'You're the one who's hard to reach. You left all these messages.'
'That's 'cause last time you said I didn't leave no message.'
'This time you did, but I didn't have any way to get in touch with you.'
'You mean like a number to call.'
'Something like that.'
'Well, I ain't got no phone.'
'I didn't figure you did.'
'Yeah,' he said. 'Well, we work it out one of these days. Thing is, I found out what I supposed to find out.'
'The pimp.'
'Yeah, I learned a whole bunch of shit.'
'Let's hear it.'
'On the phone, Joan? I mean I will if that be what you want, but-'
'No.'
'Because it don't seem too cool.'
'No, probably not.' I sat up. 'There's a coffee shop called the Flame, corner of Fifty-eighth and Ninth, it would be the southwest corner-'
'It be anywhere on that corner, I gone find it.'
'Yeah, I guess you will,' I said. 'Half an hour.'
HE met me outside the place and we went in and got a booth. He sniffed the air theatrically and announced that something smelled good, and I laughed and handed him the menu and told him to have whatever he wanted. He ordered a cheeseburger with bacon and an order of fries and a double-rich chocolate shake. I had a cup of coffee and a toasted English.
'Found this chick,' he said, 'livin' way over in Alphabet City. Say she used to be with this pimp name of Juke. Prob'ly his pimpin' name. Man, she was scared shit! She cut out on Juke last summer, like she 'scaped from where he had her livin', an' she still lookin' over her shoulder for him to catch up with her. Told her once she ever pulled any shit on him he be cuttin' her nose off, and whole time I'm there with her she be touchin' her nose, like she want to make sure it still there.'
'If she left him last summer she wouldn't have known Bobby.'
'Yeah, right,' he said. 'But what it is, this kid I found who knew Bobby, all he knew about the pimp was it was the dude used to pimp-' He caught himself and said, 'I told her I wouldn't say her name. I guess it be all right to tell you, but-'
'No, I don't have to know her name. They both had the same pimp but not at the same time, so if you found out who her pimp was, then you knew who was pimping Bobby.'
'Yeah, right.'
'And it was somebody named Juke.'
'Yeah. She don't know his last name. Box, most likely.' He laughed. 'Don't know where he lived, either. Had her livin' up in Washington Heights, but she said how he got a few different apartments, got kids stashed here an' there.' He picked up a French fry, dipped it in ketchup. 'He always lookin' for new kids, Juke is.'
'Business is that good, huh?'
'What she say, he always lookin' for new kids 'cause the old ones don't last long.' He cocked his head, trying to look on top of what he was telling me, unaffected by it. He didn't quite bring it off. 'He tell her, tell everybody, there two ways they can go on a date. Date can be a round trip or a one-way rental. You know what that means?'
'Tell me.'
'Round trip is you come back. One-way is you don't. Like if the john buys you one-way, he don't have to return you. He can, like, do what he want.' He looked down at his plate. 'He can kill you, that be what he want, an' everything be cool with Juke. She say he tell her, 'You be good or I send you out on a one-way ticket.' An' she say the thing is you don't never know you goin' out one-way. He say, 'Oh, this john, he a easy trick, he prob'ly buy you some nice clothes, treat you fine.' Then she out the door an' he say to the other kids, 'Now you ain't never gone see that bitch again, 'cause I done sent her out on a one-way ticket.' An' they cry some, you know, if she be a good friend of theirs, but they never see her again.'
WHEN he had finished his meal I gave him three twenties and told him I hoped that would cover the meter. He said, 'Yeah, that be cool. 'Cause I know you ain't rich, man.'
Outside I said, 'Don't take it any further, TJ. Don't try to find out anything more about Juke.'
'I could just ask a few dudes, see what they say.'
'No, don't.'
'Wouldn't cost you nothing.'
'That's not what I'm worried about. I wouldn't want Juke to know somebody was looking for him. He might turn around and start looking for you.'
He rolled his eyes. 'Don't want that,' he said. 'Girl say he a mean motherfucker. Say he be big, too, but everybody be lookin' big to that girl.'
'How old is she?'
'She twelve,' he said. 'But she small for her age.'
Chapter 19
I stayed close to home on Saturday, leaving during the day only to eat a sandwich and drink a cup of coffee and catch a noon meeting across the street from Phil Fielding's video store. At ten to eight I met Elaine in front of the Carnegie Recital Hall on Fifty-seventh. She had tickets for a series of chamber music concerts and felt well enough to use them. The group that night was a string quartet. The cellist was a black woman with a shaved head. The other three were Chinese-American males, all of them dressed and groomed like management trainees.
At intermission we made plans to go to Paris Green afterward, with maybe a quick stop at Grogan's, but by the time the second half ended we were less energetic. We went back to her apartment and ordered in Chinese food. I stayed over, and in the morning we went out for brunch.
Sunday I had dinner with Jim and went to the eight-thirty meeting at Roosevelt.
Monday morning I walked over to Midtown North. I had called ahead, so Durkin was expecting me. I had my notebook with me, as I almost always do. I had the videocassette of The Dirty Dozen, too. I had taken it with me when I left Elaine's the day before.
He said, 'Sit down. You want some coffee?'
'I just had some.'
'I wish I could say the same. What's on your mind?'
' Bergen Stettner.'
'Yeah, well, I can't say I'm surprised. You're like a dog with a bone. What have you got?'
I handed him the cassette.
'Great picture,' he said. 'So?'
'This version is a little different from the way you may remember it. The highlight comes when Bergen and Olga Stettner commit murder on-camera.'
'What are you talking about?'
'Someone dubbed another tape onto this cassette. After fifteen minutes of Lee Marvin we cut to amateur home video. Bergen and Olga and a friend, but by the time the movie is over the friend is dead.'
He picked up the cassette, weighed it in his hand. 'You're saying you've got a snuff film here.'
'A snuff tape, anyway.'
'And it's the Stettners? How in hell-'
'It's a long story.'
'I got time.'
