Эд Макбейн - Criminal Conversation

“I was gonna tell you when I saw you. Which is what I’m doing now.”

“You’re telling me you borrowed another five grand from me, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“You dumb fuckin’ shit, this ain’t me you’re jerkin around, this is Frankie Palumbo whose money you bet!”

“O- kay !” Michael said.

“Frankie does a favor for that shithead Angelli in Queens whose ugly cousin you’re fuckin’, you think the whole world don’t know it, a married man? Does Angelli know he asked Frankie a favor for a married man fuckin’ his cousin? And this is the way you pay Frankie back? This is the respect you show for a man whose ass you should be kissing in Macy’s window? You know what’s going to happen to you now? First...”

“Sal...”

“First, I’m gonna personally beat the shit out of you for embarrassing me in front of Frankie, and then I’m gonna turn you over to him , and he’s gonna make sure you never steal money from nobody in the Faviola family ever again. You think you understand that, Dominick?”

“Let me talk to Jimmy again, okay?” Dom said. “Let me explain to him what...”

“You don’t have to talk to Jimmy no more, Jimmy done everything he could for you. This ain’t Colotti business no more, this is Faviola business. Where’s your fuckin’ respect?”

“Jimmy can explain it to him.”

“There’s nothin’ to explain. You stole five fuckin’ grand from Frankie Palumbo after he done a favor for you. What’s there to explain?”

“I thought I was borrowin’ it from you , Sal.”

“You mean you thought you were stealin’ it from me.”

“No, no. I was gonna pay you interest, same as before.”

“ What ? Pay me interest? You fuckin’ piece of shit , you can’t meet your payments now , how’d you expect to pay me on another five grand?”

“I figured the same arrangement as before.”

“Without askin’ me first?”

“I figured I’d tell you later.”

“You’re a dumb fuck, Dominick.”

“I realize that now. I shoulda ast you first. But I really thought this was your money, Sal, I didn’t know...”

“Yeah, well it ain’t.”

“I’m really sorry I done this, Sal, embarrassin’ the two families this way, I’m really sorry, Sal.”

“You shoulda thought about that before doin’ something so stupid.”

“I thought I was borrowin’ it.”

“Stupid fuck,” Sal said, and Michael visualized him shaking his head. There was a long silence. Jackie looked at Michael. Michael shrugged. They waited.

“I’ll tell you the truth,” Sal said, “this is already out of my hands, Dom. You really stepped out of line this time. I call Frankie about this, he’ll tell me to break both your fuckin’ legs and throw you in the river.”

“Maybe when you call him, you can ask him to talk to...”

“I call him, I can tell you what his response is gonna be. He’s gonna say don’t bother me with this shit, take care of it.”

“Maybe Jimmy’d be willing to guarantee the loan...”

“Why would...”

“... while I work it off.”

“Work it off how ? You mean deliver some more coke and get paid for it and then go lose the money in some other crap game, is that what you had in mind, you stupid shit?”

“He’s getting mad all over again,” Jackie said.

“Could you at least ask him?” Dom said.

“Ask him what ?”

“To sit down with Jimmy, talk it over.”

“He’ll say fuck Jimmy and fuck you too. He already went out of his way, and this is how you show your gratitude? That’s what he’ll say, I’m tellin’ you right now.”

“Just ask him, Sal. Please.”

“A sitdown, huh?”

“Please.”

“ If I call Frankie... and I’m only sayin’ if ... he’s gonna want this on his terms and at his convenience, I can promise you that. You caused a lot of fuckin’ trouble here, Dom, the two families, and now you want a sitdown, which is bringing two important people together to discuss your fuckin’ fuckup. That takes balls, I gotta tell you. How do you know Angelli’ll guarantee the loan? How do you...??”

“Well, I don’t know. My friend’ll have to ask him.”

“Who you’re fuckin’.”

“Well.”

“I better be some kind of diplomat,” Sal said.

“You’re gonna call him?”

“Wait right here. You move out of this booth, you better run all the way to Yugoslavia.”

There was the sound of footsteps retreating. And now that the two men were no longer talking, Michael could hear other sounds in the restaurant, the muted voices of busboys and waiters as they began closing down for the night, the clink of silverware as the tables were set for tomorrow’s lunch crowd, the sound of a radio being tuned to a talk show. They waited. The snow kept falling.

“Okay.”

Sal’s voice again.

Closer as he slid into the booth.

“You’re a very lucky man, Dominick. He said Jimmy should call him, they’ll set something up for after Christmas.”

“Thank you,” Dominick said.

“You better fuck his cousin good between now and then,” Sal said.

It was still early enough in the afternoon for the beach to be unbearably hot. Even in the shade of the striped umbrella, Sarah felt uncomfortable, but she suspected this had less to do with the heat than with her sister’s conversation. Heather was telling her that she’d wanted to kill her husband the moment she’d found out. The island was French, women went topless on the beaches here. Heather sat bare-breasted on the blanket under the umbrella, saying she’d wanted to smash in his face with a hatchet. Her sister sitting topless made Sarah feel yet more uncomfortable, people walking by. She herself had not yet found the courage to take off her bikini top. Probably never would.

“Like when he was sleeping,” Heather said. “I wanted to pick up a hatchet and smash in his face.”

“Oh come on,” Sarah said.

“I mean it. Smash his face in. Then leave the house, fly somewhere out of the country, disappear from sight.”

The beach was on the southern side of the island, in an isolated cove far from the many hotels clustered on St. Bart’s Atlantic side. The house their parents owned was on a small verdant hill overlooking the beach, a good thousand yards from the nearest house, a twenty-minute Mini-Moke ride to the nearest good hotel in Morne Lurin. Mollie was inside the house, napping. Yolande, her mother’s housekeeper, was sweeping off the wooden verandah that ran around the house on three sides. The sound of her broom swished a whispered counterpoint to their conversation, such as it was. The tide was going out. Lazy wavelets lapped the shore. All was tranquil and serene, but her sister was telling her she’d felt like doing murder. Sarah didn’t want to hear any of this. She felt trapped on the sweltering beach.

“This was after I found out about his little bimbo,” Heather said. “He used to come home late from the office, tell me he was working after hours on this important account, that important account, I believed him. Her name was Felicity, I wanted to kill her , too. I kept wishing I’d come home and find him in bed with her, kill them both with the same hatchet, chop up their faces, disappear from sight. Come down here afterward, but this’d be the first place the police would look, am I right?”

“Probably,” Sarah said.

“This was right after Halloween, when I found out. It was a Sunday night, a woman in the building was giving a Halloween party. I went dressed as a sexy witch. Doug went dressed as a hairy warlock. Some guy supposed to be Dracula kept chasing me all over the place, telling me he wanted to bite me on the neck. Doug had the gall later to tell me it made him jealous, the count wanting to bite me on the neck. He’s screwing little Felicity blind two, three nights a week, he pretends to be jealous of some drunken jackass with fake fangs.”