congressional staffers and lobbyists who crowded the tables, talking shop and making deals. Their conversation, and the lady churning out predictable jazz on the piano, made it unlikely anyone would hear him approach. No one even looked up until he was standing beside the table.
Reggie Johnson sat to his left. Cindy sat on his right. Both looked perplexed when they noticed him. Cindy opened her mouth to say something he was sure he didn’t want to hear, so he focused on the man.
“Blow,” Hannibal said, nodding his head toward the door. “We need a little privacy.”
“Hannibal, what the hell?” Cindy said. He had been right. He didn’t want to hear that.
Reggie stared for a second, his brows knit together in confusion.
“You got a hearing problem?” Hannibal said, just a little louder. “Hit the bricks, bud.”
The two men locked eyes. Reggie stood, very slowly, to his full height and looked down into Hannibal’s face. Hannibal never flinched.
“You don’t want none of this, son. Don’t make the mistake of deciding to fuck with me. Not now. Not today.”
“Reggie,” Cindy said. “Please. It’s all right. We do need to…to talk. Let me call you, OK?”
Was it the consoling tone in Cindy’s voice? Did he see something behind Hannibal’s dark lenses that he didn’t want to disturb? Did he notice the bullet hole in the right sleeve of Hannibal’s mud-encrusted suit coat, just above the elbow? Did he guess the significance of the twin bruises on Hannibal’s throat? Whatever the reason, Reggie Johnson turned his face to Cindy, said “Another time,” and walked out of the restaurant. Hannibal let out a long breath and sat in the chair Reggie just emptied. He folded his hands on the table between him and his woman.
“That was rude…”
“Damn straight,” Cindy said.
“… but I couldn’t be away from you another minute.” Then he pulled his glasses off and laid them on the table. Cindy looked closely at his eyes, then looked around the rest of him. He knew his hair was dirty and his jacket was caked with dried mud. He saw her eyes linger on the bullet hole and with the jacket pressed against his arm he knew she could see the white bandage beneath.
Hannibal closed his eyes. He wanted to tell her how much he had missed her in the last week. He wanted to tell her why he had been away. He wanted to ask her what there really was between her and the man who had just left. He wanted to tell her how much he needed her. He wanted to believe she could see all of that in his eyes.
Cindy leaned close, almost as if she was reading his fine print.
“You hurting, baby?”
He nodded. His mouth opened but nothing came out.
“You need some healing,” she said. He nodded again. His lips curled in to his teeth. She took his hands and stood up.
“Come on. Let’s go to your place so I can get started.”
