Joanie put her fingertips and thumb to her forehead.
“You all right?” Nancy said.
“Headache,” Joanie said. “I’ve had it since last night.”
“Jeez. That’s tough,” Nancy said. Joanie opened her eyes and looked at her. She had sounded a little sarcastic. Her expression looked sympathetic.
“You know anything about Bruno and Tommy?” Joanie asked. She turned back to the counter and got out mugs. “You want Danish or something? We got a little Danish in there.”
“What do you mean?” Nancy asked.
“Were they good friends? Did they, like, work together? I didn’t know they were so close.”
“They both worked for that guy outta Bridgeport,” Nancy said. “Joey D, too. He was moonlighting.
“What guy?”
“That guy, you know,” Nancy said. “Ran the scrap-metal place. What’s-his-name.”
Joanie turned to face her. “I don’t know. What’s his name?”
Nancy shrugged.
“What’re you tellin’ me?” Joanie said, exasperated. “They all sold scrap metal?”
Nancy made a “don’t be a wiseass” face.
They heard a car door. Nancy stood and leaned over the table to look out the kitchen window. Her expression changed completely, and she flopped back into her chair. “Your boyfriend’s here,” she said.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Joanie said.
“Ho,” Bruno called from the back door. Audrey barked. “Shut up,” he said.
The dog ran up to him, sniffing and swinging her rear end back and forth. “Get away from me, you sack of shit,” he said mildly, rubbing her head. He pushed past her into the kitchen, his thigh sweeping her aside. He noticed the new washer — dryer she’d just put in and he ran his hand over it.
“Thought I’d stop by on the way to the dealership, see how you’re doin’,” he said. He looked over at Nancy. “Well, isn’t this nice,” he said. “The girls’re havin’ coffee.”
“Hi, Bruno,” Nancy said.
“Joanie? Hello?” Bruno said. He lowered his head to peer up at her.
“Bruno, how are you,” she said.
“I’m not gonna take up your time, here,” he said. “You got things to talk about, girl things. Feminine hygiene. I just wanted to remind you about what you said.”
Joanie looked at him. “What’d I say?”
“You wanted to know why I wasn’t asking you out. And I never did. So now I am.”
Nancy looked down at the floor. Joanie looked away.
“’Less you changed your mind,” Bruno said. “Came to your senses.”
Joanie didn’t answer. Bruno stood there with his hands out, like he was waiting for something he was due. The coffeepot finished bubbling and spitting.
“Bruno, your timing is something,” Joanie said quietly.
“No, it’s all right,” Nancy said.
Joanie brought the coffeepot over and poured Nancy coffee.
“I got a boss waitin’ on me, here,” he said.
“Bruno,” Joanie said.
He put his hands wider apart. “I’m a slave for love. I admit it. I humiliate myself in front of other people — I admit it.”
“You want cream?” Joanie asked. Nancy shook her head.
“You think about it,” Bruno said. “You get back to me.”
Joanie put the coffeepot back into the maker. The phone rang. Bruno picked it up and handed it to her without saying hello.
“Hello?” Joanie said.
“This is J and L Gulf,” a voice said. “We can get the parts two a clock, two-thirty this afternoon.”
Joanie cupped a hand around the mouthpiece. Bruno dropped his mouth and raised his eyebrows in a comic way. “Look at Secret Spy over here,” he said.
“So it’s okay?” Joanie asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, you bring it in, we’ll get it done,” the guy said.
“I don’t think I want any coffee,” Bruno said. “I gotta get going, anyway.”
“Nobody offered you any,” Nancy said.
“No kidding,” Bruno said.
“Though you take it away today, you’re gonna take it away wet,” the guy on the other end said. “Long as you know that.”
Joanie pursed her lips, thinking.
“Hello?” the guy said. “You comin’ in or not?”
“Yes,” she said. “That’s all right.” She hung up.
“Ask Bruno about that guy,” Nancy said.
“Nancy,” Joanie said.
“What guy?” Bruno asked. He opened the pastry box on the counter near the refrigerator and looked inside.
“Joanie wanted to know about that guy you and Tommy worked for.”
Bruno looked immediately at Joanie.
“I was curious how you knew Tommy, that’s all,” she said.
Bruno shook his head. He lifted something in the pastry box and let it go again.
“Why, is he a mob guy or something?” Joanie asked.
Bruno made a disgusted noise and shook his head again. “Movies,” he said.
“Is that it?” Joanie asked.
He turned to face her and scared her a little. “’Mob guy’? What is this, the cinema? What are you, the G-man? You asking me if this guy is legitimate, one hundred percent? I say: No, he’s not. I say to you: Not many people are.”
“I’m just asking,” Joanie murmured.
“You’re not ‘just askin’. You say to me: What does he do that’s not legitimate? I say to you: None of your business. Here’s a good rule of thumb if you want to do something that’s not legitimate: Keep it quiet.”
The phone rang again. Joanie answered it. It was a garage in New Haven: they’d found the bumper but not the grillwork. She told them it was all taken care of, anyway.
“Gettin’ a lotta short phone calls,” Bruno said when she hung up.
Todd came into the room and opened the refrigerator.
“Man o’ the house,” Bruno said.
“Hey, Bruno,” Todd said, his head in the refrigerator.
“Hello, Todd,” Nancy said.
“Hello, Nancy,” Todd said.
“Todd know his mom’s bein’ questioned by the police?” Bruno asked.
Todd froze behind the door. The shifting and sliding sounds of his search stopped.
He stuck his head up and looked at Joanie.
“A friend of Bruno’s,” she said. “That’s all. He just wants to go over what they already know.”
She was about to say something else to reassure him, but the phone rang again. She made an enraged sound and snatched it up. Bruno chuckled.
It was the Orange garage. They couldn’t do it today, or tomorrow, either.
“So how’s your memory about drivin’ home that night?” Bruno asked quietly.
Todd spooned vanilla yogurt from the tub into a dish. He shrugged. His face flushed.
Joanie told the garage it was already taken care of.
“Todd,” she said. When Todd looked at her, angry, she said, “See if anyone else wants some.”
“None for me,” Bruno said. “Yogurt? Holy God.”
“Lemme make sure we’re canceling the right party here,” the voice on the phone said. “This is Mulenberg?”
“Muhlberg, yes,” she said. Bruno looked at her, and she rolled her eyes and circled her index finger near her temple.
“Muhlberg?” the guy said. “Not Mulenberg?”
“Poor Tommy. Terrible thing,” Nancy murmured to Todd. He nodded, but he couldn’t look at her.
“Muhlberg, Mulenberg, cancel them all,” Joanie said. She had to go; thank you. She hung up.
“Subscriptions,” she said to Bruno.
Todd stood in the doorway to the hall and ate his yogurt. “So when are you gonna be questioned by the police?” he asked.