have changed and I’m . . . at the moment I’m with Eddie Coyle. This meeting was supposed to be for introducing me to Eddie Coyle’s team member, and I will do my best to treat the meeting as such. Now, men, put your peckers away and let’s move on, let’s get the ball rolling on this job and do what we’re supposed to do and then . . . Dmytryk can drive back to Detroit. That’s what he’s married to. Detroit and a crummy house that we should’ve walked away from two years ago. Give him his cut and send him back to that damn house he cares so much about.”
My finger tested the trigger. The first shot would be under the table, right between Eddie Coyle’s legs. The shock would slow him down, but the animal instinct would kick in and he would still come after me. I would have to shoot him in the head, shoot him the same way that guard shot Sammy. And after I blew Eddie Coyle’s mind, while Cora screamed and panicked and tried to climb over the table the way Jackie Kennedy had tried to climb out of that convertible in Dallas, I’d give my wife a two- or three-bullet divorce. That scene played in my mind over and over, but I wouldn’t go to jail. Not for her. Not over Eddie Coyle. I wouldn’t rot in jail and I wouldn’t let the state put me to death, not for this. One shot underneath this table and it would all come together and fall apart at the same time. I’d have to save a bullet for myself. I’d be on the same train with Sammy and Rick, dead and ready to be laid to rest in a wooden box.
Cora said, “Dmytryk, the way you saw the marriage and the way I saw the marriage is totally different. I ended up on a stage dancing next to women whose bodies were covered with tramp stamps.”
“You’re blaming our situation on me? The auto industry goes under and it’s my goddamn fault? Maybe you should cut that reasoning open and get a better autopsy. You’re revising history, Cora.”
Her bottom lip trembled. “I danced naked and it disgusted me, but I did it because it kept the lights on. I danced naked and brought the money home to you . . . like you were my pimp.”
“So you’re the victim. And what was I?”
“You were the man.”
“You’re insane, Cora. I delivered pizzas. But I never thought of you as being my pepperoni pimp. I picked up students and taught when I could. We were a team.”
“But I was naked. That’s how I felt.”
“Don’t be one of those women, Cora.”
“One of what women? Which women are you talking about this time, you chauvinistic pig?”
“One of those women who needs to play the victim.”
“I danced naked.”
“I told you not to dance. You did it behind my back.”
“Eddie Coyle never would have let me dance.”
“But he would put dollars in your thong while you did. And he would let you rob banks. That’s not protecting you. Fifth-graders have better logic.”
She paused and rubbed her temples. “You think you’re smarter than me.”
“I’m at the same table as you. I married you. And I’ve allowed you to ruin my life. One could say my level of intelligence has diminished as well.”
“This is why I don’t argue with you. This is why I . . . I just left.”
“For Eddie Coyle.”
“I didn’t leave you for Eddie.”
“Oh. Now he’s Eddie. To you he’s Eddie.”
“He was there for me.”
“When you’re drowning, you don’t pay attention to who throws a life preserver to you.”
She took a breath and shook her head. “Why did you marry me, Dmytryk?”
“Because I loved you. I loved you.”
Nothing was said for a moment. The sounds of knives and forks on plates and hearty conversations filled the room, and our resentment and frustration heated all the love and joy in the room during this Christmas season.
Eddie Coyle said, “Putting this meeting on task, what’s your objective, Cora?”
“There is only one objective in America, and I’ve learned that.”
I sat back and nodded. “Then, as you said, let’s keep it about the bottom line.”
She nodded in return. “If we can stay focused, you boys can help me do this.”
I paused. “We can help you?”
Cora nodded. “This is my job, Dmytryk. Eddie Coyle brought you here to work for me.”
Eddie Coyle said, “Your job? Believe that crap if you want. I’m the one with the experience. I’m the one who knows what
to look for and how to make this work.”
Cora spoke in a harsh whisper. “This is my job. You work for me too.”
Eddie Coyle adjusted himself and stared her down. “It was my idea from day one.”
“I’m using my connections. You talked the talk, but I’m walking the walk. It’s my job.”
“You know my résumé. So tell me, what the hell do you know about hitting a bank?”
“I know about dye packs, about those electronic tracers that are like GPS trackers. I know which banks carry those tracers and which ones don’t, and that if you show a gun the jail time is different than if you show a note. I know not to go in acting crazy and shooting because everything gets out of control. And I know who is going to be working in the bank we need to hit and on what day we need to hit that bank and at what time that hit should be done so we can be in and out of that bank in a minute. I know which banks don’t have bulletproof glass yet. I know the minimum amount of money that is supposed to be on hand on the day we do this job, and the exact time the money will be on hand, and I know to tell them to keep away from the silent alarm. I know the bank we’re going to hit from top to bottom and wall to wall. I know when patrol cars won’t be in the area. I know about needing a fourth person to be our driver and lookout, and that that person needs to be dependable because they are our eyes and ears and we’ll know the moment somebody dials nine-one-one. I know about needing two cars to get away, and that the best place to steal those cars is at the mall. I know we have to switch the plates on the stolen cars and dump the first getaway car for a second getaway car, and then dump the second car for a third that has legal plates. I know we have to change getaway cars within three- to five-minute intervals, and that we should be inside the third car within ten minutes. I know which escape routes to take once we leave the bank and not to leave any fingerprints or physical evidence behind. I know to wear disguises that change our features and chins, and to wear shades because they can zoom in on our eyes and the distance from eyeball to eyeball can’t be changed with makeup. I know that in order to make any of this happen, the person in charge needs to know the perfect time, bank procedures, staffing, the building setup, cameras, exits, the vault, and I repeat that I know all of that. Now what the hell do you know, Eddie Coyle?”
Tempted by Trouble Page 16