'And what's that, a Hoosierism?'
'Heidi or some woman's in here with you or you're getting money out of the secret place you keep it. You pay my wages in cash, you pay Mr. Moraco his end in cash, and you said when you gimme the job, you said cash or check.'
Yes, he did say that; but Randy's plan from the beginning was to give the Mutt a check and stop payment on it as soon as the Mutt took off. Since it was hardly something he could explain, Randy said, 'All right, I'll give you your check.'
'I want cash.'
'I can write you a check, Mutt, for the entire amount, right now.'
'Cash or no deal.'
Randy took his time. 'Has Vincent paid you?'
'For the priest? Tonight he's gonna.'
'How much?'
'I told you before, twenty-five.'
'Really? I know you said he's getting you a gun-'
'You don't believe me,' the Mutt said, 'call him up. Pay me first, it'll be the last time you ever hear his voice. And never again have to watch him eat.'
It gave Randy a picture of Vincent Moraco, a dinner napkin tucked in his collar, head lowered over his free lunch, and it was enough to get Randy to change his mind, stop his quibbling. He said to the Mutt,
'You're right, you're doing me an enormous favor and should have your money whatever way you want it. I have to confess, Mutt, at times I tend to lose sight of main obiectives and become niggardly over details.'
The Mutt said, 'You do?'
The machete was still in the kitchen, where Johnny had been playing with it.
Mary Pat asked Terry why he'd brought it home and he told her it was a reminder. She said she wouldn't think he would have to be reminded of an experience so horrifying, all those poor people murdered.
He said he found the machete in the church, the place where it was used, and it brought back to him parts of the scene in detail that were like what do you call it-tableaux, hideous moments caught in stop-motion, silent, without the screams, the din of voices.
She didn't ask about the details, so he kept them to himself. He told the little girls the knife was used to cut sugarcane and hack stalks of bananas from the trees.
And he'd left the canvas bag of photos in the kitchen.
When they were ready to look at the pictures he placed them on the butcher-block table, displaying all of them except a stack bound with green rubber bands he dropped back in the bag. The girls climbed up on stools to have a look, got interested, knelt on the stools to get closer, over the photos, and began asking questions. What's he doing? Looking for scraps of charcoal so he can sell it or make a fire.
Why? So he can have something to eat, roast an ear of corn. Why doesn't his mom do it? He doesn't have a mom, he's an orphan.
What's an orphan? You know, Mom told us. I forget what one is. A kid who doesn't have a mom or dad. They let him play with fire? He's not playing, he knows what he's doing. Rwanda, you grow up in a hurry or you don't make it. The ones here 're at the orphanage, playing some kind of game. What's he doing? That's a girl. How do you know? She's wearing a dress. It doesn't look like a dress. How come they don't have any hair? They shave it off so they won't get, like, bugs in their hair. What kind of bugs? Any kind, Africa, I never saw so many bugs in my life. On the wall, they look like wallpaper designs moving. He looked over at Mary Pat, at the sink rinsing lettuce.
What's he doing? That's a garbage dump and he's looking for food, anything he can eat, even if it's, well, a little rotten. Won't he get sick? Probably, if not from that from something else. Why doesn't he go to the store? He's poor, he doesn't have any money. Why doesn't his mom go? He doesn't have one. I explained that, these kids're orphans.
Why? I just told you, they don't have parents. Why not? Oh.
The parents died, so most of the kids don't have a place to live. Mom said that's why you came home, to get money from people for the little orphans.
He looked over at Mary Pat again, Mary Pat looking back at him this time. She said, 'Why don't one of you girls get the atlas? Show Uncle Terry where he lives?'
Katy wanted to get it so they let her, and while they were waiting the phone rang, the one on the wall by the sink. Mary Pat got it and turned to Terry.
'Your fund-raising partner.'
'What're you doing?'
'Showing my pictures to the girls.'
'Does Mary Pat know?'
'Everything. I mean every thing.'
'What'd she say?… Oh, you can't talk, can you? Listen, Ed Bernacki called, we're going to see Tony. And guess where?'
'I don't know.'
'His house. You remember Ed told me no one gets in his house except family and goombas? We're going to his house. Oh, and you're being picked up.'
'You're coming by? When?'
'No, they're sending a car for you, seven-thirty.'
'Why?'
'Ed says we're seeing him, I don't ask questions.'
'Are you being picked up?'
'Yes, we both are.'
'Then why don't we go together?'
'Maybe we are, but the way Ed said it, it sounded like we're being picked up separately.'
'Why can't you get picked up and then you come over and pick me up?'
'Maybe that's what'll happen.'
'Can you check with Ed, tell him we want to go together?'
'What're you worded about, you nitwit, he's giving us the money.'
The girls, head-to-head over the atlas open on the counter, were looking for Rwanda, Katy saying, 'mom showed us where it is.' Jane saying, 'It's hard to find. It's suppose to be fight here.., somewhere.'
'It's hard to find,' Terry said, 'even when you know where it is.
You see Lake Victoria? Rwanda's a half inch or so to the left. The one that's mostly green, and it is, the whole country's like a big vegetable garden.'
'Aren't there any wild animals?'
'There isn't room for them, it's almost all farmland, except here in this corner where the gorillas live, up in the mountains.'
'We saw gorillas in a movie. A lady was talking to them. She said you have to be real quiet or the gorillas get mad, like they think you might hurt them.'
'That's the way gorillas are,' Terry said, 'you have to be careful around them.' He looked up to see Mary Pat on the other side of the table, watching him. He said to her, 'We're meeting our benefactor later on this evening. Anthony Amilia. You know who he is?'
She hesitated before saying, 'Of course I do,' turned to the sink again to gather the lettuce in a dishtowel and carry it to the refrigerator.
When she looked at him again, all she said was, 'Does Fran know?'
'He left, I haven't had a chance to talk to him.'
'Will you call him?'
'If you want me to. I was hoping he'd be home before I left.'
'Terry, Fran and I don't keep secrets from one another. I called him after we talked this morning.'
