saying, “I didn’t mean to—” and thinking, Take it out, you can do whatever you want to me, I didn’t mean to do this.
“Some people lead,” the tailor said, “some follow.”
Tacha looked over at him, hunched over his sewing. “Why can Frank Shelby do whatever he wants?”
“Not everything, he can’t.”
“Why can he go in there with her?”
“Ask him when he’s through.”
“Do you know something?” Tacha said. “You never answer a question.”
“I’ve been here—” the tailor began, and stopped as the outside door opened.
Bob Fisher stepped inside. He closed the door quietly behind him, his gaze going to the stock room, then to Tacha and past her to the tailor.
“Where’s Norma at?”
Tacha waited. When she knew the tailor wasn’t going to answer she said, “Don’t you know where she is?”
Fisher’s dull expression returned to Tacha. “I ask a question, I don’t need a question back.”
“She’s in there,” Tacha said.
“I thought I saw a convict come in here.”
“He’s in there with her.”
“Doing what?”
“Doing
Bob Fisher took time to give her a look before he walked over to the stock room. Then he didn’t hesitate: he pushed the door and let it bang wide open and stood looking at them on the flat bolts of striped prison material they had spread on the floor, at the two of them lying close and pulling apart, at their upturned faces that were momentarily startled.
“You through?” Fisher said.
Shelby started to grin and shake his head. “I guess you caught us, boss.”
Tacha could see Norma’s skirt pulled up and her bare thighs. She saw Shelby, behind Fisher, getting to his feet. He was buttoning the top of his pants now. Norma was sitting up, slowly buttoning her blouse, then touching her hair, brushing it away from her face.
Tacha and the tailor began working again as Fisher looked around at them. He motioned Norma to get up. “You go on to your cell till I’m ready for you.”
Shelby waited, while Norma gave Fisher a look and a shrug and walked out. He said then, “Were me and her doing something wrong? Against regulations?”
“You come with me,” Fisher said.
Once outside, they moved off across the yard, toward the far end of the mess hall. Fisher held his set expression as his gaze moved about the yard. Shelby couldn’t figure him out.
“Where we going?”
“I want to tell the new superintendent what you were doing.”
“I didn’t know of any law against it.”
Fisher kept walking.
“What’s going on?” Shelby said. Christ, the man was actually taking him in. Before they got to the latrine adobe Shelby said, “Well, I wanted to talk to him anyway.” He paused. “About this guard that watches the girls take their bath. Pulls loose a brick and peeks in at them.”
Fisher took six strides before saying, “She know who this guard is?”
“You bet,” Shelby said.
“Then tell the sup’rintendent.”
Son of a bitch. He was bluffing. Shelby glanced at him, but couldn’t tell a thing from the man’s expression.
Just past the latrine Shelby said, “I imagine this guard has got a real eyeful, oh man, but looking ain’t near anything like doing, I’ll tell you, ’cause I’ve done both. That Norma has got a natural-born instinct for pleasing a man. You know what she does?”
Fisher didn’t answer.
Shelby waited, but not too long. “She knows secret things I bet there ain’t ten women in the world can do. I been to Memphis, I been to Tulsa, to Nogales, I know what I’m talking about. You feel her mouth brushing your face and whispering dirty things in your ear—you know something? Once a man’s had some of that woman—I mean somebody outside—he’d allow himself to be locked up in this place the rest of his life if he thought he could get some every other night. Get her right after she comes out of the bath.”
Shelby paused to let Fisher think about it. As they were nearing the outside stairs he said, “Man, I tell you, anybody seen her bare-ass naked knows that’s got to be a woman built for pleasure.”
“Upstairs,” Fisher said.
Shelby went up two steps and paused, looking around over his shoulder. “The thing is, though. She don’t give it out to nobody but me. Less I say it’s all right.” Shelby looked right at his eyes. “You understand me, boss?”
Mr. Manly heard them coming down the hall. He swiveled around from the window and moved the two file folders to one side of the desk, covering the Bible. He picked up a pencil. On his note pad were written the names
When the knock came he said, “Come in” at once, but didn’t look up until he knew they were in the room, close to the desk, and he had written on the note paper:
Bob Fisher came right out with it. “He wants to tell you something.”
In that moment Shelby had no idea what he would say; because Fisher wasn’t bluffing and wasn’t afraid of him; because Fisher stood up and was a tough son of a bitch and wasn’t going to lie and lose face in front of any con. Maybe Fisher would deny the accusation, say prove it. Shelby didn’t know what Fisher would do. He needed time to think. The next moment Mr. Manly was smiling up at him.
“I’m sorry I don’t know everybody’s name yet.”
“This is Frank Shelby,” Fisher said. “He wants to tell you something.”
Shelby watched the little man rise and offer his hand and say, “I’m Everett Manly, your new superintendent.” He watched Mr. Manly sit down again and look off somewhere.
“Frank Shelby…Shelby…forty-five years for armed robbery. Is that right?”
Shelby nodded.
“Forty-five years,” Mr. Manly said. “That’s a long time. Are you working to get some time off for good behavior?”
“I sure am,” Shelby said. He didn’t know if the man was serious or not, but he said it.
“How long have you been here at Yuma?”
“Little over a year.”
“Have you got a good record here? Keep out of fights and trouble?”
“Yes,
“Ever been in the snake den?”
“No, sir.”
“Got two boys in there now for fighting, you know.”
Shelby smiled a little and shook his head. “It’s funny you should mention them,” he said. “Those two boys are what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Bob Fisher turned to look at him but didn’t say a word.
“I was wondering,” Shelby went on, “what you’d think of us staging a prize fight between those two boys?”
“A prize fight?” Mr. Manly frowned. “Don’t you think they’ve done enough fighting? Lord, it seems all they like to do is fight.”
“They keep fighting,” Shelby said, “because they never get it settled. But, I figure, once they have it out there’ll be peace between them. You see what I mean?”
