'Where and when,' said the Chinaman.
'Get off and I'll tell you.'
The Chinaman gave a good-natured shrug and broke contact. Charlie spat into the ground, did a sneaky little dance. Concealed his pain by pulling out a pack of Marlboros and a box of matches, jamming a cigarette between his lips, and making a show of lighting a match against his thumbnail. He sucked in smoke, blew it out though his nostrils. Repeated the gesture. Formed his features into a tough-guy grimace.
'Very impressive,' said the Chinaman. 'The girl.'
'She's been around once or twice, okay? That's all.'
'On a Friday?'
'That's the only time we're here, Lee.' A kick at a stray chunk of pulp.
'Was she alone or with someone?'
'I saw her with a guy.'
'What kind of guy?'
'An Arab.'
'Name.'
'How the hell should I know? They never came in. I just saw them hanging around. It was a long time ago.'
'How long?'
'Month, maybe two.'
'How do you know he was an Arab?'
'He looked like one. And he was talking Arabic.' As if explaining to a moron.
'What did this Arab look like?'
'Skinny, lots of hair, mustache. Cheap clothes.'
'How tall?'
'Medium.'
'Be more specific.'
'Not tall, not short. In the middle-maybe a meter eight.'
'How old?'
'Eighteen or nineteen.'
'What else about him do you remember?'
'Nothing. He looked like a million others.'
'What'd you mean, lots of hair?'
'What does it mean to you?'
'Charlie,' said the Chinaman, meaningfully.
'Thick, bushy, okay?'
'Straight or curly?'
'Straight, I think. Like yours.' A smile. 'Maybe he's your cousin. Lee.'
'What style?'
'Who the hell remembers?'
'She an Arab too?'
'Who else would hang around with an Arab, Lee?'
'One of your cousins.'
Charlie spat again. Inhaled his cigarette and ordered the bartender to clean up the mess.
'Street girl?' asked the Chinaman.
'How would I know that?'
The Chinaman cracked the knuckles of one hand.
'You're a cunt peddler is how, Charlie.'
'I'm not into that shit anymore, Lee. I sell melons, that's all. Maybe this guy was pimping her, but all I saw was them hanging out. Once or twice.'
'Ever see her with anyone else?'
'No. Just the two of them, hanging around-it was over a month ago.'
'But you remember her.'
