Mickey Spillane - I, The Jury

“I love you, too, kitten. Now drink your drink. Tomorrow night at the twins’ place we’ll duck the crowd and make some plans.”

“Kiss me.”

A couple of wise guys were watching me leeringly. I didn’t care. I kissed her easy like.

“When do I get my ring?” she wanted to know.

“Soon. I have a few checks coming in this week or next and we can go down to Tiffany’s and pick one up. How’s that?”

“Wonderful, Mike, wonderful. I’m so happy.”

We finished the beer, had another, then started out. The pair of wise guys threw me a “hey, hey” as I passed. I dropped Charlotte’s arm for a second, then put my hands on each side of their heads and brought them together with a clunk like a couple of gourds. Both the guys were sitting upright on their stools. In the mirror I could see their eyes. They looked like four agate marbles. The bartender was watching me, his mouth open. I waved to him and took Charlotte out. Behind me the two guys fell off their stools and hit the deck like wet rags.

“My protector.” She squeezed my arm.

“Aw shadup,” I grinned. I felt pretty good right then.

Kathy was sleeping, so we tiptoed in. Charlotte put her hand over the chime to stop its reverberations, but even then we heard the maid stop snoring. She must have gone over on her back again because the snoring resumed.

She took off her coat, then asked, “Want a drink?”

“Nope.”

“What then?”

“You.” The next second she was in my arms, kissing me. Her breasts were pulsating with passion. I held her as closely as I could.

“Tell me, Mike.”

“I love you.” She kissed me again. I pushed her away and picked up my hat.

“Enough, darling,” I said. “After all, I’m only a man. One more kiss like that and I won’t be able to wait until after we’re married.” She grinned and threw herself at me for that kiss, but I held her off.

“Please, Mike?”

“No.”

“Then let’s get married right away. Tomorrow.”

I had to smile. She was so damn adorable. “Not tomorrow, but very soon, honey, I can’t hold out much longer.”

She held the chime while I opened the door. I kissed her lightly and slipped out. I could see where I wouldn’t get much sleep that night. When Velda heard about this she’d throw the roof at me. I hated to tell her.

My alarm went off at six. I slapped the button down to stop the racket, then sat up and stretched. When I looked out the window the sun was shining—a beautiful day. A half-empty bottle of beer was on the night table and I took a swallow. It was as flat as a table-top mesa.

After a shower I threw a robe around me and dug in the pantry for something to eat. The only box of cereal had teeth marks in it where a mouse had beaten me to it, so I opened a sack of potatoes and onions and stripped them into a pan of grease and let the whole mess cook while I made coffee.

I burned the potatoes, but they tasted good just the same. Even my coffee was agreeable. This time next month I’d be eating across the table from a gorgeous blonde. What a wife she was going to make!

Myrna was up when I called her. She said she’d be ready at eight and reminded me not to be late. I promised her I wouldn’t, then buzzed Charlotte.

“Hello, lazy,” I yawned.

“You don’t sound so bright yourself this time of the morning.”

“Well, I am. What are you doing?”

“Trying to get some sleep. After the state you left me in last night I didn’t close my eyes for three hours. I lay in bed wide awake.”

That made me feel good. “I know what you mean. What time will you be at the Bellemy place?”

“Still early in the evening unless I can break away sooner. At least I’ll be there for the game. Who is it that’s playing?”

“I forget. A couple of fancy hot shots that Mary and Esther imported. I’ll be waiting for you to show up, so make it snappy.”

“Okay, darling.” She kissed me over the phone and I gave her one back before I hung up.

Velda wouldn’t be in the office yet, so I called her at home. When she answered I could hear a background of bacon sizzling on the fire. “Hello, Velda, Mike.”

“Hey, what are you doing up so early?”

“I have an important date.”

“Anything to do with the case?”

“Er ... it may have, but I’m not sure. I can’t afford to miss it. If Pat calls, tell him I can be reached at the home of the Misses Bellemy. He has their number.”

Velda didn’t answer at first. I knew she was trying to figure out what I was up to. “All right,” she said finally. “Just watch what you’re doing. Anything I can take care of while you’re gone?”

“No, guess not.”

“By the way, how long are you going to be gone this time?”

“Maybe until Monday, maybe not.”

“Very well, see you, Mike. So long.”

I threw her a quick so long and put the phone on its chocks. Oh, how I hated to tell Velda about Charlotte! If only she wouldn’t cry. What the hell, that’s life. Velda just missed. If Charlotte hadn’t come along I would have tied up with her. I used to feel like I wanted to, but never had time. Oh, well.

Myrna was dressed and ready when I arrived. She had packed a bag and I took it down to the car. She didn’t look too good. There were still dark spots under her eyes and her cheekbones were a little too prominent. She had bought a new dress for the occasion, a nice flowered print, and under the light blue of the wool coat it made her face look lovely, that is, unless you looked too closely.

I didn’t want to mention Jack at all, so we talked about the day and anything trivial that came up. I knew she had seen the front-page headlines about me knocking off Kalecki, but she avoided the subject.

It was a nice day. Out of the city the roads were fairly empty and we rolled along at a conservative fifty. That way I didn’t have to bother about the highway patrol. We passed a few open lots where the kids were getting in an early ball game. I saw tears come into Myrna’s eyes when we passed some small cottages. I winced. She was taking it hard.

Gradually I led the conversation around to the tennis match that night and got her mind off what she was thinking. It wasn’t long afterward that we pulled into the private drive of the Bellemy estate. I thought we were early, but there were two dozen others there before us. A row of cars ran along the side of the mansion and one of the twins came out to meet us. I didn’t know which one it was until she said, “Hello, sissy.”

“Hello, Mary,” I said through a smile. She had on a halter and a pair of shorts that left nothing to the imagination. Both pieces were so tight every line of her body showed through and she knew it. I couldn’t get my eyes off her legs, and walking up to the house she kept brushing against me.

That had to cease. I shifted Myrna’s grip over to keep a barrier between us and Mary broke out into a giggle. At the house she turned Myrna over to a maid, then turned to me. “Didn’t you bring some sport clothes along?”

“Yup. But all the sports I intend to indulge in will be done at the bar.”

“Nuts. Go get in a pair of slacks. There’s a golf game to be held behind the house and a lot of the kids are looking for partners for a tennis game.”

“For Pete’s sake, I’m no athlete.”

Mary stood off a few feet and looked me over from top to bottom. “You look like an athlete if I ever saw one.”

“What kind?” I joked.

“A bed athlete.” Her eyes said that she wasn’t joking.

She walked back to the car with me to get my clothes. When we got in the house she showed me to a room, an oversized thing with a huge four-poster smack in the middle of it.

Mary couldn’t wait until I closed the door. She flung herself at me and opened her mouth. Hell, I couldn’t disappoint the hostess, so I kissed her.