both known was a gift and not a loan.
At least he hadn’t talked to George about women. That had been during the bad time with Pam. He’d come to New York determined to break his marriage vows, and when he’d called George it had been mainly in hopes George could arrange a double date or something, could line him up with a girl. But he hadn’t been able to bring himself to ask the question, and George hadn’t volunteered any such thing. Afterwards he’d been glad he hadn’t embarrassed and humiliated himself at least that much. He’d done so enough as it was. With the forty bucks, and deferring to the man.
And the same thing Monday, four days ago, when George showed up in the dusty car, unshaved, a wild look in his eyes, full of desperate secrets, asking to be hidden out for a while. Ed had fallen immediately into the old attitudes towards George, admiring his derring-do, deferring to him, taking the subordinate position to him. And maybe this time it would wind up costing him more than forty bucks.
If George came back. But of course he’d come back; he’d left a suitcase in the closet in the guest room. And in his note he’d said he’d be back. But if only he wouldn’t.
In a funny way, if it weren’t for Pam he felt he could throw George out now. If he came back. Tell him, “I’m sorry, George, but I’ve got responsibilities to my family and I’m afraid you could wind up bringing them trouble, so I’m going to ask you to find somebody else to help you. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is.” He could say that and mean it and know it was the best thing under the circumstances. Except for Pam. She’d turned it into a contest by now, a battle of wills, trying to force him around to her way of thinking, and of course that made it all impossible. To throw George out now would not be the way of reason, it would be giving in to Pam. Letting her win.
If there was only some way to get that fact across to her, to make her understand that if she’d only lay off she’d get what she wanted. But, looking across the table now at her talking face he knew there wasn’t a damn thing he was going to be able to do to change anything. Circumstances were rolling along, rolling along, and he was just swept up in it, and all he could do was hope for the best.
The phone rang.
It startled him and he dropped his knife, and that startled Pam, who stared at him in surprise a second and then said, “I’ll get it.”
He nodded and picked up the knife again. He watched her trim figure as she walked into the living room, thinking that George had no idea what he’d cost Ed already. He looked around the table, told Angela to chew her food, and then Pam came back and said, “It’s for you. I think it’s him.”
“Oh.” He got to his feet as she, cold-faced, sat down. He went into the living room and said hello into the telephone.
George. “Ed, we’ve got a problem.” Sounding out of breath, rushed, harried.
Ed felt dinner lumping in his stomach. “A problem? What do you mean, a problem?”
“I’m not coming back there,” George said, and Ed smiled at the phone. But then George said, “There’s been a mess down here. I’m in Washington. There’s a girl here” — his voice receded a bit as though he turned away from the phone to look at something for the next few words — “she’s been beat up pretty bad. I got to take care of her, do something for her; then I’m getting out of here. I don’t know where I’m going, but I’ll get in touch.”
“That’s all right, George, you — “
“The big thing is the suitcase I left there,” George said quickly. “You stash that someplace safe, you hear me?”
“Yes. I — “
“Don’t tell your wife where. Just you do it by yourself.”
Ed stiffened a little at that. “Pam wouldn’t— “
“That isn’t the question,” George said. “The question is, it’s better she doesn’t know anything. Better for her. There’s a guy might come around.”
“What?”
“Ed, don’t worry about it. Here’s what you tell him.”
“What do you mean, somebody might come around?”
“This girl here had to give him your phone number. He really leaned on her, Ed, he made a mess out of her. But all you do— “
“My phone number? George, what have you done to me?”
“Listen to me, goddammit. If he comes around, if he comes around, you tell him you used to know me when. I called you on the phone, I asked you to relay messages, you said okay. You got two messages, one yesterday, one today. The one yesterday was from a Matt Ros— “
“George, I can’t— “
“Listen, Ed, you want him leaning on you too?”
“What is he after, George, the suitcase?”
“Hell, no! He’s after me, Ed, what do you think? Listen, all you have to do is remember the two messages. You got them, I called you a while later, and you gave them to me, that’s all you know. You don’t know where I am or anything else. You got it?”
Pam had come to the doorway, napkin in hand. She was looking at him.
Ed said, “Are you sure I shouldn’t call the police, George?”
“Ed, you’ve got an aiding a fugitive rap if you do. Now just listen to me.”
“Aiding a — ” Then he saw Pam in the doorway and stopped himself.
George was saying, “You don’t have anything to worry about, Ed. He might not come around at all. Just stash the suitcase somewhere safe, and if this guy comes around give him the story. Two messages, and I called you
