9:41

by Iannuzzi, John Nicholas;

  I doubt it; not when I have an Allied truck, and I knew that they had called, and I knew where they were disabled. Even if they do suspect him slightly, what can they do. They can’t get out, because I shall drive a bit quickly and they would necessarily be smeared on the highway like so much jam. They won’t be able to drive away, for I shall be towing their vehicle, right to my favorite warehouse, where of course the tear gas comes in quite handily. I’m sure you realize this now. I did not consider it prudent for me to cut through the armor with a metal cutting torch. The zealous guards might have a tendency for anger and prevention and might try to shoot me. And besides, it would take too much time and the Allied people would be out looking for them before I finished, and this would cause quite a commotion around here when they couldn’t find them. They will be still locked in and protected, and probably would feel quite smug. But what if they wanted to come out. All by themselves of their own coughing volition, if you get the picture? Me? Well I have a protective gas mask right here on the seat just for that purpose. Science is so wonderful, isn’t it? I’ll take it with me in the tow truck and snap it on just before I get to the warehouse. Oh, they won’t see it. I’ll have to leave the warehouse door open so I can drive right in. Oddly enough, I wouldn’t want the guards to shoot me if I had to get out to open the door. That trailer truck parked right in the doorway, at the angle it is, hides that open door. No, the police come over here and sit in their cars and waste time in the shadows only at night, when they can’t be seen through the ebon quiet. But in the daytime, only a horse mounted patrolman is on duty here, and he has the entire street to guard, and why guard a deserted pier when all the trucks and confusion at the Fulton Fish Market and the Journal-American is boiling only a few hundred yards from here.

  I doubt they can shoot me while we’re riding, because of the angle of their truck, remember they’ll be pointed up in the air as I tow, and besides, that is why I have that little plate of armor right there. It goes in the tow truck behind my head, … the rest of me will be fairly well out of harms way because of tools and mechanism on the back of the truck. Anything else? One minute to go, they should be coming around that corner in one minute. That means I have you in half a minute. The seconds tick by very slowly, do they not, one, one, … Oh, the gas will be released when I drive over the cans of gas that I’ve placed on the ground in the far end of the warehouse. It’s five hundred feet long remember, so there’s not much chance of the gas escaping into the outside air. I’ll just wait until the gas overcomes my friends, and they come out of their truck so gladly. Then I round them up, and let them join their friend from the tow truck, all tied and gagged. Oh they’ll be found, so will the truck, even if not by Allied, at least when the trailer leaves again in two days. Perhaps they’ll even escape by then. I won’t tie them too tightly. The armored car, why it will already be open. They have to open it to get out, do they not. My escape? Well, you see, inside, in the shadowy rear of the warehouse, I’ve already parked another old car, just like this one. They’re all the same, 1938 Oldsmobiles. I tell you, it’s rather hard to find them, but I found four of them, separately of course, as I outlined before. After I bring the van in and bind the guards I’ll just stack, isn’t it nice to have enough money to stack. I’ll just stack the money into the car and drive out the door, and I’m away. I won’t go far though. There’s a black 1957 Ford parked two blocks away, fine running, and inconspicuous. I’ll exchange the money once more, change my outfit, leave the Oldsmobile, and poof …

  Oh I don’t know, perhaps I’ll go to Cannes, … the film festival is next week, you know. And I’ll be back in the fall for the theater openings. Other than that, I haven’t planned anything.

  “I’ve really got to go now”, said the old man as he struggled out the door of the old car, an old black car with the purple showing through where the sun faded the color.

  He hobbled out on the road and turned and peered down the road toward where he expected a helping hand for this flat tire which he was too feeble to fix himself. He looked at his watch, and then turned over his shoulders “you’re the only one who knows. So don’t say anything”. What? What if the gas doesn’t get into the truck? I’ll take measures so their truck will be stopped right over the gas containers, and the gas will certainly go into the driver’s compartment through the holes that the brake, clutch and accelerator shafts pass through. And from there it will go in through the doorway between the driver’s compartment and the portage compartment. What if it doesn’t get through? We are not dealing with a rocket, you know. Be reasonable. Those men have to get their air from somewhere, usually through grating on the roof, and where the air goes in, thence also will go the gas.

  “Oh here it is, … shh”, the old man whispered turning his head quickly and watching the large gray tow truck lumber heavily around the far corner. It was two hundred yards away, and it was rumbling closer and closer, looming larger and larger. Beneath it one could see the wheels of another vehicle pressing closely behind it, following it down the street.

  Worry and doubt and concern crept across the face of the old man standing in the middle of the road. Suddenly, the second set of wheels shifted quickly to the left, and a low slung Jaguar roared with the hurt of having its accelerator stepped upon. The Jag leapt past the tow truck and around in front of it, sucking wind, rapidly bearing down on the old man standing in the middle of the roadway. The driver of the Jaguar had not seen the old man until he was bearing down on him very quickly. Terror stricken, he swings his car as close to the other curb as possible as the old man, afraid for his life, backed toward his own car. The old man saw the paralyzed face of the Jaguar driver approaching him wide eyed. The old man backed away, his hand behind him groping for his disabled car behind him, as he kept an anxious eye out not only for the Jaguar but for the tow truck that was now only one hundred yards away. The old man backed another step, almost completely out of the path of the onrushing, screaming, screeching Jaguar which was upon him. He backed, … and suddenly he felt the overwhelming surprise of amazement as his body sailed helplessly through the air, suspended from the ground, only to suddenly land bluntly and bouncingly on the hard ground. The Jaguar sped furiously toward the highway, and the tow truck following, now came abreast of the old man, the driver laughing, yes actually laughing, chuckling, as he looked out at the old man on the ground, and then he turned and peered forward, steering the tow truck toward the highway and the armored car.

  The old man on the ground laughed too, yes, he laughed and laughed, a hearty, amused, young, self-mocking laugh as he sat on the ground watching the tow truck shrinking into the distant background, as he sat on the black asphalt ground where he had fallen after he had tripped over the spare tire as he backed away from the Jaguar.

  BUDDIES

  The rain was bouncing down on the sidewalk with a hiss and a spray which rose to cover the entire street with a greyish mist which raised a musty familiar smell that reminded Dino of so many past summers. He stood in the doorway of a candy store, the collar of his olive drab raincoat pulled up around his neck, the hair that he kept full on the back of his head touching the tip of the collar. Dino stood watching the red brick wall and the thousand “window eyes” of the building across the street. But as he peered at the building through the mass of falling droplets, his mind was thinking furiously, the building merely a back-drop for his thoughts. The rain even added to his feeling of apprehension … yes, the rain and the musty odor, … and he remembered himself being with Jim Plaser, a buddy from school, and Jim’s girl Phyllis, on the beach last summer when a sudden rain storm enshrouded the white sand, turning the long stretch of almost white earth to a pockmarked, rain flecked mass of brownish mush that caked warmly on their feet as they ran for shelter near the parking lot, their blankets and clothes swept up in one roll which Dino ran with in his arms.

  “I’ll get the car”, Jim called from the side of his mouth as he sprinted ahead of Phyllis and Dino. “Wait in the bus stop”
, he said, pointing to a little shack on the side of the road.

  Phyllis and Dino ran under the roof of the shed and “whewwed” with relief from the rain and from exhaustion.

  “It’s really coming down”, said Phyllis looking out toward the rows of parked cars with rain bouncing off their hoods.

  Dino put the bundle of blanket and clothes on the bench and walked to the front of the shed, standing next to Phyllis. Water ran from his curly hair down to his nose and cheeks. He blew his breath upward and dislodged a drop from the tip of his nose.

  “Oh, look”, said Phyllis, “some guy forgot to put his top up”. A Pontiac convertible was being rained into.

  “Now he’s got a real convertible”, said Dino, “converted into a swimming pool”. Dino shook his head; drops of water flew off his hair.

  Phyllis laughed at what Dino said and was looking at Dino’s profile. Dino was aware of her staring at him but didn’t turn to face her.

  “Oh, you handsome guinea, you”, she said as she put her hand in his hair and touseled it.

  Dino turned quickly toward Phyllis, anger in his eyes. “Listen, Phyllis, I told you about calling me that once before”.

  “I didn’t mean it, Dino”, she said, “honest”.

  “Alright, forget it”, he said, turning forward to look for Jim’s car.

  “You’re still great looking”, she said.

  Dino turned his head half way toward Phyllis and smiled. As he caught sight of her, she had a soft smile on her lips, but her eyes were given to abandon, … as if she couldn’t control her look, and that she was fascinated by his appearance. Dino continued to look at her now, more from curiosity than from attraction.

  Phyllis continued to look at him; as she did, her hand groped her way into his, squeezing it with a steady pressure. “You’re a nice guy, you know, Dino … I think you’re great”, she said, moving a bit closer, not moving her eyes from his.

  “I think you’re great, too … I think Jim’s a great guy, too. You make a great couple”, he said as he dislodged her hand, catching sight of Jim’s car exiting from the parking lot. “C’mon, here’s Jim”, he said, not looking at her.

  “Get soaked, baby?” Jim asked solicitously.

  “Kind of”, she said, looking over at Dino who got into the back seat.

  “Excuse me, pal”, said a man behind Dino, “you can’t stand here in the doorway, but … people gotta come in”.

  “Sure, okay”, said Dino shaken from his musing about the beach. He flipped his cigarette from his mouth into the street where a stream of water floated it away. “Might as well go”, he thought to himself as he pulled the collar of his coat tighter around his neck and headed for the brick building across the street.

  “Come on up”, said Phyllis’s voice into the house phone.

  “Okay”, said Dino. He hung the phone on its cradle and walked to the elevator and got off at Phyllis’s floor.

  “Hi, Dino”, she said with a tremendous smile as she opened the door.

  “Hi. What’s up …?”

  “Nothing … yet. Come on in”.

  “I’ll leave my coat here—it’s wet”, said Dino as he took off his raincoat.

  “I’ll take it”, she said. “I’ll hang it in the tub. Make yourself at home, have a drink”, she said as she walked toward the bathroom which was in the back in a small hallway between the living room and the bedroom—which Dino could see through the doorway. “She has a nice little body”, he thought to himself as he followed her as far as the living room door.

  “Nice place you have here”, he said, settling down on an antique sofa covered with a red velvet.

  “You making drinks?” she called from within the bathroom.

  “Sure … where’s the mixings?”

  “In the cabinet against the wall”.

  “What do you want?” Dino called as he found the bottles.

  “Whatever you have”.

  “Sidecar?”

  “Fine”, she said as she came into the living room.

  “Ice?”

  “I’ll get it”, she said, walking into the kitchen.

  Dino looked up as she passed him. She smiled and went into the kitchen, consciously shaking her little rear end which Dino didn’t care for because it was flat. He also noticed that she utilized her trip inside with his coat to fix her make-up and comb her hair.

  “Here’s some ice”, she said, handing him a bucket of cubes.

  “What did you want to tell me that you asked me over?” said Dino.

  “Let’s sit down”, she said, taking her drink and sitting on the couch. Dino sat on the opposite end of the couch and turned to Phyllis.

  “Well, it’s about Jim and about us”.

  “Oh? Tell me about it”.

  “Well, … oh, I don’t know. It’s just, well, I’m not sure if I love Jim anymore … That’s it. I don’t know what to do. I mean, he’s a nice guy and all, but sometimes I feel that I don’t want him near me. I don’t want him to even touch me, … and then, when he wants to stay over at night …” She took a cigarette from a box on a side table. Dino took a book of matches from his shirt pocket and lit a match for her cigarette.

  “Thanks”.

  “What about when he wants to stay over?”

  Phyllis was sipping her drink, her eyes fixed on Dino.

  “Well what can I say to him … I can’t refuse him, but I don’t want him … I don’t even like the way he does it. I can’t stand it, … he perspires and he smells”. She took another sip from her glass.

  Dino was dumbfounded. He sipped his drink.

  “What can I do, Dino … help me”.

  “I don’t even know what to say to that. Tell him, of course. Tell him how you feel, that’s about the only thing I can think of. If he’s not your kind of man, tell him. That’s only fair. Don’t play games”.

  “That’s what it is. He’s not my kind of man. He doesn’t excite me or anything. It’s like dead. You’re the kind of guy I like and Jim’s not like that. I could be crazy about you”.

  Dino sat apprehensively serene. He didn’t want to get involved in this sort of problem. Phyllis slid over and sat right next to him on the couch.

  “Oh, Dino”, she said, her arm sliding under his, taking his hand in hers. Her head rested on his shoulder. “Dino, I’m crazy about you, … you know that”. Her breathing was becoming deeper. She twisted her head to kiss him.

  “Listen”, he said, holding her away from himself, “you like me, … that’s your problem. As far as I’m concerned, you’re my buddy’s girl, and that’s it. It may not mean much to you, but it means something to me … it means a lot, … and I don’t need you or don’t want you, especially because you’re a fickle little chick, and I don’t need that. And I don’t need you to go to bed with. I’m not that hungry that I’d put down my friend … If you don’t love him, tell him. But don’t bother me”.

  Tears welled up in her eyes and she began to cry.

  “If Jim means nothing to you, he means something to me”. Dino was speaking through anger-clenched teeth. “So forget about us. There’s nothing to it”. Dino got up and walked to the bathroom to get his coat.

  “Don’t go, Dino, … please stay with me”, Phyllis pleaded hanging onto his arm.

  “Leave me alone, will ya”, he said angrily, shaking loose of her grip. He put on his coat and walked to the front door.

  “Please Dino”, she called as he slammed the door shut behind him.

  Dino took the elevator down and walked, mindless of the rain, to the candy store across the street. “Pack of viceroy”, he said to the proprietor. “… rotten little …” he thought angrily, “regular little unfaithful whore type”.

  “Twenty-six cents”.

  “Here you go”, Dino handed the man a dollar bill, “and give me some dimes for the phone”.

  Dino got into the phone booth and dialed.

  “Smith and Warren”, said a female voice.

  “Mr. Plaser
, please”.

  “Thank you”.

  “Plaser”.

  “Hello, Jim, Dino”.

  “Hi, boy, what’s happening”.

  “Listen, I gotta tell you something and maybe you won’t like it. I know I’d want to know if it happened to me. You’re my buddy, so I gotta tell you”.

  “Tell me, what’s the matter?”

  “Alright. I was just at you girl’s …”

  “Yeah”, said Jim slowly …

  “Well, I don’t know how to say this, but your girl gave me a big line of nonsense … listen, I’m only telling you this ’cause you’re my friend and I don’t want you to be hurt …”.

  “Go on, go on … what happened?”

  “Well, she puts her head on my shoulder, and she wants me to kiss her, and tells me not to leave when I walked out, and I’m calling you to tell you …”.

  “You’re kidding me, aren’t you …?”

  “No, Jim, I’m not”.

  “I can’t believe it.… You’re kidding”.

  “God damn it, what kind of a joke is that. Believe me, I’m not trying to hurt you. I just don’t want you to get stuck … well, I just wanted you to know”.

  “Jesus Christ, you’re not kidding, are you?”

  “No, I’m not kidding”.

  “But we’re so great together, … tells me she doesn’t need anyone but me, says she loves me”.

  “I don’t know anything about that”, Dino lied.

  “Listen, I’ll call you tonight”, Jim said shakily. “I’m going over to her place right now. Where ya’ gonna be tonight?”

  “Bob and I are going out. We’ll probably be at Pete’s Place later on”.

  “Okay”. Jim hung up and Dino heard the click on the other end of the line. He shrugged his shoulders and walked out into the nice clean rain.