Чарли Стелла - Johnny Porno

Holly had already lost her appetite from the way Louis had been acting since they stole all that money. She dropped the piece of rye toast she’d been holding.

“Come on,” Louis said. “This is exciting stuff we’re doing. Don’t get down on it now, Nan.”

Holly’s eyes opened wide. “Excuse me?”

“Fuck,” Louis said.

“You just called me Nan.”

“I did?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry. Probably ’cause you’re looking so down. A woman gets bitchy, it reminds me of Nancy.”

“Really? And who’d you call from the parking lot?”

“I already told you. The guy with the car.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I can’t help that.”

She watched him scarf down two pancakes. He sensed her stare and set his fork down.

“What?”

“It was Nancy you called,” Holly said. “Admit it.”

Louis tried to return her stare, but blinked first. “Fine,” he said. “It was Nancy. Happy?”

“Why?”

“To make sure she didn’t give me up.”

“How would she do that? What’s she got to do with it?”

He avoided her eyes while he reached for his coffee.

“Louis?”

“She helped me set the guy up,” he said.

“She what?”

“It was her ex-husband’s car we took.”

“Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of joke now?”

“I didn’t tell you before because you’d think the wrong thing, but he’s the one peddling the movie.”

“He’s a mobster?”

“Not a mobster, no. He works for them.”

Holly’s eyes narrowed. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

“It’s not what you think.”

“Of course not. Nothing is what I think, but then it turns out exactly what I thought. What’s going on, Louis?”

“What I told you. We took money from bad guys. Nancy’s ex, he’s a bad guy works for other bad guys.”

“And Nancy did this why, out of the kindness of her heart or because you’re still screwing her?”

“I’m not screwing her. Would you get over that already? Look at you and look at her. No comparison, okay.”

What Holly noticed was he still couldn’t look her in the eyes. It was the same when she had asked him about his rash and mentioned it looked like what they did for people who had crabs. He couldn’t look her in the eyes then either.

“I’ve known people who had crabs before,” she said.

“What?” he said. “We’re back to that again?”

She waited for eye contact, but there wasn’t any.

“Never play poker, Louis,” she told him.

“What’s poker got to do with anything?”

“I want to go back to the dorm.”

“What?”

“I want to go home.”

“Fine, I’ll drop you off. You can give the professor a call. See his dick is still hard.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“If you say so.”

Holly slid out of the booth. “Let’s go,” she said.

“In a minute,” Louis said.

She stood over him. “Now,” she said.

“You mind I pay the check, maybe take a piss?”

“I’ll wait in the car,” she said.

She was on her way out when she spotted him giving her the finger in the mirrored wall’s reflection. She stopped and turned around.

“Fuck you, too,” she yelled loud enough for the entire diner to hear.

Then she left.

John’s mother told Nancy that a cop had come to the door asking about John and money he owed and then asked about Little Jack, if he was there in the house with her, but she didn’t believe he was a cop, even though he had a badge.

Now she was in a hurry on her way out and didn’t have time to talk. Nancy asked her to hold on a minute. She told Marie to put her son on the phone, but the old bag said they were in a hurry and promised to call back when John told her it was okay.

“You know how much he owes?” Nancy asked.

“What? He didn’t say he owes anything.”

“It’s a lot.”

“How do you know?”

Nancy rolled her eyes. “Because he told me.”

“Why would he tell you?”

“Fifteen thousand,” Nancy said. She figured why not make it more than it was. The old lady probably had that and more.

“How much?” Marie Albano asked.

“You heard me.”

“I don’t believe it. I don’t believe you.”

“Then ask your son.”

“I will.”

“Good.”

Marie hung up.

“Bitch,” Nancy said.

If there was a way out of this mess without someone getting hurt, Nancy assumed it was John’s mother. There was no way the old bag wouldn’t bail her son out. The problem would be John and whether or not he’d allow his mother to help. Probably not, Nancy was thinking, which was why she might have to negotiate the situation herself.

It wouldn’t be easy.

She was still pissed off at hearing Louis’s blonde bimbo’s voice in the background of their telephone conversation earlier. Wherever he was with their money, the blonde was right there with him. Nancy wondered if there wasn’t some way to implicate little Miss Oklahoma in the robbery. Chances are she had been there for that too and was guilty anyway.

Nancy had made Louis promise he was finished with that one and had believed him until she heard the blonde calling his name through the phone. The man couldn’t be trusted.

She had even started to get beyond the smacks she took the night before, figuring they had been a small price to pay for the money Louis had netted; money that would get them started together somewhere else until her half of the house from her divorce would provide a small windfall. She would go back to work and Louis would find something new and then maybe they could go back to being married again.

She had heard of couples that had done that, break up one year, have other relationships that didn’t work out and then start over again. It wasn’t a complete pipe dream.

She looked at the time and realized John would be calling soon wanting to know if she knew where Louis was or if he’d called her. It had been a mistake admitting Louis was involved, but now that she’d done it, she’d have to string John along.

There was still a lot to do, Nancy was thinking, when the telephone rang at ten-fifteen.

“Hello?” she answered.

“It’s me,” Nathan said.

“Oh, okay. What do you want?”

“When will you be out of the house?”

“Excuse me?”

“I need to get a few things.”

“And why can’t I be here?”

“You can. I’d rather you weren’t.”

“Don’t you think you’re being silly?”

“I can’t make you leave, Nancy, but I’d rather do this without you.”

“Nonsense. You can come whenever you’re ready. I won’t get in your way.”

“Fine. My sister will be coming with me.”

“What for?”

“We’ll try for noon.”

“What? Wait a minute.”

Nathan had already hung up.

“Bastard,” Nancy said. “How dare he hang up on me.”

She started to call him back, stopped herself, then dialed again anyway.

“Hello?” Nathan answered.

Nancy hung up.

“There,” she said. “How do you like it?”

Melinda was awake when Jill called to complain about a fight she’d had with the guy she’d just dumped. It would’ve been a long conversation, except Melinda said she couldn’t tie up the phone and that Jill should come over instead. Jill said she’d be over later in the morning. Melinda said she’d leave a key under the doormat if she wasn’t home.

She watched John sleeping afterward, his face toward her, his abdomen and chest rising and descending ever so slightly. She had to stop herself from reaching out to touch him.