“
Joshua, is it?”
He gave me this look, like a
bully who’s had his bluff called.
“
Joshua, you ain’t much of a
man to hit a lady.”
He laughed, “Get up here
Candi; show this pig what kinda man I am.”
I looked at her, and for a
minute I thought she was gonna dissolve right into that couch.
Meanwhile, the weasel had moved around, tryin’ to get a better look
at the fray.
“
Look, Joshua, I ain’t
workin’ at Carmine’s no more, and I don’t do that business
anymore.”
He laughed again, and looked
at the weasel for encouragement. The weasel was resting his foot on
the coffee table now, leaning on his gun hand, and watching
Joshua’s monkeyshines.
“
Get up here and take it,
goddamn it. Carmine gave you to me and you’re gonna be mine one way
or the other.” He reached for her. “Unless of course you want to
give me their money; then maybe we’ll go away. Maybe we’ll even let
you get the hell out of town.” His eyes flicked between Candi and
me. “After.”
This wasn’t goin’ anyplace
good, anytime soon. I needed to make a move, but I had to make sure
they were payin’ more attention to her than to me, if I was getting
off the couch.
Beefcake grabbed Candi by
the arm and jerked her to her feet. I started to get up, but the
weasel gave me the look and waved his pistol at me. I was just
checkin’ him and readjusting my weight for my moment. As I settled,
I remembered my piece.
“
Hey pig, you like
this?”
He fanned her around showin’
her off to me like I was gonna bid on her or something. He shoved
her head down toward me so I could see down her cleavage and then
turned her around, showing off her back porch.
I sat unfazed, watching the
weasel out of the corner of my eye. He was into this sick little
show, so I started planning my move.
The beefcake was holding
Candi’s head down, strong-arming her, and she was crying
painfully.
“
What about this, pig? You
think you’d wanna get some of that?” Candi was really crying now,
pain, and shame clear on her face as she pleaded with him to
stop.
I’d had enough before he
pushed her dress up over her hips, and folded it over her lower
back; and by the time he tore away her silky, string bikini
panties, I was in action.
I jumped up from the couch
and slammed my fist right into his kisser, mashing his broken nose
flat. When the weasel started to raise the gun, I gave him the
one-two and he sank to the floor, unconscious. I drew my gun and
jammed it against the back of Joshua’s head, while he tried feebly
to raise himself.
“
You’re havin’ a real bad
night pal. If I was you, I’d let bygones be bygones.” He turned his
head to look at me and I gave him some chin music.
I reached for Candi and
pulled her to me. I inspected her lip and pushed her dress down
over her bare bottom.
“
C’mon Thurman, let’s get
out of here.”
I shook my head. I had it in
my mind to hook these two yo-yo’s up with a one way ticket to
county.
“
Go call the
cops.”
She looked up at me with
those damned doe eyes again. I really should have given her some
chin music just then and went on my merry way, but as I may have
failed to mention, I’m weak on dames.
“
He was gonna rape me, but
you saved me.”
She put her arms around my
neck and bawled.
“
Call the cops while they’re
down.”
“
Oh baby, just get me out of
here. Let’s go to your place.”
She raised her leg and
crossed it behind mine. She rubbed herself against me, changing my
channel with no effort at all.
I holstered my gun and took
her by the hand. I marched her to the door, opened it and she
looked back across the room.
“
I need my
purse.”
“
Up to you. I’m goin’ to the
car. If you’re in it, when it leaves, you can come
along.”
She cowed me with those big
brown eyes, and I felt my thick Candi shell start to
melt.
“
Hurry up.”
I went out the door while
she went for her purse. To that point, I really didn’t remember
seeing a purse, at least not like I think of a purse, but she had
to take that cigarette case and lighter out of
somewhere.
I’d made my ride and was
pulling away from the curb, when she came to the door. I looked
from her to the door and back before I unlocked it.
“
You weren’t
bullshitting?”
She was trying to bust my
balls, but I wasn’t having any of it.
“
Like I told you before, I’m
generally not capable of it.”
“
Good, maybe you aren’t
capable of hitting a woman.”
“
I’m considering taking it
up.”
She pulled a bag of ice from
somewhere and held it to her swollen cheek. Her lip was fat and her
words were a bit slurred. She was quiet for the moment while I
drove us away from there.
I was pissed and felt
half-baked, but I hadn’t had much more than that shorty at White
Walls, and that stout at Candi’s. I took Center Street down to High
Street and turned right. I cruised through downtown, trying to
clear my head; but when I just about had it done, Candi ruined
it.
“
You might as well hit me,
Thurman, every other man does.”
I looked at her, waiting on
her to ask me to take her back to that house. I was wondering if
she was sharing it, maybe with that beefcake, or the weasel; maybe
both, now that I think of it. she was whining about some pretty
kinky stuff when the beefcake had her bent over.
“
I don’t know. Every time I
think I like you, somebody sticks a gun in my face.”
“
I know and I’m
sorry.”
Like I said, I’m weak on
broads. I was weaker still on broads who sounded
pathetic.
“
Maybe now would be a good
time for you to tell me the truth, without all the
business?”
I was enjoying her being
quiet for the moment. It was almost ten o’clock and I was getting
hungry. I thought we were gonna have a date. I could still taste
the steak I’d missed out on at the National Road Grille.
‘
If I take you for a steak
will you tell me why these guys are so hard on you talking to a
cop?”
Her eyes shined when she
smiled up at me. She was something, fat lip and all. Hotter than a
ten dollar car.
“
I must really look like
hell. I bet you really wanted to get the run around by some barmaid
and her screwed up life. You’re probably thinking about how fast
you can unload me.”
She sounded so honest just
then, I started to fall for it. I was trying to puzzle her out. She
was beautiful. Tall and leggy like I like ‘em. She wasn’t a stick,
but not an ounce was wasted anywhere. She had good meat on her
bones in all the best places. Dark hair, and I told you about them
big brown eyes. I’d call her a 36D easy. The rest of the package
was probably in the neighborhood of a small, tight 26, with her
fenders no more than 35. I didn’t need a tape measure to recognize
a well-built dame when I saw one.
The dress she wore didn’t
leave a lot to the imagination, and thanks to her and the beefcake,
I’d had any gaps in my assessment pretty well filled in. I was
thinking about her legs the next time she spoke.
“
Do you think there’s any
chance you might be able to forget everything that’s happened so
far?”
I started to shoot back at
her, but I swear she looked so pathetic just then, I didn’t have
the heart. I should have let her have it with both
barrels.
“
Candi, I’m a forgiving
person in most cases, but I don’t forget. You can’t, not in my
business, or you get dead in a hurry.”
“
If we can start over from
square one, I’d like to take you up on that steak.”
I gave her the eye and she
smiled up at me again with those big brown eyes. With the squirrels
and perps I run across on the job, I might be a bear, but for a
dame in trouble I’m a big fat sucker.
“
It’s almost ten. The only
place to get a decent steak at this hour is the truck stop. You
okay with that?”
She gave me one of her
better smiles. The best one was yet to come, but this one wasn’t
bad as far as smiles go. That is, the smiles from perfectly built,
all natural beauties, right before they stick a knife in your gut
and kiss you deadly, before walking off with whatever means the
most to you.
“
You mean the place out
there on the highway?”
“
Yeah, between here and
Loudon on the interstate. It’s a ten mile trip, but the food is top
notch.”
She got excited just then
and scooted over next to me. She smoothed out her dress and checked
herself out in the mirror. Her hair wasn’t too bad, but her makeup
was a bit smudged, what with crying and getting slapped around. I
noticed her perfume just then and it was the kind of stuff that
smelled sort of soft, but candy-like.
“
Cool, this is going to be
like an adventure.”
We left downtown on High
Street and headed into the east side. We crossed Lime Street and
passed St. Bernard’s on the right, and the big Methodist Church on
the left. This was Irish Hill, formerly a very ethnic working class
neighborhood. Now it was just a dying residential slum on the edge
of a dead industrial slum.
We passed the Catholic High
School and started climbing the long hill that led through the
historic district. I drove past the former mansions of the Champion
City elite, Asa Bushnell, Burton J. Westcott, and John
Foos.
“
Did you ever wonder about
what life was like back when those guys were still
around?”
She looked out at the
expansive grounds of the Westcott place and I thought she was
actually going to break down.
“
Nah, not really. I grew up
so poor that when the news said money was getting tight, we
couldn’t tell.”
I gave her the nod. We were
by no means well-off when I was coming up either.
“
Yeah, I know how that is.
My dad was a cop and for a long time Mom didn’t work. She kept the
house and made sure that my old man’s dinner was ready to hit the
table, no matter what time he might come home.”
“
I told you about my mom. I
had so many uncles, you’d a thought she had sixty-two
brothers.”
I tried hard, but couldn’t
contain my laugh.
“
Well what do you know? My
teddy bear can laugh after all.”
She was dangerous. Cute, and
knew exactly what to say, even to a stick in the mud like me. So
much for riding my lead balloon. I sat there starting to puddle. I
found myself thinking about what it might be like to spend time
with her on a regular day. Meanwhile, I drove us through Geron Glen
on the way to the interstate.
“
So White Walls belonged to
one of your uncles?”
I didn’t really expect to
get the truth out of her, but I was at least hoping that she would
tell me the same lie as the last time.
“
He might as well have been
my uncle for real.”
I mulled this over for a
second, then offered her some more rope.
“
How’s that?”
She laid her head on my
shoulder, and I thought she was gonna try to steer my question off
track.
“
I told you before, my Mom
wasn’t really around. My aunt, who really happened to be my Dad’s
sister, took care of me. Steve Stamper was her neighbor. He was
into cars and always had a hotrod in the driveway. My aunt’s
husband got killed in Vietnam. She always cooked and did Steve’s
laundry. He took care of her.”
“
He was her sugar
daddy?”
“
I don’t know about that. I
only ever saw him put his hands on her one time. They held hands at
my high school graduation and she kissed his cheek. I’m sure there
was more to it than that. I know men, and even a good one won’t
hang around if there isn’t something in it for him.”
Steve Stamper was a name
that was widely known among boys when I was a kid. He was a real
live walking Champion City super hero. He built and raced at the
old Champion City Bowl. He was a drag racer and also owned a short
track racing team. His everyday ride was a Hudson
Hornet.
“
I remember going to see him
at the track. When I was a kid we all wanted to be him.”
She gave me those brown eyes
again.
“
Y’know, when I got out on
my own, they took up together. When I was a girl, he always
said—‘Teeny, one of these days gal, I’m gonna make an honest woman
out of you.’ You know, he had that rough Kentucky, chainsaw
voice.”
She smiled, but I wonder if
it wasn’t painful for her to talk about. I was getting into her,
and I was enjoying our time. I turned us on to the highway, and she
figured out a way to get closer. She took my hand off the wheel and
held it between both of hers for a minute before she put it on her
knee.