Hard Candy

'He would be, you kept at it. A cold wind's gonna blow.'

'Torenelli's daughter?'

'I look Italian to you?'

'When I thought you were okay, you looked sorta Spanish to me. Now…now you look Italian.'

'I never meant to offend you. I'm not against you. I just want to do my time. On the street, in the jail, wherever. Just do my time. Be left alone.'

'That kind of privacy…it costs.'

'I can't pay what I don't have. And I don't borrow.'

'You already owe something.'

'If I do…if I get the chance, I'll pay it off. Square it up. Ask around. I pay my debts.'

'I think you paid at least a couple. I find out you did it for cash, I'll get you. That's a promise.'

I threw my smoke out the window. 'So I'm not busted?'

He didn't say anything when I opened the door and climbed out.

102

I WASN'T under surveillance. The cops don't have the manpower for that, and Morales was still with the Runaway Squad anyway. He'd probably been prowling Lily's joint, watching to see if any of the kiddie pimps he hated so much were working the corners. When he saw me, he couldn't pass it up.

The phone man was where he said he'd be. We passed each other on the steps of the Federal Courthouse in Foley Square. A quick handshake and we each had what we came for.

103

I WAS IN MAMA'S arguing with Max over his stunt with Morales when the phone rang in the back.

'Young girl,' Mama sad, sitting down.

I picked up the receiver. 'What?'

'It's me. Elvira. You said to call today. I told you I would.'

'I need to talk to you. About your mother. About Train.'

'Go ahead.'

'Not on the phone.'

'Maybe you can come here. I'll ask…'

'Never mind. I can come there, but I want to talk in private. Tell me where you'll be, I'll pick you up.'

'I'm not sure…'

'Not sure where you'll be or…'

'I'm not leaving here.'

'Elvira, I wanted you out of there, you'd be out of there. I'm going to talk with you, one way or the other.'

'I'm not afraid of you.'

'I don't want you to be afraid of me. I want to talk to you.'

'And then…'

'And then you go back to wherever you want to go. And you never see me again. Okay?'

A long pause. I wondered who else was listening, signaling to her.

'Okay,' she finally said into the phone. 'Where and when?'

'Tomorrow morning. On the corner of Flatbush and Tillary. The Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge. Ten o'clock.'

'How long will I be?'

'Couple of hours.'

'Goodbye,' she said. Hung up.

104

NEXT MORNING, the Plymouth an anonymous hulk lurking just outside the remnants of the commuter traffic stream. Max in the back seat, black wool Navy watch cap on his head, heavy gloves on his hands. He was only wearing a gray sweatshirt- it wasn't that cold out.

She must have walked from Train's building. I spotted her a couple of blocks away, stone-washed jeans, a dungaree jacket, hair in a pony-tail. A kid cutting school. I stepped out of the car, waved to her. She broke into a clumsy little trot.

I opened the passenger door and she climbed inside, Max moving in behind her like water flowing over a rock. 'Huh!' she said, surprised. I was sitting in the driver's seat by then.

'Elvira, this is my brother, Max.'

She snuck a sideways look, mumbled 'Hi,' eyes downcast. I fired up the Plymouth, heading over the bridge.

'Where're we going?'

'To see a friend of mine.'

'How come he's here.'

'Just along for the ride.'

'I thought we were going to talk private.'

'Max can't hear. He's deaf.'

'For real?' An off-key note in her voice.

'Yeah. For real.'

We came off the bridge into Chinatown, tunneling through the narrow back streets to Lily's. Elvira fumbled in her purse, brought out a cigarette. Max snapped a wooden match, held it for her. She said 'Thank you' in a finishing-school voice. Max bowed slightly. 'Does that mean 'You're welcome'?' she asked.

'Yep.'

'Can you…talk to him?'

'His name is Max. I can talk to him. So can you, you want to bad enough.'

'Oh! How?'

'Think of what you want to say, then act it out. Like charades.'

'Can I try?'

'Go ahead.'

She curled her feet under her, tapped Max on his forearm. Pointed at him, then at me. Pinched her shoulders against her slender neck, spread her hands, palms up. Max pulled off his gloves, tossed them on the dashboard. Watching her face closely, he pointed at himself, then at me. Waited for her to nod. He tapped his chest over his heart. Reached past the girl, tapped me in the same place. Hard. The finger curled into a fist. The fist slammed into his open hand. That hand wrapped around the fist. The two hands twisted together until the fingers were intertwined.

'He is your brother!'

'Sure.'

Elvira put her two hands on an imaginary steering wheel, pointed to me, pointed out the windshield, made a questioning look at Max. He shrugged his shoulders, pointed at me, nodded.

'He doesn't know where we're going?'

'He doesn't care. He's with me- that's where he's going.'