George Higgins - Killing Them Softly

“Yeah,” Barry said, “but not tonight, right Steve?”

“I haven’t got no inside information,” Steve said. “I just got a job to do.”

“Don’t gimme that,” Barry said, “I didn’t sign up for that. I want you to tell me, Trattman’s not gonna go to sleep tonight.”

“Not by us,” Steve said.

“Okay by me,” Barry said.

“He didn’t say his prayers or something,” Steve said, “I can’t help that. But we’re not doing it.”

“Okay,” Barry said. “I just wanna be sure.”

“Just what I said,” Steve said. “Nothing else.”

“Because I always liked Markie,” Barry said.

“Everybody did,” Steve said. “You, you mostly liked the blonde.”

“What blonde?” Barry said.

“Oh come on,” Steve said, “the blonde he used to have at the One-Fifteen, remember her?”

“That was the other game,” Barry said.

“The game he knocked over himself,” Steve said.

“We’re lucky, he didn’t have us there for that one,” Barry said. “I wouldn’t’ve wanted to be there for that.”

“Oh for Christ sake,” Steve said, “sometimes you’re too fuckin’ dumb for fuckin’ words, you know that, Barry?”

“Why?” Barry said. “The game got knocked over. We was there, we either would’ve hadda do something about it or else we would’ve been inna shit, we didn’t do something about it.”

“Why the fuck you think he didn’t have us there?” Steve said.

“That’s what I mean,” Barry said. “That was nice of the guy. He knows he’s gonna do something, he lets us out.”

“You dumb fuckin’ shit,” Steve said. “I gotta have a talk with Ma. I know it now, she was fuckin’ the milkman. Maybe the milkman’s horse. You gotta be the dumbest fuckin’ shit on the face of the fuckin’ earth. You embarrass me, you know that? You stupid fuckin’ ginzo.”

“He did,” Barry said.

“You should’ve worn a helmet, Barry,” Steve said. “I mean that. I think you took too many shots inna head. Don’t you know why he let us out?”

“He was being a nice guy,” Barry said.

“He didn’t wanna pay us,” Steve said. “If we’re there, and we didn’t know, he would’ve had trouble. He didn’t want no trouble. He wanted money. He didn’t wanna share no dough with us. So he told us not to show up. He’s not nice. He’s just cheap. Just like everybody else. You dumb shit.”

“I still liked the guy,” Barry said.

“You liked the blonde,” Steve said. “Come on, Barry.”

“He was married to that girl,” Barry said.

“Jackie don’t think so,” Steve said. “Dillon, either. She was just something he had around.”

“She was a nice girl,” Barry said. “I did like her.”

“She hadda great big ass,” Steve said. “That’s all you think about, a great big ass.”

“She did,” Barry said. “Still, not a bad girl at all. Nice bazooms. She was a good kid to talk to.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, “right. Talk. Remember that night she come out there inna pink pants?”

“Yeah,” Barry said.

“You don’t,” Steve said. “Still, that was the biggest pink thing I ever saw.”

“She was a nice girl,” Barry said.

“You wanna be careful,” Steve said. “Some night I’ll get drunk and I’ll call Ginny up and tell her, you’re scoutin’ strange tail alla time.”

“Steve,” Barry said, “you know …”

“I know,” Steve said.

“Ginny’s the best thing, ever happened to me,” Barry said. “I know, you’re always telling me, I’m a dumb shit. Okay, I’m a dumb shit. But I know some things. The times that girl, I couldn’t count them. You can kid around all you want. I don’t care if you are my brother. You know what? I get home tonight, don’t matter what time I get home tonight, it’s probably gonna be late, Ginny’ll be waiting up. We’ll have a beer and we’ll talk. Anybody gives Ginny a hard time, well, I’m maybe a little outa shape. But nobody better call Ginny and get her thinking something like that, or anything, that, especially that’s not true.”

“Oh for Christ sake,” Steve said. “I was just hacking around.”

“Not on that,” Barry said. “Ginny, Ginny’s sacred to me.

“Yeah, yeah,” Steve said.

“I mean that,” Barry said. “The rest of you guys, all right, you can think anything you want. But not me. Not me and Ginny.”

“You mean to tell me,” Steve said, “Trattman’s pink broad, you didn’t fuck her?”

“Nah,” Barry said. “I tell you, she was married to Trattman at the time. You don’t fuck somebody else’s wife. I wouldn’t do that.”

“Jackie don’t think so,” Steve said.

“Jackie don’t know, is what Jackie does,” Barry said. “She told me herself.”

“You asked her,” Steve said.

“I didn’t ask her if she was married,” Barry said.

“Barry,” Steve said, “I’m ashamed of you. My own brother, and you asked somebody else’s girl to fuck.”

“I did not,” Barry said.

“I’m definitely gonna tell Ginny,” Steve said. “You’ll be lucky, you don’t get a mouthful of plates, you come in after this. You goddamned stud.”

“I wasn’t married to Ginny then,” Barry said.

“Barry,” Steve said, “you been married to Ginny since you’re twelve, you know that. You just didn’t get to church before, is all. Any time Ginny said: ‘Jump,’ all you ever said was: ‘How high?’ ”

“I did not,” Barry said.

“You did,” Steve said. “You give up boxing because Ginny didn’t want your face wrecked.”

“No, I didn’t,” Barry said. “I give it up because I wasn’t no good.”

“Who’s the light-heavy champ in Sixty-three?” Steve said.

“All right, all right,” Barry said. “He wasn’t champ for long.”

“Who was he?” Steve said. “I forget his name.”

“When I fought him he hadda different name,” Barry said.

“Yeah,” Steve said, “I remember. Tennessee Bobby Walker. Yeah. That’s the guy. How long’d you go with him?”

“That was before,” Barry said.

“Not much before,” Steve said. “Twelve and you TKO-ed him, and then fifteen and he splits you. And, who was that guy on the Ticonderoga ?”

“You remind me of Jackie,” Barry said.

“I remind you of Ginny,” Steve said.

“He was always at me, like you are,” Barry said. “That night Walker beat me? He was fulla fuckin’ shit, and I was hurt. That bastard cut me onna eye and he kept the laces in it all night.”

“You did the same thing to him, the time before,” Steve said.

“That didn’t make it feel better,” Barry said. “The only thing that bastard’s thinking about’s how much money he’s out. And I was hurt.”

“You should’ve butted him,” Steve said.

“I tried to,” Barry said. “Didn’t work. He had his head down too low. You know something? That’s the thing I liked about Markie. He never saw me fight. All you guys did.”

“And we knew you quit because you’re chicken,” Steve said. “It’s all right.”

“I wasn’t any good,” Barry said. “There’re guys that’re like that, you know.”

“I know,” Steve said.

“No you don’t,” Barry said. “You’re just like Jackie. I’m not gonna do this. I haven’t got nothing against Markie. I dunno why he didn’t stay married, the blonde.”

“Barry,” Steve said, “they weren’t married. That was just something that went on a long time. She was letting you down easy. She didn’t wanna fuck you and she didn’t wanna hurt your feelings.”

“No,” Barry said, “maybe, okay, but nothing Markie ever had, went on a long time. He’d just as soon get married as fuck around, he don’t care. He’s not a bad shit.”