Lawrence Block: Manhattan Noir

“I work slow.”

“I’ll say.”

“So we’ll go. I’ll meet you, like, 7.”

“Yes, Danny, I would like that. I would like that very much. Seven. Now here…” She put his omelet down in front of him. “You better eat this. You might need your strength. You ever been with a Latin woman?”

“Not one as pretty as you.”

Nice line, Danny thought. Rosa smiled and went over to a couple at a booth to take their order. Danny sipped on his coffee and picked at the eggs as he read the lead story:

“Inwood Jogger Missing.”

A twenty-year-old college student had been last seen running through Inwood Park and she never got home. A runaway, Danny thought, as he turned the page and read about a elderly jeweler stabbed on Sixth Avenue. Crime is down in New York, but there’s still enough mayhem to go around.

Danny finished his eggs and gave Rosa a wave as he threw ten dollars down on the table.

“Seven, Champ, I’ll be here,” she called after him.

Danny walked down to Obert’s Gym and said hello to the regulars. He walked past Victor Garcia without saying a word. He put on some light gloves and worked the speed bag.

He loved it when he got the rat-a-tat-tat sound as the bag hit the wood and then his glove with blinding speed.

He walked over to a heavy bag and motioned Khalif Little to hold it. He slammed the bag for three minutes, then held it while Little pounded it. Kid is strong, Danny thought.

The day dragged on. Danny trained a couple of local kids in the ring. He did foot work and shadowboxing with them.

Good kids, but no real boxing talent. They were in the gym because they couldn’t play baseball or basketball. Boxing was their last shot out of Inwood, and it was a cancelled check they were holding.

As Danny moved around the ring his mind kept going back to Rosa. That warm smile. Those big hips. He needed a woman and he needed a fresh start. Maybe she could be the one. That is, if he didn’t knock her out of bed.

Danny decided to skip some rope. Victor Garcia leaned on the ropes and watched him.

“You know, Danny, I was thinking about what you said. Maybe you’re right. You can still fight. I’ll look into it. We could both use a payday, and who knows.”

“You know me, Victor. I never back down from a fight. You get it and I’ll give it my all.”

“You always did, kid. You always did.”

Danny jumped out of the ring and said his goodbyes. He left the gym feeling pretty good. He walked home singing a song from the 1970s. Johnny Nash. “I can see clearly now the rain is gone.”

In his apartment he watched the evening news. A local TV reporter did a story on the missing jogger of Inwood Park. He heard her name. Sara Miller. Twenty. Blond. Pretty. Full of life. Honor student. All the things Danny never was.

The news went on with the weather report and he got ready for his date with Rosa. He took a hot shower, and as he dried off he threw talcum powder on his body. He went to the closet and put on a crisp, white button-down shirt and new black jeans. He thought about a tie and knew that wasn’t him. He looked in the mirror. Not bad, he thought. Slim. Face not too banged up. Maybe Rosa saw something in him.

He threw on a black leather jacket and walked out the door. He stopped at the corner florist and bought a rose. A Rose for Rosa, he said to himself and smiled. He walked with an easy stride and felt good in his body. Then he turned the corner on 207th Street and felt his gut tighten as he saw the Loco Diner.

No time for doubt, he thought, and walked inside with a goofy smile. Rosa was standing there in a flower print dress with her black hair up.

“God. You’re beautiful,” Danny said, handing her the rose.

“A rose. How sweet. Shall we?”

Danny helped her with her coat and then they walked out of the diner. On the street she put her arm in his and matched his stride down Broadway. Danny felt good and kept taking sideway glances at her and smiling.

“We should have done this a long time ago. This…” he said, patting her arm with his hand, “feels good. Feels right.”

“You asked when you did. Who knows? Maybe I wouldn’t have went if you asked in the past. It all happens when it is supposed to.”

They walked down Broadway chatting about their days.

They entered Benny’s and Rosa smiled as he led her to the bar.

“They’ll get us a table in like fifteen minutes. The Times did a review last month. A good one. All the Manhattan people are coming up now.”

“Danny, we are Manhattan people.”

“Rosa, geographically Inwood might be in Manhattan, but it is more like the Bronx. We are Inwood people, not Manhattan people.”

Rosa laughed at that. He ordered a red wine for her and water for him. Danny learned years ago that alcohol and staying in shape did not mix. As they finished their drinks a waiter took them to a back booth for privacy. Danny had called in a favor with Benny and they were treating him like the Champ he always wanted to be. He hoped Rosa was impressed.

They each ordered a steak and it came fast, hot, and rare. They were both hungry and ate their food with passion.

“Man, that was some good steak.”

“I’ll say. We ate like we’ve never been out before,” Rosa laughed.

Over coffee Danny started to talk about his past. He felt like he had to. Like she had to hear what made him the way he was. And if she didn’t run away screaming… then maybe.. .

When he got to the part of his family’s murder, Rosa held his hand.

“I know, Danny. I am sorry.”

“You know about what happened?”

“Well, yes, it was horrible. The whole neighborhood felt for you.”

A tear fell down Danny’s face. He never talked about that night. He only dreamt of it. As he talked of the hurt, he felt something leave his body. Something bad and bitter. He just rambled about his broken heart and his eyes never left Rosa’s face. She sat in silence, just watching him with soft, brown eyes. Eyes like a healing light, he thought. She has a face like a saint on a church mural.

Danny ordered Rosa another glass of wine while he had a coffee, black.

“I just want to thank you for listening, Rosa. It was like taking bad air out of me. God, it felt good telling you all that.”

“I’ll listen anytime, Danny.”

He asked about her life and Rosa told him the sadness of a divorce and the ruined dreams of her youth. She was going to be a lawyer but a child and an angry husband made her put that on the back burner. Where it stayed simmering into a bitter stew.

They left Benny’s, and on the corner Danny stopped and held Rosa’s face in his hands. He lightly kissed her lips and she caressed his neck.

They walked up Seaman Avenue and Rosa pointed to a “ Missing ” poster on the light pole. “That’s the jogger in Inwood Park that went missing.”

“Yeah. That is weird. You know, I run every day through that park and never saw her. I see that psycho Yuri but not Sara Miller.”

As they walked, Danny told Rosa how the Mad Russian looked right through him earlier that day in the park.

“He creeps me out, that Yuri,” said Rosa. “About two months ago I saw him running down 207th Street after some young college girl, cursing at her. The girl got away but Yuri had this sick look in his eyes like if he had caught her he would have done something bad.”

“Really? You think…”

Rosa exhaled. “I don’t know, but I got a feeling about him. Show me where you saw him.”

“Rosa. It’s dark out. That park is dangerous at night.”

“Oh, come on. I go out with a boxer and he’s afraid of the dark. Here…” She reached into her purse and pulled out a small flashlight. “Come on, it will be romantic.”