'It goes with aggravation is what it goes with. Doc gave me a list of what I can't eat. Everything I like is on it. I got it aced, I can go to the best restaurants and then I can order myself a plate of fuckin' cottage cheese.'
He picked up the dollar and gave it a spin.
I had known him over the years while I was on the force. He'd been picked up maybe a dozen times, always on minor things, but he'd never done any time. He always managed to buy his way off the hook, with either money or information. He set me up for a good collar, a receiver of stolen goods, and another time he gave us a handle on a homicide case. In between he would peddle us information, trading something he'd overheard for a ten- or twenty- dollar bill. He was small and unimpressive and he knew the right moves and a lot of people were stupid enough to talk in his presence.
He said, 'Matt, I didn't just happen to walk in here off the street.'
'I had that feeling.'
'Yeah.' The dollar started to wobble, and he snatched it up. He had very quick hands. We always figured him for a sometime pickpocket, but I don't think anybody ever nailed him for it. 'The thing is, I got problems.'
'They go with ulcers, too.'
'You bet your ass they do.' Spin. 'What it is, I got something I want you to hold for me.'
'Oh?'
He took a sip of milk. He put the glass down and reached over to drum his fingers against the attache case. 'I got an envelope in here. What I want is for you to hold on to it for me. Put it some place safe where nobody's gonna run across it, you know?'
'What's in the envelope?'
He gave his head an impatient little shake. 'Part of it is you don't have to know what's in the envelope.'
'How long do I have to hold it?'
'Well, that's the whole thing.' Spin. 'See, lots of things can happen to a person. I could walk out, step off the curb, get hit by theNinth Avenue bus. All the things that can happen to a person, I mean, you just never know.'
'Is somebody trying for you, Spinner?'
The eyes came up to meet mine, then dropped quickly. 'It could be,' he said.
'You know who?'
'I don't even know if, never mind who.' Wobble, snatch. Spin.
'The envelope's your insurance.'
'Something like that.'
I sipped coffee. I said, 'I don't know if I'm right for this, Spinner. The usual thing, you take your envelope to a lawyer and work out a set of instructions. He tosses it into a safe and that's it.'
'I thought of that.'
'So?'
'No point to it. The kind of lawyers I know, the minute I walk out of their office they got the fuckin'
envelope open. A straight lawyer, he's gonna run his eyes over me and go out and wash his hands.'
'Not necessarily.'
'There's something else. Say I get hit by a bus, then the lawyer would only have to get the envelope to you. This way we cut out the middleman, right?'
'Why do I have to wind up with the envelope?'
'You'll find out when you open it. If you open it.'
'Everything's very roundabout, isn't it?'
'Everything's very tricky lately, Matt. Ulcers and aggravation.'
'And better clothes than I ever saw you wear in your life.'
'Yeah, they can fuckin' bury me in 'em.' Spin. 'Look, all you gotta do is take the envelope, you stick it in a safe-deposit box, something, somewhere, that's up to you.'
'Suppose I get hit by a bus?'
He thought it over and we worked it out. The envelope would go under the rug in my hotel room. If I died suddenly, Spinner could come around and retrieve his property. He wouldn't need a key. He'd never needed one in the past.
We worked out details, the weekly phone call, the bland message if I wasn't in. I ordered another drink.
Spinner still had plenty of milk left.
I asked him why he had picked me.
'Well, you were always straight with me, Matt. You been off the force how long? A couple of years?'
'Something like that.'
'Yeah, you quit. I'm not good on the details. You killed some kid or something?'
'Yeah. Line of duty, a bullet took a bad hop.'
