you?re a stand-up guy when it comes to your word. He wants to do business. What?s the matter, you
got something against free enterprise?”
“Am I supposed to be flattered by all this?” I asked.
“You wanna talk or you wanna audition for vaudeville? O?Brian ain?t lookin? for trouble, okay? Am I
drifting your way?”
“Getting scared, is he?”
“O?Brian don?t scare,” Nesbitt said matter-of-factly.
“Pigs don?t lie in the mud, either.”
“Look, my boss don?t go to the party empty-handed, know what I mean? You wanna be the smartass,
don?t wanna listen, fuck off.”
I thought about it for a moment or two—not about meeting O?Brian, that was a gimme—but about
where and when to meet him. It could be a setup, except there was no reason to set me up. Was he
representing the family? Or was he free-lancing? What was he willing to talk about that could interest
rue? I was still guessing that O?Brian was running scared, looking for an umbrella to hide under.
“Does he know who scratched Tagliani and the rest?” I asked.
Nesbitt shifted from one foot to the other and sighed. “Whyn?t yuh ask him? 1 told yuh, I?m just doin?
a Western Union. I don?t know shit besides that and my orders are to forget it!”
“When?” I asked finally.
“Sooner the better.”
“How?s tomorrow morning sound?”
“Worse than now, better than later,” he said with a shrug.
“It?s too late to do anything now,” I said. “It?s got to be tomorrow, middle of the morning.” I make a
lot of bad decisions this late at night.
“That?s the best you can do, that?s the best you can do. You wanna pick the spot?”
I didn?t know or remember the town well enough. I decided to test the water a little.
“Does O?Brian have a place in mind?”
“Yeah, but he don?t want you should get nervous, him pickin? it out, I mean.”
“Try me”
“He has this little fishing camp out on Skidaway. On the bay side, sits out over the water. It?s private;
his old lady don?t even go out there, Also it has good sight lines; there ain?t a blade of grass within
twenty yards of the place.”
I thought some more about it. It would have been smarter to leave then and follow Nesbitt to the meet,
but I wanted to let somebody know where I was.
