Silence.
Decker shrugged. “Maybe not.” He looked away.
The short woman said, “Mr. Lieber loves all his children.”
“Of course.” Decker smiled at her. “He was very happy when Ephraim came to work for him at the stores.”
No response.
Decker said, “Well, that’s what my brother said.”
“He was a good man, Mr. Ephraim,” the short woman answered. “Always feliz… happy, happy, happy. Big smile on his face.”
“Big smile,” echoed the second female. She was younger, thinner, and taller, but not by much. “He likes to joke-Mr. Ephraim. Always with the jokes.”
“Different from his brother, no?” Decker added.
“Psss…” Munchkin woman wrinkled her nose. “He’s good man, Mr. Jaime, but not with the jokes. Muy grave. And he watch you like you’re a bandida, he es so afraid you steal. I don’ steal nothing. It es estúpido to have big TV set in my apartment. If the others on the street find out I have big TV set, they break into my apartment and steal it. Then they steal other things because they es there. I only have lee-tle TV set in my bedroom. Mr. Lieber, he give it to me for Christmas two years ago. It has remote control and cable. I happy.”
“You no need nothing else, Marta,” the other woman spoke up. “TV is better than the mens.”
Both women laughed. The man shook his head in disgust.
“Mr. Lieber gave you a TV?” Decker said. “That was very nice.”
“He is a berry nice man; I am good worker. Seven A.M., I am there. One hour lunch. Then I come back, I work till six. Every day for five days. The store no open on Saturday, and I don’ work on Sunday. I go to church. Then I get my nails done.” She showed him red talons. “Acrylic. Berry hard.”
“Very pretty,” Decker complimented.
The woman actually blushed. “He berry good to me, Mr. Lieber.”
“What trabajo do you do?” Decker asked.
“I do everythin’. I do the register. I stock the shelves. Berry, berry tall shelves. The store es berry big with tall shelves.” She held her hand way up in the air. “They have big ladder. At first, Mr. Lieber don’ wants me to climb, but I wear berry good shoes. Is no problem. I am berry strong.” She made a muscle.
A smile crept to the man’s lips. He fired off Spanish that intimated that she had gotten her muscle from jerking private things up and down. She glowered at him in return, then blushed when she realized that Decker understood him. They were about to exchange words, but Decker broke in.
“What about Mr. Jaime? Is he a nice man, too?”
“Berry nice,” the shorter woman said. “But not with the jokes. Not like Mr. Ephraim. He’s with the jokes. And Mr. Ephraim always gives me mucho ayuda.”
Ayuda meant help. Decker felt the air turning even colder, his breath a wisp of mist in front of his nose. Daylight was receding quickly. Within a couple of hours, it would be dark. “You two work together.”
“Sí, sí. We stock the shelves together. Sometimes I go on top, sometimes he go on top.”
The man said, “You can go on top of me, Luisa.”
Luisa shot back a gesture that was less than kind. Then her face saddened. “He talk to me, Mr. Ephraim. He ask about my children. He once give me money for a parking ticket. Fifty dollars. I pay him back, but he don’ ask me for the money.” Her eyes watered. “Es berry sad.”
Decker nodded his agreement.
Luisa rubbed her hands together. “Es cold, no?”
“You want to borrow my gloves?” Decker asked. “I have pockets.”
She looked at the leather accoutrements enviously.
“Honestly, I’m fine.” He gave them to the woman.
Reluctantly, she put them on. “Gracias.”
“Por favor.” Decker stuck his hands in his overcoat. “That was Mr. Ephraim’s job? To stock the shelves?”
The man spoke up. “Mr. Ephraim? He do everything. He stock the shelves, he work at the cash register, he sweep the floors. I see him two, three times cleaning the toilets. Nothing is too small for him. He is berry nice man. He never complains. He don’ yell. Every time I see him, he es happy. Big smile.” He looked down. “I will miss him. It is terrible.”
“Yes, it is terrible,” Decker said. “Was Ephraim resentful to be doing all the small stuff?”
All of them shook their heads no.
“Ephraim was happy for any job,” the man said. “He es lucky the old man loved him so much.”
Marta burst into tears. “It is berry bad! Poor Mr. Lieber.”
“It is terrible!” Luisa concurred.
Decker nodded, then waited before he spoke again. “Did Ephraim seem preoccupied lately? Preocupado?”
The trio exchanged innocent glances.
“No’ to me,” Marta said. “He same to me.”
But the man was looking somewhere over Decker’s shoulder. “Señor?”
Luisa said, “Teddy, he is talking to you.”
“Me?” Teddy answered.
“Did Mr. Ephraim seem preoccupied?”
“He is beeg man with responsabilidad.” Teddy pulled a cigarette pack out of his pocket. He lit up. “I thin’ maybe he worried that Mr. Jaime don’ think he’s doing a good job.”
“Did they fight?” Decker inquired.
“No’ too much. No’ too loud. Sometimes he don’ like Mr. Ephraim talking to the womens.”
“Mr. Ephraim likes all the womens,” Luisa stated. “He nice to the girls, but he was berry nice to the old womens. He makes jokes with them, and they laugh. He es berry nice to everybody. Always with a smile… big smiles.”
“Did he have a girlfriend?” Decker asked. “Ephraim?”
Luisa thought for a moment, then shrugged ignorance. She turned to the other woman. “¿Que piense, Marta? You see Mr. Ephraim with a girlfriend?”
“No, never. I don’t see him with a girl. Es berry sad that he don’t have a wife. Mr. Ephraim loved the kids.”
“Yes, I heard he was close to Shaynda-his niece,” Decker said. “La hija de Señor Jaime.”
“He nice to all de kids from Mr. Jaime,” Marta answered. “If Mr. Jaime… If he bring the kids to the stores, Mr. Ephraim plays the games with them. He likes Street Fighter Two.”
“It sounds like he was a nice man,” Decker said.
“Berry nice.” Luisa’s voice cracked. “It is no good for the father. My heart is very heavy for him-Mr. Lieber. Ten years ago, his wife… she died.” She leaned over and whispered, “Cancer.”
“Oh, he cry and cry,” Marta answered.
“Berry sad,” Luisa concurred.
Decker turned to Luisa. “You said that Mr. Jaime watches you like a hawk.”
“He don’ mean nothing bad.” She furrowed her brow. “There es lots of stealing in the stores. We have alarm… a sensor with the bars that you stick on the packages. Then you swipe the bars at the cash register, and that turns off the sensor. But bad people don’t care. They run into the streets. It is berry bad.”
“Very bad,” Decker agreed. “But why would Mr. Jaime watch you, Luisa? You’ve worked for Mr. Lieber… how long?”
“Twelve years.”
“Exactly. Why would he think that you would steal from the store?”
“I don’ think he think I steal,” Luisa clarified. “He is just a careful man.”
Or the store was having a big theft problem, Decker thought. Maybe that’s what the fights were about.
Teddy was talking. “… worked for Mr. Lieber for seven years. I never take nothin’. Not even a battery.”
“No one say you steal,” Marta said. “Why you get so excited?”
Teddy took a deep breath. “Mr. Jaime talk about inventory to Mr. Ephraim. I hear them say that someone was stealing. It’s not me.”