"I want another hundred," she said.
"What?" I said.
"You heard me."
"We made a deal."
"I changed my mind."
"I don't have any more money on me," I said, feeling my face getting warmer.
"Yeah, right," she said. "You had your wallet stolen last night and you just went to the bank. You must've taken out another hundred at least."
"Look, I've had it," I said. "I just ran to Broadway and back to get you your hundred bucks and now you're gonna give me my fucking wallet."
"Fifty," she said.
"Maybe I should just call the cops right now," I said.
"I didn't have to call you, you know," she said. "I could've thrown the wallet away when I found it."
"You mean stole it."
"I didn't steal it."
I was tired of arguing and haggling. Another fifty bucks to get my wallet back and go on with my life seemed worth it.
"All right," I said, "give me my wallet and I'll give you the money."
She lifted the futon and picked up my wallet. She handed it to me and I was giving her the fifty bucks when the door opened behind me.
"What the fuck's this shit?"
I turned around toward the door and saw a short, unshaven Latino guy in a black leather vest and nothing underneath. His eyes were glazed over and bloodshot, and he was sweating more than I was.
"It's nothing," Sue said, suddenly very nervous. "He just works for the landlord."
"Landlord, huh?" the guy said. "So now you fuckin' his friends too?"
Then he said to me, "You fuckin' my lady?"
"It's not like that," Sue said. "He's just somebody I»
The guy pushed her aside, almost knocking her down, and said to me,
"You fuckin' my lady? Huh? You fuckin' her?"
"No," I said, backing away. "Of course not."
"Bullshit you ain't," he said. "Why you got money out?"
"It's not like you think," Sue said. "He's just»
The guy pushed Sue away and she fell onto the floor. Then he came closer to me and opened a switchblade.
"You fuckin' my lady, bitch?"
"Relax," I said. "Just calm down, all right?"
Holding the blade in front of him, he closed in on me, looking as crazed as a death-row psychopath. He was between me and the door so I had nowhere to run.
"Take it easy," I said. "Just»
"You fuck my lady," he said, "maybe you wanna fuck this." Then he lunged at me with the blade. He would have stabbed me in the chest if I hadn't moved to my left at the last moment. He still got my right arm below the shoulder, but before I could feel any pain he was coming again, this time toward my face. I grabbed his right forearm with both of my hands and we struggled. The blade, a few inches in front of my eyes, looked like a sword. Sue was screaming for him to leave me alone, but he was relentless. I squeezed his forearm harder, knowing that if I let go that would be it. He swung his left fist and punched me in my face, getting my lower lip, but I didn't let go of his forearm.
"I didn't fuck her," I managed to say, but I knew it would be impossible to get through to him; he was out of his mind, probably whacked-out on drugs, and he wouldn't calm down until I was dead.
Sue grabbed him from behind, trying to pull him off me.
"Stop it!" she screamed. "Stop it!"
"Fuckin' cunt," the guy said. "I'm gonna cut your fuckin' tits off."
He straight-armed her in the chest and she fell back against the wall.
I was trying to wrestle the switchblade away, without making much progress. Sue came up behind the guy and jumped on his back, but she was so weak and slight that he continued to struggle with me, unaffected. I hoped someone in the building would hear all the commotion and call the police.
Sue put her hands over the guy's face, scratching at his eyes.
"Fuckin' cunt… fuckin' ho," the guy said. "I'm gonna fuckin' kill you too, bitch!"
The guy backed up, ramming Sue hard against the front door until she finally let go of his face. He brought back his hand and turned, about to stab her, when I grabbed him from behind. I watched for the blade, knowing that at any moment he could wheel around and jab it into me.
The guy turned, breaking free, and I saw the blade coming toward the side of my face. I backed away, turning my head, and the cold metal and the guy's rough fist brushed past my right cheek. He screamed something in Spanish the only word I could make out was puta and came at me again. This time I was ready. I grabbed his arm with the switchblade before he could bring it forward, and I held it steady.
With my other hand I tried to work the blade free, but he wouldn't let go. I was using all of my strength, determined not to let this crazy asshole kill me. I have no idea how long we struggled it could've been a few seconds or a few minutes. I was staring into the guy's wild eyes, knowing I probably looked just as wild, as Sue screamed, trying to pull us apart. Then, somehow, I managed to work the blade free and it clanged onto the floor. Sue picked it up and the guy and I continued to struggle. I twisted his arm back and he pulled my hair.
Then he elbowed me in the gut, and that's when I really lost it. I grabbed him around the neck, getting him in a headlock. Then I kicked a chair out of the way and rammed his head as hard as I could against the steel door. I guess I could've stopped right then, because he wasn't fighting back anymore, but I didn't want to. I started kicking him, again and again. I don't know how many times I kicked him, but it was more than five and less than twenty, and then, after giving him one final kick in the ribs, I backed away.
I stood there in front of him for a long time, panting like an animal.
He was still curled up on his side, not moving at all.
Sue kneeled down over him, crying, shaking him, saying, "Ricky, oh, my God, Ricky. Wake up, baby. Come on, wake up… Come on, just open your eyes just open them… Don't die don't die on me, baby. Don't die!"
She said other things too, but all of the noise faded to nothing.
Finally Sue stopped crying and turned to me and said, "You killed him."
The apartment seemed twenty degrees warmer and it was spinning.
"What the hell're you talking about?" I said. "We'll call an ambulance. He just got knocked out, that's all."
"Look at him, you fuckin' idiot," she said. "He stopped breathing, he doesn't have a pulse. He's dead."
As I looked down at his perfectly still body, panic set in. I was shaking so badly I could barely speak.
"I didn't mean it," I said. "You know that, right? I was just trying to stop him, to keep him from… I mean, he would've killed you, or both of us, or he would've… It was an accident, damn it!"
"It doesn't matter," she said. "You still killed him."
I was so dizzy I could barely stand as Sue remained on her knees, sobbing next to the body.
"Come on, you saw what happened," I said. "It was self-defense, he was out of his mind, he…" I stopped and stared at the body for several seconds, still in disbelief, then said, "Come on, he's not really dead.
How can he be dead?"
"You must've crushed his skull or something," Sue said. She was still crying.
"That's impossible," I said. "We'll get an ambulance, they'll work on him»
"Just shut up!" she screamed. "Just shut the fuck up!"
I stared at the body.
"Why the hell did he come after me like that anyway?" I said. "What the hell was wrong with him?"
Still sobbing, Sue caught her breath and managed to say, "He was just jealous."
"Jealous?" I said. "Jealous of what? What the hell are you talking about?"
"He wanted me to stop bringing guys back up here," she said. "He said he wanted to get married. "It's just gonna be me and you, baby. Just me and you." That's what he always said."
For several seconds I stood there, staring. Then I got a hold of myself and slapped the side of my leg, fumbling around, finally finding my front pants pocket. I took out my cell phone when Sue said,