a club foot.
“Didn't expect me, did you, Ginger!”
“No.”
Nobody moved around the crap table. I felt glad the chief of police was there until I saw his face. The man turned his eyes on me; then came towards me, walking with a limp. One of his friends had his hand in his pocket, hither his finger or a pistol made a point under the cloth. He looked tough. I thought it was probably a pistol.
“He careful, Pug,” said the man behind the table.
Pug stopped in front of me. His face came about to my neck. He snarled. “You the guy with Ginger?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know whose babe she is?”
“No.”
“Like hell.”
“No.”
“Well, she's mine.”
“She didn't mention it,” I said.
He laughed. It was more like a bark than a laugh. I saw one of his front teeth had been broken. It had turned dark. He came a step closer. I backed away. I didn't want to start a play with three or maybe more toughs against me. I looked at the chief of police. He was still scared. Ginger seemed a little pleased, as though she'd ^planned it. Maybe she had. Maybe she wanted to make Pug jealous.
“Do you know who I am?” Pug said.
“No,” I lied.
“I'm Pug Banta.”
“Oh.”
He moved nearer me.
“I'm sorry,” I said. “I didn't know she was your girl, Pug.”
He slapped my face. His arm moved so fast I didn't even have time to duck. My teeth cut my lip. I could taste the blood.
“You'll know it next time, fatty,” Pug said.
Ginger looked frightened now. The Greek spoke to me “I guess you're not so tough.”
“What's he been doing?” Pug asked.
“He thinks the game is wrong,” the Greek said.
“If you don't like our games,” Pug asked, “why don't you go home?”
I kept saying to myself, don't start anything. I wanted to kill Pug. I never could stand being hit by anybody, not even a woman. I wanted to take him and his pals. I could taste the blood in my mouth.
“I like your games,” I said; “with the right dice.”
“Wise, eh?” Pug said, and hit me on the cheekbone. It was a good punch. I fell back against one of the slot machines. The metal stand tilted and the machine fell on the floor, shattering the glass front.
“Don't get too tough,” I told Pug.
He hit me again. The dark-haired woman with Chief Piper screamed. He hit me on the right temple. He hit hard with both hands. I sat down with my back to the wall. I felt blood run from my mouth. I was a little dizzy. He tried to kick me, but I blocked his foot with my arm. The dark-haired woman ran to him.
“Stop that, Pug,” she cried.
He kicked at me again. The woman jerked his arm, trying to pull him away. He got the arm loose and hit her on the nose. The blow sounded like a ripe tomato dropping on a cement floor. She went over on her back. Blood spilled from her nose. Chief Piper, his small eyes frightened, started to protest.
“Keep your damn whores in line,” Pug snarled at him.
The chief backed away. The blood had gone from his face, leaving it the colour of a turnip. The Greek was grinning, his tongue running over his lips. Pug kicked at me again; not hard this time. It was a gesture. He turned his head to the two bodyguards.
“Toss him out.”
They picked me off the floor. Nobody bothered to do anything about the woman. She was sobbing, her breath coming in gasps, blood streaming down her face. Pug had broken her nose. The bodyguards started me out of the room. I looked at Ginger. She stared at me as though she had never seen me in her life. In her hand was the money she'd won with my twenty. The bodyguards ran me through the dining-room. I was still a little punch-drunk. They halted on a veranda.
One said: “If we catch you again, fatso, we'll cut off your tail feathers.”
“And that ain't all,” the other said.
They threw me down the steps. I lit rolling, but gravel cut my hands and face. I got up and walked to the parking place. Nobody bothered me. I got in the car and found a rag and wiped the blood off my face. My jaw hurt when I moved it, but I cursed the Greek and Chief Piper and the bodyguards. Then I cursed Pug. I cursed him
