Andy grinned. “Get me a drink, Eddie. Bourbon on the rocks.”
Eduardo nodded and went out. The door slammed, and Andy shrugged. He didn’t blame Eddie for hating him. If the circumstances had been reversed he would have been hated the young Mexican. But at present he was on the comfortable inside looking out. Looking out and back to what he had been in Beverly Hills less than a year before.
Broke. Things were so tough that he’d been forced to take a job as night counterman in one of the Cunningham & Hammet drive-ins. The manager was an easy-going sort. As long as Andy did his work he was left pretty much alone.
Cunningham never showed up in the place. The only time the going was likely to get rough was when Hammet would unexpectedly make the rounds. Then everybody had to look bright and eager and super-efficient, particularly when, as often happened, the boss was carrying a load.
Then there was no telling what might happen. Hammet got funny ideas when he was drinking. Like the night Andy had saved him from being run in by the cops...
Andy saw him when he parked, and sent a car hop back to warn the kitchen gang. Everything was going nice and smooth when Hammet came in and sat down at the counter, playing that worn-out incognito routine. The dipso thought that, because he didn’t know the people on his payroll they couldn’t possibly know him.
Andy brought the special hamburger that the cook had fixed, and served it with a little flourish. Hammet was potted, all right, but the only way you could tell it was by his eyes. The girl on the next stool was talking to him, and he was nodding and occasionally saying a word or two, the way you’d treat anybody who was trying to start a conversation, but he didn’t know what she was saying. He didn’t really know that she was there.
When it happened, it came so fast that seconds passed before Andy could piece it together. All of a sudden the boss looked hard at the girl. Then he hit her in the face. After that he took a sip of coffee. He went on eating his hamburger as though everything was perfectly all right.
The girl sat staring at him, her mouth open and her left eye getting red. Everybody else was staring at him, too. The cook came out of the kitchen to see what was going on. The girl got up and ran to the phone booth in the corner. She put in a dime and dialed, “O.”
Andy leaned over the counter. “Better get out of here,” he whispered. “Get out fast!”
“What are you talking about?” There was a stupid frown on the boss’s face.
“That girl you hit is calling the cops.”
“I hit—?” Hammet looked at the phone booth. “Why should I hit her? I never even saw—”
“Don’t ask me why. You only got a couple of minutes, Mr. Hammet. I’d go out through the window in the men’s room if I was you.”
Most of the crowd had vanished before the police arrived. The cops asked Andy what had happened. He told them that he hadn’t seen anything personally but that the guy they were looking for was probably in the men’s room. They looked in there but the room was empty and the window open.
The manager spoke to Andy as he was going to work the following night. “Sorry, fellow, but the head office called this afternoon. They’re cutting down expenses. You’re the last hired, so you’re the first to go.”
Andy’s smile was humorless. “And they tell you that hard work and loyalty to the boss is the way to get ahead.”
“Did he know you recognized him?”
“He couldn’t help but know it. I called him by name.”
The manager sighed. “Well, there’s your answer. Wouldn’t surprise me if we all got fired now, one by one...”
The telephone rang. Andy picked it up. “Bueno,” he said to the operator. Then, “Stew? Andy Shultz... I’m fine, but listen. Remember that drive-in I used to work for? Well, one of the guys that owned it was named Ham-met. I was wondering—”
An excited squawking came out of the telephone. Andy smiled. “Yeah?... You don’t say I... Well, what do you know. What do you know!” he said.
12
They called it Brewer’s Guided Tour, and laughed because that sounded funny. They laughed at a lot of things that night. They went to three night clubs, and danced and drank champagne. They had precisely the right amount of champagne to impart a glow to everything they saw and a febrile excitement to everything they heard. And some time after midnight they found themselves in the parking lot behind the Tahiti. The cafe next to it was open, but they passed it and pushed open the half-door of the Tahiti, and went inside. They sat on the terrace, their feet resting on the sand.
“Remember last night? I must have given you a bad scare,” he said. “Where did you go?”
“Into the hotel. And I wasn’t really scared. I saw you again.”
He frowned. “You did?”
“You drove past.” Their shoulders were touching and she felt him suddenly grow rigid. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” He lay back on the terrace, using his forearm as a pillow.
“Nothing?” She turned to face him. “Was she attractive?”
“Who?”
“The woman you were with?”
“I don’t remember any woman. I must have been drunk.”
There was silence between them. The tide was on the ebb. “You know what I’m thinking?” Karen said.
“Maybe.”
“About liquor.”
“Yeah.”
“We all drink too much. It isn’t a method of relaxing any more. It’s a way of life. And the next day we don’t remember half of what happened. Look at all the fun we lose.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more. That’s one of the reasons I’m going to cut it out.”
“You are? I’m glad,” she said.
He sat up and pulled her to him. “I’m going to tell you the truth.” His voice was low and utterly sincere. “There was a time when I needed liquor. It blunted all the jagged edges, and I used to be full of those. But I don’t need it any more. That’s finished. See—?” He kissed her. “Finished as of now.”
They lay back on the terrace, and Karen’s fingers were gentle on his cheek. A jukebox started to play next door. She shook her head and sat up straight.
“Know what I’d like to do? I’d like to take a swim.”
He laughed. “There’s a little village south of here — Emancipación. Wonderful beach, a few fishing boats — that’s all. If we leave now we can get there for breakfast.”
She looked away, said nothing for a moment. Then quietly she turned back. “All right.”
He got to his feet, elated. “I’ve never been there, but I feel as though I were going home. It’s where I was headed when I got side-tracked here in Acapulco.”
“I’ll have to change my clothes.”
“Of course. And get a swimming suit.” He took his money out and counted it. “Only a hundred and ten pesos. Have to get some more. We’ll pick up your stuff first.”
“And have you roped in by Fran?” She put her hands on his shoulders, pulled herself up. “I’d never pry you loose. I’ll take a taxi and meet you here.”
“Make it next door. Don’t want you waiting in the dark.”
They went through the half-door and back across the parking lot. Pete hailed a taxi on the boulevard. He helped her in.
“Half an hour be time enough?”
“Plenty.”
“Something I want to tell you, Karen.” He lowered his voice, leaning into the cab. “I’ve had a rough time lately. Give you the whole story one of these days. But I’m coming out of it now, thanks to you. I’m very grateful.”
She leaned over and kissed him on the lips.
The taxi made a U-turn on the boulevard. He got in his car and started up the hill. Coming in sight of his house, he saw that all the lights were burning, both upstairs and down. The green gate was standing open. He parked beside it, walked rapidly through the car port. He went even faster when he heard Juanita’s high-pitched voice. He rounded the corner near the stairs.