At that second, the cop burst into the shop.
“Too late now,” said Pepper, watching the scene.
“Um-hmm,” Tony agreed. They watched.
Topper spun, saw the cop, and emptied the gun at him hurriedly. The cop took the slugs in his side, and spun around, into the candy counter. In an instant, Topper was out in the street, making for the car.
He stopped short and yanked open the front door, started to jump in. Then he noticed it was empty. He began to get out, looking for the boys. “Hey! Hey. Pepper! Tony! Where are y…” He managed to spot them just an instant before the cop dragged himself through the front door and dumped all six shots from his .38 Special into Topper’s retreating form.
Topper gave one high-pitched, soprano scream, then tumbled forward, falling against the car, running his clutching hands down its dusty surface in five wiggling lines as he fell. The sound was like fingernails scratching across a blackboard.
He fell backwards and lay with knees folded under him, like the fake blind men who fold their knees under them in the subways. He lay on the sidewalk, still pulsing, bleeding his life away.
From the doorway across the street, Pepper pursed his lips. “Looks like Topper’s dead.”
“Looks like it, don’t it?”
“Better go and take a look.”
“Might as well.”
The crowd had deepened around the body. There was another crowd around the wounded cop, and in the store. But the crowd was biggest around the body of Topper Kalish, who lay with an angry circle of blood under him.
The people looked down, and the horror was in their faces, their voices muted but their words unmistakable.
“Monster!” A woman with a coat pulled on over her nightgown spat on the body. “A real monster! You see what he did to that poor Mrs. Chaplin?”
“Migod in Heaven,” said a man. The backs of his feet were red and horny in the bedroom slippers. “He should of been shot dead before he was turned out into these streets loose!”
Tony and Pepper looked at one another. Tony said, “Wonder what they was doing in bed this early in the evening?”
Pepper bent down, hands on knees. “First two caught him in the neck.”
He drew back as one man with army boots stepped up and kicked—in a burst of bravado—the dead face of Topper Kalish. The sirens of the ambulances shattered the crowd noises, as they streaked whitely to the curb.
Pepper and Tony stood on the inside of the circle that surrounded Topper’s body. They listened to the mutters and curses directed at the dead man.
“A monster!” the woman repeated. “A real monster; Just look what he done! And that’s what got him caught!”
“Yeah,” Pepper muttered to Tony, “look what he done.”
Tony nodded. “Look what got him caught.”
Pepper turned away suddenly, his face clear and untroubled. Under his breath, but loud enough so that Tony could hear and agree, “He was the greatest. But we know better.”
Three nights later, a bar on Amsterdam and 83rd Street was held up. for over six hundred dollars.
Questioned later, the bartender and witnesses swore the robbers were young boys.
They made a point of remarking that the boys were overly polite, and were certain to treat everyone with respect and kindness—up to the point that such an act would allow them to conduct their business. They had not hurt anyone, and had spoken with “sirs” and “ma’ams” that had amazed the crowd.
One woman remarked, in fact, that though she had been relieved of sixty-eight dollars, her watch and rings—and her companion had lost as much money, his watch and, oddly enough, his tie—“They seemed so mannerly. Like such fine boys. How could they have become criminals?
“I wonder where could have learned anything like that!”
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Introduction: “Avoiding Dark Places,” copyright © 1983 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
Introduction to First Edition: “Some Sketches of the Damned,” copyright © 1958 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1986 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“Rat Hater,” copyright © 1956 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1984 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“I’ll Bet You a Death,” copyright © 1956 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1984 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“We Take Care of Our Dead,” copyright © 1957 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1985 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“The Man With the Golden Tongue,” copyright © 1961 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1989 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“Johnny Slice’s Stoolie” (under the title “I Never Squealed!”), copyright © 1956 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1984 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“Joy Ride,” copyright © 1958 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1986 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“Buy Me That Blade” (under the title “Buy Me That Knife!” by “Ellis Hart”), copyright © 1957 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1985 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“The Hippie-Slayer” (by “Jay Solo”), copyright © 1968 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1996 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“Kid Killer,” copyright © 1957 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1985 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“With a Knife in Her Hand,” copyright © 1957 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1985 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“Sob Story” written with Henry Slesar (under the title “He Disappeared!” and the joint pseudonym “Sley Harson”), copyright © 1956 by Harlan Ellison and Henry Slesar. Renewed, 1984 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation and The Estate of Henry Slesar.
“Look Me in the Eye, Boy!” (by “Ellis Hart”), copyright © 1957 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1985 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“The Dead Shot,” copyright © 1956 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1984 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“Ship-Shape Pay-Off’ written with Robert Silverberg (under the title “Pay Up or Else”), copyright © 1957 by Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg. Renewed, 1985 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation and Agberg, Ltd.
“Made in Heaven” (under the title “The Big Rumble” by “Ellis Hart”), copyright © 1956 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1984 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
“Students of the Assassin,” copyright © 1956 by Harlan Ellison. Renewed, 1984 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
Copyright © 1958, 1975 by Harlan Ellison
Copyright © 1983 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation, renewed 1986, 2003
Cover design by Open Road Integrated Media
ISBN 978-1-4976-0480-3
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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The Deadly Streets Page 23