Peter Benchley - Jaws

“It sounds to me like you’ve got enough now,” said Brody.

“I have the knowledge, but not the proof. I don’t have the documents, or even copies of them. I’ve seen them, but that’s all.”

“Do you think any of the selectmen are in on the deal? Larry loaded this meeting against me.”

“No. You mean Catsoulis and Conover? They’re just old buddies who owe Larry a favor or two. If Thatcher’s there, he’s too old and too scared to say a word against Larry. And Lopez is straight. He’s really concerned about jobs for his people.”

“Does Hooper know any of this? He’s making a pretty strong case for opening the beaches.”

“No, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t. I only wrapped it up myself a few minutes ago, and there are still a lot of loose threads.”

“What do you think I ought to do? I may have quit already. I offered them my job before I came out to take your call.”

“Christ, don’t quit. First of all, we need you. If you quit, Russo will get together with Vaughan and hand-pick your successor. You may think all your troops are honest, but I’ll bet Russo could find one who wouldn’t mind exchanging a little integrity for a few dollars — or even just for a shot at the chief’s job.”

“So where does that leave me?”

“If I were you, I’d open the beaches.”

“For God’s sake, Harry, that’s what they want! I might as well go on their payroll.”

“You said yourself that there’s a strong argument for opening the beaches. I think Hooper’s right. You’re going to have to open them sometime, even if we never see that fish again. You might as well do it now.”

“And let the mob take their money and run.”

“What else can you do? You keep them closed, and Vaughan’ll find a way to get rid of you and he’ll open them himself. Then you’ll be no use whatever. To anybody. At least this way, if you open the beaches and nothing happens, the town might have a chance. Then, maybe later, we can find a way to pin something on Vaughan. I don’t know what, but maybe there’ll be something.”

“Shit,” said Brody. “All right, Harry, I’ll think about it. But if I open them, I’m gonna do it my way. Thanks for the call.” He hung up and went into Vaughan’s office.

Vaughan was standing at the southerly window, his back to the door. When he heard Brody walk in, he said, “The meeting’s over.”

“What do you mean, over?” said Catsoulis. “We ain’t decided a fuckin’ thing.”

Vaughan spun around and said, “It’s over, Tony! Don’t give me any trouble. It’ll work out the way we want. Just give me a chance to have a little chat with the chief. Okay? Now everybody out.”

Hooper and the four selectmen left the office. Brody watched Vaughan as he ushered them out. He knew he should feel pity for Vaughan, but he couldn’t suppress the contempt that flowed over him. Vaughan shut the door, walked over to the couch, and sat down heavily.

He rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his temples with his fingertips. “We were friends, Martin,” he said. “I hope we can be again,”

“How much of what Meadows said is true?”

“I won’t tell you. I can’t. Suffice it to say that a man once did a favor for me and now he wants me to repay the favor.”

“In other words, all of it.”

Vaughan looked up, and Brody saw that his eyes were red and wet. “I swear to you, Martin, if I had any idea how far this would go, I’d never have gotten into it.”

“How much are you into him for?”

“The original amount was ten thousand. I tried to pay it back twice, a long time ago, but I could never get them to cash my checks. They kept saying it was a gift, not to worry about it. But they never gave me back my marker. When they came to me a couple of months ago, I offered them a hundred thousand dollars — cash. They said it wasn’t enough. They didn’t want the money. They wanted me to make a few investments. Everybody’d be a winner, they said.”

“And how much are you out now?”

“God knows. Every cent I have. More than every cent. Probably close to a million dollars.” Vaughan took a deep breath. “Can you help me, Martin?”

“The only thing I can do for you is put you in touch with the D. A. If you’d testify, you might be able to slap a loan-sharking rap on these guys.”

“I’d be dead before I got home from the D. A.’s office, and Eleanor would be left without anything. That’s not the kind of help I meant.”

“I know.” Brody looked down at Vaughan, a huddled, wounded animal, and he did feel compassion for him. He began to doubt his own opposition to opening the beaches. How much of it was the residue of prior guilt, how much fear of another attack? How much was he indulging himself, playing it safe, and how much was prudent concern for the town? “I’ll tell you what, Larry, I’ll open the beaches. Not to help you, because I’m sure if I didn’t open them you’d find a way to get rid of me and open them yourself. I’ll open the beaches because I’m not sure I’m right any more.”

“Thanks, Martin. I appreciate that.”

“I’m not finished. Like I said, I’ll open them. But I’m going to post men on the beaches. And I’m going to have Hooper patrol in the boat. And I’m going to make sure every person who comes down there knows the danger.”

“You can’t do that!” Vaughan said. “You might as well leave the damn things closed.”

“I can do it, Larry, and I will.”

“What are you going to do? Post signs warning of a killer shark? Put an ad in the newspaper saying ‘Beaches Open — Stay Away’? Nobody’s going to go to the beach if it’s crawling with cops.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. But something. I’m not going to make believe nothing ever happened.”

“All right, Martin.” Vaughan rose. “You don’t leave me much choice. If I got rid of you, you’d probably go down to the beach as a private citizen and run up and down yelling ‘Shark!’ So all right. But be subtle — if not for my sake, for the town’s.”

Brody left the office. As he walked down the stairs, he looked at his watch. It was past one o’clock, and he was hungry. He went down Water Street to Loeffler’s, Amity’s only delicatessen. It was owned by Paul Loeffler, a classmate of Brody’s in high school.

As Brody pulled open the glass door, he heard Loeffler say, “…like a goddam dictator, if you ask me. I don’t know what’s his problem.” When he saw Brody, Loeffler blushed. He had been a skinny kid in high school, but as soon as he had taken over his father’s business, he had succumbed to the terrible temptations that surrounded him for twelve hours of every day of every week, and nowadays he looked like a pear.

Brody smiled. “You weren’t talking about me , were you, Paulie?”

“What makes you think that?” said Loeffler, his blush deepening.

“Nothing. Never mind. If you’ll make me a ham and Swiss on rye with mustard, I’ll tell you something that will make you happy.”

“That I have to hear.” Loeffler began to assemble Brody’s sandwich.

“I’m going to open the beaches for the Fourth.”

“That makes me happy.”

“Business bad?”

“Bad.”

“Business is always bad with you.”

“Not like this. If it doesn’t get better soon, I’m gonna be the cause of a race riot.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m supposed to hire two delivery boys for the summer. I’m committed. But I can’t afford two. Let alone I don’t have enough work for two, the way things are. So I can only hire one. One’s white and one’s black.”

“Which one are you hiring?”

“The black one. I figure he needs the money more. I just thank God the white one isn’t Jewish.”