by Robert Ward
He smiled faintly and looked down at his sub.
I walked around the bar, not knowing quite how to hold my body.
“Hi,” I said, trying to keep my voice down.
“Hello, Red,” she said in a small, hoarse voice. She was pulling off being cool and calm pretty well except for her fingers, which she drummed on the table.
“Mind if I sit down?”
“Sure.”
I slid in across from her and stared at her green cat’s eyes, at her sweet smooth skin and her lovely open mouth.
“Who was he?” I said.
“Tony. A friend of mine.”
“Looks like a real good friend.”
She smiled sadly then and ran her right hand back through her short hair. It was a gesture I loved, and it cut me down, blunted my anger.
“Red, I have something to tell you.”
“Yeah?”
“Tony and I are going to Miami together. He runs a charter boat down there, and he has some friends in the hotel business. He’s going to get me a singing job at the Hilton.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Two days. I was going to call you tonight.”
“Oh. Thanks.”
She looked straight at me, her mouth tightly drawn now, and her green eyes were flat, half closed.
“I couldn’t wait forever, Red. I loved you, but that was finished the night you took me out in the car and left me here.”
“Crys,” I said, my voice breaking. “I’m alone now. My family’s gone.”
She picked up her drink and sipped it slowly. Then gently she put it down and held my hand.
“Red,” she said. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t lie to me now. I want to remember you as a guy who maybe promised more than he could deliver … but who was a lot of fun. That’s not the worst way to remember somebody. You lie to me again here, and I’ll start thinking of you as just another bum.”
“You think I lied all those nights we were together? You think I don’t care about you?”
I reached over and grabbed her arm, but like Ace she jerked away from me.
“Red, don’t try and get by on your charm. You know what my daddy used to say—’Walk out while the music’s still playing.’ Let’s leave it at that, hon.”
“I love you, Crystal. You know that.”
She shut her eyes, and a tear came down her face.
“I got to go on now, Red. Just like old times, huh? I go up and dance, and you slip out. Maybe that’s how I’ll remember you best, Red. The guy who was always sliding out the door.”
“Crystal, things have changed. I need you, baby.”
She shook her head and patted the back of my hand.
“You’ll get them back, Red. You can’t make it without your wife and Ace. Now get out of here before I cry and fuck up my makeup.”
She got up and walked away, and looking at her straight, strong back and great legs, and thinking of all the fun we used to have and all our good nights together and how they were finished, made me almost get up and go after her.
But then I remembered Wanda and Ace out there in the snow, packing things into the car, and the way I felt every time either of them walked into the room, and I knew finally that she was right. Without them, though I’d fought against believing it all my life, I was nothing.
I could live without Crystal, although there, just now, watching her go, thinking of her with Tony, it almost seemed unbearable.
But she was right, just as Ace and Wanda were.
I had become nothing, a liar, a nobody.
I had hurt them all, and I’d hurt Crystal too with all my lies and bullshit about us going off to Florida together.
I looked up at her dancing to “Satisfaction” and then, corny gesture though it was, I raised my glass to her and smiled.
She smiled back at me, the tears rolling down her face, and then she strutted toward the other end of the platform. A drunken college kid yelled, “Oh, Crystal, do what you do, baby!” I took one last look at her and headed for the door.
It wasn’t until I got to my car that I began to shake, and then I couldn’t stop until I’d taken three good hits of rye and held on to the steering wheel like it was a life vest.
Wanda and Ace gone. Crystal gone. Dog, damned near crazy.
Was it all me? Was it my fault? Couldn’t any of them see that I had to have money again? There was no chance at doing good, straightening out, no shot at anything unless I had the money to try it.
I started the engine, backed out, and then stopped at a snow-covered phone booth in front of Bud’s Bait and Tackle Shop with its boarded-up windows and the old crayoned sign LIVE BAIT half eaten away in the window.
When I got the unemployment office, I had to wait fifteen minutes and keep popping coins into the slot, but finally Miss Motown came on. The booze was pumping through me, and I stammered and slurred my words.
“This is Red Baker. Just called to see if you had anything?”
“Mr. Baker, well as you know, I’m not supposed to discuss this kind of thing over the phone, but I do have something. I think Mr. Hardy discussed it with you. The maintenance job at Harborplace?”
“You mean the trash collector’s job?” I said, suddenly wanting to smash the phone against the window.
“Maintenance, Mr. Baker. It includes grass cutting and painting too. It’s a pleasant job when the winter breaks, and after all, it’s not permanent.”
“Okay,” I said. “What’s it pay?”
“Well, I can’t discuss that now, but it’s considerably more than unemployment. Are you interested?”
“When do I start?”
“The first of the year. That’s about two weeks.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Does that mean you’ll take it?”
“That’s what it means.”
“Excellent. I think you’ll enjoy it.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Smart career move. Forty-year-old trashman.”
“It would help if you could take the job with a positive attitude, Mr. Baker.”
“I’m working on it,” I said.
I hung up the phone and leaned against the glass for two minutes. Then I found another dime in my pocket and dialed again.
“Hello, fifth precinct.”
“Choo Choo,” I said.
“Red, that you?”
“Yeah, what you doing for dinner tonight?”
“Well, let me look at my busy calendar. Says here I’m having it with you, maybe eight o’clock at Hausner’s. How’s that sound?”
“Sounds fine,” I said.
“That’s good, Red. I always say we don’t see enough of each other.”
“Tonight,” I said and hung up the phone.
My stomach was burning and my knees were weak. I sucked in my breath. It was just a dinner, after all. I was just going to hear what work he had in mind.
• • •
I got to Hausner’s ten till eight and took a seat at a corner table the waitress said was reserved for Choo Choo. I had been coming to this place all my life and never saw a table reserved before. I ordered a shot of whiskey and a Boh back and told myself for the hundredth time that it was only a meeting … I could walk anytime.
All around me people were eating crab cakes, drinking beer, and admiring the paintings. The walls of Hausner’s are covered with great art. Stuff like The Blue Boy, which is one of Wanda’s favorites, and pictures of girls carrying milk cans through green fields someplace in Europe. And one Wanda and Ace and I all liked of a boy, a dog, and a waterfall. I stared at that painting now as the peroxided blond waitress, Daisy, brought me my shot. I tried to put myself in there with the kid, feeling the mud coming up between my toes, the hot sun on my head, knowing I could just drop my rod and reel and jump in the bright pond. It would be fine to be there.
Better than shaking hands with Choo Choo, who was suddenly at my table, wearing his black raincoat, with the col
lar turned up, his black hair combed straight back on his head, making him look like Sylvester Stallone or somebody who thinks he can box.
“Red,” he said, hanging the coat on a hook behind our table. “How you doing, babe?”
“How do you think?”
“Yeah, well in every cloud, as they say. Believe me, I know about how tough it can be. You never know who to trust anymore.”
“Listen,” I said, leaning over the table. “I appreciate you laying out for dinner, but aren’t we being a little obvious?”
Choo Choo smiled at that, then turned and waved Daisy to our table.
“I’ll have a shot of Jack Daniel’s. You okay, Red?”
“Yeah. Never felt better.”
“That’s good, hon,” the waitress said. “Sooo many people sick from ‘es weather. My own mother has a sick headache all day long. I’m getting the nuns to say a prayer for her.”
Choo Choo winked at me and smiled up at big, wide-faced Daisy.
“You do that,” Choo Choo said. “Stick with the faith, hon.”
Daisy smiled as if he’d performed magic, and I suddenly thought, “This is how it works. The war is fought between the Vinnie’s and the Choo Choo’s. I’m just a soldier.” The thought made me feel clear-headed, stopped my hands from shaking.
“What were you saying, Red?”
“About this place. Isn’t it a little obvious, you and me being seen together?”
“That’s just the point, Red,” Choo Choo smiled. “I’m your alibi. Everybody knows that you and me are pals. So we’re establishing ourselves right here tonight, a couple of pals having dinner. The night of the job, you and me and Blazek and another guy, Bill Donaldson, are playing poker at my place. You see how we have it figured? I got three citations for bravery in action, and Blazek has himself a couple. Nobody in the precinct is going to doubt a word we say.”
“I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse,” I said, staring at Choo Choo’s blue tie with the Baltimore Colts horseshoes on it. “I mean, are you figuring we’re going to need alibis?”
“Red, Red, relax. I’m just making sure every inch of this thing is covered. There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that anything is going to go wrong. It’s like I told you before, it’s a walk.”
“Okay, but the problem is I don’t trust Blazek to know this shit.”
“Hey, I’m not saying he’s a wild fan of yours. But this is professional. He does what I tell him to, for more reasons than one. I’m not going into details, but you don’t have a thing in the world to worry about when it comes to him. I own the boy.”
Choo Choo smiled and took his drink from Daisy.
“You figure on owning me too?”
Choo Choo laughed out loud at that.
“Red, your whole problem is you don’t trust your friends. I would never put you in a position like that. I want to work with you because you’re a class guy, and I know you won’t fuck up. Come on, take it easy, and let’s have some dinner.”
I nodded my head and ordered imperial crab, coleslaw, and stewed tomatoes, the best meal I’d had in six months, but when it came I could barely touch the stuff. I was that spooked. Still, I made an effort to eat. I didn’t want Choo Choo getting the idea I couldn’t pull this off.
“There’s one more question that occurs to me before you lay this out. If Blazek and Donaldson are covering for me, how much do we have to pay them?”
“Let me worry about that too,” Choo Cho said, smiling and eating his fried oysters. “Damn, this is good food. Come on, Red, dig in.”
I worked on my smile and dug in, but my stomach was tied in knots.
“I can tell you this, Red, not one cent of your share is going to them. Let me put it this way. They all owe me favors, and on this job I collect. Does that put your mind to rest?”
“Maybe.”
“Look, Red, here’s how it works. I came up with this plan. I cased it, and for that I get a third. You and the other guy get a third each. Like I told you before, you should take maybe fifteen thousand dollars out of this. That’s five for each of us. And it’s a lock. Nothing to it at all. The whole job is going to take maybe an hour.”
“Where are you while it’s going down?”
“Playing poker with you and the others,” Choo Choo said. “Goddamn these stewed tomatoes are the best. You know I actually got the recipe out of old man Hausner, went home and cooked them up, but they just didn’t taste the same. They’ve got a touch here, Red. Real class. Have another drink.”
“Sure.”
We ordered a couple more whiskeys, but I sipped mine slowly. I didn’t want to fog over what was left of my judgment.
“Now before I tell you about it, I want to ask you, as my partner, about a couple guys who are candidates to go into this with you. You know them all, and I want you to choose the one you’d feel best with.”
“No,” I said. “Don’t name anybody. I already know who the other guy is going to be.”
This set him back a little. He raised his thick eyebrows and cleared his throat and then took a long drag on his smoke.
“Okay, Red. I usually hire all the men, but tell me who you had in mind.”
“Dog,” I said.
He didn’t say anything but ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth and tapped his fingers on the table.
“I don’t know, Red. If you would have mentioned his name this time last year, I’d been behind you, one hundred percent, but he’s been slipping, supping bad in the past six months. Every time I see him he’s drunk, falling down.”
“Dog and me go way back, Choo Choo,” I said. “It’s him or nobody.”
“Don’t push me, Red, okay? I just want you to think this over a little. I know he’s your best buddy. I know he used to be good. Hell, remember the shit we used to pull as kids? Great times. The best. But people change, Red. Dog might not have the nerve for this stuff anymore. You sure you don’t want him just for old time’s sake?”
“I want him because I know if anything goes wrong, he’s there. I’m the one taking the risk here, Choo Choo, and there’s nobody you could name who is half the man Dog is.”
He nodded and sighed deeply.
“Red, have you approached Dog about this yet?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know he’ll want in?”
“I know Dog. He’ll want in.”
“I hope so, Red. All right. I’m going to give you your way on this. I’ll tell you why. Because it’s so fucking easy. I’m still not sold on Dog, but the way I figure it, all he has to do is keep lookout and drive. And the one thing I know for certain is that he can drive like a son of a bitch.”
“Good,” I said. “Now what’s the job?”
“Mona Lisa Pizza,” Choo Choo said, giving me a great big grin, and when I heard that, I couldn’t help but smile back.
“I thought you’d like that. I know you and Vinnie aren’t exactly asshole buddies.”
“You got that right. But that brings up another question. I know Vinnie is selling a lot of pizza dough at that joint, but fifteen thousand dollars seems about seven thousand off. You wouldn’t be bullshitting me on the take?”
Choo Choo laughed out loud and held up his drink to salute me.
“I knew I was getting the right man when I asked you. The other guys I had in mind wouldn’t even have thought of that. Okay, here’s the deal. Vinnie’s average take from selling beer and pizza on a good Sunday is about five to seven thousand dollars. The rest of it is bookie money. You see, he’s got a lock on the football pool. That’s his take, and that’s where we make our bread. In fact, that’s the beauty of it. He can’t come running down to the police complaining about a dime of that shit. He’s got nowhere to go.”
“Nowhere except to his private army of goons,” I said. “You know he’ll be breaking down doors.”
“Yeah, maybe. But I kind of doubt it. Vinnie’s hands are into a lot of pies, and if he starts screaming and bringi
ng down pressure on innocent citizens, he could end up in a lot of trouble. A couple of phone calls and we shut him up fast.”
“You son of a bitch, you got it all figured,” I said. I knew it was wrong, but I could feel the fear leaking out of me and the excitement and expectation pouring in.
“There’s one more problem,” I said. “I been laid off for quite a while now, and I’m not sure what the hell to do with that much money. I sure as hell can’t stuff it into my bank account.”
“No problem,” Choo Choo said. “I got a lawyer friend down at Charles Center. Used to be very close with the governor. He’s very good at hiding money. Knows how to put it to work for you too. You want, I’ll set up a meeting, and in no time at all you’re a member of the investment class.”
“Hey, next I’ll be in the fucking country club.”
Choo Choo grinned and blew smoke from his nose.
“Yeah, and why not, Red. Look, I know you’re a good guy, but what you don’t understand is that when you get right down to it, everybody in this country is into crime. It’s the American way, you know?”
“Don’t bullshit me,” I said, pissed off suddenly. “I’m doing this on my own. And I know it ain’t right.”
“Okay,” Choo Choo smiled. “Here’s how it goes down. On Sunday night at exactly twelve o’clock Frankie Delvecchio comes walking out of the Mona Lisa with the receipts. What he does is walk out the door, turn right, and go into the parking lot. He gets into his car and drives directly to the First National Bank, where he puts the dough in the night deposit slot. Only this weekend he doesn’t get past the parking lot. You and Dog park just around the other side of it. You know that little woods there?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Okay. I’m giving you both ski masks, but only one of you walks up. You come right at him with your gun out, take the money, and blink your flashlight to Dog, who comes around and picks you up. Then you ride away.”
“What about Frankie?”
“You got a choice there. You can wait until he’s unlocking his car door and bash him on the head, or you can shoot him in the leg. I can get a silencer for you for that. Personally, it’s all the same to me, but as a matter of sentiment, I’d like to see the bastard on crutches.”