“Half smart,” I said.
He looked at me with mild disapproval. “I tried to like you, boy, and I just couldn’t work it out.”
“You bought a lot of fancy gear with that money Boo. It makes people wonder where you got it. And bought a scooter for poor fat little Cindy. That attracts attention. You tried to make me swallow a clumsy lie about a girl who looked like Wilma. You got nervous about me and went flailing around, getting Crane Watts all rattled. Hell, man, you didn’t even get rid of Wilma’s stuff. How about the black lace pants Cindy tried to get into and couldn’t?”
“I din find them until… you’re all mouth, McGee. Cindy told you that, hah? What else she talk about?”
“Everything she could think of.”
“I’m going to get back to her some day. And real good. Enough talking. I got to look this boat over. Arthur, you go find me some pliers and some wahr. Move, boy!”
When Arthur came back with them and went slowly toward Boone, even I could tell he was going to make a play. I gathered myself to do what I could, feeling no optimism. There was a clumsy rush, a fleshy smack, and before I was halfway up, Arthur was tottering back to turn and fall heavily. I sat down again. Arthur sat up, his eyes dazed and his mouth bloody.
Boone lifted Chook’s heavy dark hair out of the way, took the top of her ear between thumb and finger and laid the knife blade against her temple. Without any trace of anger he said, “Just one more time, one more little bitty thing, and I slice off this pretty little piece of meat and make her hand it to you, lover boy.”
Arthur got slowly to his feet. “Now you pick up that wahr and pliers and wahr McGee’s ankles together, and when he lies down and puts his arms around that table leg that’s bolted fast to the deck there, and you wahr his wrists good.”
In a little while we were neighbors, Arthur and me, tightly and efficiently wired to the adjoining legs of the heavy wall table, and Waxwell had gone off to make a tour of inspection of the Flush, pushing Chook ahead of him, speaking to her with that same heavy, insinuating, jocularity I had heard him use on Vivian Watts, saying, “That’s right, that’s fine. You just go along there, pussycat, and ol‘ Boo’ll stay right with you. My, my, you a big piece of girl for sure.” His voice faded as they went past the galley and staterooms toward the bow.
“My God, my God!” Arthur moaned.
“Steady down. Aside from one damn fool play, you’re doing fine.”
“But she acts half alive.”
“She’s still dazed. That was a hell of a rap. He did it very neatly Arthur, getting aboard. We have to just hope he’s smart enough to know he needs us.”
“What for?” he demanded bitterly.
“If he doesn’t know, I’ll tell him. They’ll check all boats leaving the Everglades area. He’ll have to have us handy to get us a clearance, while he keeps us in line by staying out of sight with a knife at her throat. So we wait for a chance, one that we can make work.”
“He’ll never give us one. Never.”
“Let me take the lead. Try to be ready all the time. Your job is Chook. She’s his leverage. The minute I make a move, your job is get her away from him. A flying tackle, anything.”
They came back to the lounge, Boone chuckling to himself. “You got this thang as prettied up as a Tallahassee whore house, McGee. This big old gal says her name is Chookie. Now ain’t that one hell of a name? Come on, darlin. We’re going to see what she’s like topsides.”
After they went out, I said to Arthur, “Act as if that last punch broke you down completely. You’re whipped. It will make him less wary thinking he only has me to watch.”
“But, my God, Trav, if he… if he leaves us right here like this and takes Chook back there and…”
“There won’t be one damned thing you can do about it, I can do about it or she can do about it. It will happen, and be over and done, and we’ll still have exactly the same problem.”
“I couldn’t stand that.”
I did not answer him. I felt a change in movement of the boat and knew he was at the topside controls. He added rpm to both engines. They were out of sync at the new throttle setting. In a few moments he smoothed them out. I identified the clunk as he put it back into automatic pilot.
He brought Chookie back into the lounge. ‘’Sure can’t turn much knots in this tub. But she’s fueled up and got a good range. I figured the heading to the Marquesas Keys, McGee.“
“Congratulations.”
“How it’s going to work, we’re going to cut between Key West and the Marquesas, then make like we were heading along the keys to come on up to Miami. But what we’re going to do, we’re going to cut it real real wide outside the keys, and come dark tomorrow night, we douse all running lights and run for Cuba as fast as this here bucket will go. Time them Cuban patrol boats intercept us, the only folks aboard will be a poor simple ol‘ backwoodsy guide, and his real quiet lovin girlfriend, both runnin from the capitalists. If you both behave nice, I’m going to set you loose in that little dinghy halfway to Cuba. If you make me one piece of trouble, you get to go swimming with an anchor. Clear?”
“Yes sir, Mr. Waxwell sir.”
“Now if I was half smart, like you claim, McGee, I’d just run this sweet thing back into that big bed and settle my nerves down a little. But she feels poorly and it would play pure hell if somebody run up to check us over. So once we pass a check, there’s time to wahr you on up again, hoe this beard down, rench off the swamp water in that fancy shower and bed this pretty thang down.”
I could turn my head and look up at them. Boone turned her, snipped the scrap of nylon line from her wrists with a flick of the knife blade, scabbarded the blade and snapped the false buckle into place. He turned her around and he took the revolver from the waistband of his pants where it had been snugged against a softness of belly.
“Now you gone be a sweet pussycat. You see this here? You gone go hot up some food for ol‘ Boo. He’s gone loose these boys for a time, and you play any games, he goes eeny meeney miney and whichever one it comes out, ol’ Boo blows his kneebones to pebbles.”
She gave no sign of hearing or understanding. His right hand flickered, cracked her cheek so hard it took her a quarter turn around, making her take a long step to catch her balance. He pulled her back by the arm and said, “I getten through to you, gal?”
“Please, please,” she said in a wan little voice.
“Sure hope you got more life in you on your back, pussycat, than you got on your feet.” He fondled her roughly and casually, breast and belly, flank and hip while she stood flatfooted, enduring it like a mare at an auction. He pushed her toward the galley. She took two jolting steps to catch her balance, and then walked on slowly, not looking back. She could have been, I thought, in a sleep-walking concussive state, or it could be her own game of possum. If the former, it might deaden things for her. If she was being clever, I had to be alert for the opening she wanted to give me.
When Boone bent over Arthur with the cutting pliers, I tried a little idea of my own. “Better do me first, Boo.”
“Why?”
“I’ve got the reserve batteries on charge, and there’s no regulator on that bank. It’s past time to change back. I go by an estimate of time. It could burn them out. So if you set me loose first, then you can take me forward so I can switch them over.”