“I don’t like that,” Jimson said.
“Get some better guys,” Leonard said.
Jimson sat back in his chair and looked at Leonard. If he thought Leonard was going to flinch he was out of his mind.
“So,” Jimson said, “you two, you’re tough guys, huh?”
“That’s about it,” Leonard said. “But we’d like to end this. We got put into this when we didn’t want to be.”
“How’s that?”
I explained.
“That’s some story,” Jimson said when I was finished.
“It’s true,” I said. “I say you’ve wasted a lot of guys on us, and I say it’d be best we didn’t shoot at each other anymore. There’s your money back.”
“It wasn’t about the money,” he said.
“I know that,” I said, “but it’s our peace offering, your money back.”
“Yeah,” Leonard said, “and now we’re going to sweeten it.” He reached inside his coat pocket and brought out ten thousand dollars in ten one-thousand-dollar bills.
“That’s nothing,” Jimson said.
“It’s ten thousand dollars,” Leonard said, “and it’s money we don’t owe you. Call it a present, a peace offering.” Of course, Leonard failed to mention that there was a little over eighty thousand dollars we had left for ourselves.
“Like I said,” Jimson said, “it’s not about the money. I spent more trying to have you guys hit.”
“And what they’re telling you,” Marvin said, “is why spend any more?”
“I could pop you right here,” Jimson said. “All of you.”
“No,” Leonard said, “I don’t think so. You could try, but I don’t know it’d work out.”
“You people,” Jimson said, “you always got to be smart-asses.”
“When you say ‘you people,’” Leonard said, “do you mean queers or niggers? I’m a little perplexed on the matter.”
“You’re queer?” Jimson said.
“I’m so queer queers call me queer.”
“Wow,” I said. “That’s pretty queer.”
“Isn’t it?” Leonard said.
“You aren’t going to do anything here,” Marvin said to Jimson. “That would be plain stupid.”
“I got some law here,” Jimson said. “I could make it look the way I want.”
“Maybe,” I said, “and maybe not, but it won’t do any good if you’re dead, now, will it?”
Jimson grinned. “All right. All right. You guys, I give you this, you got you a set, both of you, queer or not.”
“It’s just me that’s queer,” Leonard said. “I’d rather not be included with heterosexuals. Bad for my reputation.”
Jimson turned and looked out the window, then picked up his coffee and drank. “We call it even, that means you stay out of my business, right?”
“Unless that business gets into our business,” I said. “And I don’t know how Vanilla Ride feels about things. Me and Leonard and her have a truce. But you guys, I don’t know. She might not like you sent men to kill her.”
“I sent them for you.”
“Well,” I said, “far as I know, they’re still in Arkansas.”
“I’ll worry about Vanilla Ride,” he said.
“Just a polite warning,” I said.
“Fair enough,” he said.
“But we owe them one,” Sykes said. “Me and Conners.”
“That’s your problem,” Jimson said. “Me and them, we’re done.” He hesitated a moment, then turned to Conners and Sykes. “And you know what, you two, you’re done too. Leave them alone. They come around on some other matter, that’s something else. But on this, you’re done. You took a lickin’. Learn to like it.”
“Good advice,” Leonard said.
“Don’t push it,” Jimson said, stood up and pushed his chair back. His man got up at the same time. Conners and Sykes got up too.
Leonard said, “Been good doing business with you, and just one last thing. Keep your word. We expect it. You don’t, we won’t like it.”
Jimson smiled. “Say you won’t?”
