Stephen Solomita - A Piece of the Action

He was supposed to sweep her up in his arms and he knew it. He was supposed to carry her across the threshold, to lay her gently on his bed, to play the leading man. Instead, he pulled away from her and asked a question.

“Kate, are you sure?”

He wasn’t asking just about Inspector Pat Cohan. He was asking about Father Ryan and Sacred Heart Church and a lifetime in suburbia. He was talking about every facet of her life.

“No,” she admitted. “No. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to think about it. I’ve been thinking and thinking and thinking. It doesn’t get me any place. You can’t stay up in the air. You have to come down and do something.”

They made their way to Moodrow’s apartment in silence. The silence seemed right to Moodrow, but still, once inside, once their coats were off and draped over the back of the couch, he couldn’t stop himself from speaking. Despite the fact that he knew he might be tossing away the finest moment of his life.

“Kate,” he began. “Kate … do you, uh … do you want coffee or something?”

It was an astonishingly dumb thing to say and he knew it.

“Isn’t it a little late for coffee?” Kate answered, without letting go of his hand. She looked up at him for a moment, then grinned and punched him in the stomach. “If you don’t smile,” she said, “I’m gonna cry.”

Moodrow managed a quick grin. “Let’s sit down.”

“Yes, I guess we have to talk.” Kate sat on the couch, pulling Moodrow down alongside her. “Your friend, Greta, is a pretty amazing person. Was your mother like her?”

“Greta has a lot in common with most of the women who live down here. Tough times, tough women.”

Kate looked up at Moodrow for a moment. Her gaze was sharply speculative. “I guess I’m learning, Stanley. My father retired today.”

“I didn’t know that.” Moodrow’s surprise was evident. “Did he say why?”

“He gave me a speech about how hard it was for the Irish when they first came here. And about how they’re losing what it took a hundred years to gain. ‘It’s not my Department anymore.’ That’s what he said. I didn’t believe him, so I came down here to find out for myself. It was stupid not to call first.”

“How did Greta happen to find you?”

“She was bringing you some food. Potato something. I didn’t understand her when she told me. She repeated it, but I still didn’t understand, so I let it drop.”

“Potato lathes. It means ‘pancakes.’ ”

“She makes pancakes out of potatoes?”

“Yeah. It just goes to prove there are things you can do with a potato besides boiling it. Being Irish, you wouldn’t know that.”

Kate giggled, then turned serious again. “I was a real sap, Stanley. I feel like a yokel who just bought the Brooklyn Bridge. Maybe I had some doubt when I got here, but after sitting in Greta’s kitchen all night, I know the truth.” She looked up at him. “You got sucked into this, didn’t you? It wasn’t something you wanted.”

“That’s for sure.” Moodrow shook his head slowly. He could feel the tension beginning to ease. Kate was leaning against his chest; his arm was around her shoulder. “But sometimes you have to do what’s right. Especially when Greta Bloom gets on your case. The job’s pretty corrupt, Kate. Most of the guys are on the take, especially the brass. I don’t wanna get too righteous about it, because as far as I can tell, it’s always been that way. But homicide is something else. I couldn’t let it go and neither could your father. It’s been a war zone down here ever since Luis Melenguez was murdered. Your father had a lot to do with that.”

“Well, he’s out of it, now.” She hesitated, letting her eyes drop to her lap. “I made a decision while I was sitting down at Greta’s. I decided not to ask you this question and now I’m asking it anyway. What are you going to do to my father?”

“Probably nothing. I don’t have the kind of evidence that can be used against your father in court and now that he’s retired, it can’t be used by the Department, either. That’s probably why he handed in his papers.” Moodrow slid his index finger beneath Kate’s chin and pulled her head up gently. “I never went after him. I never deliberately went after your father, but I had to protect myself. What I’m talking about is survival, before and after Luis Melenguez’s killer pays the price.”

Kate nodded. “Are you going to get him? The killer?”

“His name’s Jake Leibowitz and I’m right on top of him. It’s just a matter of time. The whole precinct’s after him. It seems that the Department brass, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that Jake Leibowitz must go. What they’re doing is protecting themselves. They say they’re protecting the Department, but it’s their own butts they’re worried about. I have to make them understand that they can best protect themselves by protecting me.”

“That’s going to be a neat trick.” Kate laid her hand on his knee and drew a rough circle with her fingertips. “Have you given any thought to what you’ll do with your life if you lose the Department?”

“None.”

“Have you given any thought to what you’ll do if you lose me?”

“That’s the $64,000 Question, isn’t it? Maybe I should have taken my shot ten minutes ago.”

“Is that because you think the answer isn’t something I want to hear?”

“It’s because the answer doesn’t make anybody happy, including me.” Moodrow abruptly stopped speaking. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then turned back to Kate and drew a deep breath. “There are times in your life when you wake up for a moment and realize you’re a big dope. That you’ve been a dope for so long it’s as natural as combing your hair. That’s part of what it’s about. Somewhere along the line I decided that I wanted a gold shield. An ordinary badge wasn’t good enough. It had to be gold for a big shot like me.”

“It’s not wrong to want to get ahead, Stanley. It’s natural. It’s what everybody wants.”

“That’s just it. I decided to become a detective, because I didn’t want to be like everyone else. When I was in high school, all I could think about was becoming heavyweight champion of the world. I didn’t think about the price. Not for one minute. The same thing happened when I joined the Department. I didn’t give up the kid’s dream. No, I decided I wanted to be a detective and I used my face to get it. These last few weeks? Every time I look in the mirror and see the scars, I think about what a dope I was. Let me tell you something, Kate, the price wasn’t long in coming. Your father put me to work learning the price from day number one.”

Kate put a finger to his mouth. She was smiling. “I bet I know what happened next.”

“What?”

“Greta Bloom happened next.”

Moodrow leaned forward and kissed her lightly. “You get a gold star.”

Kate grabbed hold of his ear and held him in place while she explored his mouth with her own. “One star isn’t enough for an ambitious young lady like myself. I want the whole galaxy.”

“Are you sure, Kate?” What he wanted to do was run his finger down along her throat, to unbutton her blouse and press his head between her breasts. “My galaxy isn’t very big. It runs south to Canal Street and north to Fourteenth. It’s got the river on the east and the Bowery on the west. Like I said, it’s not very big, but it’s mine and I’m not gonna leave it. Not without a fight. See, the thing of it is I never meant for any of this to happen. Greta came up one morning and asked me to check on a homicide that’d happened while I was in training for the O’Grady fight. Her visit was step one in the process of learning that I was a dope and it was an innocent step. Nothing more than a favor for an old friend. After that, it just happened.”