Benny was tapping a cigarette on his thumb, watching Alverato perform. Then he lit the cigarette and blew smoke. “Suit yourself. I want on the payroll because I got things to sell. Handling the girl for you is only part of it.”
“You got something to sell? Why, you swell-headed-”
“Why don’t you listen, Al? Take this, for instance: right now you’re not through with Pendleton. He’s a snake in the grass and a problem. I know the bastard. I know how he works. You don’t.”
Alverato threw his cigar in the fireplace and came close. “Tapkow, first of all, I don’t like your manners. You’re getting uppity with me. Second, I don’t worry about Pendleton as long as I got that crazy daughter of his. So blow, before I lose my temper.”
But Benny had it all laid out in his mind. Big Al and his puffy temper didn’t impress him any more and Benny had something to sell.
“Take this, Aclass="underline" you’re getting your shipment, the first one, and that’s all, right?”
“I-How did you know?”
“Pendleton changed the code, right?”
“So? Now I got his daughter, there’s nothing to keep me from giving him the squeeze, is there?”
“Sure. You just keep squeezing. So you’ll get another shipment. How do you know he won’t cross you again? How long do you think he’s going to feed you info and not raise heaven and hell to get his daughter in the meantime? You got to admit it, Al, you can use a man who knows Pendleton. Sure you can go it alone. You’ve done it before. But this is easier, faster. You can use me.”
Alverato got the point. Benny could tell. Big Al wasn’t so big any more; not so big as he had been twenty years ago, when he got the name.
“About that cable, Al. Do you know what he changed? Did he change the whole code, make it more complicated? I’ll give you my guess, Al. He changed the name, the signature, that’s all. That’s what Pendleton would do, a little thing like that. It hardly shows, but it makes the difference. I know Pendleton, and you don’t.”
“Sounds good, Tapkow, but anybody can guess.”
“Another thing, Al. Pendleton has a whole setup for getting the H into the country. I know that, you know that. So I bet you another thing,” and now Benny was guessing. “He hasn’t given you that setup, has he, Al?”
“You’re right.”
“I know I’m right.” Benny took a deep breath. “And when he does, you need a man to learn the ropes, to take it over. You need a man who knows that rat well enough to catch him in a double-cross, to figure where he might try to pull it.”
There was a pause.
“Well?” Benny said. He was sure now. His voice was even. “Am I in?”
“You’re in.”
They had another drink. Then Scotty came and showed the way upstairs, to the room where they kept Pat.
There was no sound behind the door while Benny waited till Scotty was down the stairs. He waited another moment. This wasn’t going to be a thing like handling Alverato. This was going to be more like a handful.
When he opened the door he saw her on the couch, deep in the cushions. Pat didn’t look much like a handful. She sat curled up, plucking her left ear lobe with a short, mechanical movement, and her light eyes were traveling back and forth with an irresolute haste. Then she turned fast. “Benny!” She jumped up and ran across the room. “Benny, where have you been?”
“I’m back,” he said.
“Benny, the time I’ve had! It’s all so crazy and I had to see you, Benny. Fix me a drink, will you?”
“Sure, Pat. Sit down. I’m back.”
“Fix me a drink, will you, Benny? Remember that raw stuff we had down South? Remember in the prison you had-”
“In a second. Pat, listen. How have you been?”
“Rotten, just rotten.” She talked in a fast clipped way. “I even had a doctor. My father had a doctor, two doctors. My God, Benny, they didn’t do a thing. Terrible, Benny.”
“What was wrong?”
“My God, nothing, everything. My head, Benny, and everything makes me so nervous. And sometimes pains in my legs, I don’t know why.”
“What did they say, the doctors?”
“Rest, quiet, nerves. Those jackasses! One of them even asked if I take dope. My God! Of course, it’s been so long ago I didn’t-”
“I heard you, Pat.”
“Will you get me a drink or do I scream? You remember that sharp stuff we had? Do you have any of that sharp stuff?”
“Keep still, Pat. I’ll be back.” He got up.
There was only one envelope left. He had it in his watch pocket, and downstairs, at the bar, he used it as before. He got the youngest whisky on the shelf, and, using half of the little white envelope, he fixed her what she needed.
Upstairs again he watched her take it with a greediness that made her look ugly. Afterward she paced the room, plucking at her ear lobe, and he noticed how she walked around the furniture as if she were afraid it was going to bite.
“Now that you’re back, let’s get out of here,” she said. “There ought to be better places than this.” She swung her arm. “There ought to be places where we can go. You and me. What do you say?” She looked at him, seeing how his face never changed. “What’s the matter with you, Tapkow. You starting to play games again? Hard to get or something?”
“Pat, listen for a minute.” He wasn’t sure that this was the right time, but she’d be under pretty soon and then nothing would make sense to her. “You’re staying here for a while. I’ll stay with you.” He waited. “I’ll stay with you, Pat. You hear me?”
She had closed her eyes and was starting to smile. “Ah,” she said with a deep breath.
“Pat-”
“Don’t yell, Benny. I can hear you.” She sat down on the couch and put her hand on his knee. “What is it, Benny?”
That creepy smile with the eyes looking tired had come over her. It had come too fast; she was going off. And he hadn’t explained.
“Don’t feel bad about it, Benny. You’re trying your best.” She smiled at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“The whisky, Benny. That sharp, bitter whisky. I remember now, the way it was in jail. You did the same there, didn’t you, Benny? You spiked it.”
What made the shock worse was the bland smile she kept on her face.
“I understand, Benny. You tried to help, didn’t you, darling?” She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, darling.”
She was making things worse. She was saying what he’d been telling himself, and the whole rotten lie of it twisted through him like pain.
“Isn’t that true, darling?”
If only it hadn’t been Pat. If only it wouldn’t be Pat, the hub of his plans, both plans, the clean and the rotten.
Her voice, calm and reasonable, gave him another jolt. The longer they stay users, the clearer they stay in the head. For a while. She sounded clear and sane: “-and solve both our problems, Benny. I’ll stay, I won’t cause any trouble. You finish up with Daddy.” She grinned. “And I want you to have all the luck in the world.” She stopped, as if she were thinking about it; then her face became serious again. “And in return, darling, you help with mine. Keep me happy, Benny. O.K.?” She watched his face but didn’t see what went through him when he caught her meaning. “You get the H, just a little bit now and then, and I won’t cause any trouble. O.K.?”
When he found his voice, the struggle left him with nothing but nonsense. “Stop grinning!” he shouted. “Stop that goddamn grinning!”
“Or I’ll make trouble.” She wasn’t grinning or smiling or any of those things. Her face was flat and her voice was like metal. “There are telephones all over the house, and dumb little men with their tongues hanging out to do what I ask them to. There are a thousand little ways-”
He was tired of fighting on a dozen fronts. He’d always got things done by doing one at a time, one after the other. “It’s a deal. And when this is over-”
“Sure, Benny, sure.” She got up and walked to the window. “Sure, sure, sure.” She started to twirl, watching her skirt billow up.