“My uncle said you wanted to talk to me,” Chopper said. “Something to do with Butterfly.”
“Butterfly?”
“That’s what I call Tinsley.”
“Puppy love.” I smiled. “Brings back memories.”
Chopper looked at one of his security guys and grinned. His teeth were big and perfect. “The guy’s got jokes,” he said.
“Too many,” the lead goon said. I looked at his meaty face, which was covered in a thin film of sweat. I wondered what an unpleasant chore it must be to clean his laundry.
“What’s life if you can’t laugh a little?” I said. “Helps to keep things moving. So, tell me about Monarch.”
Chopper looked puzzled.
“Monarch as in monarch butterfly,” I said. “Those beautiful large orange-and-black ones. Best known of all the North American butterflies.”
He shook his head dismissively. “Spare me the nature class,” he said. “What do you want to know?”
“How about her whereabouts for starters?”
Chopper looked at the two goons who were standing behind him and jerked his head toward the door for them to leave. Mechanic remained in the shadows in the corner as if he were falling asleep.
“Chairman don’t want you out of our sight,” the lead goon said. “Somethin’ happen and we as good as dead.”
“Nothing’s gonna happen,” Chopper said. “We’re just having a little conversation. I’ll be fine.”
The lead goon looked at me, and I gave him my high-kilowatt smile. He mumbled something, then lumbered out of the office with his goon compadre. Chopper got up to close the door.
“He goes too,” Chopper said, nodding at Mechanic, who hadn’t changed his position for the last five minutes. His resting pulse rate was probably dipping somewhere in the low forties. “You and me one on one.”
“Sounds fair,” I said. I didn’t have to say anything to Mechanic. He came to life, holstered his gun, and walked out the door without saying anything as he closed it behind him.
When Chopper was back in his seat, he said, “So, it’s just you and me. Where do you wanna start?”
“The beginning is as good a place as any,” I said, kicking my feet up on the desk and leaning back. “I have all day.”
“Butterfly and I met last year at the Seven Ten Lanes on Fifty-Fifth Street in Hyde Park,” he said. “She was with a bunch of her girls. I was with my boys. She was looking for a ball that would fit her fingers and not weigh too much. I was looking for a ball for one of my boys. I have my own ball. When I looked over and saw her, I noticed she was putting the wrong fingers in the holes. So, I stopped and explained to her the right way to pick up and hold a ball; otherwise, she was gonna hurt herself. She asked me if I wanted to bowl with her and her friends. I told her that wouldn’t work. My boys and I had a serious match and we bowled for serious dough. But she was real fine and nice. I didn’t want to just let her go like that. So, I told her that if she wanted to really learn how to bowl, she and I could hook up later in the week and throw a few. She agreed. No hesitation. She gave me her number and told me to call her. Our first date was the following Saturday. We’ve been going strong since.”
“You charming devil,” I said. “Irresistible.”
“Don’t give me that shit, man. She’s the one who made the first move. I just closed the deal.”
Seemed plausible enough. “Did you know who Tinsley was when you met her?” I asked.
“Nope,” he said. “All I knew she was just real nice looking with a crazy body. And she was real sweet. No pretense or anything like that.”
“And when did she tell you that her father was one of the richest men in the city?”
“She didn’t,” he said. “That’s not Butterfly’s style. She doesn’t care about her old man’s money. Butterfly’s a free spirit. That’s why I gave her that nickname. I didn’t find out who her dad was for a long time. Hunter was the one who told me.”
“And how did Tinsley find out your pedigree?”
“As in?”
“Your uncle.”
“I told her myself. Nothing to hide. And she didn’t care. She knew I wasn’t my uncle, just like I knew she wasn’t her father. I work in a graphics design firm in the West Loop. I lead my own life.”
“So, it’s true love?”
“You got a problem with that?”
I smiled. “‘Whoever loved that loved not at first sight.’”
Chopper nodded, then said, “‘She loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity them.’ You’re not the only muthafuckah that reads Shakespeare.”
“Touché.” I really liked this kid.
“You act like people where I come from can’t like some rich girl and vice versa.”
I shrugged. “It’s just a little unconventional, all things considered,” I said. “But to each his own.”
“Butterfly is a special girl,” he said. “She’s not a phony like most people. She really cares about stuff. Lots of people who have what she has would be worried about their own shit. Butterfly’s just the opposite. She’s the most selfless person I’ve ever met.”
“Speaking of meeting, how did your little meet and greet go with her parents?”
“I haven’t met her parents,” Chopper said. “Yet. She’s asked me to go to her house several times, but I just don’t feel it’s the right time. I’m not stupid. I know I’m not what they had in mind for their daughter. There’s definitely gonna be some drama, and I don’t want any drama right now. Things are going too good for that shit.”
“So, they know about you?”
“Tinsley never hid me. She didn’t think her parents would be too thrilled, especially the way she describes them. Her mother wants Tinsley to date some rich tennis player from their country club. Her father is some big-time Republican worth a bazillion dollars. Can you imagine
