I don't mind losin',' he goes on, 'but I said that I've got a funny habit of always losin' when I play around here.' He grins sorta sarcastic. 'But maybe it is only my imagination,' he says.
'You don't say,' says Fernandez.
He gets up sorta very slow an' pushes his chair back. Then he leans across the table an' he busts Maloney a hard one right on the puss. You coulda heard the smack a mile away.
Everybodys stops everything. Maloney does a swell back fall over the back of his chair. He gets up an' he is lookin' groggy. By this time Fernandez has walked around to the end of the table. He gets Maloney off his balance an' chins him again. This guy Fernandez is lookin' like a burned-up tiger. He is all steamed up an' I get the idea that he is a dope. I stand over in the corner an' light a cigarette. I am just beginnin' to get interested.
Henrietta has gone back up against the wall. She is watchin' Maloney. Her eyes are glitterin' an' I know she is sorta prayin' that he can get up an' hand Fernandez something. In the corner one of the dames playin' poker, who is very high, starts cacklin'. She thinks it's funny.
Maloney gets up. He is shook all right, but wades in at Fernandez. He swings a right which Fernandez blocks, an' before Maloney can do anythin' about it Fernandez gives him another haymaker. Maloney goes down again an' he is not lookin' pretty. One eye is closed up an' his face is covered with blood.
The guys playin' poker in the corner get up. One of 'em - a little guy - comes over.
'Why don't you two mugs cut it out?' he says. 'What do you think this is? Madison Square Gardens or what? An' what's the matter with you, Fernandez? Why must you always start somethin' around here?'
Fernandez turns round an' grins at him.
'Don't you like it,' he says.
He wipes this little guy across; the face with the back of his hand.
'If you don't like it,' he says, 'get out.'
There is a sorta silence - the sorta stuff that they call atmosphere. Nobody says anythin'. Then The little guy who has just been smacked down gets up an' walks outa the room. His party go with him. Maloney has got up. He is standin' against the wall an' he don't look so good to me. I reckon that first punch of Fernandez' - that one across the table - shook him considerable.
I go over to him.
'Listen, big boy,' I say. 'Why don't you go some place an' get that mug of yours cleaned up. It ain't pretty. An' whilst you're about it I'd have a drink if I was you. You look as if you could do with one.'
I turn to Henrietta an' I grin.
'Look, lady,' I say. 'Take him away an' do a big nursemaid act. After which,' I say, 'I reckon we might play a little game of cards around here.'
While I am talkin' Periera has come in the room. He is standin' just inside the doorway an' he is lookin' quite pleased. It looks like this Fernandez is a friend of his, an' the big guy around here. Henrietta don't say anythin' at all, but if she had gotta gun I reckon she woulda shot Fernandez. She just grabs this guy Maloney and pushes him towards the door.
Fernandez looks over at them as they are goin' out an' laughs - he has gotta nasty sorta cackle.
'Take that sap away an' lose him,' he says.
Henrietta turns around. She is as white as death. She is so burned up she don't know what to do with herself. Fernandez looks at her an' grins. Then he walks over to her an' before she knows what he is goin' to do he kisses her right on the mouth.
'Run along, sister,' he says, 'an' don't get bet up because it won't get you no place.'
He comes back to the table.
'Now maybe we can get ahead,' he says, pickin' up the cards. The other guys, four of 'em at the big table, get set. They are goin' to play poker.
'Are you comm' in?' says Fernandez to me.
I nod.
'Yeah,' I tell him, 'but justa minute. I gotta do something.'
I turn around and go outa the room. I can see Henrietta takin' the Maloney bird into a room way down along the balcony. I ease along there an' look through the door. She has put Maloney on a couch, an' she is in the corner getting a basin of water ready. Maloney don't look so good.
I go in.
'Say, sister,' I start, 'I reckon that your boy friend got a raw deal. Maybe he ain't in fightin' trim tonight. He cerainly can take it.'
She goes over to Maloney an' starts dabbin' his face with a towel.
'I wish I was a man,' she says. 'I'd kill Fernandez.' She stops work an' turns round an' looks at me. Her eyes are flashin' an' she looks good. I always did like dames with tempers. 'Jim here would have smashed him to bits,' she goes on, 'but he can't use his arm properly. He broke it two weeks ago and it's not working properly yet. It was easy for that moron to be tough.'
Maloney starts comin' up for air. He struggles to get off the couch, but he can't make it. He falls back.
'Let me get at that...' he mutters.
I do a bit of quick thinkin'. I think that maybe I can do myself a good turn by gettin' next to this Henrietta in a big way. Maybe if I play my cards right she will talk, an' it looks as if this is the opportunity.
'Don't worry, Maloney,' I say. 'You never had a chance with that arm, an' he caught you off balance.' I look at Henrietta. 'I was feelin' pretty burned up myself when that lousy bum went over an' kissed you like that,' I go on. 'That was a pretty insultin' thing to do in a room full of guys.'
'Oh, yes,' she says. 'Well, I didn't see you doing anything about it.'
I smile.
'Listen, lady,' I tell her. 'When you got your friend here all fixed, just come along back to the card room, an' you an' me'll have a little talk with this Fernandez guy.'
I scram.
I go back to the card room. They are waitin' for me. Fernandez grunts like he is impatient to begin, an' I sit down an' ante up.
We start to play poker. They are playin' ten dollar rises which is quite big enough for me, but I am not doing badly in the first coupla hands. I win. I look at Fernandez an' grin like I was sorta pleased with myself. He gives me a big scowl.
We go on. There is a round of jackpots an' finally Fernandez opens it. He opens it for fifty dollars an' everybody plays. There is about two hundred an' fifty dollars in the pot. While we are drawin' cards I hear Henrietta come into the room. She comes an' stands just by where I am sittin'.
Fernandez bets. He bets a hundred. The other guys throw their cards in. I stay in. I reckon he is bluffin' an' I am goin' all out on my two pairs.
I see him. I was right. He has got two pairs sixes high an' I am tens high.
I scoop in the pool.
'You oughta learn to play this game, sucker,' I tell him.
He looks up.
'An' what did you call me?' he says.
I get up. I put my hands under the table ledge an' I throw the table over, sideways. This leaves a space between me an' Fernandez. I jump in. As he puts his arms up I drop my head an' give it to him under the chin. As he goes back I follow with a left an' right an' I connect on each side of his jaw. I stand off an' wait for him to come in. He does, but he is a bit shook an' I sidestep an' smash him one on the nose that busts the works properly. He goes down, an' while he is goin' I call him by an old-fashioned name. This sorta riles him. He gets up, an' he comes for me like a bull. I sink my head an' he gets it in the guts. He brings his knee up but I miss it an' hit him again in the stomach. This hurts him plenty, an' he goes up against the wall. I go after him an' I paste him. I get to work on this guy like I have never worked on anybody before. Once or twice he tries to make a comeback, but he is not so good. The one I gave him on the mark has finished him for a bit.
Eventually he is just leaning up against the wall an' I smack him down. He stays put on the floor I look at Periera. He don't look so pleased now.
'Listen, Periera,' I say. 'You take this punk tough guy outa here before he gets me really annoyed. Because I am a guy who is liable to hurt somebody some time. But maybe I will do the job myself.'
