Blue Belle

I faced him. He hadn't moved.

'I gave the little nigger a message. Didn't you get it?'

'I just told you we did.'

'About Max. Max the Silent. Max the warrior. I called him out. I want to meet him.'

'If I see him, I'll tell him.'

'You know my name? You play with me, you play with death.'

'I'm not playing.'

'I know you. Burke. That's you, right?'

'Yeah.'

'Max is your man. Everyone knows that - it's all over the street. Everyone says he's the best. He's not. It's me. Me. He wants to admit it, go down on one knee, he can live. Otherwise, we fight.'

'You can't make him fight.'

'I can make anyone fight. I spit on dojo floors. I killed a kendo master with his own sword. Everybody has a button.' He opened his hands, a gambler fanning a handful of aces. 'I push the buttons.'

'Let it go,' I said.

He moved in on top of me. Spit full in my face. I didn't move, watching his eyes.

'You're better than I thought,' he whispered. 'You're too old to jump if I call your mother a name. But you spit in an ex-con's face, he has to fight.'

'I won't fight you.'

'You couldn't fight me, pussy.' I felt my face rock to the side, blood in the corner of my mouth. 'Never saw that, did you?'

'No,' I answered him, chewing on my lip, my mind back in an alley when I faced another man years ago. Wishing I had a gun, glad I didn't.

'I'm the fastest man there is. Max, he's nothing but a tough guy. I'll kill him in a heartbeat - he'll never see what does it.'

'You can't make him fight - he doesn't fight just 'cause you call his name.'

'What if I snap your spine, leave you in a wheelchair the rest of your life? You think that'll bring him around to see me?'

'You can't do that either,' I said, my voice soft. 'I'm not alone here.'

The Spanish guy laughed. 'I don't see nobody,' he said, pulling an automatic from his belt.

I raised my hands as though I was responding to the pistol. One of the beer bottles exploded. I took another step away from Mortay.

'There's a rifle squad on the roof. Night scopes and silencers.'

Mortay was ice, watching me.

'Want to see it again?' I raised my hand. Another bottle exploded. El Canonero was the truth.

'I don't want any beef with you. You scared me good. I don't want anything to do with you. This is a walk- away. You can't hurt me, and you can't make Max fight you. It's over, get it?'

Mortay's voice was so low I had to lean forward to catch it. 'Tell Max. Tell him I know about the baby. Tell him I know about Flower. Tell him to come and see me. Come and see me, or the baby dies.'

I threw myself at him, screaming. I felt a chop in the ribs and I was on the ground. A flash of white and Mortay was gone. Bullets whined all around the playground. The dark-haired white guy went down. His body jumped as more bullets hit. Pieces of the building flew away.

I crawled over to the car, pulled myself inside. I twisted the key, floored the gas, and blasted through the gate.

105

The Plymouth thundered toward the river, running without lights. I grabbed the highway, sliding into the late-night traffic, willing myself to slow down. My shoulders were hunched into my neck, tensing for the shot that never came. No sirens.

A quick choice - my office or Belle's? My office was closer, but Mortay knew where it was. The Plymouth's license plates were smeared with dirt and Vaseline - nobody could call in an ID.

I slipped through the Battery Tunnel, staying with traffic, one eye locked to the rearview mirror. Clear. I pulled the sleeves off the jacket I was wearing. The Velcro made a tearing sound. One sleeve went out the window on the Belt Parkway, the other a few miles down the road. I slipped out of the body of the jacket, dumped that too. The orange headband was the last to go, slipping away in the wind.

Two blocks from Belle's. I stopped at a pay phone, pulling the pistol from under the floor mat. She answered on the first ring.

'Hello?'

'It's me. You okay?'

'I'm fine, honey.'

'What's your favorite animal?'

She caught it. 'An alligator. It's clear, baby.'

I hung up, stepping back into the Plymouth. Her door opened as I was coming up the walk. I slipped into the darkness, the pistol in my hand.

106

I went to the couch, set the pistol down next to me, reached for the phone. Belle sat next to me, reaching out her band.

'Honey . . .'

'Get away from me, Belle. I got work to do and I don't have much left.'

I punched the numbers, cursing Ma Bell for having different area codes for Queens and Manhattan. Mama picked up.

'It's me. No time to talk. You get to Immaculata. Get her to come and see you, okay?'

'Okay.'

'She has to go out of town for a while. With the baby, Mama. That's the important thing. With the baby. Let her tell Max whatever she wants - visit friends, whatever. But get her out of here.'

'Max too?'

'Can you do it?'

'Big problems for me. Business problems. In Boston, okay?'

'Okay. But keep him low to the ground. Work quiet.'

'Tomorrow morning he goes.'

'With the baby.'

'With baby. Like you say. Come by, tell me soon.'

'Soon.'

'Plenty help here, okay? Nobody hurt baby.'

'Get them out of here, Mama.'

'All done,' she said.

I took a deep breath. Belle was motionless next to me. I punched another number, taking the lighted cigarette she held out. The Mole's phone was picked up at his end.

'It's me. I'm okay.'

He hung up.

I started to shake then. Couldn't get the cigarette into my mouth. Belle put her arms around me, pressing my head to her breasts.