weeds, away from the sound of the popping gun. They came to a sidewalk along a narrow back street. Matt stopped and looked back.
'Where's Andrew?' he said.
'I don't know,' said Jenny. 'Oh God, what if they shot him?'
'Jesus,' said Matt. 'Maybe we should go back.'
'Matt,' said Jenny, 'there's a guy back there shooting. With a gun. We need to call the cops.'
A car was coming toward them. Matt jumped into the street and waved his arms over his head.
'Stop!' he yelled at the driver. 'Hey, please STOP!'
The driver did what most Miami residents would do when confronted with a shouting person in the middle of the road: honked and accelerated. Matt leaped aside as the car brushed past. He landed back on the sidewalk on his hands and knees.
'Thanks,' he said to the receding car.
'Are you OK?' asked Jenny.
'Yeah,' said Matt, getting up. 'Listen, let's go to my car. I parked right up there on Tiger Tail, and if we don't see a phone on the way, we can drive to one.'
'OK, as long as we get out of here,' said Jenny, looking back toward the parking lot.
They half ran, half jogged the three blocks to the Kia, not passing any phones. As they got into the car, Matt said, 'Do you know where the police station is around here?'
Jenny said, 'Could we just go to my house? My mom'll be worried by now, and we can call the police from there.' Jenny wanted her mom.
'OK,' said Matt. 'We gotta call Andrew's mom, too.' He started the engine.
I want your sex pootie!
I want your sex pootie!
'Sorry,' said Matt, stabbing the stereo power button. He put the Kia into drive, and the two teenagers set off toward Jenny's house, both of them shaken, both of them looking forward to turning this scary situation over to responsible grown-ups.
In the rental car outside the entrance to the Jolly Jackal, Henry and Leonard were waiting for the armed robbery, which they viewed as none of their business, to be completed, so they could continue tailing Arthur Herk. Leonard was attempting to tell Henry a joke about a lady being examined by a doctor with a thick Japanese accent.
' ... so the doctor says to the lady, 'Rady, I see your probrem.' And the lady says, 'What is it, doctor?' And the doctor says, 'You have Ed Zachary disease.' And the lady says, 'Oh no! Ed Zachary disease! Is that serious?' And the doctor says, 'Oh yes, Ed Zachary disease very serious.' And the lady says, 'What does it mean?' And the doctor says, 'It mean your face rook Ed Zachary rike your ass.' '
Henry sighed.
'Get it?' said Leonard. 'Your face rook Ed Zachary rike your ass! Whoo. Who thinks this shit up?'
Henry turned the radio back on.
... point is that all these Gators ever do is talk trash, and then when they lose, you don't hear a peep out of 'em.
Well, I'M a Gator, OK? I'm a Gator, and I'm talkin' to you right now, so what's your problem?
My problem is that you weren't calling until I SAID no Gators were calling. THEN all of a sudden there's all these Gators calling.
I would of called before. I'm not afraid to call.
But you DIDN'T call. You're calling now, but before I SAID there were no Gators calling, there were no Gators calling, including you.
OK, but I'm calling, OK? You hear me on the phone now, right? I'm a Gator, and I'm ...
Henry turned the radio back off.
'Those guys need a hobby,' he said.
'Maybe they should jack off more,' said Leonard. 'If that's possible.'
'Seriously,' said Henry, 'do you think any of those guys could name the vice president of the United States?'
'Hah,' said Leonard, who in fact was not certain that he could name the vice president, either. He knew it was a guy in a suit, but he wasn't sure which one. The car was silent for a moment, then Leonard, who did not handle silence well, said, 'Your face rook Ed Zachary rike your ... '
'Shut up,' said Henry.
The door to the Jolly Jackal had opened. Arthur Herk was coming out.
'There's our boy,' said Henry. 'Looks like he developed a limp.'
Puggy came out next, lugging the suitcase.
'Who's that?' said Leonard.
'I believe that's Tarzan,' said Henry, silting up.
'Who?' said Leonard.
