The Hard Bounce - страница 39

“C’mon,” I said. “Seven told us this is where he gets his.”

“Seven what? Little dwarves? I said I don’t-”

“Whatever,” Junior said. “You don’t want our money? Fine. But just so you know, we’ve got a few people who want those kinds of movies and we’ve got cash.” Junior brought out the flash money-a hundred wrapped around a thick wad of ones. To Sid it must have looked like a Burger King’s ransom.

Sid licked her thick lips at the sight of the money. I suppressed my gag reflex.

“You two cops?” she asked.

“We look like cops to you?” I asked.

“Cause you have to tell me if I ask. It’s illegal for you to not tell me if I ask. That’s entrapment.”

“I’m not a cop,” I said. I didn’t know if Sid’s information on the law was true or not, but I figured I’d humor her.

“What about you, Red?”

Junior sighed. “Nope. Not a cop.”

“Say it. Say the words. Say, ‘I’m not a cop.’”

“I. Am. Not. A. Cop,” he said, hammering it out like a kid at a spelling bee.

One more shot, for reaction’s sake. “Listen, just call the snake man and tell him we want three copies of every movie he’s got.”

Sid jiggled and wheezed at his mention.

We have a winner.

I sighed, feigning boredom at the conversation as we walked. “Make some calls. We’ll be back tomorrow. Have an answer.”

Outside the store, Junior said in a mock-serious tone, “I thought you told Seven you wasn’t gonna bring him into this.”

“Did I now?” I said with equal amounts of mock-forgetfulness. “Well, gee. It must have plum slipped my mind.”

“Shame on you.” Junior waggled his finger at me. “And your plums.”

“Yes,” I said. “Yes. Shame on me. Leave my plums out of this.”

Junior sat on Miss Kitty’s hood, mulling over the situation. “Well, ain’t this a bitch,” he said, chewing on his thumbnail.

“What is?” Humid sweat made my clothes stick. As I separated the fabric from my skin, I could still smell the stink of Sid’s Vids coming off me, as though the odor had dug itself into my pores.

“This throws a monkey wrench right into our investigatory style, now don’t it?” he said, throwing his hands into the air. “I mean, hell… we can’t just kick the shit out of her to find out what we need, can we? She’s a girl.” He said the last with an aggravated sweep of his hand toward the storefront.

Girl might not have been the term I would have used to describe our little Sidonia, but I knew what he meant. As a blanket policy, we try not to hit women. Even ones with as questionable a womanhood as Sid. Once I had to deck a townie biker chick when she went for my eyes with a corkscrew. Another time, a drunken skinhead girl chased Junior halfway to Roxbury when she decided she wanted a fight and picked Junior. That’s how far he’d go to avoid physical conflict with a woman. Literally.

As extreme as the circumstances were, we couldn’t come up with a good enough reason to pound on Sid. Besides, I wasn’t convinced we could dish out anything that would register on her thick hide. Be like punching a waterbed.

This was going to call for creativity. Not our deepest well to draw from.

“Wait a sec,” I said. I walked back over toward Sid’s Vids. I was reasonably sure Sid wasn’t going to come waddling out the door unless it was time to close or the building was on fire. Over the windows, about seven feet up, was the broken air conditioner. I felt in my pockets for something to hitch up the vent flaps with.

Pack of Parliaments, keys, and Sharpie pen.

Bingo.

My lucky self-defense Sharpie.

I tiptoed up and arched my body to stay out of Sid’s line of vision. I heard her voice over the television before I lifted up the slats. I couldn’t make out what she was saying but I knew she was on the phone. Nobody was in the store when we went in, and nobody had gone in since we’d left.

Detective of the Year Award, here I come.

With the slats opened, I caught snippets of her side of the conversation.

“… know who the fuck they are… [wheezing] yeah… I think that… [more wheezing]… pay fucking Seven a visit… [wheeze]… stupid fucking pussy ass faggot…”

Too easy. Either we were better than we thought we were or these people were wicked retarded.