'Why?'
'It's a mess.'
'Please, Bill.'
'I'm trying to protect him, Allison.'
'He knows the risks, I think.'
'I doubt that.'
'It means a lot to him, Bill.'
'That's great, Allison. I just met the guy.'
'It means a lot to me.'
I flipped over the contract. 'Someone's getting screwed here, and I'm going to tell him that, Allison.'
Less than a minute later we had returned to the Havana Room.
Jay checked his watch. 'It's tight.'
An enormous steaming steak was waiting at my place, which I had not ordered, as well as the cake, which I had, and Barrett already had butter on his tie. Jay, I could see, had tossed back a drink or two while I'd been gone.
'Okay?' he asked. 'Do we have liftoff?'
'I think we should talk a moment, Jay.'
Gerzon pointed to his oversized watch. 'Damn it, I've got eleven fifty-three. I'm not turning my watch back, either.'
I leaned into Jay's ear. 'I'm assuming that you'll sign this thing no matter how rotten it is, no matter my advice to the contrary.'
His eyes met mine, and he nodded subtly.
'You're close to desperate.'
Again a silent yes.
'You realize,' I went on, 'that Gerzon is bluffing, either on the deadline or the price, and probably has authority to negotiate one of them.'
Jay shook his head no.
'I'm going to show you, okay?' I looked Gerzon in the eye and guessed price. 'My client is not going to sign this document until you come up with another three hundred thousand dollars.'
Gerzon's face creased backward, like he had suddenly stepped into a wind-tunnel. 'What?'
'Yes, we'll scratch out the four hundred thousand dollars and write in seven hundred thousand dollars. Initial every figure. No big deal.'
'You're fucking crazy!'
'It's done all the time. Just ask Donald Trump.'
'You ask him.'
'I don't need to, I've seen him do it.'
'You're out of your-'
'Barrett, you ever see initialed sums?' I interrupted, feeling good now.
'Yeah, sure.'
Jay turned to me. 'Bill, the thing is-'
I put my hand on his arm. 'Say nothing, pal. Let your lawyer handle it.'
Allison watched this exchange, eyes large.
'What's it going to be, Gerzon?'
He already had his cell phone out. He stood up, his face a bitter knot, and stalked out of the room.
'I'm going to lose the deal!' Jay complained, furious now. 'I can't believe it!'
'Well, maybe-' Allison began.
Jay confronted me in disbelief. 'Bill, I'm going to fucking lose the deal!'
'I don't think so.'
We sat a moment, the title man shoveling cake into his mouth.
'He's coming back!'
Gerzon returned, closing his cell phone. 'One-fifty,' he announced, sitting down again. 'That's all I can do.'
I'd guessed correctly. 'Three hundred.'
' Two.'
'Two seventy-five,' I said. 'We won't require a bank check.'
'Two twenty — five.'
'Two-seventy.'
'Come on!'
'Two-seventy,' I repeated.
'Two-fucking- fifty.'
I didn't answer.
'I said two-fifty.'
I turned to Jay. 'Did you know that in the second half of the twentieth century prime waterfront property on Long Island returned close to a six thousand percent profit?'
'No.'
'You could sit on this property another five years and double your money easily.'
'Well-'
'I said two-fifty!' screamed Gerzon.
I leaned toward him and spoke softly. 'Two-seventy.'
'Two fifty-five, final.'
I watched the second hand on my watch tick away ten seconds. 'Two-seventy.'
'Two-sixty, final.'
'Two sixty-five, final,' I replied.
'Two sixty-five. Done.'
'All right,' I said. 'Shake my hand.'
'You fuck,' said Gerzon.
'I know you hate me. Shake it anyway.'
He did. I turned to Jay. 'You're getting an additional two hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars cash for this property.'
He nodded, stunned.
'Wow,' breathed Allison. 'That was kind of-' She just stared at me. Sexy, I think she might have said, but didn't.
'You'll take cash, I assume,' said Gerzon, lifting his second briefcase to the table.
' Cash — cash? Bills?' asked Jay.
'Yes.'
'I guess so. Why?'
'This was my instruction.' Gerzon was keeping his briefcase open, hiding its total contents. I probably could have asked for more. He counted stacks of bank-banded bills. Ten thousand a stack. 'You'll sign a receipt for it.'
'Laundering anything, Gerzon?' I said.
'Screw you,' he muttered, peeling off the last five thousand. 'This is clean. It's real.'
Jay turned to Allison. 'Do you have a bag or something?'
'Sure. I guess.' She retreated behind the bar.
'That's it,' said Gerzon. 'You can count it.'
'I will,' I said, and I did, stack by stack. It was correct. Allison returned with a cardboard box that originally held seltzer water. I stacked the cash in it.
'I can sign now?' asked Jay.
I amended the contracts. 'Yes.'
Then the paperwork began. We had four minutes. 'I've got the bank check for the four hundred-' narrated
