Out of the Easy(79)

I wanted Sonny to hand over the money while I waited in the car, but Willie said that wasn’t the way it was done. I thought back to the black handprint on the door on Esplanade and how I had criticized people who were foolish enough to get caught up with the mob.

Sonny rolled down a deserted stretch of road and stopped in front of a white clapboard building. He put his hand up to silence me, listening to the end of the program and the love saga in Simpsonville. He then turned off the radio and reached for the shotgun.

“Make sure they count it,” he said.

I piled the bags and envelopes into my arms and shut the car door with my hip. I walked through the entrance and was instantly blinded by thick blackness, my eyes unable to adjust from the outdoors. I squinted like a watchmaker and made out a bar and a few tables. The room was nearly empty. The restaurant didn’t open until five thirty. Vic Damone sang from the jukebox, and a lone skinny bartender prepped the bar.

“Can I help you?” asked the bartender.

“I’m looking for Tangle Eye.”

“Against the wall in the back.”

I walked past the row of tables in the dark, clutching the money. My eyes began to focus, and the room came into view. In the very back of the restaurant, three men sat at a table. As I approached, two got up and disappeared into the kitchen. I walked up and stood at the table. He stared at me with his right eye while his left floated from side to side.

“What the hell is that?” He pointed to my arms.

“It’s the money.” I set the load on the table and dropped an envelope. Nickels and dimes spilled out onto the table. Willie would be proud.

The effect was noted. “What do you think I am, a vending machine?” said Tangle Eye.

“It’s all here. You can count it.”

“I’m not touching that filthy stuff. Who knows what hole you pulled it out of. You count it out.”

I sat and counted the money. He made marks on a napkin for each hundred, but quickly became impatient. He called the other two men from the kitchen to finish counting.

“You should have brought large bills,” he said when the counting was finished. I was two dollars over, Willie’s idea.

“I couldn’t get big bills. I was busy begging to get here on time.”

“Who said you were on time?” he countered.

“I am on time. And we’re square.”

He leaned over the table, his left eye bobbing furiously. “We’re not square until the little man says we’re square, understand? You better hope we don’t find your mother in California. No one jumps a debt like that, see.”

I stood up. “You’ll have to take that up with my mother and Cincinnati. It’s all here. You’ve noted five thousand dollars.”

A man appeared and placed a plate in front of Tangle Eye. Chicken, pan-fried in garlic, white wine, and oil. It smelled delicious.

“Is she eating?” asked the man.

Tangle Eye stuffed his napkin in his collar and looked at me. “Are you eating?”





FIFTY-FOUR


My cousin Betty sent me a note with the most ludicrous tales about you.

That’s what the letter from Charlotte said.


Having a swell time. Any news from Smith? Missing Charlie. Missing you.





That’s what the postcard from Patrick said.


I am hopeful for a favorable reply within the month.





That’s what the letter from Ms. Mona Wright had said. I still had no idea what “Ms.” meant. I’d have to look it up in the practical business-writing handbook. It was obviously a title of some sort.

Sadie helped me prepare Willie’s morning tray. Before going to sleep, I had resolved to tell her about Forrest Hearne’s watch and also that Mother had stolen the watch she gave me from Adler’s. I knew she’d be livid and call me all sorts of stupid, but I had to do it. And then I had to tell Cokie about his money being stolen. It was going to be a challenging day, to say the least.

Willie was awake, wrapped in a red satin kimono, peering out her shuttered window.

“Red, that’s different. Is it new?” I asked.

“Unbelievable. It’s barely breakfast, and they’ve already got a cop out there, sitting in his car. I’m tempted to have you take him coffee. Those cops are about as sharp as marbles, I tell ya.”

“Was the chief of police by again last night?” I asked.

“No, but he sent three men around midnight. Sadie threw the buzzer, and I stalled them at the side door while everyone got out. An old attorney from Georgia didn’t make it. I found the poor guy buck naked, shivering behind a banana palm in the courtyard. Had to give him all his money back. This is killing my business.” She turned toward me. “What are the papers saying this morning?”

I didn’t want to give them to her. The articles said the pressure on the Quarter was increasing and that more incidents of holdups and robberies were being reported. Holdups. I thought of myself, cornering Lockwell with my pistol. “Don’t bother with the news, Willie.”

She snapped the papers off the tray herself. I saw the heat rising in her face.

“Willie, I want to thank you again for helping me with the debt yesterday. I can’t tell you what a relief it is. Last night was the first time I really slept.”