Sati (4 page)

'That's not the way the trucking business works."

'But it is the way the banking business works, Mr Winters.'

'Are you saying you're not going to give me the money?'

'That's what I said,'the man said.

'Oh.'It was turning out to be a bad day, I thought. If I had got the loan, I could have bought the trucks, and then I could have made a lot more money, and then maybe Linda would have come back to me.' But I've done my banking here for years,'I said.' I've never been late with a loan payment. Besides, what's the risk? You have the trucks as collateral. You can always take them away.'

The young man pushed my loan application across the desk to me. It had taken me three hours to fill it out.' I'm sorry, Mr Winters."

'What if I get a cosigner?'I asked.

'Then we will be happy to reconsider the situation.'

I stood.'I'llget one right now.'

'This afternoon?"

"This minute. Don't go away."I grabbed my daugh-ter's hand.'Come along, Jenny.'

David Stone, old buddy and real-estate millionaire, had previously offered to help finance the expansion of my business. I'd not wanted to take him up on the offer, partly because of pride, and partly because even when a friend was involved, business was business with David. I would have to give him a piece of the action. Now I figured I had no choice. I called him at his office from a phone booth outside the bank.

'What's the bank?'he asked when I had explained the situation.

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"The First Interstate on Wilshire."

'I know it. What did you say the amount was?'I told him, and it was small change to him.'I 'll be through here in an hour, Mike. Could I meet you there at two?'

‘I’ll be here. I really appreciate this, David.'

He laughed.' Let's just say when I get into smuggling stuff across the border, I'll be giving you a call. Two o'clock?'

'Right'It wasn't as bad as calling the Godfather, but I wondered after I hung up the phone whether I really needed those extra trucks after all.

Jenny and I had lunch in a coffee shop across the street Her appointment with the psychologist was approaching.' Jenny, do you want to talk to Dr McAllister today?'

'Can't I stay with you?'she asked.

I cancelled the appointment

David was almost an hour late. Jenny entertained me by telling me about all the times Dick and Linda fought I figured that was one relationship on the way out. David only showed when the bank was about to close.' I got hung up,'he said when we met out front.' Did you get the money?'

'What do you mean?'

He laughed, which he did easily and which I suppose was understandable when you were twenty-nine years old and in aposition tore tire for severallifetimes.He was a thin nervous man with a neat blond moustache and a pointed face that Linda had said was nothing but a big money-sniffing nose, an opinion apparently not shared by the majority of females. Even back in high school, when his means were modest and he couldn't get on an athletic team, David had had lots of girlfriends.He could be charming, when it suited him, and he certainly was sharp. But he had never married. We were more acquaintances than friends.

David had made his money the old-fashioned way: he bought houses for next to nothing from people whose Spanish was excellent, and sold them for a huge profit to people whose first language was Japanese.

'They told me on the phone they would draw up the cheque for you,'he said.

'But don't you have to fill out forms and sign dotted lines?'

He patted Jenny on the head.' How's my girl?'

'Fine,'Jenny said, her expression solemn.' But I'm not your girl.You're not my daddy.'

David continued,' They trust me, Mike. Let's go inside, you'll see.'

David did in fact have to sign a few papers, but he was right about the cashier's cheque being ready. It felt oddly heavy in my hand, with all those zeros sitting beneath my name. I decided to deposit it
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immediately.' I can't thank you enough,'I said when we were back outside.

'It's no problem,'David said.

He wasn't asking for anything in return. I would have to make the offer.'I could pay you a percentage of my profits on the new accounts I get with this money,"I said.

David shrugged.' We'll work something out. Hey, want to go down the street for a drink? I know a place that won't hound us about your daughter.'

Down the street was five miles away, but riding in David's Ferrari was always fun. When we were seated ina cool dark booth,Jenny with a Coke and David and I with beers,he asked about the chick I'd brought home who thought she was God.

'How did you hear about her?'I asked.

'Hutchinson,' David said.' Shecalled me up a few min-utes after you left. So what does she look like?'

'Very attractive. Real shiny blonde hair, as fine asJenny's. And she's got these clear blue eyes - you'd have to see them. They're the deepest blue.'

'How's the body?'

Jenny was listening to every word.' Looks in good shape,'I said.

'Is she totally nuts or what?'David asked.

'If you met her, you'd think she was pretty solid. Her self-confidence is remarkable.'

'I'm not surprised, seeing who she believes she is.'David sat back.'Think I should stop her from having her meeting?'

'Worried about the other tenants?'I asked.

He nodded.'H utchinson sounded pretty hot.'

'To tellyou the truth, Dave, I don't think anyone's going to come."

He considered a moment' Where did you pick her up?'

'Just pastC atson, in the middle of the night.'

'Does she have any ID on her?'

'I don't think so. She hasn't got a purse.'

'Would you say she's harmless?'David asked.

'Oh, yeah.'

'I like her,'Jenny said with a note of irritation.

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David smiled, then went back to thinking.' If she's as pretty as you say, we should be able to trace her.'

He pulled out a pen.' What name is she going by?'

By the time we'd finished another couple of beers, and worked out exactly how much I would pay David for the use of his credit rating, it was close to five. Driving Jenny and me back to my truck, David saidhe'd let Satidowhatever she wanted,at least for tonight. He alsosaid he'd try to stop by the meeting.

Linda had left a message on my machine,scolding me for cancelling Jenny's appointment,and saying she wouldn't be back till eight. Sati was nowhere to be found. I wasn'tgoing to worry about her. Jenny and I decided to take a walk down to the beach. On the way out,we ran into Nick Chevas.

Nick and I had been close in high school, although he hadn't arrived on our campus until his senior year.

Before then, he'd lived in east L.A., where he had been a member of a gang. They'd called themselves the Black Bastards, and they'd not been fond of white people, or Hispanics for that matter. Nick hadn't come right out and said it, but from hints he'd dropped, there was blood on his hands, and some of it sounded nasty. Even as a teenager, he'd lifted weights - he could pick me up with one hand without straining.

Two events had helped transform him into a civilised human being. First, his mom, who was the only one he cared about, had had a stroke, followed by a series of heart attacks. There had been no money in the family. He'd nursed her twenty-four hours a day,and as a result,had been forced to give up his violent nocturnal activities. And then when his mother had finally died, the fight in him had apparently died, too.

He said it was the first and only time he had cried, and I believed him.

But his mood might have gone bad again, hanging out with the sort he was used to, if his uncle hadn't legally adopted him and moved him into our neighbourhood. We met in my garage. I was into being a rock guitarist in those days, and was blasting the block withh ardbiting blues when he walked in and said he liked my style. Turned out he could play piano. He had a huge finger spread. We started jamming together right then, and a few months later I got over my fear of being alone with him.At heart,he was really a mellow guy. Except for the four-inch knife scar infront of his left ear, I would have had trouble believing his past.

When people met Nick, they saw that scar first,and I don't suppose many forgot it quickly. He could have been handsome, but when you didn't know him, he just looked mean. He was great with his hands, and had an artistic bentThe art teacher in our high school thought Nick's sketching technique gripping.

Unfortunately, his uncle had only agreed to keep him till he was eighteen. Soon after graduation Nkk was out on the street again and looking for work everyone was afraid to give him. Finally, he did get a job as a bricklayer. But it was in Oregon, and it was then I lost track of him.

Up north, he learned to construct beautiful fireplaces. Yet he got few of the jobs he bid on. Not many people would let him into their living-rooms. He started drinking beer in backwoods bars with people who grew marijuana by the ton in their huge forested backyards. These people were interested in the gang friends Nick had known when he was young. Seemed a few of those friends had since made names for themselves in the drug business,The marijuana farmers wanted Nick to be the go-between for them.

Nick was low on cash at the time. It was only mari-juana, he thought,and that was hardly a crime any more. He made it clear he wouldn't handle cocaine, or any hard stuff. The dope planters were agreeable.

Nick made the connections with his childhood friends. Deals were struck. Nick started driving a van full of marijuana from Portland to L.A. every week. He became a pusher.

We didn't run into each other again until our ten-year class reunion. It was about this time that Linda
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started to talk about our psychological incompatibilities. At the reunion, Nick had an illegal alien named Mary Dorado with him. He told me of all the trash he'd been into in the last few years, and how he'd got out of it because of Mary. He was poor again, he told me, but his conscience was clear. Mary didn't know he'd ever dealt indope.

Nick,David, and I got together a week after the reunion and saw a movie. David told us about his apartments.Nick moved in,with Mary, a couple of weeks later.And six months after that,I moved out of my house aad became Nick's upstairs neighbour.

Nick was the only one I told my problems to. He knew how to listen without giving advice, which is a virtue few happy people understand. And he had problems of his own. Mary was pregnant. A good Catholic Hispanic, she wasn't going to have an abortion. She wanted to get married. The timing was bad.

Nick had used up all his savings. He was still a mean-looking black dude with a scar. Work was scarce.

He'd returned to hauling marijuana, not as much as before, but even a little, he knew, was too much.

Mary was getting suspicious. Nick was feeling like dirt

'How's my babe?'he asked when he saw Jenny. She giggled as he swung her on to his broad shoulders.

'H ow's it going, Mike?'

'My life is a series of ecstatic moments, each more intense than the previous,'I said.' How are you?'

'I'm fine,'he said without enthusiasm. Jenny began to tickle his ears, and he resettled her atop his head.

'We're walking down to the beach,'I said.' Want to come?'

'Sure.'

'Mary's welcome, too,'I said.

Nick glanced at his apartment door. He looked as tired as I felt'H er cousin came by and took her shopping. She left a note. She won't be back for a couple of hours.'

'You were gone all day?'I asked.

He sighed, setting Jenny down.' Yeah, I was busy.'

The beach was only ten minutes away. Once across the Coast Highway and on to the wide stretch of sand leading to the water, Jenny ran on ahead, chasing the pigeons.

'How did it go?'I asked.

He grimaced.'Iwascoining back down onI-fiv e. I usually bring an extra tank of gas so I don't have to stop at a station. But 1 forgot this time.. You know those jerks up there don't care how they package the stuff. They wrap it in a plastic bag and figure it's cool. But you know how dope smells.You've only got to get close to the van to smell it Anyway, I end up having to stop near Fresno. Just my luck a cop pulls into the station right then.'

'Wonderful.'

'Yeah.I thought of just splitting, but hiseye went straight to me. He wandered over and started making small talk.Man, I was sweating vinegar. He even leaned his back against my van.'

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'But you just said how strong it smells?'

Nick laughed.' I was standing there, wondering what kind of fools they have for cops in Fresno, when he starts to tell me about his hay fever. He was suffering something awful with it. His whole head was stuffed up. He couldn't have smelled the dope if he'd stuck his head in a bag full of it. I told him to try alfalfa. My mom used to take that for her allergies. He thanked me for the advice.'

'Do you ever feel sometimes that you're tempting the gods?'

Nick lost his smile.' I wasn't laughing about it when I pulled out of the station. I was telling myself that was it.'

'Great.'

He shook his head.'B ut when I made my delivery, and got handed a thousand for my troubles, I started thinking maybe I'd make just one last haul. Why is that,Mike?"

'It's because you're an idiot'

Nick nodded.' That's what I need to hear. But I'll tell you, I went out on eight jobs this week. I didn't get one. And Mary's already seeing this gynaecologist that's costing a fortune.'

'How far along.is she?'

'Ten weeks.'

'Is she over her morning sickness?'I asked.

'Yeah, but I thinkI've caught it.'

I took that to mean he wasn't sure he wanted the baby.' Doesn't she ever smell the dopethat's been in your van?'