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July.
Heat.
In the city, they are synonymous, they are identical, they mean one and the same thing. In the 87th Precinct, they strut the streets with a
vengeance, these twin bitches who wear their bleached blond hair and their bright-red lipstick slashes, who sway on glittering rhinestone
slippers, who launt their saron silk. Heat and July, they are identical twins who were born to make you suer.
!he air is tangible. "ou can reach out to touch it. It is sticky and clinging, you can wrap it around you like a viscous overcoat. !he asphalt
in the gutters has turned to gum, and your heels clutch at it when you try to navigate the streets. !he pavements glow with a lat o-white
brilliance, contrasting with the running black o the gutter, creating an alternating pattern o shade and light that is di##ying. !he sun sits low
on a still sky, a sky as pale as aded dungarees. !here is only a hint o blue in this sky or it has been washed out by the intensity o the sun,
and there is a shimmer over everything, the shimmer o heat ready to e$plode in rain.
!he buildings bear the heat with the solemnity o %rthodo$ Jews in long, black rock coats. !hey have known this heat.
&ome o them have withstood it or close to a century, and so their suering is a silent one' they ace the heat with the
intolerant blankness o stoics.
&crawled onto the pavement in white chalk are the words( JES&S VIENE, PREPARENSE FOR NUESTRA REDENCION!
!he buildings crowd the sidewalks and prepare neither or their redemption nor their perdition.
!here is not much sky on this street.
!here are places in the world where the sky is big, where it stretches rom hori#on to hori#on like a gaudy blue tent, but such
is not the case on this street. !he sky here seems to have been wedged down over the uneven silhouette o the buildings,
crammed into place because it would not it properly, battered with a grimy ist until it tightly capped the street and contained
the heat there.
!he street is )uiet.
It is only 8(*+ in the morning, and it is &unday.
!here are unluttering scraps o newspapers in the gutters' they share the gummy asphalt with empty tin cans and broken
bottles and sticks ripped rom orange crates. In the empty lot on one corner, there are the charred remains o bonires, a torn
and soiled crib mattress, the trailing white snakes o used condoms. !he ire escapes are hung with the trivia o lie( blankets,
pillows, beer cases, potted plants, and here and there a guitar. , man sleeping on one o the ire escapes moves his arm, and it
dangles down through the iron bars or a moment, swings idly, and then comes to a rest.
!his is the only movement on the street.
!he air is etidly still. !he heat is a sel-contained, lieless unit which does not stir and which discourages the motion o
anything it embraces. It has baked itsel into the brick ronts o the tenements, and the asphalt, and the pavements, and the sky.
It has baked itsel into these things and onto these things like orange enamel on copper.
&omewhere in the distance, the church bells toll, or this is &unday morning, but even the bells ring )ut on the air with a
harsh latness, a metallic unevenness that must orce its way through layers and layers o heat. -eneath that, like a rushing
counterpoint, the elevated train roars past two blocks south, and then the train sound dies, and the bell sound dissipates in the
sticky silence o the air, and the street is still once more.
!wo people will die on this street today.
!he boy.s name was /ip.
He was seventeen years old and he erupted rom the mouth o the tenement like a hand-grenade e$plosion. He came onto the
stoop lightly, and then almost danced down the steps. He looked up at the waking man on the ire escape, waved nonchalantly,
and then glanced up the street. He was tall and thin, good-looking in a craggy way, with a light comple$ion and black hair
which he wore in a high crown o his orehead. He was wearing tight black slacks and high-topped combat boots and a bright
silk purple 0acket with his name embroidered in yellow on the let breast.
He looked at his watch.
It was 8(*1, and he noted the time and then nodded, as i he had correctly estimated the e$act duration o each o his
movements up to this moment, as i he and the universe were meshing gears correctly. He looked up the street again. !here
was an air o restless urgency about him, the air a business magnate wears when he is e$pecting to close a deal or the
purchase o a new company. !he attitude was curious on a seventeen-year-old. ,nd yet, he looked at his watch again, a person
captured by the intricacies o time, the mind o a ity-year-old banker seemingly ensnared in the body o an adolescent.
He lighted a cigarette, took several pus on it, and then stamped it out under one booted oot. He looked at his watch again,
stepped into the center o the street, and then started or the luncheonette on the corner. , huge sign traveled the corner o the
building over the luncheonette like the marching electric letters o the !imes -uilding in 2ew "ork. !hese letters, however,
were painted in red on a white ield and they did not announce world-shattering events. !hey simply stated( 34I&
3425H6%26!!6. !he luncheonette occupied a space in the corner o the building. 7hen the doors were rolled back, the
luncheonette became an e$tension o the sidewalk, open on both sides, the avenue and the street. !he doors were closed now.
!he corrugated iron presented the impregnable look o a ortress. !he boy went to the door on the street side, tried it, ound it
locked, and kicked it in anger.
87hat are you doing there98 a voice said. 8:et away rom there;8
!he man who came up the street had spoken with a slight &panish accent, a gentle accent which seemed molded e$actly to
his appearance. He was a stoop-shouldered man wearing a small black mustache, a man who seemed older than his ity-odd
years, who moved with an economy that somehow seemed tortured.
8<on.t tell me you.re inally gonna open this dump;8 /ip said.
3uis ,mande# walked to the huge iron door and said, 87hat are you doing9 !rying to break in here, hah9 !hat what you
were trying to do98
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He reached into his pocket or the key to the padlock, inserted it, took o the lock, and prepared to roll the door back into its
overhead tracks.
8<on.t latter the dump,8 /ip said. 85ome on, come on, get the lead out. %pen the goddamn doors.8
8!his is my place, and I.ll open them as slow or as ast as I want to. "ou snotnoses...8
/ip grinned suddenly. 85ome on, man,8 he said, and there was inectious warmth in his voice now. 8"ou got to move; "ou
want to get any place, you got to move."
3uis rolled back the irst o the doors. 8I wish you would move,8 he said. 8!o 5aliornia.8
8<ig the old bird,8 /ip said. 8He.s got humor.8 ,nd he walked into the luncheonette and directly to the wall phone near the
0ukebo$. 3uis went around to the avenue side and took the padlock o the door there, rolling the door back, allowing the
sunshine to rip through the corner stone like crossire. /ip had taken the phone rom its hook, reached into his pocket or a
coin, and discovered that the smallest change he had was a )uarter. He slammed the receiver onto the hook and went to meet
3uis as he entered the shop.
83isten, break a )uarter or me,8 he said.
87hat or98 3uis asked. 8=or the 0ukebo$98
87hat.s all the time .7hat or9. <on.t I buy enough in this crumby 0oint9 I ask you or change, don.t give me a <ragnet
routine.8
8It.s too early to play the 0uke,8 3uis said calmly, going behind the counter and taking a white apron rom a hook. 8!here are
still people sleeping.8
8In the irst place, I don.t care who.s sleeping. It.s time they were hustling. In the second place, I ain.t gonna play the 0uke,
I.m gonna make a phone call. ,nd in the third and last place, you don.t change this two bits or me, and one day you.re liable to
come in and ind all your coeepots busted.8
8"ou threaten me98 3uis said. 8I am a riend o the police. I tell them...8
85ome on, come on,8 /ip said, and again the warm grin lashed on his ace. 8"ou can sue me later. >ight now, give me the
change, huh9 5ome on.8
3uis shook his head, picked up the )uarter, and reached into his pocket. He made the change, and /ip picked it up and
started or the telephone. He began dialing. 3uis, since money matters had been brought to mind, walked to the cash register,
reached into his pocket, and put in his day.s starting money, laying the bills into the register drawer. He was about to break
open a roll o dimes when /ip yelled, 8Hey; Hey, 5ooch; %ver here;8
3uis turned. !he second boy was also rom the neighborhood, also wearing one o the purple silk 0ackets, but he was
younger than /ip. 3uis studied him rom the distance o age, and wondered i he too had sported such a ridiculously thin and
boyish-looking mustache when he was si$teen. He decided that he had not. !he boy was short and s)uat, with thick powerul
hands. His comple$ion was dark. He spotted /ip rom the middle o the street and shouted, 8Hey, /ipboy;8 and then broke into
a trot or the luncheonette. 3uis sighed and cracked the roll o dimes on the edge o the cash drawer.
87hat the hell kept you98 /ip asked. 8I was 0ust calling your house.8
8%h, man, don.t ask,8 5ooch said. He spoke, as did /ip, without a trace o an accent. -oth were total products o the city and
the neighborhood, as ar removed rom Puerto >ico as was ?ongolia. &tudying them, 3uis elt suddenly old, suddenly oreign.
He shrugged, went to his stove, and began putting up his pots o coee.
8?y people are the eeriest, you know that, man98 5ooch said. He had large brown eyes, and he used his ace e$pressively
when he spoke, like a television comic going through a amous routine. 8I think my old man must be on the 5hamber o
5ommerce, I swear to :od.8
87hat.s your old man got to do with your being late9 I said a )uarter to nine, so here it is...8
8He gets a letter rom Puerto >ico,8 5ooch went on blithely, 8and right away he lips. .5ome stay with us,. he writes. .5ome
live with us. -ring all your kids, and your grandma, and your police dog. 7e.ll take care o you..8 5ooch slapped his orehead
dramatically. 8&o all our goddamn bareoot cousins come lop with us. ,nd every time another one shows up at the airport, my
old man throws a party.8
83isten, what.s this got to...8
8He threw a party last night. %ut came the goddamn guitars. 7e had enough strings there to start a symphony. "ou shoulda
seen my old man. He has a couple o drinks, right away his hands head or my old lady. 3ike homing pigeons. !wo drinks, and
his hands were on her ass.8
83ook, 5ooch, who cares where your old man.s...8
8Judging rom last night,8 5ooch said relectively, 8I should have another brother soon.8
8,ll right, now how come you.re late98
8I been trying to tell you. !he 0ump didn.t break up until our ,.?. I could hardly crawl outa bed this morning. I still can.t see
too straight.8 He paused. 87here.s Papa9 ,in. he here yet98
8!hat.s what I.m wondering. "ou all think we.re playing games here.8
87ho, me98 5ooch said, oended. 8?e9 I think that98
8%kay, maybe not you,8 /ip said, relenting. 8!he other guys.8
8?e98 5ooch persisted, astonished and hurt. 8?e9 7ho was it irst showed you around the scene when you moved up
here98
8%kay, I said not you, didn.t I98
87here.d you come rom9 &ome crumby slum near the 5alm.s Point -ridge9 7hat the hell did you know about this
neighborhood9 7ho showed you around, huh98
8"ou did, you did,8 /ip said patiently.
8"eah. &o right away you hop on me. , ew minutes late, and you...8 -"Ten minutes late,8 /ip corrected.
8,ll right, ten minutes, I didn.t know you had a stop watch. ?an, I don.t understand you sometimes, /ip. &aying I think
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we.re playing games here. ?an, i ever a guy...8
8I said not you; =or Pete.s sake, I said no you! I.m talking about the other studs.8 He paused. 8<id you stop by or &i$to98
8"eah. !hat.s another reason I.m late. "ou give me all these stops to...8
8&o where is he98
8He had to help his old lady.8
8<oing what98
87ith the baby. 3isten, you think it.s kicks having a baby in the house9 I never seen a kid could wet her pants like &i$to.s
sister. 6very time you turn around, that kid is pissing.8
8He was changing her pants98 /ip asked, astonished.
8He was powdering her behind the last time I seen him.8
8I.m gonna powder h!" behind when he gets here;8 /ip said angrily. 8&ee, that.s 0ust what I mean. He thinks we.re ooling
around here. !hen you wonder why we ain.t making a name or ourselves. It.s because nobody on this club.s or real, that.s
why. 6verybody e$pects me to do everything.8
87e got a name, /ip,8 5ooch said gently.
87e got balls; "ou guys still think this is a goddamn basket ball team at the -oys. 5lub. 7hen you gonna grow up9 "ou
want to walk the streets in this neighborhood, or you want to hide every time there.s a backire98
8I don.t hide rom nothing;8
8"ou think anybody on the >oyal :uardians is scared o anything98 /ip asked.
82o, but the >oyal :uardians got two hundred and ity members.8
8&o how do you think they got them members9 -y being late when there.s a wash 0ob scheduled98
8Hey;8 5ooch said suddenly.
87hat.s the matter98
8&hhhh.8
, woman was coming up the street, her ample breasts bobbing with the haste o her steps. Her black hair was pulled into a
bun at the back o her neck. &he looked neither to the right nor to the let. &he walked with a purposeulness, almost a
blindness, passing the boys who stood in the open street side o the luncheonette, turning the corner, and moving out o sight.
8"ou see who that was98 5ooch whispered.
8!hat lady98
8"eah.8 5ooch nodded. 8,lie.s mother.8
87hat98 He walked to the corner and stared up the avenue. -ut the woman was already gone.
8,lredo :ome#.s mother,8 5ooch said. 8?an, was she in a hurry; /ip, you think he told her98
87hat do I care, he told her or not98
87hat I mean ... like this is his old lady ... like i he told her...8
8&o he told her. How.s that gonna help him98
8"ou know how dames are. &he might.ve got e$cited. &he might.ve...8
8&top crapping your pants, will you9 "ou got nothing but small-time guts, you know that9 "ou.re 0ust like my old man. He
talks like a senator. , real wheel. ,lways telling me about Puerto >ico. 7ho cares about that damn island9 I was born here,
right in this city. I.m a re#$ ,merican. -ut he.s always telling me what a big shot he was in &an Juan. "ou know what it turns
out he done there9 I ound out rom one o my uncles. "ou know what he done98
87hat98
8He i$ed bicycles or a living. &o that.s the big wheel. -ig #$% that.s all. -ut small-time guts.8
8I got as much guts...8
8&ure, so you see ,lie.s mother out or a stroll, and you start shaking. "ou know what you.re gonna be when you grow
up98
82o. 7hat98
8, guy who i$es bicycles.8 , 8,w, come on. I...8
8%r a guy who shines shoes.8
8I never @shined a pair o shoes in my lie;8 5ooch said proudly. 8I don.t even shine my own shoes;8
8!hat.s wly you look like a slob,8 /ip said, and then abruptly turned.his head. &omeone was approaching.
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!he sailor had rounded the corner as 5ooch spoke. He was a tall, blond man A well, not e$actly a man, and yet not a boy.
He was perhaps twenty-two years old, and he had reached that mysterious boundary line which divided a man rom a boy, but
he was still straddling the line so that it was impossible to think o him as a boy, and yet stretching a point to consider him a
man. ?an or boy, he was )uite drunk at the moment He walked with the sailor.s habitual roll, but the roll was somewhat
rustrated by his erratic drunken weaving. His white hat was perched precariously on the back o his head, and his white
uniorm was spotlessly clean, relecting the early-morning sunshine with a da##ling brilliance. He stopped on the corner,
looked up at the sign over the luncheonette, mumbled something to himsel, shook his head violently, and then continued up
the street.
/ip stiled a laugh and nudged 5ooch in the ribs.
8!en bucks says I know what he.s looking or,8 5ooch said, grinning.
82ever mind what he.s looking or. :o get &i$to and Papa.
!ell them I.m waiting, and tell them I.m getting slightly p.o..d. 2ow move.8
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8<on.t get e$cited,8 5ooch said, but he moved up the street )uickly, passing the drunken sailor who had headed back
towards the luncheonette. !he sailor was in that sort o ha#e where everything seems to involve a decision meriting vast
concentration and deliberation. He stopped at each building, studied the numerals, shook his head solemnly, and inally wound
up in ront o the luncheonette again, still shaking his head. He studied the sign, considered the vast symbolism in the words
34I& 3425H6%26!!6, pondered this symbolism or a while, shook his head again, and was beginning to retrace his steps down
the street when /ip said, 8Help you, sailor98
8Huh98 the sailor asked.
8"ou look lost,8 /ip said. His manner was )uite pleasant. He grinned warmly and the sailor responded to the grin
immediately, the lost wanderer accepting the irst riendly hand.
83isten,8 he said drunkenly, 8where.s 3a ... 3a :alli... 3a ... 3isten, I was talking to a guy inna bar downtown, you know9
,n. we began discussin....8 He stopped and studied /ip with drunkenly proound narrowness. 83isten, how old are you98
8&eventeen,8 /ip said.
8%h.8
!he sailor tabulated this silently, his mind whirring. He nodded. 8%kay, then. I didn.t wanna impair the morals o a ... so this
guy an. me, we were discussin. ... well, I was sorta e$pressin. my desire or sorta climbin. into bed with a emale, you know9 ,
girl. "ou know98
8&o he sent you up here98
8"eah. 2o. "eah, yeah, he did. He said there was a place up here called ... ah... 3a :allina.8 He pronounced the word with a
7estern twang that brought a new smile to /ip.s mouth.
"&# '#$$!n#, yes,8 /ip said, giving it the proper &panish pronunciation.
8"eah,8 the sailor said, nodding, 8where he said I could get anything I want. 2ow how about that98
8He was right,8 /ip answered.
8&o here I am,8 the sailor said. He paused. 87here is it98
8>ight down the street there.8
8!hank you,8 the sailor said, nodding. 8!hank you ver. much.8 He started o down the street again.
8<on.t mention it,8 /ip said, smiling. He stared ater the sailor or a ew moments, and then went into the luncheonette.
8:ive me a cup o coee, 3uis,8 he said.
!he sailor went down the street, studying each doorway as he had beore. He stopped suddenly, looked at the lettering on
the plate-glass window o a bar, and muttered, 83a :allina, I.ll be damned. =eller was right.8 He walked directly to the ront
door, not e$pecting it to be locked, trying to open it, and then discovering that it was locked, immensely annoyed that the knob
had resisted his hand. He backed away rom the door and yelled, 8Hey; Hey, wake up; 7ake up, goddamnit; I.m here;8
87hat the hell is that98 3uis said.
8&ailor out there,8 /ip said, grinning.
3uis came rom behind the counter. 4p the street, the sailor-was still shouting at the top o his lungs.
8"ou;8 3uis said. 8Buiet, )uiet.8
!he sailor turned. 8"ou talking to me, mate98
"S!, I.m talking to you, mate. &top the racket. !his is &unday morning. People like to sleep, you know9 "ou wake them up.8
87ell, hell, thass what I.m ry!n( to do, you know.8
87hy you trying to wake them up or98
.85ause I wanna go to bed.8
8!hat makes sense, all right,8 3uis said, nodding patiently. 8,re you drunk98
8?e98 the sailor said. 8?e98
8"es.8
8Hell, no.8
8"ou look perhaps a little drunk.8
!he sailor walked to where 3uis was standing, put his hands on his hips and said, 87ell, maybe I am perhaps a li.l drunk. &o
ain.t you never been perhaps a li.l drunk98
8I have been a little drunk,8 3uis said, 8and I have been a lot drunk. 5ome. I.ll make you a cup o coee.8
87huor98
87hat or98 3uis shrugged and walked into the luncheonette. !he sailor ollowed him. 8-ecause I like sailors,8 3uis said. 8I
used to be a sailor mysel once.8
8<id you ind it, pal98 /ip interrupted.
8"eah. It.s closed.8
"I coulda told you that.8
8&o why dinn you98
8"ou didn.t ask.8
8%h, you.re one o ho"e guys,8 the sailor said.
87hich guys98 /ip asked, and he stiened suddenly on the counter stool, as i e$pecting an attack.
8!he guys you got to ask.8
8"eah,8 /ip answered. 8I.m one o ho"e guys. &o what98
>apidly, perhaps because he sensed /ip.s sudden belligerence, perhaps because he simply wanted to switch the conversation
back to himsel, 3uis said, 8"es, I was in the 2avy rom CDEF to CDE7. "es, sir.8
87as you on a ship98 the sailor asked. I he had detected any challenge in /ip.s voice, he was studiously ignoring it. 6ither
that, or he was too drunk to have noticed.
8, man who has not been on a ship is not a sailor.8 He looked over at the bubbling &ile$es. 8!he coee is almost ready.8
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87hat kind o a ship98
8, garbage scow,8 /ip said )uickly, and he grinned.
82ever mind this smart one. I was on a mine sweep.8
87hat was your rate98 the sailor asked suspiciously.
8"ou never heard o >ear ,dmiral 3uis ,mande#98 /ip asked, mock surprise spreading over his uneven eatures.
8I was a steward.s mate,8 3uis answered with dignity. 8,nd you shut up, you little snotnose.8
87ha.d he say your name was9 3ouise98
8"eah, that.s right,8 /ip answered, chuckling. 8!his here is ,unt 3ouise.8
83ouise9 "eah98
82o, 3uis. 3uis.8
82o, 3ouise,8 /ip insisted.
8,re you a ?e$ican, 3ouise98 the sailor asked.
82o.8 3uis shook his head. 8Puerto >ican.8
87ell, that.s the same thing, ain.t it98
87ellA8 3uis thought or a moment, and then shrugged resignedly. "S!, the same thing.8
87hat part o ?ehico you rom98 the sailor asked obliviously.
8!he part down in the 5aribbean,8 3uis said dryly.
8!he anne$,8 /ip put in. 8&outh. "ou know98
8,nd whereabouts in Puerto >ico98
8, town called 5abo >o0o, do you know it98
8I only know !ia Juana,8 the sailor said, 8and I ain.t even been here. 5losest I ever got was &an <iego.8
8Here,8 3uis said, pouring a cup o coee. 8<rink this.8
87here.s mine98 /ip asked.
8I have only two hands.8 He inished pouring the sailor.s coee, and then poured a cup or /ip.
87hat brung you all the way here rom Puerto >ico98 the sailor asked.
87ork,8 3uis said. 8, man has to work, you know.8
87here you rom, sailor98 /ip asked.
8=letcher,8 the sailor said. 8!hat.s in 5olorado.8
8I never heard o it.8
8It.s there, all right.8
!he three ell silent.
/ip and the sailor sipped at their coee. 3uis got to work behind the counter. !here seemed to be nothing more to say to
each other. !he three, ater all, had very little in common. %ne had in)uired about the whereabouts o a bar-)uasi-whorehouse.
!he other had told him where it was. !he third had served them both coee. %ne was in his early ities, the other was perhaps
twenty-two, and the third was seventeen. %ne was born in Puerto >ico, the other in =letcher, 5olorado, and the third was a
native o the city. !hus divided by time and space and natural inclination, there was nothing each could say to the other at the
moment, and so they ell silent.
,nd yet, within the silence, their thoughts ran in strangely similar patterns so that, i the thoughts had been voiced, each
would have instantly understood A or thought he.d understood A the other.
3uis had begun thinking about why he.d come to the mainland, about why he.d let the place o his birth. He had told the
sailor he had come here to work, and yet he knew it was something more than that. It was not to work, it was to )e(!n. He had
lived on the island with a wie and three children, and the island A despite his love or it A had meant primarily one thing,
and that thing was hunger. 5onstant hunger. Hunger that lingered through the cane-cutting season because you could not spend
all o your earnings while the season was in swing' you had to save some or the empty days ahead. !here was not much to
hold and not much to save. "ou ished in the o season, and sometimes your haul was good A but most o the time you were
hungry. ,nd being hungry, even knowing that everyone else around you was hungry, being hungry somehow reduced you to
being nothing. !here were things he would always love about the island, the innate pride and decency and hospitality o the
people, the respect humans automatically showed to other humans, a respect bred o sunshine and lush tropical oliage where
cruelty seemed blatantly out o place. !he island seemed to draw people closer together, strengthening their bonds as humans.
,nd yet, contradicting this was the dire economic need, so that on the one hand 3uis had elt like a very important person with
many riends and much love, and on the other he had elt like a hungry animal.
,nd so he.d let the island. He.d let the island in search o a beginning. He had worked hard or the luncheonette. It was still
owned mostly by the bank, but he knew now that he would never go hungry again. ,nd i he had lost something else,
something )uite dear to him, he had another sort o satisaction, and this satisaction was in his stomach and his bowels where
perhaps a man eels it most.
!he sailor sipped at his coee and thought o =letcher, 5olorado.
He did not oten think o =letcher because he ound he got sad whenever he did. He had been born in =letcher, and he
learned early the meaning o the words 8small town8. 7hen a place is called a small town, it has nothing whatever to do with
the si#e o the town. , giant metropolis can be a small town, and some very large cities #re small towns in every sense o the
word. =letcher, 5olorado, was 0ust like every other small town in the 4nited &tates o ,merica. !here was a schoolhouse, and
a church, and a row o stores. !here were <>IG6 A 5HI3<>62 A &3%7 signs, and &P66< 3I?I! &!>I5!3" 62=%>56<
signs, and there were the teenage kids hanging out in the corner drugstore, and the -oy &cout cookouts, and the 3ittle 3eague,
and the choir practice, and the S#ur*#y Even!n( Po" route, and in the spring the orsythias lined the highway with bright
yellow and there was the bursting pink o cherry blossoms, and in the all he would go hunting or deer with his ather and his
older brother, and the woods would shriek with color. In the winter, there was deep snow and skiing. !he mountains
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surrounded the town. "ou could always see the mountains. 6verybody in town knew everybody else in town. He met 5orrine
at a church picnic when he was si$ years old. -y the time they were eleven, everybody in town had decided that one day they
would get married. 7hen he got a swimming medal in his reshman year at high school, he gave it to 5orrine. He went
everywhere with 5orrine and did everything with 5orrine, and it became plain to him ater a while that 5orrine was perectly
happy to have been born and raised in a town like =letcher, and that she would be happy to get married there, and breed kids
there, and eventually to die there. ,nd suddenly, he wondered i this was what he himsel wanted.
%h, he loved 5orrine, it wasn.t that. He supposed he loved her. &he had very straight red hair that she wore loose around her
shoulders, and she had very bright blue eyes and a nose that tilted slightly at the tip, she looked e$actly like those pictures o
small-town ,merican girls he had seen on the covers o the S#ur*#y Even!n( Po" when he used to deliver the maga#ine. ,nd
he liked to neck with her. He liked to touch her, too, whenever she let him, which wasn.t oten, and he never could igure out
when she wanted him to and when she didn.t want him to' he supposed he loved her because he respected her wishes in the
matter.
,nd then, one day, all o a sudden, he decided he was going to 0oin the 2avy. 7hen his parents asked him why, when
:orrine asked him why, when his riends asked him why, he told them he would be drated soon anyway, and he might 0ust as
well go into the 2avy where a ellow didn.t have to go on hikes or sleep in the mud. !hat was what he told all these people.
-ut he knew why he was really 0oining the 2avy. He was 0oining the 2avy to get out o =letcher. He was 0oining the 2avy
because =letcher was slowly and surely suocating him, and he could eel those mountains moving in closer and closer every
day, and he knew that one day he would no longer be able to breathe, that one day he would be crushed by everything in this
small town. 7hen he let, he told himsel he would never return. ,nd so it made him sad to think about =letcher.
/ip, drinking his coee, studying his relection in the mirror behind the counter, did not eel sad at all. /ip elt pretty damn
good. /ip elt, at last, that things were beginning to click. !hey had never clicked or him in that ratty neighborhood
downtown. !here.d been nothing there or him but getting kicked by the older kids. =at ,ss 5harlie, they used to call him. =at
,ss 5harlie, and )#m! a well-placed kick right in the middle o that at ass. !he nickname had persisted even when he began
thinning into adolescence. ,nd then they.d moved.
,nd suddenly, he wasn.t at-assed any more, and he wasn.t even 5harlie any more. He began calling himsel /ip, and he
began eeling that there was opportunity in this new neighborhood, the opportunity to be the person he wanted to be, and not
the person everybody else thought he should be. He.d met 5ooch, and 5ooch had shown him the ropes and suggested that they
0oin the biggest club in the neighborhood, the >oyal :uardians.
-ut /ip had ideas o his own. 7hy become a schnook running around the ringes o the higher-ups when you could have a
club o your own9 ,nd so he suggested the 3atin Purples, and he planned to start it small, si$, seven guys to begin with A so
ar there were only our. ,nd 5ooch.s sister-in-law had sewn the purple 0ackets or them, and he wore his 0acket with a great
deal o pride now because the 0acket meant something to him, the 0acket meant that he was on his way.
I you.d asked him where he was going, he couldn.t have told you.
-ut he knew he was on his way, and he knew that today would be the clincher, today would be the day he reali#ed himsel
ully as a person.
,nd so the three o them sat with their separate thoughts, thoughts which were strangely similar, and when the sailor inally
spoke, both 3uis and /ip knew instantly what he meant.
!he sailor said, 8"ou can lose yoursel in =letcher. "ou can get 0ust plumb lost.8 He shook his head. 8!hat.s why I let. I
wanted to know who I was.8
8,nd have you ound out98 3uis asked.
8:ive him time,8 /ip said. 8"ou think a guy can make a rep in one day98
8I.ll ind out, 3ouise,8 the sailor said.
8How9 7ith the girls rom 3a :allina98
8Huh98
8&ailor, take my advice,8 3uis said. 8:o back to your ship. !his neighborhood is not always a nice place.8
83eave him alone,8 /ip said. 8He wants a girl, I.ll help him ind one.8 He winked at the sailor, and then he grinned broadly.
8<on.t let &unday morning ool you,8 3uis said. 83ast night, there was drinking and guitars. ,nd this morning, everyone
sleeps. -ut sometimes ... sailor, take my advice. :o back to your ship...8
8I think I.ll hang around or a while.8
8!hen be careul, eh9 "ou are a stranger here. 5hoose your company.8 He looked at /ip meaningully. 8!here are good and
bad, en!en*e+ "ou understand9 !ake care.8
!he sailor swung around on his stool. He leaned his elbows on the counter top and drunkenly looked out over the sun-
washed street.
8It looks nice and peaceul to me,8 he murmured.
85an you see through the walls, sailor98 3uis asked. 8<o you know what goes on under the skin o the buildings98
3
!he skin o the building which housed the uniormed cops and detectives o the 87th Precinct was not lovely, nor engaged,
nor had it been washed in more than hal a century. It presented a characterless gray to the park across the street, a gray which
seemed contradictory to the bright sunshine that illed the air. !he gray stones were rough and uneven, covered with the soot
and grime o the city, relieved only by the hanging green globes which announced in white numerals to the world at large that
this was Precinct 87.
!he low, lat steps o the ront stoop led to a pair o glass-ronted doors which were open now to permit the entrance o
6
6
whatever scant bree#e rustled across :rover Park. !he bree#e, unortunately, did not get very much urther than the entrance
doors. It certainly did not pass into the muster room where &ergeant <ave ?urchison sat behind his high desk pulling at his
undershorts and cursing the heat. , rotating electric an sat on top o the switchboard to the let o the desk. !he switchboard,
at the moment, wasn.t blinking with calls rom the violated citi#enry, thank :od. ?urchison wiped sweat rom his brow,
tugged at his undershorts, and wondered i it was any cooler upstairs.
, long wooden pla)ue, painted white and then overlaid with the black letters <6!65!IG6 <IGI&I%2, pointed to a light o
narrow iron-runged steps which led upstairs to the bull pen. !he light o steps, gathering heat only rom a small window
where the steps turned back upon themselves beore continuing to the second loor, was perhaps the coolest spot in the station
house. -eyond the steps, a long corridor led to the detective s)uadroom where a battery o electric ans ought valiantly to
produce some semblance o a bree#e. !he grilled windows at the ar end o the s)uadroom admitted bright, golden sunlight
which spread across the wooden loor like licking lames. !he men in the s)uadroom sat in shirt sleeves at sun-drenched desks.
I there was one nice thing about being a detective, it was the act that a gray lannel suit, a button-down shirt, and a neat
black tie were not re)uisites o the 0ob. <etective &teve 5arella was perhaps the only detective in the s)uadroom on that
&unday morning in July who looked as i he might be an advertising e$ecutive. -ut then, 5arella always looked as i he were
dressed or the pages o E",u!re. 6ven wearing a leather 0acket and dungarees, he managed to e$ude the scent o careul
grooming. He was a tall man whose sinewy body gave only the slightest hint o the power he possessed. 4npadded, slender
with a rawboned simplicity, he seemed built to latter whatever clothes were heaped onto his rame. !his morning he was
wearing a blue seersucker suit, the 0acket o which was draped over the back o his chair. He had worn a bow tie to work, but
had untied it the moment he entered the s)uadroom so that it hung loosely about his neck now, his shirt unbuttoned, his head
bent over the report he was studying.
!he other cops presented a slightly less sartorial appearance. ,ndy Parker, a cop who would have looked like a bum even
when dressed or his own uneral, was wearing a pair o tan nylon slacks and a sports shirt which had surely been designed in
honor o Hawaii.s having achieved statehood. Hula girls swayed their hips all over Parker.s shirt. &urboarders litted over his
huge barrel chest. !he colors on the shirt e$ploded like >oman candles. Parker, who looked unshaven even though he had
shaved closely beore reporting to the s)uadroom, pounded at a typewriter with both huge hands, using his ingers like ists.
!he typewriter seemed to resist each successive assault wave, a machine reusing to succumb to brute orce. Parker continued
to smash into it as i he were engaged in mortal combat, cursing each time the keys locked, slamming the carriage over
whenever he reached the end o a line o the <.<. report, the bell clanging savagely in protest.
82o arrest,8 he muttered savagely, 8but I got to type up a damn report, anyway.8
8-e glad you.re alive,8 5arella said, not looking up rom the sheet in his hands.
8It.ll take more than a punk like Pepe ?iranda to put the blocks to me, pal,8 Parker said. He continued smashing at the
typewriter.
8"ou.re lucky,8 5arella said. 8He was eeling charitable. He had your gun, and he had everybody else.s gun, and you.re 0ust
damn lucky he didn.t decide to kill you all.8
8He was chicken,8 Parker said, looking up. 8I that was me in his place, I.d have blasted every cop in sight, and then shot a
ew passers-by 0ust or the hell o it. -ut ?iranda was chicken. He knows the 0ig.s up, so he igured he wouldn.t add anything
else to what we already got on him.8
8?aybe he liked your ace,8 5arella said. 8?aybe he igured you were too sweet to shoot.8
8"eah,8 Parker said, and he ripped the <.<. report rom the machine. He did not like 5arella. He could still remember the
time in ?arch when he and 5arella had mi$ed it up a little in the s)uadroom. !he ight had ended abruptly because =rankie
Hernande# had reminded them both that the lieutenant was in the building. -ut Parker didn.t like uninished business. ,nd
maybe 5arella had orgotten all about the incident A though he doubted it A but Parker had not, and would not until the
thing was resolved inally, one way or another. !hinking back to that ?arch day, he thought it odd that the same men had
been present in the s)uadroom, the three o them, and that 5arella had taken oense at a chance remark made to Hernande#.
7hy the hell were people always so touchy9 He dropped the report on his desk and walked to the water cooler.
=rankie Hernande#, the third man who.d been there on that ?arch day, the third man in the s)uadroom on this day in July,
was standing at one o the iling cabinets, the drawer open. He wore a short-sleeved white shirt and dark-blue trousers. , .F8
police special protruded rom the holster strapped to his chest. He was a wide-shouldered man with a tan comple$ion and
straight, black hair. His eyes were brown, the eyes o man who e$pected to be oended and who, as a result, was constantly
prepared or the eventuality. It was not easy to be a Puerto >ican cop in a neighborhood with such a large Puerto >ican
population A especially i you happened to have been born and raised in the streets o the precinct. 7hatever battles
Hernande# ought with his neighbors, the police, and himsel were relected in his eyes. He was not a happy man. 2o man
dedicated to a single cause ever is.
87hat do you think o your pal there98 Parker asked rom the cooler.
87hat pal98 Hernande# asked 8?iranda.8
8He.s no pal o mine,8 Hernande# answered.
8I thought we had him cold yesterday,8 Parker said, illing a paper cup and drinking rom it. He wiped his lips with the back
o his hand. 8=ive o us walked into that apartment, and the son o a bitch pulls a gun rom someplace up his sleeve and cold-
cocks us. !he rotten punk. He made us look like amateurs. "ou see the paper today9 .?iranda =oils 5ops.. , punk getting
headlines.8
8He.s still no pal o mine,8 Hernande# said.
8"eah,8 Parker answered. He seemed ready to say more, but he let the matter drop. 87ho was that woman up here98 he
asked.
8Her name.s :ome#,8 Hernande# answered.
87hat.d she want98
7
7
8Her son.s in some kind o trouble. &he wants me to talk to him.8
87hat the hell does she think you are9 , priest98
Hernande# shrugged.
8"ou gonna go98 Parker asked.
8,s soon as I inish what I.m working on.8
8?aybe you are a priest.8
8?aybe,8 Hernande# replied.
Parker walked to the coat rack in one corner o the room and took a dark-blue Panama rom one o the pegs. 8I.m going
outside,8 he said, 8see i I can.t hear something.8
8,bout what98 5arella asked.
8,bout that punk ?iranda. He didn.t vanish into thin air, that.s or sure. &o where would you go i you was him98
8!o >ussia,8 5arella replied.
8"eah. 7ell, I think he came back here. >ight here someplace. He sure as hell wouldn.t try to ind another pad in >iverhead,
not ater we almost collared him there. &o where9 Home. Home to the 87th. ,nd i he.s somewhere around here, you can bet
your ass everybody in the streets knows 0ust where. &o ,ndy Parker goes on the earie.8 He stopped at his desk, opened the top
drawer, took out his service revolver and holster, and clipped the holster into his right hip pocket. 8<on.t work too hard,8 he
said, as he went through the gate in the railing. 82ot that I think you need the advice.8
His ootsteps echoed down the long corridor. Hernande# watched him as he turned to go down the light o iron-runged
steps. 7hen he looked back into the s)uadroom, he saw that 5arella had been watching the other man, too.
, glance passed between them. 2either said a word. &ilently, they got back to work.
,#ucena A :ome# had been one o those ortunate people who are born beautiul and who remain beautiul no matter what
tricks lie decides to play on them. Her name, translated rom the &panish, meant 7hite 3ily, and she seemed to have been
appropriately named because her skin was white and smooth, and her ace, her body, seemed to combine all the delicate beauty
and regality o that lower. !he oval o her ace was dominated by brown eyes which slanted to lend an e$otic lair to
otherwise serene eatures. Her nose was straight and slender, her mouth was a mouth which looked as i it could cry. &he had
managed, without the beneit o dieting, to maintain a body which had evoked many a street-corner whistle in her native
Puerto >ico. &he was orty-two years old, and she had known what it was to be a woman, still knew, and she knew the
happiness and sorrow o motherhood. &he was not a tall woman, perhaps the one law which robbed her o true beauty, but she
seemed e$ceptionally tall as she stood by the bed and looked down at her son.
8,lredo98 she said.
He did not answer her. He lay on the bed ull length, his ace buried in the pillow.
8,lredo98
He did not look up. He did not turn his head rom the pillow. 8?ama, lee me alone,8 he mumbled. 8Please.8
8"ou have to listen to me,8 she said. 8It is important that you listen to me.8
8It don. make no dierence wha. you say, ?ama. I already know what I got to do.8
8"ou must go to the church, is that what you must do98
8&i.8
8,nd they will harm you.8
He sat up suddenly. He was a si$teen-year-old boy with his mother.s air comple$ion and wide, brown eyes. !he slight u##
o adolescence clung to his cheeks. His mouth, like his mother.s seemed ready to twist into sorrow.
8I go to church every &unday,8 he said simply. 8I go today too. !hey cannot stop me.8
8!hey cannot stop you, but they will harm you. Is this what they said98
8&i8
87ho told you this98
8!he boys.8
87hich boys98
8?ama, this is not or you,8 ,lredo said plaintively. 8!his is somethin....8
87hy9 7hy will they hurt you98
,lredo would not answer. He stared at his mother, but he remained silent.
87hy, ,lredo98
!he tears came suddenly. He elt them welling into his eyes, and he turned rom her )uickly so that she would not see him
crying. He threw himsel onto the bed again, his ace buried in the pillow, his shoulders heaving as he sobbed. His mother
touched his shoulder.
85ry,8 she said.
8?ama, I am ashaA8
8It is good to cry. "our ather used to cry sometimes. It is not a sin or a man to cry.8
8?ama, ?ama, please, you don.t understan....8
8I understand that you are my son,8 ?rs. :ome# said with simple logic. 8I understand that you are good, and that those who
wish to harm you are bad. It is not or the bad ones to rule the streets, ,lredo. "ou say you must go to eleven o.clock mass,
the way you always do. "ou say you must go, even though they will hurt you. Th!" I do no understand.8
He sat up again, and the words sprang rom his lips like a scream.
8I -#nn ur%ey ou!"
8"ou can.t ... turkey out98 she asked, pu##led.
8I cann be aray, ?ama. I cann be turkey. "ou don. understan.. !his is not somethin. you understan.. Please. 3et me do what
I got to do.8
8
8
His mother stood by the bed, staring at him,.staring at her son as i somehow she did not know him any longer, as i
somehow the inant she had held to her breast, the inant who had sucked o her milk was no longer someone she knew. His
ace, his language, even his eyes seemed distant and strange. &he studied him as i trying to orce the reconstruction o an
earlier bond through the power o her eyes alone.
,t last she said, 8I have gone to the police.8
87hat;8 he shouted.
"S!."
87hy did you do that9 "ou think the police will care abou. me9 ,bout ,lredo :ome#9 !he police are no good. <on. you
know the police here in this neighborhood98
8!here are good police and bad police. I have gone to =rankie Hernande#.8
8He iss the same as dee ress. ?ama, why did you do this9 7hy cann you stay out o this98
8=rankie will help you. He is rom the )#rr!o"
8-ut he.s a cop now, a detective. He...8
8He grew up here in these streets. He is &panish, and he helps his people. He will help you.8
8"ou shoul@ not have gone,8 ,lredo said, shaking his head.
8I have never been inside a police station in my lie,8 ?rs. :ome# said. 8!oday is the irst time. ?y son is in danger, and I
went or help.8 &he paused. 8He said he would come.
I gave him the address. He said he would come to talk to you.8
8I will tell him nothing,8 ,lredo said sotly.
8"ou will tell him all that is necessary to tell him.8
87ha8 time is it98 he asked suddenly.
8"ou have time yet.8
8I got to dress or church.8
82ot until you talk to =rankie Hernande#. He will know what to do.8
8He will know what to do,8 ,lredo said. 8&ure, he will know what to do,8 and the mockery in his voice was tinged with
bitterness and inescapable sorrow.
8He will know what to do,8 ?rs. :ome# said conidently.
4
!he sailor.s name was Je !albot, and the rosy glow o the alcohol was beginning to wear o, and as he surveyed the street
outside the luncheonette, he wondered how he could ever have said it looked like a nice neighborhood. &omehow, even the
sunlight did not help the look o the street outside. It helped only in the way a powerul spotlight helps to illuminate a garbage
dump. He blinked at the sunshine, and he blinked at the street outside, and he suddenly said, 8I.m sober,8 and 0ust as suddenly
reali#ed that he was. 8:ood,8 3uis said. 8How does the world look98 8?iserable.8 He swung his stool back toward the counter.
8I.m getting a headache. !his is a pretty rotten neighborhood, ain.t it98
8It depends how you look at it,8 /ip said. 8I happen to like it.8
8"ou do98
8It.s where I live. 7hen I.m here, that sidewalk sings.8 87hat does it sing98 Je asked. His head was beginning to pound. He
wondered why he was talking with a stranger, wondered why he.d drunk so much the night beore.
87ith him,8 3uis said, 8it sings >ock and >oll.8
8!he old man is very hip, sailor. He knows all the proper...8
/ip stopped talking. He tensed suddenly on the stool, his eyes astened to the street outside.
87hat.s the matter98 Je asked.
8!he 3aw,8 /ip said )uietly.
!he 3aw to which he had reerred was the law as personiied by <etective ,ndy Parker who walked up the street with a sort
o slumped, indierent swagger, a cigarette dangling rom the corner o his mouth, looking or all the world like a penniless
bum who had 0ust come rom sleeping one o in a doorway. His bright Hawaiian shirt was rumpled and soiled with coee
stains. He scratched his chest indolently, his eyes licking the street as he walked.
8!he only law I got to worry about is the &hore Patrol,8 Je said, dismissing him. He shoved his empty cup across the
counter. 85an I get another cup o 0oe98 He grinned and then winced in pain. 8%h, man, but that head hurts when I smile.8
%utside the luncheonette, ,ndy Parker waved at 3uis and said, ".ue /#"#, m#r!-on+"
8Hello, ,ndy,8 3uis said, smiling. 8&ome coee98
8I can use a cup,8 Parker answered. 8Hot.8 He walked into the luncheonette and took the stool ne$t to Jes. He studied /ip
or a moment and then asked, 87hen did you start catering to the punk trade, 3uis98
8I.m having a cup o coee,8 /ip answered. 8,nything wrong with that, 3ieutenant98
8I ain.t a lieutenant, and don.t get smart.8
8I thought you.d at least be a captain by now. ,ter all the drunks you pulled in rom :rover Park.8
83ook, kid...8
8!his is <etective ,ndy Parker, sailor,8 /ip said. 8He.s what is known as a tough cop. =earless. =or two cents, he.d arrest his
own grandmother.8 He grinned almost immediately, and Je recogni#ed the pattern suddenly. It was as i someone had advised
the boy that a grin would take him a long way, especially a grin composed o such sparkling white teeth, a grin that never
ailed to generate a warm response in its recipient. 6ven Parker, aced with the sudden da##ling brilliance o the grin, smiled.
8=or two cents,8 he answered, 8I.d kick your ass all over the sidewalk.8 -ut there was no menace in his words. !he threat,
9
9
disarmed by the grin, was a hollow one.
8&ee98 /ip said, still grinning. 8I.ll bet he can lick any si$teen-year-old kid on the block.8
8:o ahead,8 Parker said, 8push me another inch, kid.8 -ut again the threat was not real, the smile had stolen all its power.
He turned his attention to the sailor, studied him or a moment and then said, 87hat are you doing around here, sailor98
8&ame thing as the kid here,8 Je answered. 8Having a cup o coee.8
83et.s try it again,8 Parker said tiredly. 87hat are you doing around here98
8I heard you the irst time,8 Je said.
8!hen give me a straight answer.8
8Is this neighborhood o limits98
82o, it ain.t o limits, but it sure as hell...8
8!hen leave me alone.8
Parker studied him silently or a moment. !hen he said, 8Pretty salty, huh98
8"eah, pretty salty,8 Je said.
8,ndy, he.s a little drunk,8 3uis put in, spreading his hands. 8"ou know, go easy on...8
8Heep out o this, 3uis,8 Parker snapped.
8I.m sober now, 3ouise. !hanks.8
8I asked a )uestion.8
8%h, or :od.s sake,8 Je said, 8I came to sit up with a sick grandmother.8
/ip burst out laughing and then immediately s)uelched the laughter when Parker turned a rigid glare on him. /ip shrugged.
Parker turned back to the sailor.
87hat.s your grandmother.s name98 he asked icily.
82ow you got me, oicer. I always 0ust called her plain :randma.8
87hat ship you o98
87hy98
8I.m asking;8
8How do I know you ain.t a >ussian spy98
8"ou guys think you.re pretty wise, don.t you9 5oming up here and ouling up my precinct98
87ho.s ouling up your lousy precinct9 I.m drinking a cup o coee, that.s all.8
8Here, ,ndy, here,8 3uis said, an$ious to make peace. 8Here.s your coee. <rink it while it.s still hot.8
Parker took the cup. 8"ou know how many sailors get rolled up here98 he persisted.
8How many98 Je asked.
8!his sailor don.t get rolled, 3ieutenant,8 /ip said. 8He.s under my protection.8
8"ou couldn.t protect a wooden nickel rom a blind man. 7hat.d you come looking or, sailor98
8I told you,8 Je said, annoyed now. 8:randma.8
8!ail98
87hy9 "ou peddling it on the side98
8&ailor, don.t get...8
8"ou mean to tell me I could actually ind some in this nice, sweet, clean precinct you.re so araid I.m going to oul up98
8&ailor, I.m talking to you like a riend. :et the hell out o here. 3uis, am I giving him bum advice98
3uis shrugged. 8I told him the same thing, ,ndy;8
8&ure,8 Parker said, nodding. 83ook, 3uis lives here. He knows this place like the back o his hand. <id you tell him about
this neighborhood, 3uis98
8I told him, I told him.8
8,bout what you run into around here9 !he guys like Pepe ?iranda98
"S!, ah, there.s a one,8 3uis said.
87hat.s the matter with Pepe98 /ip asked. 8He made you guys look like a bunch o monkeys yesterday.8 He grinned
suddenly. 8How many cops did he ambush9 =our9 =ive9 ?an, he made you look sick.8 He turned to Je. 8!hey walked into
the apartment, and in ten seconds he had their guns and was on his his merry way. !hey.re lucky he didn.t shoot them, 0ust or
kicks.8
8-ig hero, huh98 Parker said. 8He eludes the law, so you make him...8
8I ain.t making him nothing. It only seems to me that you big detective masterminds should have got him by now, that.s all.
<on.t you think so98
87e.ll get him,8 Parker said. 86specially i he came back to this neighborhood.8
"D!* he come back98 /ip asked, leaning orward.
8?aybe,8 Parker said.
82o kidding98
Parker shrugged.
8Here9 2o kidding98
8"ou wouldn.t happen to know where, would you98
8?e9 7hy, 3ieutenant, I would tell you instantly i I knew. -ut, unortunately, I do not ollow the movements o the
underworld.8
83uis98 Parker asked, turning to the counter suddenly, as i hoping to catch 3uis o guard.
8!his is the irst I.m hearing, ,ndy. 7hy did he come back here9 He didn.t cause enough trouble here98
87ho.s Pepe ?iranda98 Je asked.
8Pepe ?iranda is a thirty-ive-year-old punk. ,m I right, 3uis98
10
10
8He.s only a punk .cause you can.t nab him,8 /ip said.
82o, no, ,ndy is right,8 3uis said. 8?iranda.s no good. Pghhh, he.s rotten.8
83uis and I get along ine,8 Parker said. 87e understand each other. He.s been around here as long as I have, and he never so
much as spit on the sidewalk.8 Parker grinned. 8He knows I.d drag him down the station house i he did, huh, 3uis98
8%h, sure, sure,8 3uis said, riding with the gag.
87hy don.t you drag ?iranda down the station house, 3ieutenant98 /ip asked sweetly.
8<on.t think we won.t; ,nd cut the lieutenant crap; He.s been riding or a all or a long time now. 7hen a kid has a 0.d. card
beore he.s ourteen ...8
8, what98 Je asked.
8, 0uvenile delin)uency record. ,t ourteen. &o what can you e$pect9 He.s no dierent now than when he started that street
gang years ago. !he :olden &paniards. >emember them, 3uis9 !his was even beore street gangs were normal around here.8
8He was ahead o his time,8 /ip said, grinning.
8,head o his time, my ass.8
82o good,8 3uis said, pulling a ace. 8I remember. &notnoses. 3ike today. 2o dierent.8
86$cept today is the atomic age,8 Parker said, 8so they carry guns instead o knives. ?iranda killed a kid in CD*E, sailor,
when he was seventeen. &lit the kid rom ear to ear.8
8!he kid probably deserved it,8 /ip said.
8His lawyer got him o with manslaughter,8 Parker said.
8He should have got the chair,8 3uis put in. 8!hey should have burned him.8
8!hey sent him upstate, to 5astleview, and he spent 0ust enough time there to get out o ighting in 7orld 7ar II. 7hen he
was paroled, he came back here. Heroin was the big thing then. ?iranda started pushing it.8
8Poisoning children; ,rgh, what makes men do this;8
82obody starts on horse unless he wants to, dad,8 /ip said. 8<on.t go blaming ?iranda.8
8%kay by you i we blame him or all the people he.s killed in this goddamn city98
8"ou can.t prove he killed anybody.8
8!hat.s what you think. !here.s a lady dying in :eneral Hospital right now, and she identiied a photo o ?iranda as the guy
who beat her up and took her purse.8
8?iranda mugging9 <on.t snow me, cop.8
8?iranda mugging, yes; 2ot such a goddamn big shot any more, is he9 2o more high-pay torpedo 0obs now that the heat.s
on. %nly little ladies to beat up. -elieve me, when we get that bastard we.re gonna throw away the key on him.8
8&ure, when you get him.8
87e.ll get him. He.s here someplace, that.s or sure. %nce we ind out where, goodbye ?iranda. %ne less hero in the
neighborhood.8 He took a long draw at his coee, inishing it. Putting down the cup, he said, 8!hat was good coee, 3uis.
3uis makes the best damn cup o coee in the city.8
8&ure, sure.8
8He thinks I.m kidding him. 6ven i I didn.t like you, 3uis, I.d still come here to drink your coee, you know that98
8It.s good having a cop or a steady customer. It keeps trouble away.8
8,nd there.s plenty o that around here,8 Parker said.
87ell, you don.t die rom being bored around here,8 3uis said, grinning.
8It.s a hell o a lot dierent rom the island, ain.t it98
8%h, yes, yes.8
8I was down there or a week once, had to bring back this punk who skipped the city ater holding up a 0ewelry store on
&outh =ourth. !hat.s the lie, all right. 3ay in the sun all day long, suck sugar cane, go ishing. ,nd at night...8 He winked at
3uis. 8!here.s no holding down the Puerto >ican men at night, eh, 3uis98
8,ndy, or a man who.s a man ... the nights are the same any place, no98
8%h, brother, watch out or this guy;8 Parker said, laughing. 8He.s got three kids already, and I think he.s gunning or
number our.8
8,t my age98 3uis said, laughing with him. 82o, no, it would take a miracle.8
8%r a boarder,8 Parker said. 8Heep your eye on the boarder, 3uis.8 He put his hand on Jes shoulder. 8!here are more
boarders in this neighborhood than you can shake a stick at. 7e got areas called .hot bed. areas, where guys rent out
apartments on an eight-hour basis, three sleeping shits, would you believe it98
87e don.t have any boarders,8 3uis said, still laughing. 8!eresa is sae.8
Parker sighed and pulled a handkerchie rom his pocket. He wiped his ace with it and then said, 87ell, back to crime
prevention, huh9 &ailor, I.d orget that sick grandmother i I was you. :et out o here. !his neighborhood ain.t or clean-cut
kids.8
87ho.s clean-cut98
8"ou.re liable to be, i you don.t take my advice. =rom ear to ear, you.re liable to be.8
8I.ll chance it.8
8&ure, chance it. =amous last words. I hope you.re wearing your dog tags. 7e.ll want to know where to send the body.8
8&end it to his grandma,8 /ip said, grinning. 8&he.s e$pecting him.8
8Hid, you.re lucky I.m in a good mood today,8 Parker said.
He turned back to 3uis. 8Hey, /!n(#+", "S!, -#)ron," 3uis answered, and both men grinned as i pleased by their intimate use
o proanity in addressing each other.
8I you hear anything about ?iranda, don.t orget me, huh98
8I won.t,8 3uis answered.
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8:ood. A*!*"."
He walked away rom the luncheonette, blinking his eyes against the sunshine. He wondered why it was that he could have
such a good relationship with 3uis ,mande# and such a bad one with =rankie Hernande#. 7eren.t both men Puerto >icans9 %
course they were. -ut 3uis was dierent. 3uis was willing to accept certain things about his own people, whereas =rankie was
a son o a bitch who was 0ust dea and dumb on the sub0ect. How could you hope to discuss anything intelligently with a guy
who had a chip on his shoulder9 7here was the give and take in a relationship like that9 !here 0ust wasn.t any. 2ow with 3uis,
Parker en0oyed a give and take. !hat.s why it was so good. 7hy couldn.t Hernande# be that way, too9
Parker sighed heavily.
It takes all kinds, he told himsel. It takes all kinds.
5
/ip continued grinning until Parker had turned the corner and walked o up the avenue. !hen the grin dropped rom his
mouth.
8"ou.d stool on Pepe or that rotten cop98 he asked 3uis.
8Pepe ?iranda is no brother o mine,8 3uis answered.
8, stoolie is a stoolie,8 /ip said. He swung around and walked to the 0ukebo$. He studied the selections or a moment,
inserted his coin, chose one, and then stepped behind the bo$ and turned up the volume so that a mambo airly blasted into the
luncheonette.
83ower that, lower that,8 3uis said.
8&hhh, man,8 /ip said, grinning. 8I can.t hear the music.8
8I said lower that,8 3uis shouted, and he came around the counter, walked to the 0uke, and was reaching around to the back
when /ip stepped into his way, laughing. !he music screeched into the shop, trumpets bellowing, bongo drums pounding their
steady beat. ,t the counter, Jes headache responded to the assault wave o sound. He turned toward the 0uke. !he old man
was still trying to reach the volume control. /ip, laughing, danced beore him, blocking his path, stepping out o it, teasing the
old man closer, blocking him again. !he grin did not leave his ace, but there seemed to be no humor in his laughing deense o
the volume control. !he old man lunged, and /ip stepped aside inally and danced into the street like a bo$er moving away
rom the ropes. 3uis located the volume control and turned it all the way down.
=rom the street, /ip said, 82ot too low, you old bastard. !hat.s still my loot in there.8
3uis stamped angrily to the cash register He rang up 2% &,36, took a dime rom the cash drawer and threw it on the counter.
8Here;8 he shouted. 8!ake your money and go;8
/ip threw back his head and laughed, a loud mocking laugh which A like his earlier smile A was totally devoid o humor.
8Heep it, dad,8 he said. 8It probably took you all week to make.8
8Puncture my eardrums;8 3uis muttered. 8%n a &unday morning; 2o decency, no decency;8
-ut the music, despite 3uis. preerence cr comparative silence, seemed to have awakened the neighborhood all at once. !he
street had been as still and empty as a country road beore the record started, and now it suddenly teemed with humanity. In
the distance, the church bells had begun tolling again and, in response to the bells, the people o the neighborhood were
coming out o the tenements, driting down the steps leisurely because this was irst call, and there was still time beore the
?ass would begin. !he record spun to an end, but the church bells persisted, and the street was alive with color now, color
which seemed appropriate to the heat o July, color so vivid, so tropical, that it assailed the eyeballs. !wo young girls in the
brightest pink came out o a tenement and walked arm in arm down the street toward the church. ,n old man in a brown silk
suit, wearing a bright green tie, came rom another tenement and began in the same direction. , woman carrying a red parasol
to shield her rom the sun walked with the dignity o a )ueen, trailing a boy in a short-trousered suit by her side. !he people
nodded at each other, and smiled, and e$changed a ew words. !his was &unday morning. !his was the day o rest.
=rom the other end o the street, rushing against the tide o humanity that swelled with a single mind toward the church at
the ar end o the block, 5ooch appeared with two other boys. /ip saw them instantly, and went to 0oin them.
87hat the hell kept you so long98 he asked.
87e had to wait or &i$to,8 5ooch said.
87hat the hell are you, &i$to9 , man or a baby sitter98
&i$to looked as i he were about to blush. He was a thin boy o si$teen with eyes that seemed ready to linch at so much as
an unkind word. He spoke 6nglish with a &panish accent which was sometimes marked and sometimes mild. His voice was
very sot, and he used it reticently, as i he were not ever certain that anyone wanted to hear what he had to say.
8I ha. to help my mother,8 he told /ip.
!he other boy with 5ooch was a si$-ooter with a ace so dark that all personality somehow became lost in the overall
impression o blackness. His eatures were a mi$ture o 2egroid and 5aucasian, a mi$ture so loosely concocted that even here
there was an impression o vagueness, o vacuity. !he boy was si$teen years old. He moved slowly, and he thought slowly.
His mind a blank, his ace a blank, he presented a somewhat creaking portrait to his contemporaries, and so they had named
him Papa, as beitted a si$teen-year-old who seemed to be seventy.
87hen my odder go on a trip,8 he said, 8I hep my mudder. He tell me to hep her.8 He spoke with a &panish accent so
marked that sometimes his words were unintelligible. ,t these moments, he would revert back to his native tongue, and this
too added to the concept o a young boy who was old, a young boy who clung to the old language and the old slow-moving
ways o a land he had deeply loved.
8!hat.s dierent,8 /ip said. 87hen he.s away, you.re the man o the house. I.m not talking about a man.s work.8
Proudly, Papa said, 8?y odder.s a merchan. marine.8
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12
87ho the hell are you snowing98 /ip asked. 8He.s a waiter.8
8%n a boat; !ha. makes him a merchan. marine.8
8!hat makes him a waiter; 3isten, we.ve wasted enough time already. 3et.s lay this out. 7e.re gonna have to move i we
want to catch that eleven o.clock ?ass.8 He turned suddenly to &i$to who had been staring blankly at the street. 8"ou with us,
&i$to98
87ah9 %h, yes. I.m ... I.m with you, /ip.8
8"ou looked like you was on the moon.8
8I wass thinkin. ... well, you know. !his ,lredo kid, he not sush a bad guy.8
8He.s getting washed and that.s it,8 /ip said. 8I don.t even want to hear talk about it.8 He paused. 87hat the hell are you
looking at, would you please mind telling me98
8!he organ-grinder,8 &i$to said.
!he organ-grinder had rounded the corner and stopped 0ust outside the luncheonette. His parrot had bright-green eathers.
!he parrot perched on the instrument, accepted coins in his beak, gave them to his master, and then reached down to select a
ortune slip rom the rack o slips on top o the hand organ. , crowd immediately gathered around the organ-grinder and his
trained bird. !he crowd was a &unday churchgoing crowd, bedecked in bright summer colors. !he girls shrieked each time
they read a ortune. !he old men and the old ladies grinned knowingly. Je walked out o the luncheonette and handed the
parrot a nickel. !he parrot reached into the rack, /e-%, a narrow white slip appeared in his beak. Je took the slip and began
reading it. !he girls s)uealed in delight. !here was an innocence surrounding the organ-grinder' the mechanical music he
produced was countered by the skill o the bird and the aith o the crowd. =or this was &unday morning, and this was a time to
believe in ortunes, a time to believe that the uture would be good. ,nd so they crowded the man and his bird, crowded
around the sailor who read his ortune rom the card and grinned, laughed again in delight as the parrot dipped his beak or
another ortune. !here was innocence here, and it shimmered on the summer air like truth.
2ot ten eet rom the organ-grinder, not ten eet rom the crowd in their gay &unday clothes, /ip stood in a whispering circle
with three other boys who wore purple silk 0ackets. !he backs o the 0ackets were lettered with the words !H6 3,!I2 P4>P36&.
!he words were cut rom yellow elt and stitched to the purple silk. !he 3atin Purples, !he 3atin Purples, !he 3atin Purples,
!he 3atin Purples, our 0acket backs and our young men who huddled close together and spoke in low whispers while the
organ-grinder illed the air with the music o innocence and truth.
8I ... I wass thinkin.,8 &i$to said, 8maybe we shoul. 0us., you know, maybe warn him.8
8=or messing with one o the debs98 5ooch whispered, astonished.
8&o, he dinn really do nothin., 5ooch. He 0us. ony say hello to her. !hass not so bad.8
8He made a grab,8 5ooch said with inality.
8!hass not what she say. I ask her. &he say he ony 0us. say hello to her.8
87hat right did you have to go asking her )uestions98 /ip wanted to know. 87hose girl is she9 "ours or mine98 &i$to
remained silent. 87ell98
87ell, /ip,8 &i$to said, ater long deliberation, 8I tink ... well, I don. tink she knows. I mean, I don. tink she got no
understanding with you.8
8I don.t need no understanding with a chick. I.m telling you she.s my girl, and that.s good enough.8
8-ut "he don. tink so;8
8I don.t care what she thinks.8
8,nyway,8 &i$to said, 8no matter whose girl she is, i ,lie don. do nothin. to her, why we got to "hoo him98
!he boys were silent or a moment, as i mention o the word, as i translation o their plan into sound, into a word which
immediately delivered the image o a pistol, had shocked them into silence.
In a very low voice, /ip asked, 8"ou going turkey98 &i$to did not answer. 8I thought you was a down cat, &i$to. I thought
you had heart.8
8I *o got heart.8
8He gah heart, /eep,8 Papa said, deending &i$to.
8!hen why.s he backing out9 How.d you like it i this was your girl, &i$to9 How.d you like it i ,lie went messing around
with your girl98
8-ut he *!nn mess with her. He ony say hello. &o wha.s so bad about dat98
8"ou in this club98 /ip asked.
8&ure.8
87hy98
8I... I don. know. "ou got to belong to...8 &i$to shrugged. 8I don. know.8
8I you.re in this club, i you wear that purple 0acket, you do what I say. %kay. I say the 3atin Purples are washing ,lredo
:ome# right ater eleven o.clock ?ass. "ou want to turkey out, go ahead.8 He paused meaningully. 8,ll I know is that ,lie
give 5hina a rough time. 5hina.s my girl whether she knows it or not, you dig9 5hina.s my girl, and that means ,lie got
himsel trouble.8
5ooch nodded. 8-ig trouble.8
8,nd that don.t mean a burn. I don.t want him burned. I want him w#"he*! "ou can turkey out, &i$to, go ahead. %nly you
better watch your step around here aterwards, that.s all I.m telling you.8
8I 0us. thought ... oh, I 0us. thought ... well, /ip, cann we #$% to him98
8%h, come on, or 5hrist.s sake;8 /ip said angrily.
85ann we 0us. tell him to stop ... to stop talking to her no more9 5ann we do dat9 7hy we have to ... to %!$$ him98
!here was another long silence, or another word had been spoken, and this word was stronger than the irst. ,nd this word
meant e$actly what it said, this word meant kill, to take someone.s lie, kill, to murder. !his was not a euphemism, a handy
13
13
substitute like 8wash.8 !his was kill. ,nd the word hung between them, the sentence hung between them on the still July air(
87hy we have to ... to %!$$ him98
8-ecause I say so,8 /ip said sotly.
8It be di ren i he really was...8
87hat else you going to do, huh9 :et pushed around98 /ip asked. 8?an, ain.t you sick o all the time getting pushed
around98
8I dinn say that. I said...8
86verybody in the neighborhood knows he made a pass at 5hina;8 /ip said plaintively. 8,m I supposed to...98
8He *!nn make no pass; He ony say hello;8
8,m I supposed to go over and have a chat with him9 0ow #re you, A$1!e o$* )oy, how you )een+ I un*er"#n* you w#"
1ee$!n( u/ Ch!n# he oher *#y, w#" ! (oo*+ ,m I supposed to hold his goddamn hand, &i$to98
82o, but...8
8<on.t you want these other clubs to notice us9 <on.t you want them to know we got sel-respect98
8&ure, but...8
8&o we going to let a creep like ,lie go around screwing our debs98
&i$to shook his head. 8/ip, /ip, he dinn even...8
8%kay, listen to me,8 /ip said. 8,ter we pull this today, we.re in. "ou understand that9 7e wash this creep, and there ain.t
nobody in this neighborhood who don.t know the 3atin Purples rom then on in. !hey.ll know we don.t get pushed around by
#ny)o*y! 6very damn kid on this block.ll want to be in the club ater today. 7e.re gonna be ... something; Someh!n(!" He
paused to catch his breath. His eyes were glowing. 8,m I right, 5ooch98
8&ure,8 5ooch answered.
8%kay, ,lie.s going to eleven o.clock ?ass, like he always does. ?ass.CC break around eleven-orty, a )uarter to twelve. I
want to get him on the steps as he.s coming out.8
8%n deeA;8
"On he "e/"! ,ll our o us blast together, and nobody stops until ,lie.s down. "ou better shoot straight .cause there.ll be a
lot o innocent people around.8
8/ip, on dee church steps98 &i$to said. His ace was twisted in pain. "Ave 2#r!#, cann we...98
8%n the steps, I said; 7here everybody.ll see him die. 7e.ve got ou.r pieces. I.m using the .*1 because I want to blow that
creep.s head o.8
!he organ-grinder stopped his music. !he street seemed suddenly silent.
8!here.s two .F8s and the 3uger,8 /ip whispered. 8!ake whatever you want.8
8!he 3uger,8 5ooch said.
8"ou got it. &i$to, you and Papa.CC use the .F8s. !he pieces are up at my pad. 7e get them irst, and then round up a couple
o gun bearers.8 He paused or a moment. 8&econd thought, you better stay here, &i$to. Heep an eye on ,lie.s house. >ight
around the corner. !he irst building.8
8%kay,8 &i$to said blankly.
8?ake sure he don.t leave. I he does, ollow him. I you ain.t here when we get back, we.ll start looking or you.8
8%kay.8
87hat98
8I said okay.8
8%kay,8 /ip repeated. 85ome on.8 He put his arm around 5ooch as they began walking toward his building, Papa shuling
along beside them. 8"ou e$cited, 5ooch98 he asked.
8Huh9 %h, yeah, I guess. , little.8
8?an, I.m e$cited. !his day is beginning to tick, you know what I mean9 !hings are moving;8
8"eah, that.s true,8 5ooch said.
8&ome &undays, you can sit on that ront stoop and go nuts. 6specially like now in the summer. -ut today is dierent.
!oday, there.s like a million things to do, ain.t there9 7hat I.m trying to say, 5ooch, this makes me eel good. !his action, you
know9 ?an, it makes me eel real good;8
5ooch grinned as the three boys entered the tenement. 8It ain.t gonna make ,lie eel so good,8 he said.
&i$to stood on the corner outside the luncheonette, watching ,lredo.s building, nervously biting his lower lip.
Inside the luncheonette, Je handed his ortune slip to 3uis and said, 8How do you like that98
8-e patient and o irm resolve,8 3uis read, 8and you will achieve all your ends.8
8"eah,8 Je said. 87hat time does 3a :allina open98
8I had hoped you would orget 3a :allina.8
87ell, since I.m already up here...8 Je shrugged and let the sentence trail. 87hat time does it open98
8!his is &unday,8 3uis said, 8and 3a :allina is a bar A among other things. It does not open until noon.8
8!hen I.ve got plenty o time yet.8
8I you.d take my advice...8
"0ey! 0ey your the voice bellowed, and they both turned simultaneously to ace the street. ,ndy Parker seemed to have
materiali#ed rom nowhere. He approached &i$to, who stood on the corner, and shouted, "3ou! 3ou here!"
&i$to, rightened, began to inch away rom him 8?e98 he asked. 8?e98
87hat are you doing98 Parker asked, coming up close to him.
82othin.. I wass ony 0us. standin....8
8,gainst the wall;8
8Huh98
14
14
Parker sei#ed his 0acket ront and slammed him up against the supporting post at the corner o the luncheonette. 8I said
against the wall;8
8I ... I dinn do nothin.,8 &i$to said. 8I wass only 0us....8
8-end over;8
&i$to stared at him blankly, uncomprehendingly.
8-end over, goddamnit;8 Parker shouted.
&i$to still did not understand. =uriously, because he elt his command was being openly louted, Parker chopped a ast right
to &i$to.s gut, doubling him over. He spun him around then so that he aced the corner post, his hands clutching his stomach,
his head bent.
8Put your hands against the wall, palms lat, goddamnit, do what I tell you;8 Parker shouted.
&i$to, doubled over with pain, made an abortive attempt to stretch out his arms, clutched his stomach again, and then shoved
his arms out convulsively when Parker hit him in the ribs. He e$tended his hands and placed them, trembling, against the
corner post. Buickly, Parker risked him. He did an intent and thorough 0ob, so thorough that he did not notice =rankie
Hernande# who walked up the street and stopped 0ust short o the luncheonette.
8!urn around;8 Parker shouted. 82ow empty your pockets; 6verything on the sidewalk; Hurry up;8
Hernande# walked to where they were standing. 83eave him alone, ,ndy,8 he said. He turned to &i$to. 8!ake o, kid.8
&i$to hesitated, rightened, looking irst to one detective and then the other.
8:et out o here, go ahead; -eat it;8
&i$to hesitated a moment longer, and then broke into a sprint around the corner, racing up the avenue.
8!hanks, =rankie,8 Parker said sarcastically.
8!here.s nothing in the penal code that makes it a crime or a kid to be minding his own business, ,ndy.8
87ho.s saying anything98 Parker said. He paused. 8-ut suppose that nice innocent kid was holding a deck o heroin98
8He wasn.t holding anything. He.s no 0unkie, and you know it. He comes rom a good amily.8
8%h, is that right9 Junkies don.t come rom good amilies, huh9 &uppose he w#" holding, =rankie9 Just suppose98
8!he only thing he.s holding right now is contempt or the cop who shook him down.8
8&eems to me you should be interested in looking up the people who are doing something wrong,8 Je said rom the
luncheonette.
87e do, sailor,8 Parker answered. 8<ay and night. !hat kid belongs to a street gang, don.t he9 "ou saw his club 0acket,
didn.t you9 <o you e$pect me to take crap rom every hoodlum on the street98
8!hat kid probably has little enough sel-respect as it is,8 Hernande# said. 8&o you come along and...8
8,ll right, all right, cut it out with the kid, will you9 -oy, you.d think I worked him over with a rubber hose.8 He paused.
87here you headed98
8!o see the :ome# woman,8 Hernande# said.
8&he was )uite a little trick, that :ome# woman. Pushing ity, maybe, but still got it all in the right places. "ou sure this is
a business call, =rankie98
8I.m sure,8 Hernande# said.
87ell, 0ust so long as you.re sure. 7as there any word on ?iranda back at the s)uad98
82ot when I let, no.8
8"ou know,8 3uis said thoughtully, 8I think maybe =rankie.s right. I don.t mean to tell you how to do your 0ob, ,ndy. <on.t
think that. -ut this boy could be hurt by such treatment. 7hat I mean ... well ... on the island, it was not this way.8
8Juvenile gangs ain.t a problem in Puerto >ico,8 Parker said latly.
82o, o course not, but that.s not what I meant. !here 0ust seemed to be ... I don.t know ... more respect there.8
8=or what9 =or siestas98 Parker asked, and he burst out laughing.
87ell, now you.re making it a 0oke,8 3uis said, embarrassed.
8?e9 7hy should I 0oke about your homeland98
8It was 0ust... you know... we were poor and hungry, true. -ut there was always the pla#a in the center o town, and the pink
church, and the poinsettias, and the mango trees. ,nd you could go to the pla#a and talk to your riends. ,nd you were a
person, and people knew your name. It was important, ,ndy. "ou knew who you were.8
87ho- were you, 3uis98 Parker said, chuckling. 8!he governor98
8,h, he makes it a 0oke,8 3uis said good-naturedly. "3ou know what I mean, don.t you, =rankie98
8"es. I know what you mean.8
8&ometimes here, you eel lost. ,nd without identity, there can be no dignity, no respect.8
8I know 0ust what you mean, 3ouise,8 Je said. 8It.s like what I was telling you about =letcher. How you can 0ust get
swallowed up in a pile o people and orget who and what you are.8
"S!, ". !he island had respect or people, and or lie ... and respect or death, too. 3ie is cheap here, and death is cheaper.
%n the island...8 He paused, as i giving himsel time or the memory to grow, to blossom in his mind. 8%n the island,8 he said,
8in the towns, when there is a uneral, the casket bearers walk in the center o the main street, and the mourners ollow behind
the casket.8
8I know this,8 Hernande# said sotly. 8?y ather used to talk about this.8
8,bout the little girls dressed in white, carrying their lowers in the sunshine98 3uis said. 8!he town all dusty and )uiet and
still.8
8"es,8 Hernande# said. 8,bout that.8
8,nd the shopkeepers stand in their doorways, and when the casket goes by, they close the doors. !hey are showing respect
or the dead man. !hey are saying, .I will not conduct business while you pass by, my riend..8
8,rgh, bullshit,8 Parker said. 8!hat ain.t respect. !hey.re 0ust scared o death. I.ll tell you something, 3uis. I don.t know what
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15
it.s like on that island o yours, but here A right here 4 the only ones who get respect are the live ones A the hoodlums like
Pepe ?iranda.8
3uis shook his head )uickly and emphatically. 82o,8 he said.
82o, huh9 !ake my word or it.8
8I.m going,8 Hernande# said. 8"ou argue it out between you.8
87ho.s arguing98 Parker said. 87e.re having a discussion.8
8%kay, so discuss it,8 Hernande# said, and he walked out o the luncheonette and around the corner.
Je swung around on his stool and stared up the street. -ehind him, he could hear the detective and 3uis arguing A well,
discussing A but he was not interested in what they were saying. He kept staring at the closed door o 3a :allina, wondering
when the bar would open. He really didn.t know whether he actually elt like spending the day in bed with a woman or not, but
he couldn.t think o much else to do with his time. ,nd he h#* come all the way uptown, and he hated to think o the trip as a
total loss. &o he kept staring at the closed door, almost willing it to open and A )uite miraculously A it opened.
6
!he girl who stepped out o the bar was no more than nineteen years old, a slender girl with the curved body o a woman
thrusting against the sweater and skirt she wore. Her hair was black, and her eyes were dark. &he took a key rom her purse and
was leaning over to lock the door when Je got o his stool and ran up the street.
8Hi,8 he said.
!he girl whirled, surprised. Her eyes opened wide, the brownest eyes Je had ever seen in his entire lie.
8%h;8 she said, and her lips rounded over the single word, and slowly the shock gave way to pu##lement, and she stared at
him curiously, waiting or him to speak.
8I.ve been waiting or you all morning,8 Je said. 87ere you in there all along98
8"es98 she said, delivering the word as a )uestion, as i she e$pected urther e$planation rom him and was waiting or it.
He continued to watch her. , slow reali#ation was coming to him. He was beginning to recogni#e the act that this was
possibly the most beautiul girl he.d ever met, and her beauty let him somewhat tongue-tied. !he girl waited. Je remained
speechless. =inally, she tucked the key into her purse, gave a small eminine shrug, and began walking away. Je stepped
around her )uickly, directly into her path.
8Hey, where you going98 he said.
8Home.8
87hy9 I only 0ust ound you.8
8I have to get dressed,8 the girl said.
8"ou look dressed ine to me,8 he said, and his eyes traveled the length o her body, pausing on the sot swell o her breasts
beneath the light-blue sweater, the abrupt curve o her hips against the black skirt.
8I have to get dressed,8 the girl repeated blankly, seemingly embarrassed by his scrutiny.
87ell, that can wait, can.t it98 he asked.
!he girl seemed very pu##led. 87hat do you want98 she said.
87ell ... uh ... don.t you know98
82o98 the girl said, and again she raised her voice at the end o the word so that it sounded like a )uestion.
87ell ... I was talking to a ellow last night. It was really very early this morning. <owntown. In a bar.8
8"es98.
8,nd he said I should come up here.8
87hat or98
8He said I.d ind you here,8 Je said.
He looked at her, and he thought, 7ell, he didn.t e$actly say I would ind you here, because no one ever e$pects to ind
something like you, no one ever really e$pects to come across something like you ever in his lie.
8He didn.t say that,8 the girl said.
8"es. "es, he did.8
87hat was his name9 !he man who told you about me98
8I don.t remember,8 Je paused. 8I was drunk.8
8,re you drunk now98
He smiled tentatively. 8&ober as a 0udge.8
8,nd this ellow told you about me+ He said you would ind me+5
87ell ... not e$actly. I mean, I didn.t e$pect anyone as ... as pretty as you. -ut he saidA8
87hat *!* he say, e$actly98
8He said I should go uptown...8
8"es98
8,nd I should look or a place called 3a :allina.8
83a :aA oh.8 &he paused and looked at him more closely. 8I see. "es. 2ow I understand.8
8:ood. I got to admit, you.re really something. I mean a guy 0ust doesn.t e$pect ... I mean, I.m not trying to say anything
against what you do, or anything like that ... but ... well, you know, it.s 0ust unusual, that.s all. !o ind one as pretty as you.8
8!hank you,8 the girl said. &he smiled. 8I think you.ve made a mistake.8
8!his !" 3a :allina, isn.t it98 Je asked, looking at the gilt lettering on the plate-glass windows again.
8%h, yes. !his is 3a :allina.8
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16
8,nd you did come out o there, didn.t you98
8"es, I certainly did.8
!here was a strange twinkle in her brown eyes. He looked at her suspiciously and reali#ed she was trying to suppress a
laugh.
8"ou *o work in there98 he asked. 8<on.t you98
8I do.8
87ell, what.s so unny98 he said, beginning to get slightly annoyed.
!he girl would not allow the laugh to escape her mouth. 82othing,8 she said. 82othing.8 A 87ell, then, all right,8 he said.
8,ll right,8 she answered.
!hey stood staring at each other, Je trying to igure out what was so goddamned unny, and the girl trying her best not to
laugh.
87ell98 he said at last.
87ell what98
87ell, let.s go to bed.8
8"ou and me98
87ell, sure, you and me. 7ho did you think I meant98
!he girl shook her head. 82o. I don.t think so.8
&he started to move away rom him, and he caught her arm, stopping her.
87hy not98
87ell...8 ,gain, she held back a laugh. &he thought or a moment, and then said, 8I guess I don.t like sailors.8
8!hat.s no attitude,8 Je said, grinning. 8&ome o my best riends are sailors.8
82o,8 the girl said, shaking her head. 82o. &orry. 2o sailors.8 &he saw the disappointment on his ace and )uickly added,
8-esides, I.m too high.8
8High98
8"es, my price. ?y ... uh ... my ee98 &he made it sound as i she were asking him what the correct word should be.
87ell, how high is high98 Je asked, beginning to bargain..
8, lot.8 !he girl considered the )uestion gravely. 8?ore than you earn in a week.8
8How much is that98
8Gery, very high,8 she said.
87ell, how much9 5an.t you tell me9 -oy, you sure act strange or a...8
8I told you,8 the girl said. 8Gery very very high.8 &he seemed at a loss or words. &he struggled with her thoughts and then
desperately said, 87hat.s the highest you ever paid98
8!wenty. -ut that was on the 5oast. %n the 5oast...8
8I.m much higher than that,8 she said )uickly, seemingly relieved.
8=orty98
8Higher.8
8, hundred98 he asked, appalled.
8:oodness,8 the girl said, her eyes twinkling again. 8<o I look like a common streetwalker98
87ell, no, no,8 he said hastily, 8you don.t. -ut a hundred dollars, :od, I...8
8I didn.t say a hundred. I said higher.8
8I haven.t even got twenty,8 he said despondently. 8"ou see, I was in a poker game and...8
87ell, there are other girls,8 she said curtly. 8:oodbye.8
&he turned on her heel and began walking up the street. Je watched her and then, galvani#ed into sudden action, he yelled,
8Hey; 7ait;8 and ran ater her.
87hat is it98 she said.
83isten, can.t we talk this over98
87hy98
87ell, I ... I think you.re pretty.8
8!hank you.8
8I mean it. I.m not 0ust saying it so you.ll...8 He paused. 8I mean it.8
87hy don.t you go home, sailor98 she said kindly, her ace suddenly turning so tender that he wanted to kiss her right then
and there in the street, even though you weren.t supposed to kiss girls like this, still he wantedA
8Home98 he said. 8Hell, I live in 5olorado. 3isten, can.t we talk this over98
8&ailorA8
8Je.8
8Je, all right, Je, I.m not what you think. I.m not what the ellow sent you uptown or.8
8Huh98
8I cook or 3a :allina and some o the other bars. !hey have steam tables. I prepare the ood or them.8
8"ou preA oh.8 He paused. 8&o you were in there...8
8:etting things ready or when they open,8 the girl said, nodding.
8%h.8 He paused again. 8,nd all that business about price...8
8I was ooling you.8
8%h. 7ell, I.m sorry.8
8!hat.s all right. I.m sorry I ooled you.8
8%h, that.s all right.8 He studied her soberly. 8"ou.re still very pretty.8
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17
8!hank you.8
8<o you ... do you have to run o98
8I have to get dressed. I.m going to church.8
8I.ll go with you,8 he said )uickly.
8,re you 5atholic98
8Presbyterian. I.ll go with you anyway. I.ve gone to all kinds o religious services in the 2avy. I.m something o an e$pert.
"ou see, I do it to get out o work parties. 7henever I.m on a work party and they announce like, .,ll people o the Jewish
aith, prepare to leave the ship or religious services,. I all o a sudden become a person o the Jewish aith. I.m 0ust sorry there
aren.t less work parties and more religions.8
!he girl shook her head. 8I would eel unny.8
8,re you religious9 Is that it98
8I suppose so. "es.8
87ell, I mean, the church won.t all down or anything i I walk into it. -elieve me. I.ve been inside 5atholic churches
beore. It.s a nice service.8 He nodded, thinking over the various services he had been to.
8I would still eel unny,8 the girl said. &he looked at him in indecision, and then made a slight movement o departure.
83ook,8 he said. 83ook ... don.t run o.8
87hy not98
8I don.t know.8
8"ou.ll be busy,8 she said. 83a :allina opens at noon.8
87ell, that ... you know, it.s not that important.8
8Isn.t it98
82o, it isn.t,8 he said irmly. 83ook, won.t you ... won.t you stay with me98
!he girl looked at her watch. 8I have to go,8 she said. 8I want to catch the eleven o.clock ?ass.8
87ill you meet me ater church98
87hy should I98
8I want you to. <on.t you want to98
!he girl hesitated. !hen she said, 8"es, I do.8
8!hen why don.t you98
8,re you on a ship98
8"es. 3ook, will you...8
87hat kind98
8, destroyer.8
8Is it big98
8Pretty big. 7ill you meet me98
87hy do you want to meet me9 Haven.t you got a girl back home98
8I used to, but not any more. Have ... have you got a ... a boy98
82o.8
8:ood. !hat.s good.8 He smiled.
8"es,8 she said, and she returned the smile.
87ill you ... will you meet me98
8I I do ... would we go someplace outside the neighborhood98
8I you like.8
87here will we go98
8I don.t know. I don.t know this city too well.8
8-ut we will leave the neighborhood98
8"es. "ou see, i we were back in 5olorado, I.d take you up in the mountains. 7e.d pack a picnic basket and go up in the
mountains. I.d drive you in my car. I.ve got a .F7 =ord.8
87hat color is it98
8"ellow. I painted it mysel.8
8I knew it was yellow,8 she said.
8<id you9 How.d you know98
8"ellow or red. !hose are the two colors I thought.8
8Hey, you know I w#" going to paint it red but Jenken.s A that.s the hardware store back home A was all out. &o I took
yellow.8
8<o you live in a very small town98
8=letcher9 7ell, it.s not "o small, you understand.8
8<o you have apartment buildings98
8%h, no.8
87hy did you leave home98
8I wanted to see the world,8 he said glibly, and then he knew immediately that glibness was not or this girl. 7ith this girl
you played it straight or you didn.t play it at all. 8I was going to get drated,8 he said, 8so I igured I.d rather be in the 2avy. &o
I enlisted.8 He shrugged.
8,nd the world9 Have you seen it98
8, little o it.8
8Have you been to Puerto >ico98
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18
82o. Have you98
82o. It.s supposed to be beautiul there. I was born here. I.ve never been outside this city.8 &he paused. 8%h, yes, I once went
to a wedding in Pennsylvania.8
8"ou.d like my town,8 he said. 8"ou really would.8
8"es, I know I would.8
!hey ell silent. &he stared up at him, and he elt terribly unsure o himsel all at once, unsure and ar younger than he
actually was. In a very small voice, he said, 8?eet me ater church. Please.8
8I I met you, we could go to the park,8 she said. 8!here are no mountains, but we could take a picnic basket. !here are trees
there.8
8,ny place you say. %nly ... you know ... I.ve only got about eighteen bucks. 7e can go as ar as that.ll take us.8 He grinned
tentatively. 8%kay98
!he girl nodded. 8%kay.8
8:ee, that.sA "ou.ll meet me98
8"es.8
83ook, I.ll ... I.ll meet you right here. >ight on this spot. I won.t budge rom this spot until you come back.8
82o, not here. 7hen 3a :allina opens, the girls.ll congregate here, on the sidewalk. 2ot here.8
8!he luncheonette then, okay9 %n the corner.8
83uis9 ,ll right, ine.8 . 87hat time98
8?ass.CC be over at about a )uarter to twelve. I.ll make the lunch now andA8
8Hey, you don.t have toA8
8I want to.8
87ell ... okay.8
8,nd I.ll stop home or it beore I come. !welve o.clock9 7ould that be all right98
8=ine. Hey, listen, I.m sorry I mistook you or...8
8!hat.s all right. !welve98
8!welve,8 he said.
8,ll right.8 &he stared at him or a moment and then said, 87ait or me.8
8"es, I will.8
&he turned and began walking up the street, walking )uickly, not looking back, almost as i she knew his eyes were on her,
almost as i she were waiting or him to call ater her. 7hen he did call, she whirled immediately.
8Hey;8
8"es98
8Hurry; Please hurry, would you98
8"es,8 she said. &he gave a small wave, turned, and began walking again.
8Hey;8 he called.
8"es98
8I don.t even know your name;8
87hat98
8"our name,8 he shouted. 87hat.s your name98
8%h,8 the girl said, and she giggled.
87ell, what is it98
85hina;8 she called back, and then she ran up the street.
7
Heat is a strange thing.
3ike love, it can drive men to opposite e$tremes. 3ike love, it can be a persistently nagging thing, relentless, unwilling to
budge, until one day it e$plodes in wild passion. 8I hit him with the hatchet because it was hot.8 !hat is an e$planation, a
reason, and an e$cuse. It was hot. 6verything is contained in those three words. It was hot, and so I was not responsible or my
actions, I only knew that it was hot, that I was suocating all day long, that I could hardly breathe, there was no air, it was hot,
and he said to me, 8!his coee is too strong,8 and so I hit him with the hatchet. It was hot, you see.
, shrug.
"ou understand. It was hot.
,nd, like love, the heat can generate a dierent kind o eeling, a eeling which A had the slick paper maga#ines not deiled
the word A could be described as togetherness, a knowledge that human beings on this day, on this insuerably hot day, are at
least sharing one thing in common. !he heat becomes a bond as strong as reinorced concrete. <o you hate the color o my
skin9 !hat is interesting, but :od it is hot, :od we are sweating together. <o you lech or my wie9 !hat is unorgivable, but
let.s go have a beer together to escape this damned heat, and later we can work it out.
Heat, like love, is no good unless you can talk about it. !he adulterer seeks a conidante, the lecher boasts o his con)uests in
the pool hall, the si$teen-year-old cheerleader spends hours on the telephone describing a ootball player.s kiss A you have to
talk about love.
3ieutenant Peter -yrnes came out o his oice wanting to talk about the heat. He was a compact man with graying hair and
steel-blue eyes. He liked to believe that he sweated more than men who were less chunky than he. He liked to believe that the
heat had been designed in hell especially or him, sent earthward to plague him. He didn.t )uite understand why he.d been
19
19
singled out or such torture, but he did know that he suered more when it was hot than any man had a right to suer.
!he s)uadroom was silent. &teve 5arella, his shirt sleeves rolled up, was sitting at his desk, reading an =-I report on a
suspected burglar. Hot sunlight covered the top o his desk like molasses. -ymes walked to the grilled window and stared out
at the street. !he cars, the people, all seemed to have been captured in transparent plastic, suspended in time and space,
unmoving. -yrnes sighed.
8Hot,8 he said.
8?mm,8 5arella answered.
87here is everybody98
8-arker.s on the prowl, Hernande# is answering a s)ueal, and Hling...8 5arella shrugged. 8He.s on a plant, isn.t he98
8!hat drugstore thing98
8I think so.8
8"eah,8 -yrnes said, remembering. 8!he guy who.s passing phony cocaine prescriptions.8 He shook his head. 8He won.t turn
up. 2ot in this heat.8
8?aybe not,8 5arella said.
8I always choose the wrong time or my vacation,8 -yrnes said. 8Harriet and I spend months iguring it out. I.m the senior
oicer around here, so I get irst choice. &o what happens9 I always miss the good weather by a month. It.s so hot you can.t
even think, and then it.s time or my vacation, and it starts raining, or it rums gray, or we suddenly get a snowstorm rom
5anada. It never ails. 6very year.8 He paused or a moment. 87ell, every year e$cept one. 7e went to the Gineyard once. 7e
had good weather.8 He nodded, remembering.
8Gacations are rough anyway,8 5arella said.
8"eah9 How so98
8I don.t know. It generally takes me two weeks to unwind, and the minute I start rela$ing, it.s time to come back to work.8
8"ou going away this year98
8I don.t think so. !he kids are too small.8
8How old are they, anyway98 -yrnes asked.
8!hey were a year old in June.8
8-oy, time lies,8 -yrnes said, and ell silent. He thought about the passage o time, thought about his own son, thought how
much 5arella seemed like a son to him, thought how his s)uadroom seemed like a amily business, a candy store or a grocery
store, thought how good it was to have 5arella working behind the counter with him.
87ell, talking about the heat never helped it any,8 -yrnes said, and he sighed again.
8&ome day, they.re going to invent...8 5arella started, and the telephone rang. He picked up the receiver. 86ighty-seventh
&)uad,8 he said. 8<etective 5arella.8
!he voice on the other end said, 8I know where Pepe ?iranda iss.8
!hey saw &i$to as he came out o the drugstore. His ace looked lushed. It seemed as i he were about to cry. He kept
blinking his eyes like a person ighting to hold back tears.
87hat.s the matter98 /ip asked. He studied &i$to impersonally, not as i he were truly concerned, not as i he really wanted
to know what the matter was, but asking the disguised )uestion, 8How will your present state aect me+"
82othin.,8 &i$to said.
8"ou look like somebody hit you with a ball bat.8
82o.8
87hat were you doing in the drugstore98
8Havin8 a 5oke. I wass thirsty.8
8I thought I told you to keep an eye on ,lie.s pad.8
8I could see his buildin. rom where I wass sittin.,8 &i$to said.
87e gah dee guns,8 Papa said, grinning.
85ome on,8 /ip told them both. 85ooch is rounding up some kids. 7e got to meet him near the luncheonette.8
!hey walked down the avenue together, /ip in the middle lanked by &i$to and Papa. He elt rather good with the boys on
either side o him. He walked with his shoulders back and his head erect, setting the pace, knowing they would keep up with
him, and eeling very riendly towards the boys as he walked, eeling a bond with them which he could not have described
accurately i he.d tried. !here was no logic to the bond because he admitted to himsel that he didn.t even particularly like
either &i$to or Papa. %ne was a mama.s boy and the other was a hal-wit. ,nd yet he could not deny the emotional satisaction
o walking down the avenue with these two by his side, like a general with his trusted aides. !he bod, he knew, would become
stronger once they had washed ,lredo :ome#. !he word crossed his mind, washed, and he was instantly ace to ace with the
other word, the stronger word. Hill. He did not linch rom it. Hill. He repeated the word in his mind. Hill. 7e will kill ,lredo
:ome#. Hill.
-y the time they reached the luncheonette, the word had no more meaning to him than the word 8wash8. 5ooch was there,
waiting or them. !wo small boys were with him. Parker, the bull, had taken o, but the sailor was still inside the
luncheonette, probably waiting or 3a :allina to open, waiting or a &panish girl. !he idea pleased /ip at irst He elt a ierce
pride in the knowledge that the sailor had come uptown to seek the passion only a &panish girl could give him. ,nd then the
pride turned sour, and he thought darkly that the sailor had no right to be here, no right to be emptying himsel into &panish
girls, the way sewers empty into the river. He rowned and cast a black scowl at the sailor.s back, and then walked )uickly to
where 5ooch stood with the younger boys.
!he irst o the boys was wearing dungarees and a white, sweat-stained ! shirt. His nose was running, and he constantly
wiped at it with the back o his hand, the mucus streaked there like a healed burn. He was eight years old.
!he other boy was nine. He wore khaki shorts and a short-sleeved blue sports shirt. ,n ,rmy sergeant.s stripes had been
20
20
sewn to the let sleeve o the shirt. He moved his eet constantly, as i trying to erase chalk rom the sidewalk.
8!hese the kids98 /ip asked 5ooch.
8"eah,8 5ooch said.
/ip looked at the one with the snotty nose. 87hat.s your name, kid98
85hico.8
8,nd yours98 he said to the other boy.
86staban,8 the boy answered, his eet erasing invisible chalk.
8<id 5ooch e$plain the picture to you98
"S!," 5hico said.
8"ou and 6staban, one on each side o the church steps. "ou keep the pieces under your shirts until we get on the scene.
!hen you give them to us and hang around until we blast. 7e give you back the pieces when it.s all over, and you cut out. "ou
got that98
"S!, yo -om/ren*o," 5hico said.
"S!, "!," 6staban echoed, his eet moving nervously. He seemed undecided as to whether he should break into a dance or
begin stamping the sidewalk in anger. 2ervously, his eet continued moving.
/ip looked at his watch. 8%kay, the church bells should begin ringing any minute now. !hat.ll be irst call or the eleven
o.clock ?ass. "ou kids cut out as soon as you hear them bells. 7e.ll drit up toward the corner around eleven-thirty. "ou be
ready or us, you hear me98
8/ip, when we grow up, me an. 6staban,8 5hico said, 8we coul. go gang-bustin. wi. you98
/ip grinned and touched the boy.s hair. 8&ure, when you grow up. >ight now, you have them pieces ready or us when we
need them.8
8I know how to shoot, /ip,8 5hico said. 8I know how to shoot good.8
/ip laughed aloud. 82ot this trip, 5hico. "ou got time yet beore you begin...8
!he church bells rang suddenly, abruptly, and then were silent. 7hoever was pulling on the cord had made an abortive start,
perhaps the cord had slipped rom his hands, perhaps he.d had a sudden cramp in his ingers. !he heavy solemn bonnnnng o
metal upon metal sounded, reverberated, and then died. !he boys stood in silence, straining or the peal o the bells. ,nd then
the bells started again, ringing out on the still July air, calling the lock to ?ass, reaching into the streets and into the open
windows, summoning the congregation, summoning ,lredo :ome# to whatever waited or him on the church steps.
8!hat.s it,8 /ip said tightly. He reached beneath his 0acket and, one by one, began pulling the weapons rom where they were
tucked into his belt. Je, in the luncheonette, turned at the sound o the church bells, thinking o 5hina, a smile on his ace. He
saw the irst weapon pass rom /ip.s hand to 5hico.s snot-smeared ist, and he blinked as the other weapons changed hands,
watched as the two youngsters tucked them into their waistbands, our guns in all, and then pulled their shirts down over them.
8%kay, go,8 /ip said.
!he two boys grinned, nodded, and then ran o up the street. , rown had come onto Jes orehead. He swung his stool
around and picked up his cup o coee. !he church bells had stopped now. ,n old man rushed rom the mouth o a tenement,
paused on the stoop while he pulled on his suit 0acket, and then ran spryly up the street.
82ice )uiet &unday,8 3uis said to Je, smiling.
Je nodded and said nothing. !he our boys in the purple silk 0ackets had moved to a position near the 0ukebo$. !he street
had gone silent again. It seemed to be a street o many moods and many temperaments, changing in the space o seconds like a
vaudeville perormer who snaps a wig into place and becomes a clown, discards the wig, puts on a black mustache and
becomes ,dol Hitler. 2ow, the street in its sunbath seemed like a golden corridor leading to the high overhead arch o the
elevated structure two blocks away, the sky a da##ling yellow-white beyond. Buiet, burning with light, the street was mute, the
street waited. !he boys lounged near the 0ukebo$, their hands in their pockets. %ccasionally they glanced in the direction o the
church. !heir eyes were s)uinted against the relected sunlight.
!he girl turned the corner rom the avenue and entered the street like a circus train. &he was wearing a bright-red 0acket, a
bright-yellow silk shirt, purple spiked-heel shoes with ankle straps. Her hair was a mass o thick black, sticking out rom her
head in near-burles)ue o a -ushman. &he was carrying a bright-blue carpetbag, and she walked with a suggestive swagger,
the yellow skirt tightening over plump, 0iggling buttocks, huge breasts 0utting rom the G-necked opening o the red 0acket.
&he seemed to be wearing nothing under her outer clothing, and she didn.t give a damn who reali#ed it Her buttocks begged to
be pinched, her breasts beneath the white rayon blouse and the red 0acket pointed sharp nipples like compass needles
indicating north. Her walk did nothing to hide the pulchritude. !his was what she owned, and i she preerred to e$hibit her
possessions, that was her business.
-ut despite the suggestive swagger, despite the bobbing breasts and the luid grinding motion o buttock against buttock,
despite an apparent attitude o indierence, the girl seemed rightened and somehow hesitant. &he stared up at the buildings,
ogling the city, overwhelmed by the si#e, somewhat conused and a little lost.
!he whistles that came rom /ip and 5ooch did not help her at all. &he suddenly clutched at the small red 0acket in an
attempt to close it over her thrusting breasts. !he boys whistled again, and Je turned to watch the girl, ascinated by the
tautness o the yellow skirt and the bobble o her backside. !he girl began walking aster, 0ust as lost, 0ust as conused, and the
whistles ollowed her up the street until she was out o sight.
/ip began laughing.
,nd then his laughter stopped when he reali#ed the sailor was laughing too.
87hat was h#+" Je asked.
8,rgh, a ?arine !iger,8 3uis said.
8, what98
8?arine !iger. =resh rom the island, her irst day here probably. ?arine !iger. !hat was the name o one o the irst boats
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to take Puerto >ican immigrants to the mainland.8
8-oy, that was really something,8 Je said.
8<id you see that hair98 3uis waved his hands around his head in demonstration. 8,nd now she.ll ride the subway, and
everyone will think all Puerto >icans are like her.8 He shook his head. 8I need more soup out here,8 he said vaguely and went
into the back o the shop.
8I wouldn.t have minded dumping her on her back, huh, sailor98 /ip said.
87ell, she.s not e$actly my type,8 Je said. He turned back to the counter. He did not like talking to this boy, and he did not
wish to encourage a riendship which, now that he was sober and now that he had met 5hina, seemed hardly necessary.
82ot your type, huh98 /ip said. 87hat.s the matter9 "ou don.t like &panish girls98
8I didn.t say that.8
/ip lighted a cigarette and blew out a stream o smoke. He considered his ne$t words careully. He did not know why, but
the sailor was beginning to annoy him immensely. ,t one and the same time, he wanted the sailor to desire a &panish girl, and
yet wanted him to have nothing to do with a &panish girl. !he conlict disturbed him. He rowned as he began speaking.
8I.ve got a ew minutes to kill. "ou still interested in a girl, I can i$ you up with something real nice.8
8I.m not interested,8 Je said.
82o98 !he rown got deeper. 87hy not9 "ou got something against Puerto >ican girls98
82o. I.m 0ust not interested any more.8
87hat.d you come up here or9 , girl, right98
8!hat.s right,8 Je said.
His answer angered /ip. 8&o why won.t you let me get you one98
8I told you. I.m not interested any more.8
8!hen why are you hanging around here98
8!hat.s my business,8 Je said curtly.
8I you ain.t interested any more, why don.t you get out o the neighborhood98
8"ou ask a lot o )uestions,8 Je said.
8"eah, that.s right. 7hat about it98
8&uppose you answer one,8 Je said.
8I don.t have to anA8
87hy.d you pass out those guns98
/ip.s eyes opened wide. 87hat98
8"ou handed an arsenal to those two kids. 7ho do you plan on shooting98
!hey sat side by side on ad0acents stools, Jes ists bunched on the counter, /ip.s eyes narrowing as the sailor.s words
penetrated. !he other boys, with the e$ception o &i$to, had moved away rom the 0ukebo$, and advanced towards their leader.
8"ou got big eyes, :randma,8 /ip said, as he suddenly struck Je ull in the ace with his closed ist. Je, surprised by the
blow, tried to maintain his balance on the stool, reali#ed intuitively that it would be a mistake to all, a mistake to be on the
ground. He clutched or the counter top, but the imbalance was complete and his hand slid over the =ormica top as he went
over and back, his oot hooked into the stool.s rung, the asphalt tile loor coming up to meet his back. He caught the orce o
the all with his shoulder blades, snapping his head so that it wouldn.t collide with the loor. He was struggling to get his oot
ree o the rung when the irst kick e$ploded against the side o his head.
He brought up his hands instinctively, trying to ree his oot, s)uirming to get his oot loose rom this ridiculously oolish
position, and the second kick caught him in the rib cage, and he elt all the breath in his body escape rom his mouth in a grunt,
and then another kick caught the side o his neck, and now the kicks were coming with methodical precision and his oot was
still hooked into that goddamn rung, a boot connected with his right eye and he elt shocking, stabbing pain and then the
warmth o blood and he thought I.m going to be kicked to death on the loor o this goddamn luncheonette and then he heard
3uis shouting, 87hat are you doing9 -astards, what are you doing98 ,nd above that, or beyond it, around it, circling it, illing
the air, the high penetrating wail o a police siren.
8
Hernande# had seen this apartment beore, had been inside it. 2ot this one, e$actly, but countless others like it in buildings
o the precinct !his could have been the very apartment he had lived in as a boy.
!he ront door opened into the kitchen. !here was the usual police lock' the irst plate screwed to the door, the second plate
embedded in the loor, and the unbending steel bar which, when wedged into its triangular place between the two, made
orcible entry impossible. , window was at the ar end o the kitchen. It opened on the interior shatway o the tenement.
!here was linoleum on the kitchen loor, a spatter pattern. It had been scrubbed clean but let unwa$ed. It had worn through in
patches near the door, the icebo$, and the stove. , white enamel-topped table was on the wall opposite the stove. , picture o
Jesus in supplication was above the table. !he walls were painted a pale green, but the grime o countless meals in preparation
had worn itsel into the walls so that the green seemed darker, bile-like. !he paint, too, was beginning to lake o in several
places on the walls and on the ceiling. , toaster was on the table. , plastic shield covered it. !he room seemed shoddy but
clean. It was a room he remembered well.
%n winter days, when he was a boy, he would sit on the loor by the stove, playing with his soldiers on the clean worn
linoleum. His mother had miraculously managed to cook her meals with him underoot. !he smells o #rro6 -on /oo would
ill the kitchen, and it was co#y by the stove where he endowed each o his metal men with a personality and an identity. !here
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was warmth in the kitchen o the Hernande# home, warmth rom the stove and the smell o cooking ood, warmth in the gentle
voice o his mother as she went about her work, warmth in the monologues the boy =rankie addressed to the metal men
surrounding him.
!here was no warmth in the :ome# kitchen on that day in July, no warmth but the suocating heat o summer. %utside, they
could hear the wail o the siren. ?rs. :ome# went to the window and closed it. !he sound withdrew.
8,lways ires,8 she said. 8,lways the sirens. 2ever a day without a ire.8 &he shook her head. 8,nd it.s worse in the winter.8
87here.s the boy98 Hernande# asked.
8In the bedroom. =rankie, please go easy with him. !his thing he is in, it is great trouble. -ut... he is hard to know.8
8I.ll go easy,8 Hernande# said.
&he led him through the apartment, into the 8parlor8 urnished with a three-piece living-room suite, a television set, a loor
lamp, the i$ture in the ceiling boasting three light bulbs o dierent colors. 7hen he was a boy, he had done his homework in
the parlor, stretched out on the loor. !here had been no television in those days. In those days, the 87illiam !ell %verture8
had announced the arrival o the 3one >anger. In those days, there was %mar the ?ystic, and !he 7itch.s !ale, and >enrew
o the ?ounted, and, o course, on &undays A the &hadow. He had grown up with the idea that 3ament 5ranston was the most
glorious name in the entire world. He now laughed whenever anyone mentioned it and yet, despite his sophisticated laughter,
the name still touched a core o envy and awe somewhere deep within him. 3amont 5ranston A the &hadow. ?emories o a
boy, the howl o a wol and then the words, 8>ennnnnnn-rew o the ?ounnnnnnn-ted,8 <ick !racy every aternoon at A
ive was it9 A ive-iteen9 A milk on the kitchen table and chocolate-covered graham crackers, the memories o a boy. ,nd
now, the same living-room, called a 8parlor8 as it was in Puerto >ico, the same colored lights in the ceiling i$ture, the same
peeling paint, the same long tred through a railroad lat, a man entering a bedroom which could have been the twin o the one
he.d slept in as a boy, and a man coming ace to ace with a boy o si$teen, and seeing in that ace pain and trouble, trouble in
the eyes and the mouth, and Hernande# the man suddenly wondering where Hernande# the boy had gone. ,nd wondering what
had been lost somewhere along the way.
8!his is =rankie Hernande#,8 ?rs. :ome# said.
!he boy regarded him without hostility. -ut there was determination in his eyes, a stubborn committment to reveal nothing.
Hernande# had seen this look beore. He had seen it in the s)uadroom and it had been worn by hardened criminals and by
docile housewives' it was the same look, it never varied. It was a look which plainly stated, 8"ou are the 3aw, and anything I
tell you will be held against me.8
8Hello, ,lredo,8 Hernande# said.
8Hello,8 the boy answered warily.
8"our mother.s worried about you.8
8&he hass nothin. to worry abou..8
87ell, she seemed to think so. 5ame all the way over to the police station because she thought so. 7hat about it, ,lredo98
,lredo sighed deeply. 8I.m goin. to church, ?r Hernande#,8 he said. 8I got nothin. to tell you.8
8"our mother thinks you.ve got plenty to tell me.8
8?y mother doesn.t know. &he don. know this neighborhood.8
8I know this neighborhood, ,lredo,8 Hernande# said latly, and their eyes met, and in the boy.s eyes was a recalculation
now, a )uick estimate o Hemande#.s knowledge o the streets, an appraisal o the e$tent to which he was a neighborhood boy,
and the e$tent to which he was a cop like all the rest. 82ow what.s all this about98 Hernande# asked.
,lredo made his decision in a single moment. !he decision changed nothing. Hernande# could not help him, Hernande#
was the law, there was nothing he could tell him. 8It ain.t abou. nothin.,8 he said.
8"our mother said somebody.s going to kill you, is that right98
,lredo did not answer.
8,nswer me;8 Hernande# said, and he sei#ed the boy by the shoulders and orced the contact, orced eyes to meet eyes
levelly and honestly. 8,nswer me;8
,lredo remained mute, his eyes probing Hemande#.s. ,nd then he nodded.
87ho98 Hernande# asked.
8!he ... the boys,8 ,lredo answered. His shoulders ached where Hernande# gripped him. His eyes remained locked with the
detective.s.
87hy98
82o reason,8 ,lredo said.
8Is there a girl involved in this98
"S!."
Hernande# released his grip tiredly. !his was an old story, and he had heard it many times beore. 87hat.d you do to the
girl98 he asked.
82othin..8
85ome on.8
82othin..8
!he room went silent again. Hernande# stared at the boy. Patiently, he asked, 8!hen why do they want to kill you98
8!o show they big shots, thass all,8 ,lredo said. 8!hey tink iss big to kill.8 He paused. He was talking more reely now, but
he still wondered how ar he could trust Hernande#. In a very low voice, he said, 8&he am. even his girl. 5hina ain. nobody.s
girl.8
8"ou must have done something to the girl;8 Hernande# said angrily.
82othin.; I swear; I swear on my mudder.s eyes. 2othin.; I ony say hello to her. &he a nice girl, smilin. an. everything, she
smile at everybody. &o I say hello. Iss somethin. wrong with dat9 %n the islan., you could say hello to girls, nobody bodder
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you. &o now I am come here the city, an. now I cann say hello.8
8How long have you been in this city98 Hernande# asked.
!he boy shrugged and turned to his mother. 8?ama98
8He.s a year now,8 she said. 87e took the girl over irst. His sister. ,lredo we let with his grandmother in &an Juan. , year
ago, we could aord to bring him here, too.8
87here.s the girl now9 "our daughter98
8&he .belongs to the :irl &couts. !oday, they went on a picnic. Honeyside -each, you know that98
8"es,8 Hernande# said. 8"ou like this city, ,lredo98
8&ure. I come rom 3a Perla, thass where my gran.mudder lives. 3a Perla, thass a big 1#n(u!o in &an Juan. , slom, you
know9 &hacks.8
8I know 3a Perla.8
8It means !he Pearl, but thass 0us. a 0oke, you know9 It.s not sush a pearl. Here iss better. 2ot so poor, you know9 !here, it
iss all dirty an. mud, an. iss poor all the time. Here iss better.8 He paused. 8-ut what can you do here98
8"ou can do a lot here, ,lredo.8
8"eah9 "ou go outside the neighborhood, they call you .spic.. It.s my ault I cann speak 6nglish so good9 How I.m spose to
learn9 !here.s only one teacher in all my high school who speaks &panish;8
8%thers have learned 6nglish, ,lredo.8
8&ure, I know. I.m tryin., ain. I9 I do pretty good, don.t I98
8"ou do ine.8
8&till...8
8&till what98
8,m I ... am I spose to 0oin a gang or somethin.98
8<o you belong to a gang now, ,lredo98
82o, I don. belong no gang. In Puerto >ico, we don. have this bullshit, these gangs like here. In Puerto >ico, you can say
hello to girls, you can hang aroun. like whoever you want, you know9 ,n. there.s none o these dope. !he kids here take dope.
&o I don. wann take dope, an. I don. wann belong to no gang. I ony wann to go my own way, nobody should bodder me.8
8&o how.d you get into this mess98 Hernande# asked.
8I say hello; I swear to :od, all I say is hello; &o /ip, he...8 ,lredo cut himsel short.
87ho98 Hernande# said )uickly.
,lredo was silent or several seconds. !hen, as i inally committing himsel, he said, 8%kay. /ip. He sees me an. he says I
bodderin. his girl. He says I don. go to church or they wash me.8
8"ou ever been in trouble with this /ip beore98
8%nce or twice. 3ike he try to shake me down at school, you know9 7e go the same school.8
87hat school is that98
8, trade school. I.m learn a 0ob.8
87hat kind o 0ob98
8,utomotive. -ut thass not what I wann to be.8
87hat do you want to be98
8I wann study radio. &o when I wass in 0unior high school, I go the adviser, you know9 I say, .I wann study radio.. &he tell
me I should be an automotive. &he says iss better or a &panish kid. &he says iss better opportunity. -ut I still wann study
radio.8
87hy don.t you tell this to someone at your school98
8%h, I don. know. 7ho.s to listen9 &ometimes I eel ... I don. know... like as i bein. here I.m 0us.... not a real human bein.,
you know9 3ike I eel ... secondhand.8
Hemande# nodded. 87hat happened with this /ip9 7hen he tried to shake you down98
8%h, I give him my lunch money,8 ,lredo said. 8It wass ony a )uarter. I dinn want bad blood with him.8
8,nd that was the e$tent o it9 ,nd you haven.t had any trouble with him since that time98
82ever. 3ike he.s ony new aroun. here, you know9 ?aybe he lives here i., si$ months. He come rom somewhere
downtown, you know9 &o I don. bodder with him, I ony want to go my own way, thass all. I don. like this ... I mean ... look,
they go aroun. stomping people ... they have these street bops ... what I got to ight or9 =or what9 I.m here this city now, so
here should be better, not wor"e than Puerto >ico. &o why I got to bodder with kids like /ip9 He thinks to be big is to kill.8
,lredo paused and then stared solemnly at Hernande#. 8!o be big is to $!ve, no98 he asked.
8"es, ,lredo.8
8&ure. -ut he.s leader o the 3atin Purples. &o I don. belong no gang, no >oyal :uardians, no &panish <ukes, nothin.. &o
who.s to protec. me98
"I5m to protect you, ,lredo.8
8"ou9 7hat can you do9 "ou tink they araid o cops9 I I don. show in the street, they call me turkey, they say I araid o
them. &o den everybody laugh at me. &o den how can I walk the street9 I I be turkey, how can I walk the street98
8It.s not turkey to want to live, ,lredo. 6very man wants to live.8
8I tell you the truth, I.m tired,8 ,lredo said. 8I.m tired o walkin. alone. "ou walk alone, they all pick on you. -ut I.m spose
to 0oin a gang9 I.m spose to go aroun. shootin. people9
7hat or I want to shoot people98
8<on.t leave the apartment today, ,lredo,8 Hernande# said.
8"ou.ll be sae here. I.ll see to that.8 8,nd tomorrow98 ,lredo asked. 87hat about tomorrow98 87e.ll see. ?aybe this.ll all
be cleared up by tomorrow.8 87ill tomorrow be any better98 ,lredo asked. 8!omorrow I.m still here. I.m always here in this
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24
neighborhood.8 He began to weep suddenly and gently. 8,lways,8 he said. 8,lways here. ,lways.8
!here were our s)uad cars in the street outside when Hernande# got downstairs. !hey ormed a loose cordon about the bar
called 3a :allina, and Hernande# immediately wondered i a Gice &)uad raid was in progress. !he street was illed with
people who seemed to gather immediately at the sign o any e$citement, who stood speculating in small knots outside the
barrier ormed by the s)uad cars on either end o the bar. Hernande# pushed his way through the crowd, saw that Parker was
standing and talking to 3ieutenant -yrnes and &teve 5arella, who stood leaning against a ender o one o the s)uad cars. His
irst thought was 7ho5" m!n*!n( he "ore+ and he reali#ed instantly that this was no vice raid, that something big must have
happened. Buickly, he walked to where the other detectives were standing.
87hen do we start, 3ieutenant98 Parker asked. !here was a glow in Parker.s eyes. He reminded Hernande# o a ?arine who
had been in his outit. !he guy.s name had been >ay 7alters, and he had 0oined the company on the day beore the Iwo Jima
landings. He hated the Japanese, and he couldn.t wait or the landings to begin. He was the irst man out o the landing barge,
his eyes glowing, a tight grim smile on his mouth. !he smile was still there when the Jap bullet took him between the eyes.
87e.re getting cars on the ne$t block,8 -yrnes said, 8so we.ll have radio contact with the men there. 7e.ll start as soon as
they.re ready. !his isn.t going to be a picnic. He said we wouldn.t take him alive.8
8,re we sure it.s him98 Parker asked.
87ho knows9 7e got a telephone tip. I it !" him, we can.t take any chances.8
, woman came out o the tenement doorway to the let o 3a :allina. &he was carrying a baby in one arm and a bird cage in
the other. , blue parakeet luttered wildly about the cage. !he woman came o the stoop, glancing over her shoulder to the
windows above 3a :allina. &he seemed to sense that she was a star perormer stepping into the spotlight and that an impatient
audience was waiting or the one line she had to deliver, a line which would suddenly solve and resolve doubts and
uncertainties which would have been mounting ever since the curtain rose. &he stopped in the middle o the street, aced the
crowd that milled restlessly beyond the s)uad cars and, in her loudest voice, shouted, 86es Pepe; 6es Pepe ?iranda up there;8
and then she e$tended the bird cage, pointing with it to the irst-loor windows while the bird luttered and screamed against
the brass bars.
85ome on, lady,8 a patrolman said, 8beore you stop a bullet.8
!he woman rushed into the crowd where the whisper had already gone up, a conirming whisper passed rom mouth to
mouth, accompanied by a knowledgeable shaking and nodding o heads, 8Pepe ?iranda, Pepe ?iranda, Pepe ?iranda.8
8Is that what this is98 Hernande# asked -yrnes.
8It looks that way, =rankie,8 -yrnes said.
87ho called in the tip98
8<on.t know,8 5arella said. 8He gave the ino and then hung up.8
8I.m going to see what the hell.s happening with those other cars,8 -yrnes said. He walked around to the other side o the
s)uad car, sat with his legs out on the street, and picked up the hand mike. 8!his is 3ieutenant -yrnes,8 he said. 87e.re about
ready to roll here. ,re those other cars in position yet98
8&o we inally cornered your $#n*"m#n" Parker said, grinning. 8,nd we.re gonna kill him. I.m personally gonna see to that.8
8He.s no $#n*"m#n o mine,8 Hernande# said.
8% course not,8 Parker answered. 8!hat.s 0ust a way o speaking. ,ll I meant was you.re both Puerto >icans.8
8&ure.8
8Hell, you know me better than that. I don.t care i a guy.s Puerto >ican or even 5hinese.8
8&ure.8
Parker looked around suddenly. 8-oy, look at these kids, will ya9 !hey think ?iranda.s a god.8
8He.s only a god to the ones who don.t know any better,8 5arella said, looking at the kids who had 0oined the crowd around
the s)uad cars. !he kids ranged in age rom toddlers to adolescents. &ome o them tried to climb onto the s)uad cars, but the
patrolmen swiped at them with their night sticks. 2one o the kids seemed certain as to what sort o behavior was e$pected o
them. &ome laughed, and some stood solemnly staring at the irst-loor windows o the building. &ome seemed on the verge o
tears. It was curious to watch their aces and to study their idgeting. 6ach o them knew that this was an occurrence o
unusual interest, and each o them was )uite naturally e$cited by it. -ut they had seen many things, these children, and their
reactions to all o these things had always been mi$ed. !hey had seen sudden blood, and every iber in their bodies had urged
them to scream at the sight o a man leaking his lie onto the pavement, but ear had coalesced in their throats and erupted into
the laughter o bravado. =or these children, the emotions had become conused, with vague boundary lines separating one
rom the other. =ear was a twin to courage' tears and laughter were interchangeable.
8He.s gonna be a *e#* god soon, that.s or sure,8 Parker said. 8He.s gonna pay or every damn heartache he ever gave this
city.8
5arella, watching the children, said simply, 8!he city gave him a ew too, ,ndy.8
8&ure,8 Parker agreed. 8It.s the neighborhood. , kid grows up here, what the hell do you e$pect9 ?iranda was cutting up
people beore he knew how to walk.8
8?aybe nobody ever took the trouble to teach him to walk,8 Hernande# said.
8Hey, you ain.t getting sore at me, are you98 Parker asked, his eyes opening wide. 8I thought he was no $#n*"m#n o yours.8
8He isn.t. He.s a punk. He.s going to die. !hat doesn.t make it all his ault.8
8I can understand how you eel,8 Parker said. 8!here.s a blood tie that...8
8!here.s no blood tie between me and...8
8I didn.t mean a real blood tie, or :od.s sake. I know he.s not your relative or anything. -ut, you know, you.re both &panish.
!hat sort o makes you brothers, you know what I mean98
82o. 7hat the hell *o you mean, Parker98
8,w, orget it. I you.re gonna get sore, there.s no sense talking. "ou.re the touchiest guy I know, =rankie. I mean it. "ou
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25
oughta get over that. It don.t help you none, believe me.8 He smiled at Hernande# and put his arm around his shoulder. 8,ll I
was saying, in a manner o speaking, is that I.m gonna kill your brother up there. I.m gonna put a do#en bullets in his goddamn
skull and watch him bleed all over the sidewalk.8
Hernande# shook the arm ree. 8"ou know something, Parker98
87hat98
8He.s more your brother than he is mine.8
, hal-do#en patrolmen had begun erecting barricades across the street. !he people crowded the barricades. !he kids began
sitting on them, spilling over onto the side where the policemen and the s)uad cars waited or the word rom the ne$t street.
-yrnes came out o the s)uad car and yelled, 8,ll right, everybody )#-%! Se/ )#-%! -ack o the barricade; 3et.s (o!" He
walked rapidly to Hernande#, pulling a handkerchie rom his back pocket and wiping at his sweating ace. 8=rankie, do me a
avor, will you98 he said. 8?ake with some &panish. !hese people are gonna get shot up i they don.t respect that barricade.
:et them to move back, will you98
8&ure,8 Hernande# said. He moved up to the wooden horses with their supporting crossbars, the stenciled P%3I56
<6P,>!?62! letters shrieking against the white paint. "8ueno!" he shouted. "To*o" rero-e*er, Der*" *e $# )#rr!-#*#! To*o"
rero-e*er!"
!he crowd began moving back rom the barricade. %n the edge o the crowd, /ip grabbed 5ooch.s arm and said, 8"ou hear
that9 "ou hear what that bull said9 !here.s gonna be shooting;8
87ith ?iranda up there, there.s gotta be shooting,8 5ooch said, his eyes wide.
87ho.s ?iranda98 Papa asked.
8<on.t you know nothing, you dumb tiger98 5ooch said, shoving at him. 8?iranda.s the greatest thing ever happened to this
neighborhood.8 He turned to /ip. 8How you like this 0erk9 <on.t know ?iranda.8
/ip shook his head, his eyes searching the irst-loor windows or a sign o lie. He could see nothing.
87hen he lived around here,8 5ooch said to Papa, 8this neighborhood really 0umped, I kid you not.8
86ven in my old neighborhood we knew about him,8 /ip said, his eyes never leaving the irst-loor windows. 8He was
down there once, you know. I seen him. He was driving a big yellow 5addy.8
82o crap98 5ooch said.
8&ure, I seen it. ,nd he had this blonde with him. ?an, you could see she was gassed completely out o her skull, 0ust being
with him. !his was beore things got so hot or him. ?an, he was swinging then, swinging.8
8, 5addy, huh98 5ooch said. 8!hat.s or me. :ive me the wheel, man. I.ll know 0ust what to do with it.8
8"ou should see the way this guy walks, 5ooch,8 /ip said. He stepped away rom the barricade and did a )uick imitation.
8!his real cool glide, you know9 3ike he owns the world. !hat.s the way to walk. Pepe walks with his head up. He ain.t araid
o nothing or nobody;8
83ook at the way he got out o that >iverhead apartment;8 5ooch said. 8, do#en cops, and they couldn.t touch him.8
82obody can touch him,8 /ip said.
8?an, when he lived here, /ip, you shoulda been here, I mean it. , nice guy, you know9 I mean, you think him being a big
shot an. all, like he.d think us kids was dirt. -ut he was always nice to us, I swear. 4sed to hand out nickels, like that, you
know9 ,nd stories9 ?an, the stories he used to tell us. "ou know, real straight-rom-the-shoulder stu. 2ot like the crap you
get rom your people.8
8?an, I read you,8 /ip said, 8I my old man gives me his pitch about the island one more time, I.m gonna lose control. 7ho
gives a damn about customs on the island, huh9 7ho cares about the ho"/!#$!y there, or the "un"h!ne there, or the way the
people close the doors when a sti goes by, huh9 !his is here, man; !his is where people are $!v!n(!"
8"ou can bet Pepe knows how to live.8
8%hhh, brother, does he9 !his cat knows he story, dad; Hey, hey, look at that;8
87hat98 5ooch said.
8%ver there.8
!wo patrolmen were entering the tenement. !hey moved cautiously and with their revolvers drawn.
8It.s about to start,8 /ip said, straining to see over the heads o the people in ront o him. 87e gotta get something to stand
on, 5ooch. 7e won.t be able to see nothing this way.8
87hat about our other business98 5ooch asked.
/ip glanced cursorily over his shoulder, looking into the luncheonette where Je sat at the counter. 8!he sailor9 =orget him.
7e scared him hal to death.8
8I mean ,lie,8 5ooch whispered.
=or a moment, /ip seemed to have orgotten something that had kept him awake most o the night, something that had
accompanied him as he.d got out o bed this morning, roaring in his mind as he dressed. =or a moment, /ip seemed to make no
association with the name 8,lie8 and pu##lement showed plainly on his ace. ,nd then, as i being called away rom
something which was e$tremely pleasant and entertaining to take care o some simple task which was at best boring, he said,
87ell, what about him98
87e got a date, remember98
8% course I remember,8 /ip said angrily. 8-ut how we gonna get to the church9 !he block.s shut o. -esides, the kids with
the pieces are on the other side o the street.8
8Iss better this way, /ip,8 &i$to said. 87e let heem...8
8%h, shut up, will ya, &i$to98 /ip snapped. 8?an, where.d we scrounge up this yo-yo98
Papa burst out laughing. 8"ou a yo-yo, &i$to,8 he said.
5ooch looked thoughtul or a moment. !hen he said, 8/ip, I can cut around the avenue and reach the kids that way. I can
get those pieces or us.8
26
26
3ike a business magnate who cannot be bothered by a petty administrative detail, /ip answered, 8"eah, good. :c ahead, get
them. -ring them back here.8 His eyes wanderec up to the irst-loor window again. 8?an, I wonder how man0 pieces
?iranda has in that pad with him.8
8!hey say he took guns rom all them cops in the...8
8%h, man, this is gonna be the unholiest; Jee-sus, is he gonna give it to them bastards; :o ahead, 5ooch. :o get the pieces.
5ome on &i$to;8
87here we going98
8:et something to stand on. !here.s always a million bo$es in that empty lot on...8
!he shots e$ploded rom inside the building, a short volley with the echoing roll o distant thunder. !he crowd went
instantly silent. !he silence hung over the street, and then was shattered instantly when a woman in the crowd screamed. ,n
instant chorus went up ater the scream, illing the street , wisp o smoke drited rom the mouth o the building. !he smoke
hung on the air or an instant, silencing the crowd again, as i they had been a crowd in &t. Peter.s &)uare waiting or the
smoke to rise rom the &istine 5hapel, announcing the new pope, and now that they had seen the smoke, they still did not know
who the pope was, and so they ell silent, and they waited.
=rom inside the building, a voice shouted, 83ieutenant; 3ieutenant;8
9
!he policemen on the rootops and on the ire escapes, dangling rom open windows perched behind parapets, seemed like a
band o monkeys who had climbed into an intricate #oo gymnasium and now didn.t know what to do with themselves. !o say
that Pepe ?iranda was completely surrounded would certainly have been the understatement o the century. !here were two
tenements acing 3a :allina, within the rather narrow conines o the cordon. !hese two tenements bristled with cops o every
si#e, shape and rank A and each o these stalwart deenders o the peace was carrying a loaded and drawn revolver. ,n
additional armory which seemed si#able and ormidable enough to have stormed the gates o &talingrad included such choice
delicacies o destruction as riles with ai$ed telescopic sights, submachine guns, regulation hand grenades, gas masks, tear-
gas pellets, and even a lame thrower or two.
2or did the siege conine itsel to the two buildings acing 3a :allina. !he police had moved into the ad0oining block as
well, entering apartments which aced the back windows o the apartment in which ?iranda, like an animal driven into a hole,
was trapped. 5lean white wash luttered on the back-yard lines. Policemen leaned out o open windows, pistols drawn,
peering between the luttering underpants and brassieres. !here were policemen acing the ront o the apartment and
policemen covering the back o it, and policemen on the roo o the building itsel, ready to descend upon ?iranda rom
above.
!he ad0oining rootops were covered with the citi#enry o the city. 3ike a bunch o hicks who had come to see a circus
daredevil dive eight hundred eet into a thimbleul o water, the people o the neighborhood were an$ious to see whether or not
?iranda could make the dive without splattering his brains out on the sawdust. !o many o these people, ?iranda was simply
the rebel and the underdog. 5onsciously or not, they were rooting or him. !hey wanted him to stand up to this ormidable
army o men in blue, blast his way out o that goddamn apartment, tip his hat, throw a kiss to the ladies, and ride o into the
sunset. Perhaps all o them knew how it would really end. Perhaps they all knew that a single man, no matter how mighty,
could not withstand such orces arrayed against him. -ut many o them nurtured the secret hope that or once, 0ust or once, the
rebel would win, the revolutionary would deeat the incumbent dynasty, the anarchist would throw his bomb and escape.
=or many others, there was an undeniable cultural tie between themselves and the man in the apartment. !he tie was a
curious one in that they all knew ?iranda was a criminal. In all probability, none o them would have welcomed ?iranda into
their homes. He was a dangerous man, an unreliable man, a thie and a murderer. -ut he was &panish. ,nd, in much the same
way that they took pride in the work o Pablo Picasso, they took a strangely curious pride in the act that ?iranda was causing
so much e$citement. In their minds, there was a very thin line between ame and inamy. ?iranda, whatever he had done, was
a celebrity. ,nd he was a celebrity whom most o his audience knew on a irst-name basis.
=or the others who watched, there was only curiosity. , man was trapped in an apartment. !he other men wanted to get him
out o that apartment. !his was a baseball game. !here were no good guys or bad guys, only two teams which were trying to
win.
,t the moment, ?iranda.s team seemed to have scored the irst run. !he cry o 83ieutenant; 3ieutenant;8 which had come
rom the hallway o the tenement was ollowed almost immediately by the sight o the man who.d shouted the words. He was a
police sergeant, and he had a patrolman.s arm draped over his shoulder as he dragged him into the street. !he patrolman had
been shot. !he blood on his blue shirt was plainly visible even to the people who crowded the edges o the rootops. !he
sergeant carried the man out and put him on the ground beside the radio motor patrol car. !he cop inside the car immediately
picked up the hand microphone and re)uested an ambulance. !he crowd watched all this with the eyes o prophets who are
noting an interesting development, but who are aware that the inal outcome will have little or nothing to do with this minor
incident. ?iranda had shot one o the cops. !hat was interesting. -ut the ireworks were yet to come. Patiently, they awaited
the ireworks. It is a rare year that has two Independence <ay celebrations.
&tanding alongside the wounded patrolman, sweating prousely, 3ieutenant -yrnes asked, 8How bad is it, &ergeant98
8His shoulder, sir,8 the sergeant said. He paused, catching his breath. He was a big beey man with graying hair. His
uniorm was a little too tight or him, but he didn.t want to buy a new one because he e$pected to retire ne$t year. 7hen a man
pays or his own working clothes, he.s apt to consider replacements careully. 8&ir, you shoulda heard ?iranda,8 he said,
wedging the words in between his gasps or breath. 87e was 0ust making sure all the tenants was out o the building, sir. He
began cursing in &panish and shooting through his door. He must have ired about si$ shots. !wo o them clipped 5assidy.8
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27
-yrnes stared at the man lying in the street. 87ell, we.re getting an ambulance, &ergeant. &tay with him, will you9 <o
whatever you can to make him comortable.8
86$cuse me,8 a man on the other side o the barricade said. He was a tall, thin man with penetrating blue eyes. He wore a tan
tropical suit and a blue straw Panama. 8<id I understand the sergeant to say...98
87ho the hell are you98 -yrnes asked.
8I.m a reporter. I work or the city.s largest aternoon tabloid. I couldn.t help overhearing...8
8I know your paper,8 -yrnes said latly.
8<id I understand the sergeant to say...8
8I.m busy, mister,8 -yrnes replied, and he went around to the other side o the s)uad car and picked up the hand mike.
82ice guy, your $#n*"m#n" Parker said to Hernande#. 85ouple o inches lower, and 5assidy.d be dead.8
8I didn.t do the shooting,8 Hernande# said. 8?iranda did.8
8&o who.s blaming you9 3isten, every race has its crumbs, ain.t that so98
8Hnock it o, Parker.8
8,in.t nobody blaming #$$ the Puerto >icans or a oul ball like ?iranda. 3ook at yoursel, or :od.s sake. <idn.t you come
rom this neighborhood9 &o look at you now. , detective third grade. It took guts to do what you did. Hell, think o all your
own people you had to arrest.8
8I do my 0ob, Parker.8
82o )uestion about it. "ou.re a good cop, Hernande#. ,nd it sure don.t hurt to talk &panish in a precinct like this one, does
it98 He began chuckling. 83isten, who cares i you.re taking unair advantage o the rest o us poor slobs9 "ou keep on the way
you.re going, and some day you.ll be commissioner. !hen your ather can hang another picture in his candy store.8
87hy do you needle me, Parker98
87ho9 ?e9 I needle you98
87hy98
8I don.t needle nobody,8 Parker said innocently. 8I.m 0ust like you, pal. I do my 0ob.8
8,nd what.s your 0ob98
8?y 0ob is keeping the streets clean. I.m a street cleaner with a gun. !hat.s a cop.s 0ob, ain.t it98
8!hat.s not #$$ o a cop.s 0ob.8
82o9 ?aybe you think I should go around holding 0unkies. hands, huh9 I used to be that way, Hernande#. I used to be the
kind o cop who elt sorry or people. 4sed to break my heart to tag a car even.8
8I.ll bet it did.8
8"ou don.t have to believe me. ,sk any o the old-timers at the station. -ut I learned my lesson, all right. I learned my
lesson.8
8How98 Hernande# asked.
82ever mind,8 Parker answered, and he turned away.
He had been turning away or a long time now, or ourteen years, to be e$act. He had been turning away rom his duty as a
cop, and rom his duty as a man, but he e$cused his negligence by telling himsel that he had once been the kind o cop who.d
elt sorry or people, and that he.d learned his lesson since. !here was a slight inaccuracy to his rationale. ,ndy Parker was not
the kind o man who had ever elt sorry or anybody in his lie. It was simply not in his make-up to e$ude sympathy or his
ellow humans. 7hat he probably meant was that one time he elt a closer identiication with the people o the precinct than he
did now.
,nd, to give the devil his due, Parker h#* once approached this somewhat elusive task o law and order with a distinctly
dierent viewpoint. 7hen he was a patrolman A though it never broke his heart to tag a car A he was inclined to be lenient
with petty oenders, letting them o with a whack o his billet and a warning. !here was, he had concluded, enough real
crime going on in this precinct without persecuting decent people or minor inractions. He learned in those days that the law
was open to interpretation long beore it reached the law courts. He learned that the lowest arbitrator in the city.s 0udicial
system was a man who wore no legal robes at all' he was the patrolman on the beat. ,nd so he handed down a do#en decisions
each day, and his decisions deinitely leaned toward giving the petty oender a break. ,t the same time, he elt he was tough
and uncompromising with the out-and-out thie. He considered himsel a good cop.
%ne day, the good cop who was ,ndy Parker was walking his beat when the proprietor o a dry goods store called him over.
!he man was holding the wrist o a young kid who had allegedly stolen a bolt o silk rom the sidewalk stand. Parker
)uestioned the owner, and Parker )uestioned the kid, and then he donned his 0udicial robes and said, 87ell, we don.t want to
cause this kid any trouble, do we9 2ow, can.t we 0ust orget about all this98 !he proprietor o the store was loath to orget
about all this because the kid had allegedly passed the bolt o silk to an accomplice who had made his escape with the
merchandise. -ut Parker kept administering his sidewalk practice, and inally everyone seemed satisied to let the entire matter
drop.
!hat evening, ater he had changed to his street clothes, Parker went or a beer in a neighborhood bar. He had the beer, and
he had a shot, and then he had another beer and another shot, and he was eeling like a pretty nice guy by the time he let the
bar, and that was the last time in his lie he ever elt like a pretty nice guy.
He was ambushed on his way to the subway by three men who didn.t allow him the opportunity to draw his revolver. He
was ambushed and beaten within an inch o his lie. He lay on the sidewalk in a pool o his own blood, and when he regained
consciousness he wondered why he.d been beaten or who had done the beating, and he drew what seemed to be the only logical
conclusion. He igured that he had been beaten by riends o the shopowner because he.d let the kid get away with the thet o
the silk.
He never did ind out who had administered the beating on that lonely autumn night.
Perhaps it had been riends o the shopowner. ,ctually, it could have been any one o a hundred people who disliked Parker
28
28
even in those days o amiability. ,ctually, it didn.t matter who.d beat him up.
He learned several things.
!he irst thing he learned was that it wasn.t nice to receive a beating. In the movies, a beating is usually a battle. !he person
getting the lumps is a ighting devil .who manages to pick o a do#en o his assailants beore he is inally subdued. !hen he
gets up, shakes the di##iness out o his head, wipes a trickle o blood rom his lip, dusts o his clothes, and narrows his eyes,
leaving the audience to speculate on 0ust what that narrowing o eyes meant. In real lie, a beating is very rarely administered
with ists. !he men who worked over Parker on that night in autumn were all as big as he was, and they were armed with
sawed-o broom handles, and they really beat the piss out o him. !hey kept beating him long ater he was unconscious, they
beat him within an inch o his lie, and the cliche happened to it the situation well because they damn near beat him to death,
and he may have been a lot closer than an inch to leaving the land o the )uick. He had not liked that e$perience at all. &o the
irst thing he learned was that he would never again, ever, as long as he walked the earth, be on the receiving end o a beating.
6ver. He learned this the way a young boy learns his catechism. I will never again take a beating. I will never again take a
beating.
,nd the way to be certain you will never take a beating is to hit irst and ask )uestions later. It.s handy to own a policeman.s
badge at such times. It makes apologies to innocent people easier aterward.
!he second thing that Parker learned was that he was being entirely too easy and naive in his approach to police work. =rom
that day on, Parker would give a summons to anyone who so much as spat on the sidewalk. In act, and curiously, rom that
day on Parker brought in more drunks, vagrants and innocuous oenders than any other cop working in the precinct. In his
own eyes, Parker had stopped being a nice guy. He was a mean, tough son o a bitch, and he knew it. ,nd i you didn.t happen
to like him, that was 0ust too bad. Parker had a lie to lead, and he knew how to lead it.
I will never again take a beating, he told himsel.
I w!$$ never #(#!n #%e # )e#!n(.
In the luncheonette on the corner, Je !albot held the wet handkerchie to the cut on the side o his ace, wiping away the
blood. &ome o the blood had spilled onto the collar o his 0umper, and he was already looking ahead to the scrub 0ob he would
have to do on it to get out the stain. 3uis, behind the counter, was more concerned with the sailor.s condition than with the
e$citement in the street outside. He watched the sailor an$iously, almost like a ather.
8"ou all right98 he asked.
8I.m all right,8 Je replied. 87hat.s that kid supposed to be98
8/ip98
8Is that his name9 "eah. Him.8
8I don.t know.8
8I mean, what the hell, who was giving him any trouble9 I was minding my own business.8
8His business is minding other people.s business. He.ll wind up no good. 3ike ?iranda up there.8
87hat I.m trying to get at ... well, what.s he looking or trouble or9 Is he hotheaded or something98
3uis shrugged. 82o more than most,8
8&panish people are supposed to be hotheaded, ain.t they98
8&ome are, some aren.t,8 3uis said, shrugging again.
87e ain.t got a single &panish person in all =letcher, you know that98 Je said, a touch o surprise in his voice. 8I never even
"een # &panish person until today, how do you like that98
8I never saw anybody rom =letcher until today,8 3uis answered.
87hat I.m trying to igure out...8 Je paused, studied the blood-smeared handkerchie, and then looked up at 3uis. 87ell,
you seem all right.8
8,ll right98
8I mean ... you ain.t like him.8 Je paused. 8!hat ?iranda.s &panish too, ain.t he98
"S!."
Je said nothing. He nodded, and then seemed to all into silent thought.
8I you igure that way, sailor, you will be making a big mistake.8
87hat way98
8"ou know what way. !hat.s the easy way to igure.8
8!his is pretty personal with me, 3ouise,8 Je said. 8I (o to know. I ain.t doing this 0ust or the un o it. It.s ... it.s important
to me.8
87hy is it so important to you98
8-ecause, well...8 He looked at the clock on the wall, and he wondered i 5hina would keep her date with him. ,nd then he
wondered i he still wanted to see her. He rowned and said, 8It.s 0ust important to me, that.s all.8
10
6veryone seemed ready or whatever might lie ahead.
!he police in the streets and on the rootops and in the back yard were ready. !he people watching the show were ready. /ip
and &i$to had obtained a large packing crate rom the lot on the corner and had set it up 0ust beyond the barricade' hey were
ready. ,nd even 3ieutenant -yrnes seemed ready now. He apparently had learned that his orces were deployed e$actly the
way he wanted them. He held a large, battery-powered megaphone, and he stepped out rom behind the s)uad car, put the
cumbersome apparatus to his mouth, blew into it several times to test the volume, and then said, "2!r#n*#+ Pe/e 2!r#n*#+
29
29
C#n you he#r me+"
His voice echoed on the silent street. !he people waited or ?iranda.s reply, but none came.
"C#n you he#r me+" -yrnes said again, his voice booming out o the speaker. ,gain, there was silence. In the silence, the
crowd seemed to catch its breath together, so that something like a sigh escaped their collective lips. "A$$ r!(h, I %now you -#n
he#r me, "o $!"en o wh# I5m "#y!n(. 7e5ve (o h!" "ree #n* he ne9 "ree )$o-%e*. There #re /o$!-emen w!h (un" !n every
w!n*ow #n* on every roo1o/ 1#-!n( h# #/#rmen, 1ron #n* re#r. 3ou5re r#//e*, 2!r#n*#. 3ou he#r h#+"
/ip and &i$to clambered up onto the crate and peered over the heads o the crowd. 8!his is our bo$, you dig me98 /ip said.
8%nly or the 3atin Purples. I don.t want nobody else climbing on it.8
"0ow #)ou !, 2!r#n*#+" -yrnes said. "3ou -om!n( ou, or *o we h#ve o -ome !n #1er you+"
87hy don.t he answer98 /ip said impatiently. He turned to the irst-loor windows, cupped his hands to his mouth, and
shouted, 8,nswer him, Pepe;8
"I1 here5" "hoo!n( #roun* here," -yrnes said into the megaphone, ""ome o1 he"e /eo/$e !n he "ree m!(h (e hur. Now
how #)ou !, #re you -om!n( ou+"
!here was another long silence. -yrnes waited.
"O%#y," he started, "!1 you..." and the voice came suddenly rom one o the irst-loor windows. !here was .no body attached
to the voice, no one visible in any o the windows. !he voice seemed to materiali#e rom nowhere, a shouted voice which rang
into the street, cutting o the lieutenant.s words.
87ho did I shoot98
8It.s Pepe;8 /ip shouted, and the cry spread through the crowd like lava rushing down a mountainside, 8It.s Pepe, Pepe, it.s
Pepe, it.s Pepe, Pepe, Pepe.8
"3ou "ho one o1 our /#ro$men," -yrnes said.
8<id I kill him98 ?iranda shouted rom the apartment, still invisible, his voice loating down into the street.
.7o.8
8"ou.re lying to me. I killed him.8
"3ou h! h!m !n he "hou$*er. Are you -om!n( ou+"
8<id I kill him9 Is he dead98
83et them come ater you, Pepe;8 /ip shouted.
"2!r#n*#, we *on5 w#n o /$#y (#me" here. I1 you 5re -om!n( ou..."
, new sound erupted, drowning out the words that came rom the megaphone, illing the air with its amiliar wail.
87hat.s that98 ?iranda shouted.
"I5" #n #m)u$#n-e. 7h# *o you "#y, 2!r#n*#+"
8He shouldn.t have tried nothing with me,8 ?iranda said. 8He could have got killed. I could have killed him.8
"8uyou *!*n5. So wh# *o you "#y+ 3e" or no+ 3ou -om!n( ou+"
82o;8 ?iranda shouted, suddenly and viciously. 8"ou think you got some cheap punk up here9 !his is Pepe ?iranda;8 His
voice rose. "3ou he#r me+ "ou want me, you come in here and get me;8
8!hat.s telling them, Pepe;8 /ip yelled, and he poked &i$to in the ribs, and suddenly the street was alive with cheers o
encouragement.
8"ea, Pepe;8
8-ravo, Pepe;8
8!ell .em, tell .em;8
".u!e!" -yrnes roared. "Every)o*y ,u!e!" Patrolmen moved )uickly into the crowd, and the people in the street ell
suddenly silent. -ut the rootops still rang with cheers or the trapped killer in the apartment. -yrnes waited or the sound to
die out. He put the megaphone to his mouth and said, "A$$ r!(h, 2!r#n*#. No more #$%. 7e5re -om!n( !n."
8!hen stop talking and come get me, you yellow bastards;8 ?iranda shouted, and suddenly the shade on one o the windows
snapped up, and there he was, Pepe ?iranda the killer, a short, wiry man standing in his undershirt, his lips pulled back into a
snarl, a three days. growth o beard on his ace, a gun in each hand. He pulled back his head, and then snapped it orward with
a short 0erking motion, spitting into the street. ,nd then he began iring blindly, both guns bla#ing as i he were trying to prove
he was the marshal o a tough 7estern town.
-yrnes waved at the rootops, and an ear-splitting volley shattered &unday like a piece o crystal. He scooted or cover
behind the s)uad car while the guns roared down rom the rootops. In the crowd, women were screaming and men were
ducking behind each other or cover. -yrnes waved his hand again. !he volley stopped, ?iranda was no longer at the window.
He gathered 5arella, Parker and Hernande# around him. 8%kay,8 he said, 8we.re moving in. !his time ?iranda bit o too big
a piece.8 He paused and looked at the aces o the men around him. 8Has 5aptain =rick arrived yet, &teve98
8"es. I saw him a little while ago.8
83et.s ind him. I want this to be right.8
=rederick -lock was on his way home when he suddenly ound himsel in the middle o a traic 0am. -lock hated traic
0ams, and he especially hated them on weekends. He had gone to his oice downtown to pick up a carton o eyelets which a
actory in >iverhead needed instantly. He had made the delivery himsel A 87hen you deal with -lock Industries, you get
service,8 he had told his client A and had then taken the shortest route he knew rom >iverhead to the 5alm.s Point -ridge,
and that route happened to take him through the heart o Isola and the 87th Precinct. ,nd now he was in the middle o a traic
0am, on a &unday, sweating inside his automobile when he should have been at the beach. -lock was a at man. 2ot one o
those at men who try to kid themselves by applying euphemistic terms like 8stout8 or 8chubby8 to their obesity. He was at. =-
,-!. ,nd being at, he sweated a great deal. ,nd being a person who sweated A at men, -lock knew, never /er"/!re* 4 he
did not appreciate being locked in a parked car in the middle o Isola on a day like today.
30
30
He bore the heat with tolerant malice or as long as he could. !hen he got out o the car and tried to ind out 0ust what the
hell was causing the tie-up. ,s ar as he could see, there had been no accident. It always annoyed the hell out o -lock when
there was an accident. In the irst place, careul drivers didn.t get into accidents. ,nd in the second and more important place,
even i the wrecked car itsel didn.t block the road, traic always slowed down to a snail.s pace because every passing motorist
wanted to study the e$tent o the damage.
!oday, there had been no accident. ,nd yet traic was tied up on the avenue in both directions. 2ow why9 -lock wondered.
7ith the instincts o an old bloodhound, he ollowed the crowd. !hey all seemed to be heading in the same direction, and he
assumed the prime attraction was in that direction. 7addling along, mopping his brow with a big white handkerchie, cursing
mildly under his breath, -lock made his way up the avenue, and stopped at the luncheonette on the corner. , sailor was sitting
at the counter. -lock sidled up to him and said, 87hat.s going on, mate98 He had never been in the navy, but he was a born
salesman who adapted his speech to it any and all occasions. 87hy can.t I get my car through here9 7hat.s going on98
!he sailor did not answer. !he sailor kept dabbing at his ace with a wadded handkerchie. -lock didn.t see the blood on the
handkerchie, so he assumed the sailor was hot and wiping away sweat. He sympathi#ed with the sailor and turned to the man
behind the counter.
85an you tell me what.s going on98 he asked.
8!he traic.s tied up,8 3uis said.
8"ou.re telling me it.s tied up98 -lock said, and he began chuckling, his layers o at 0iggling. 8&ay, what kind o answer is
that9 It.s tied up downtown and uptown and probably crosstown, too. 7hat.s going on9 , parade98
8!here.s a gunman in the apartment up there,8 the sailor said suddenly.
8, what98 -lock wiped his brow. 8, gunman, did you say98
8Pepe ?iranda,8 3uis put in, nodding.
8I never heard o him. 7hat.d he do, rob a bank98 -lock said, and he began chuckling, the at 0iggling all over him again. He
didn.t look at all like &anta 5laus.
8"ou live in this city98 3uis asked.
8&ure, I live in this city. 2ot around here, though. I live in 5alm.s Point. 7hat is this ?iranda, a celebrity98
8He.s a killer,8 the sailor said )uietly.
8"eah98 -lock opened his eyes wide in appreciation. 8"eah9 , killer98
8!hat.s what he is,8 Je said.
8!hey going up there to get him98 -lock said.
8!hat.s what it looks like. "ou better go back to your car, mister. !here might be shooting around here.8
82o, no,8 -lock said, very interested now. 8I want to watch this. I want to see him die.8
He shoved his way through the crowd, using his huge stomach like a battering ram.
83ouise,8 Je said, 8what time is it98
8I don.t know. 6leven-thirty, something like that. 7hy98
8I.m ... I.m supposed to meet a girl here. ,t noon.8
8&ailor, why don.t you take your own advice9 :et out o here beore you run into more trouble. !ake a walk over to the
park, eh9 7hen the girl comes, I.ll tell her you.re waiting there or her. 7hat.s her name98
85hina. !hat.s a unny name, ain.t it98
82ot or a &panish girl. %nly in &panish, it.s pronounced 5hee-na.8 3uis shrugged. 8, lot o the girls today, they give it the
6nglish sound. %r maybe people do it or them, and then they decide it.s easier that way.8 He paused. 8:o. :o to the park. I.ll
tell her where you are.8
8I thought she was a whore when I irst met her, 3ouise. !hat.s a damn rotten way to start o, isn.t it98
87ell, I know many men who have married prostitutes,8 3uis said. 8!hey make good wives.8
8%h, she ain.t;8 Je said, almost shouting the words in his haste. 8I didn.t mean to give you that impression. I mean, you can
see that, once you know her. &he.s got this ... this real sweet ace, you know98
3uis smiled. "S!."
8"eah, like a little girl, you know98 He grinned at 3uis and then )uickly said, 82ot that she doesn.t look womanly. I mean,
she certainly has all the ... the ... things a ... woman has.8
8I have never seen an ironing board among Puerto >ican women,8 3uis said.
8Huh98
3uis curved his hand through the air, pantomiming a woman with uncommonly pronounced curves.
8%h, yes,8 Je said. 8&ure. -ut she doesn.t look sloppy, you understand that, don.t you9 I mean, she.s not one o these...8 He
used his hands to indicate a woman whose upper portions were mountainous.. -oth men nodded in solemn agreement on the
proper si#e o a bosom. 8&he talks nice, too,8 Je said. 8I like a girl with a good voice and ... and eyes that look at you. 7hen
she talks, I mean. &he looks at you. !hat.s good. It makes you eel like ... like you.re important.8
"S!, a man must eel that he is important.8
8!hat.s what I didn.t like about =letcher, 3ouise. I 0ust elt like anybody else there. It.s unny but, well, meeting her I eel like
-C don.t know -C eel like me! !hat.s pretty stupid, ain.t it9 I mean, like who the hell else would I eel like9 ,nd I hardly even
know her. I mean, she.s 0ust another girl, isn.t she98
8&ure,8 3uis agreed, 8she.s 0ust another girl. "ou can ind girls anywhere.8
87ell, now she.s not e$actly :u" another girl,8 Je said hastily. 8&he.s prettier than most, you know.8
8Pretty girls are easy to ind, sailor. !he world is ull o pretty girls. ,nd or every man in the world, there is one girl who is
pretty.8
8&ure, sure. -ut she.s, well, I guess you could call her beautiul. I guess you really could, 3ouise.8 He paused. 8<o you ... do
you think she.ll come98
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8I don.t know,8 3uis said. 8Perhaps.8
8I hope so. :ee, 3ouise, I hope so.8
=rom /ip.s vantage place on the packing crate, he saw her at once, working her way through the crowd. He waved to her
instantly, and then shouted, 86lena; Hey, 6lena, over here;8 He poked &i$to and said, 8Hey, &i$to, it.s 6lena.8
&otly, &i$to said, 8I thought 5hina wass your girl.8
8Gariety, huh98 /ip said, grinning. 8Hey, 6lena;8
!he girl waved back. &he was si$teen years old, an attractive girl with dark hair and dark eyes, wearing a skirt and blouse.
!he girl with her, slightly shorter than she, was wearing black tapered slacks and a boy.s white shirt. 8Hello, /ip,8 6lena
called, and then said to her riend, 8Juana, it.s /ip and the boys.8
=latly, Juana said, 8He.s a terriying creep.8
8He.s not so bad,8 6lena said. 85ome on.8
!hey walked over to the crate. /ip oered his hand to 6lena and pulled her up beside him. Papa studied the chivalrous
gesture, and then repeated it, oering his hand to Juana who took it with the disdain o a countess accepting aid rom a
doorman.
8"ou ever see anything like this, 6lena98 /ip asked e$citedly. 8He shot one o them.8
87ho shot one o them98 6lena asked.
8Pepe ?iranda;8 Papa said.
87ho98
8Pepe ?iranda,8 /ip said. 8He.s got a whole arsenal in that apartment with him. !he cops can.t igure how to get him out.
?an you shoulda seen him. He come right up to the window and spit at the bastards;8
87ho.s this98 Juana asked, turning her attention to /ip.
Papa, as i repeating a lesson he had learned, a lesson he h#* indeed learned earlier rom 5ooch, said, 8He the grays thin.
ever happen this neighborhood.8
8"eah98 Juana said alooly. 8I never heard o him.8
8&o h#5" what this is all about,8 6lena said. 87e were walking over on the ne$t block and everybody was heading here like
somebody hit the numbers or a million dollars.8
8!here ain.t no numbers on &unday,8 Juana said distantly. &he was not a very pretty girl, but she had learned somewhere that
her eyes were very attractive and had urther learned how to use make-up on them. Her eyes were the ocal point o her ace,
as green as 0ade and, combined with her 0et-black hair, they created an instant impression o desirability which overshadowed
the true acts o her plainness.
8"ou came through the ne$t block98 /ip asked 6lena.
8&ure. 7hy not98
82o reason.8 He paused. 8!hat.s >oyal :uardian territory.8
8&o what98
82othing. 2othing.8
8>oyal :uardians or not,8 6lena said, 8this is a ree country.8
87e walk where we want to,8 Juana added.
8!hat.s because you.re a chick. It ain.t so easy when you.re a guy,8 /ip said.
87hy not98 Juana asked.
8-ecause it ain.t, that.s all. "ou can.t go messing in another club.s territory.8
8!hat.s nuts. Haven.t you got anything better to do than play war9 !hat.s kid stu.8
8!here.s nothing kid stu about it,8 /ip said. 8"ou 0ust don.t know.8
8I know plenty,8 Juana said. 8"ou haven.t got anything better to do, that.s all. !hat.s why you.ve got these territories and
these street bops and...8
8I got plenty to do,8 /ip said. 87e always got plenty to do, ain.t we, &i$to98
8&ure, he.s got plenty to do,8 6lena said. 8He.s got 5hina to chase ater.8
8Hey, listen,8 /ip said, grinning. 8How about a hug, 6lena98
8I you had things to do,8 Juana persisted, 8you wouldn.t get involved in this childish nonsense. 7hat you are is an acting-
out neurotic.8
8, wh#+" ;!/ said.
8,n acting-out neurotic,8 Juana said proessorially.
8How come you.re so smart, huh9 7here.d you get your medical degree, huh98
8I read an article in the newspapers,8 Juana said smugly.
8<ig the big reader;8 /ip said, and he burst out laughing. <ismissing her, he turned to 6lena, 8Hey, come on, no hug or
me98
8:o hug 5hina,8 6lena said coldly.
85ome on, come on,8 /ip said, still grinning. -ut his grin seemed to have no eect on 6lena. <eliberately she turned to
&i$to.
87ho.s your cute riend98 she asked archly.
8Huh98 /ip said.
87hat.re you98 she asked &i$to. 8!he strong silent type98
8?e98 &i$to asked, bewildered by her sudden attention.
87hat.s your name98 she asked, moving closer to him, smiling the way she had once seen Jane >ussell smile in a movie.
8&i$to,8 he answered.
8!he article said you.re insecure,8 Juana said to /ip.
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32
8<on.t give me any bull you read in the newspapers,8 he said, turning on her angrily, mied by 6lena.s behavior. 8I don.t
believe nothing I read.8
8"ou probably don.t even know how to read,8 Juana said.
!he thing that was happening on the packing crate was rather odd. -ecause despite Juana.s protests that /ip was a terriying
creep, an acting-out neurotic, and insecure to boot, her conversational eorts had all been directed at him. ,nd even though her
approach took the orm o an attack, it was clear that she was bidding or /ip.s attention and no one else.s. 6lena, meanwhile,
was doing e$actly the same thing, even though she seemed to be addressing &i$to. , none-too-subtle tug o war was taking
place on that crate. 7hatever /ip.s laws, he was obviously recogni#ed by the girls as the most desirable o the three boys.
,nd, thanks to either his indierence or his stupidity, he hadn.t the aintest idea o what was happening.
8&o how come you.re so )uiet98 6lena said to &i$to. 8,ren.t you e$cited about your riend Pepe ?iranda98
8He.s no. my rien.,8 &i$to said. 8Pepe.s no damn good;8
!he girl caught the accent. &he looked at &i$to or a moment and then said, 8Hey, what are you9 , tiger or something98
8I no tiger.8
8"ou sound like one. 5an.t you speak 6nglish98
Papa had been thinking over &i$to.s comment, and had inally athomed the meaning o it. 87hat you minn, he.s no good98
he asked now. 8Hey, /eep; &i$to, he say Pepe.s no good.8
/ip turned rom Juana. 87hat9 <id you say that98
8I dinn say nothin.,8 &i$to said.
,nd now 6lena, an$ious to recapture /ip.s attention, )uickly leaped in. 8!hat.s what he said, /ip. !hat.s what the ?arine
!iger said, all right.8
8I no tiger. I speak 6nglish good;8
8He speaks a well 6nglish,8 /ip said, chuckling.
8He said Pepe.s no good,8 6lena repeated.
8Is that what you said98 /ip asked, and he shoved out at &i$to. 8Is that what you said, huh98 and he shoved again. 8Huh98
and again he shoved, pushing &i$to closer to the edge o the crate. 8Is that what you said, &i$to98 and he pushed hard this time,
sending &i$to over the edge o the crate, reeling backward into the gutter. /ip burst out laughing. Papa and 6lena 0oined him.
Juana seemed undecided or a moment, as i her natural instinct was to climb down and help &i$to to his eet. !he indecision
passed. &he tittered nervously, and then burst into laughter with the rest o them. /ip put his arm around 6lena.
87hat.s wrong with you, anyway98 he asked.
82othing.8
8&o how come the big ree#e98
87hat.s with you and 5hina98
8!hat98
8!hat.8
82othing.8 He shrugged.
8!he word says you.re ater ,lie.8
87ell, like he.s got it coming, you know98
87hy9 -ecause o something with 5hina98
87hat.re you worried about 5hina or, huh98
"I" there going to be trouble98
87ith ,lie98
8"es,8 6lena said.
82aw, no trouble,8 /ip answered. 8<on.t worry, huh98
8Have you got a thing on with 5hina98
8?e98 /ip began laughing again. 8Hey, you.re 0ealous, ain.t you9 I.ll be damned.8
8&he.s old enough to be your mother,8 6lena said sullenly. 8&he must be nineteen, maybe even twenty.8
8!hat don.t make her old, only e$perienced. 7hat.s the matter, honey, huh98 he said sweetly. 8"ou 0ealous, baby, huh98
82o.8
8"ou worried about poor little ,lie98
8I don.t care what you do to ,lie. Just answer me one )uestion.8
8&ure, what.s that98
8"ou got eyes or 5hina or not98
83ike, you know, doll, your interest gasses me, but don.t start strong-arming me. I.ll bust you right in the mouth, you know98
Juana turned to him suddenly. 8It takes a big man, don.t it, to hit a girl98
8%h, get lost, #ombie,8 he said to her. He wrapped his arms around 6lena. 85ome on, where.s my hug98
8/ip, cut it out,8 she said. 8!here.s people watching.8
8&o let them, who cares98 He took one arm rom 6lena and pointed into the crowd. 8Hey; Hey you; =at boy;8
=rederick -lock, who had shoved his way up to the barricade, looked up at /ip.
8"ou watching us, =at -oy98
-lock turned away with a look o e$treme disgust on his ace. /ip burst out laughing.
8&ee, honey98 he said. 82obody watching us.8 He pulled her closer to him. 8?mmm, you are the sotest girl.8
8I shouldn.t let you,8 6lena said. 82ot ater this 5hina thing.8
8&omebody.s got to protect little 5hina, no98 His hands roamed her body. He touched her breast, and she pulled away rom
him )uickly, embarrassed, but he drew her close again, and she stood unprotesting in the circle o his arms. /ip stroked her
back gently.
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8"ou going to hurt ,lie :ome#98 Juana asked.
8<rop dead,8 /ip told her.
8-ig man,8 Juana said. 86verybody in this neighborhood.s a big man. It.s 0ust you.re insecure, that.s all.8
8?an, she sprouts that crap like as i she grows it in her mouth,8 /ip said. 8I got news or you, #ombie. I #m a big man, now
how about that9 !he 3atin Purples ain.t araid o nothing or nobody;8
87hoever heard o the 3atin Purples outside o you and your mother98 Juana asked. 8I one o those >oyal :uardians came
down the street right now, you.d pass out cold.8
8I ain.t araid o no >oyal :uardians,8 /ip said angrily. 8I ain.t araid o no)o*y!" He searched in his mind or a clincher to
his argument, and then blurted, 87hy, one o my boys is out right now, rounding up a couple o pieces;8
8I one o them goes o accidentally, you.ll run a mile.8
8"ou better tell your pal to shut up, 6lena,8 /ip warned.
8Juana, stop picking on...8
8, gun is a psychological symbol,8 Juana said. 8"ou only want one because you.re araid.8
8I ain.t araid to rap you right in the mouth,8 /ip said.
8-ig man,8 Juana repeated, but she shut up.
/ip looked out over the crowd. 8!hey.re coming back,8 he said. 8!he bulls are coming back.8
11
!he plan was a simple one, but 3ieutenant -yrnes had discovered in his years o police work that most easible and practical
plans were simple.
!he plan was one o deception, a plan which would utili#e every man.s innate susceptibility to the e$pected, and then knock
him lat by suddenly producing the une$pected. !he plan, o course, undertook to presume what ?iranda would consider
8e$pected8. -ut it seemed a reasonable guess to suppose that ?iranda e$pected the cops to get him out o that apartment, and
that one certain way to accomplish this was to bust into the 0oint. I a rush were made across the street, a rush which carried all
the earmarks o a rontal attack, ?iranda would brace himsel or an assault on his ront door. ,ctually, the assault would
come rom elsewhere. &uch was the unoriginal and simple nature o the deception. -roken down into simple terms, the police
plan could have been stated thusly( 0! h!m where he #!n5.
8Have you got it straight98 -yrnes asked his men.
8I want the ire escape,8 Parker said.
87e.ll see about that.8
8I want to be the one who gets him,8 Parker said. 8I want to blow his head o.8
8&ometimes, Parker, you turn my goddamn stomach,8 -yrnes said.
87hat98
82othing.8
87ell, what do you want to say something like that or98
8&kip it,8 -yrnes said. 8<o you understand the plan98
8I understand it,8 Parker said sullenly.
8=rankie98
8I.ve got it.8
8&teve98
8>un through it once more, would you, Pete98
8%kay, this is it in a nutshell. I.m going to tell ?iranda we.re coming in ater him. , pile o us.ll rush the stoop when the
shooting starts. ?iranda A I hope A will think we.re going to orce the apartment door rom the hallway. -ut one o us will
break away rom the rest and latten himsel against the side o the building.8
8?e,8 Parker said.
87hoever it is, he.ll pull down the ladder o the ire escape and climb up to the irst loor. He may be able to get ?iranda
rom the window. %therwise, he.ll have to enter the apartment and have it out there. It.s tricky, but I.d rather risk one man than
a do#en.8
83et.s get started,8 Parker said.
8In a minute. I need a volunteer or that ire escape 0ob.8
8"ou.ve already got your volunteer, 3ieutenant,8 Parker said.
8"ou.ve got wo" Hernande# said.
8Heep out o this, =rankie. !his is my baby.8
87hy should it be98
8-ecause I want it.8
8I.ll decide who...8 -yrnes started.
83ieutenant, you.d be cra#y to send up a guy who.s...8 Parker cut himsel short.
87ho.s wh#+" Hemande# asked.
8%kay; 7ho.s got a personal stake in this, okay98
8Personal9 7hat the hell are you talking about98
8"ou grew up with ?iranda;8
87hat dierence does that make9 7e want him out o that apartment, don.t we98
87e want him *e#*," Parker said. 8He.s a punk. He should have been killed a long time ago. He.s the biggest stink in these
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34
streets.8
87hat the hell do you know about the stink here, Parker9 <id you...8
8I seen plenty o it. I been in this precinct or...8
8<id you grow up with the stink in your nostrils, day and night9 <id you live with it every day o your lie98
8"ou.re telling me about this precinct9 I know it like my own mother. !here.s nothing you can tell me about...8
82o, nothing; !o you, this precinct is one big violation, one big crime being committed every hour on the hour. ,nd you.re
scared o the place; "ou.re scared out o your wits;8
8&cared9 7ho the hell...8
87ell to me it.s /eo/$e! ,nd they deserve a goddamn break; !hey want to get that son o a bitch as much as you do;8
8!hey want him to hold o the whole damn city;8 Parker shouted. 8"ou know that; "ou know it.s true;8
8!hey only want a Puerto >ican to win or a change. %kay, i I go up there, a Puerto >ican wins.8
8I I go up...8
8I you go up, you purge yoursel. "ou think killing him is gonna help you, Parker9 "ou think that.s the answer98
8I don.t know what the hell you.re talking about.8
8I you go up there, you accomplish nothing. 2ot or yoursel, and not or the city. "ou.ll be making ?iranda a hero. I.m
telling you that right now. "ou kill him, and this neighborhood has a martyr. !he kids.ll be playing Pe/e 2!r#n*# #n* he
Co/" or the ne$t si$ weeks.8
8!he hell with the kids. "ou think I.m interested in... 98
87ho.s gonna show them, Parker9 "ou want a hundred more ?irandas ten years rom now98
"3ou gonna show them98 Parker asked sarcastically.
8I I kill him,8 Hernande# said latly, 8the neighborhood gets nothing but a dead punk.8
8"ou.ve got him, =rankie,8 -yrnes said.
8!hank you.8
8:et to the car, Parker. >adio the men on the ne$t block to open up. I want to draw his ire away rom these windows.8
8"ou.re sending Hernande# up there98
8"es. ,ny complaints98
8<amn right I.ve got aA8
8!ake it to the mayor;8 -yrnes snapped, and he turned his back and walked toward the patrolman who was holding the
megaphone. Parker stared ater him, spat viciously into the gutter, and then walked around to the other side o the s)uad car.
, reporter behind the barricade caught at Hernande#.s sleeve. 8Hey, are you in charge here98 he asked.
82o.8
87ell, who is9 5an.t we get some men in there or pictures98
8!he police department.ll send out pictures,8 Hernande# said. He pushed past the reporter and walked to the luncheonette.
83ook at these kids,8 he said to 3uis. 8&ucking violence rom the same tits ?iranda used.8 He shook his head. 8He.s waiting up
there to die, 3uis, you know that9 He.s waiting up there or us to kill him.8
3uis nodded.
8,nd you know something9 I think he w#n" to die. I think he w#n" to end it, once and or all.8
!he two girls who came around the avenue and stopped at the mouth o the street were apparently more interested in
beginning something than in ending it. !hey were both tall brunettes. %ne was wearing a tight, bright-red silk dress. !he other
wore the identical dress in yellow. !he dresses were designed to e$hibit and reveal' they were incapable o keeping a secret.
6very nuance o lesh beneath the skintight silk, every subtle hint o muscle or bone, every lowing curve, every dimple, every
pucker, insistently shrieked its e$istence to the most casual observer. !he girls were not the bashul type. !hey moved with a
luidity o breast, hip, thigh and leg that aided the dresses in their task o nonconcealment. !hey were, in act, so much the
Hollywood concept o what a whore should look like that at irst glance they seemed to be imitations. I there was one )uality
which every prostitute in the 87th Precinct shared, it was the ability to look like anything )u # street walker. In most
instances, the precinct whore was the best-dressed girl on the streets. Her careul grooming, more than any other attribute, was
usually the one clue to her occupation.
!hese two were either new at the trade, or else they.d canceled their subscriptions to Vo(ue maga#ine. In any case, they
walked directly to the barricade and stopped there. !he girl in the red dress touched the arm o the nearest patrolman who
turned, ready to start yelling, and then looked as i a movie )ueen had wandered into his bedroom by mistake.
86$cuse me, oicer,8 she said in a tiny little voice, 8but can.t we get through here9 7e work right across the street.8
87here98 the patrolman asked.
8,t 3a :allina.8
87hat the hell do you do here+"
!he girl in the red dress seemed at a loss or words. &he turned to her companion. !he other girl smiled at the patrolman
sweetly and said, 87e.re in ... ah ... public relations.8
87ell, I.m sorry, girls,8 the patrolman said. 8?y orders are to let nobody through this barricade unless he.s a cop or a
ireman. 2ow you two girls ain.t cops or iremen, are you98 He grinned politely, thinking how clever he was being, and
making a note to repeat his comment to the boys in the locker room when he checked in later.
82o, indeed,8 the one in the red dress said.
!hey moved away rom the barricade.
87hat now, ?arge98 the one in the yellow dress asked.
?arge shrugged. 83et.s hang around. It looks like a lively crowd. !here may be something in it or us, ?arie.8
?arie looked skeptical. !ogether, walking with a hip-swiveling, cra#y-socketing, ball-bearing, thigh-thrusting, leg-strutting
motion that turned every head on the block, they began appraising the potential customers watching the siege. ?arie raised an
35
35
eyebrow at ?arge, and ?arge glanced in the direction she indicated.
!hey were both looking at =rederick -lock, the at man.
12
!here are times when it must be nice to have a 5inemascope camera and stereophonic sound. !here are times when it must
be great to have a wide screen stretching across the ront o the world, with things happening on every corner o that screen,
with the eye gathering in all these things like a net sweeping the ocean loor. It isn.t enough to say this and this were happening
here, that and that were happening there. , city street is not a tiny canvas' a city street is not a page in a book. It is a
tumultuous thing teeming with lie, and you can.t hope to capture lie in a sentence or a brush stroke. !he things that happened
on that street, on that particular day in July, happened almost simultaneously, separate and distinct rom each other, but
nonetheless almost at the same time, so that there was a eeling o continuous motion, o one event overlapping and lowing
into the ne$t. !he wide screen stretched the length o a city block. !he lie on that street stretched to the very edges o time.
5ooch stood on the steps o the building ne$t door to the church.
5hina came down a light o stairs and into bright sunshine.
, man selling ices entered the street at the opposite end.
?arge and ?arie, the two prostitutes, approached =rederick -lock.
Je !albot looked at the wall clock and let the luncheonette.
!wo boys wearing bright-gold 0ackets turned into the block.
!he cops o the 87th rushed the doorway to the let o 3a :allina.
!hese are the things that happened, minute overlapping minute, time lost and time replaced by the tireless eye o space.
!hese are the things that happened...
5ooch stood on the steps o the building ne$t door to the church. He had been standing there or ten minutes now, watching
the people pour down the church steps and into the bright conused sunshine o the street. !here were not many people let
inside the church now. He looked at his wrist watch, and then studied the ew stragglers again. He was certain that ,lredo
:ome# had not let the apartment to attend mass this morning. -ut he would wait a ew moments more, 0ust to make sure.
,gainst his belly he could eel the hard, cold metal o the pistols he had retrieved rom 5hico and 6staban. !he weapons
made him eel very strong and very powerul. !oo, he considered this independent reconnaissance an act o oresight worthy
o a general. He would wait until everyone had come out o the church, and then he would go back to /ip with the guns #n*
with a report on ,lie.s whereabouts. !his was acting above and beyond the call o duty. /ip would be pleased. ,nd whereas it
would not be as dramatic to catch ,lie in his house instead o on the church steps, 5ooch didn.t much care. !he important
thing was to wash the little bastard. !hat was the important thing.
5ooch had been thinking about it all week long, ever since /ip irst got the idea. !here were times when 5ooch couldn.t sit
still, 0ust thinking about it. !here were two stimulating and contradictory eelings which rushed through 5ooch.s mind and
body whenever he considered what they were about to do. !he irst o these was the very concept o killing. !his e$cited him.
He had antasi#ed the s)uee#ing o a trigger many times, had imagined ,lie tumbling down the church steps, had wondered
what it would eel like to know that he had killed another human being. He had convinced himsel that ,lie deserved killing.
He had, ater all, messed with 5hina.
!his was the second idea, and this was as e$citing as the irst. , hundred or more times in the past week, 5ooch had
imagined ,lie messing with 5hina. He wondered 0ust what ,lie had done to her, and his imagination created new images
each time. ,lie gently stroking 5hina.s ull breast. ,lie unbuttoning 5hina.s blouse. ,lie thrusting both hands beneath
5hina.s skirt. ,lie...
!he images continued to stimulate him. ,nd they were images clouded with guilt. 3ying alone in his bed at night, he would
think o ,lie and 5hina, and then he would roll over into his pillow and think The "on o1 # )!-h h#" o *!e 1or h#.
% that he was certain.
,lredo :ome# had to die.
&tanding on the steps o the tenement, he watched the last ew stragglers leaving the church, and he thought again o ,lie
and 5hina, and he bit his lip and then thought o shooting the little bastard.
5hina came down a light o stairs and into the bright sunshine.
!he tenement hallway had been dark, and she blinked now against the sudden brilliance, knowing she still had at least ive
minutes beore she was to meet the sailor, not wanting to get there too early or seem too an$ious, and yet almost unable to
control the orward motion o her eet as they took her onto the stoop. Je was his name. Je, Je, Je, her mind echoed, and
her heart beat with the idea o the rende#vous, and she ound hersel gripping the shopping bag in her hand more tightly. &he
had wrapped chicken in wa$ paper, had put up some eggs to boil beore going to church, had later packed the hard-boiled eggs,
and salt, and ruit, and a thermos o iced coee, all o which were in the shopping bag now. &he wondered i he liked chickA
8Hello, 5hina.8
&he blinked and then shielded her eyes rom the overhead sun.
8%h, hello, 5ooch,8 she answered, and she smiled and began to walk around him, but he stepped into her path.
8I was 0ust thinking about you,8 5ooch said.
8%h98 5hina glanced at her watch. 85ooch, I haven.t got time to talk to you right now. I have to...8
8,bout what we.re going to do or you today.8
87hat9 I don.t underA8
8,lie98 5ooch said, smiling.
8,lie98 &he paused, pu##led. 8,lredo, do you mean9 ,lredo :ome#98
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.4h-huh,8 5ooch said, nodding.
87hat about him98 &he looked at her watch. &he would have to hurry. 7ith all that police trouble up the street, she would
have to cut around the avenue and that didn.t leave much time to...
87e.re gonna get him,8 5ooch said. 8=or what he done to you.8
87hat98 she asked.
8,lie,8 he repeated.
8"es, but what ... what did you say98 &he studied his ace. &he was certain she had heard him correctly, and yet his words
hadn.t seemed to make any sense.
8=or what he done to you,8 5ooch said.
87hat do you mean98
8"ou know.8
82o. I don.t know.8
He had taken a step closer to her, and she had backed away rom him slightly. -locking her path to the steps, he moved
closer now, so that she was orced to take another step backward, almost into the darkened hallway o the building.
8"ou know what he done, 5hina,8 5ooch said.
&he looked at his ace. His ace looked very strange. He was a very young boy with a ridiculously silly mustache over his
upper lip, and she had always thought ... but now he ... he ... looked dierent somehow.
8I have a gun,8 he said suddenly.
"S:+<
8, gun, 5hina.8
87hat ... what...8 &he was orced to back away rom him again, into the hallway this time. He stood silhouetted in the
doorway o the building, the bright sunshine behind him. His hand moved. =or a moment, she didn.t know what he was doing.
,nd then she saw the dull glint o metal.
8It.s a 3uger,8 5ooch said.
87h-what are you going to do with that, 5ooch98
8Hill ,lie,8 he answered.
8Hill...9 7hy9 7hat or98
8=or what he done to you98
8He didn.t do anything to me;8 5hina said.
8"ou know what he done, 5hina.8 He held the gun up close to her ace. 8"ou know what he done.8
&he was truly rightened now. &he did not want to retreat urther into the hallway, but he kept moving closer and closer to
her, and there was no place to go but back. =or a cra#y moment, she wanted to turn and run up the steps to her apartment. ,nd
then it was too late. He had stepped between her and the steps and was moving toward her again so that, in backing away rom
him, she stumbled toward the garbage cans stacked under the steps on the ground loor.
85ooch, I ... I have to go,8 she said. 8I don.t know what you.re talking about. ,lie didn.t do anything to me. I you.re angry
at him because you think...8
"Th!" is what he done, 5hina,8 5ooch said, and his hand reached out or her.
&he elt his ingers tighten on her breast, and she screamed, pulling away rom him. His ingers clung. &he thought her
blouse would tear. -lindly, she brought up the shopping bag, swinging it at him, screaming, and then shoving her way past him
into the bright sunlight again, rushing down the steps, still screaming, into the crowd.
, man selling ices entered the street at the opposite end.
"P!*#(u#"!" he called. "P!*#(u#"! Come buy "ome /!*#(u#"."
/ip, standing on the crate, turned to watch the man who pushed through the crowd with his cart. 8Hey, you want some ices98
he asked 6lena.
8"ou got any loot98
8&ure,8 /ip answered. 87hat lavor you want98
83emon,8 6lena said.
8I.ll have a lemon, too,8 Juana said.
8%h, now she knows me,8 /ip said, leaping down rom the crate. 82ow it.s buying time, she knows me. %kay. I.m the last o
the red-hot spenders. 6verybody gets ices;8
=rom the crate, Papa said, 8?e, too, /eep98
8"ou, too, Papa; 6verybody; 6verybody gets /!*#(u#" today; Hey, ?ac, slow down; <on.t you want no business98
He went over to the cart and placed his order. He seemed happy as hell. He paid no attention at all to the detectives who
stood not si$ eet rom him.
87here are your men, ,ndy98 -yrnes asked.
85oming, sir.8
-yrnes turned to Hemande# who stood staring up at the irst loor o the tenement. 8"ou scared, =rankie98
8, little,8 Hernande# answered.
8I don.t blame you.8 He paused. 8!his is the damnedest thing ever, isn.t it9 !he last one I remember like this was back in
CDFC when this guy 2elson %.-rien was holed up in an apartment on the 2orth &ide. I was a patrolman at the time. He held o
a hundred and ity cops or two hours that day. 7e were chopping holes in the roo and dropping tear gas down on him, but
the bastard wouldn.t give up. 7e wounded him three times, but he was still standing when we went into the apartment to collar
him. &tanding and cursing A but out o amo. He.d hidden both his guns in his socks, hoping to use them later or an escape. ,
real pri#e, he was.8
-yrnes paused and stared at Hernande#. 8I didn.t eel so hot that day, =rankie.8
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87hy not98
8!hey guy in the apartment was 2elson %.-rien.8 He paused again. 8I.m Irish.8
8"es, sir,8 Hernande# said.
8-ut I.ll tell you something, =rankie. !he guys like 2elson %.-rien don.t stop me rom marching in the &t. Paddy.s day
parade every year. "ou understand me98
8I understand you.8
8:ood.8 -yrnes hesitated. 8!ake care o yoursel on that goddamn ire escape,8 he said. 8I wouldn.t want to lose a good
cop.8
8"es, sir,8 Hernande# said.
-yrnes e$tended his hand. 8:ood luck, =rankie.8
8!hank you.8 -yrnes turned to walk back to the s)uad car. 8Pete98 Hernande# called. -yrnes aced him. 8!hank you,8
Hernande# said again.
?arge and ?arie, the two prostitutes, approached =rederick -lock. -lock was pulling his handkerchie out o his back
pocket, preparatory to mopping his ace with it, when his elbow struck something very sot. He turned casually. !he
something very sot was covered with bright-red silk.
8Hello,8 ?arge said.
87ell, hello,8 -lock answered. 8Buite a show, isn.t it98
8I you like this kind o 0a##,8 ?arie said.
87ell, it.s pretty e$citing,8 -lock said. He studied the low-cut ront o ?arie.s dress. <amn, i this girl didn.t have the...
8!here are plenty things more e$citing than watching a cheap gunman get shot,8 ?arie said.
83ike what98 -lock asked, beginning to get the impression that this girl wasn.t even wearing a brassiere.
85an.t you think o anything98 ?arie said.
87ell ... I can think o a ew,8 -lock said.
87hatever you can think o,8 ?arie said, 8we can manage.8
-lock studied the girls a moment longer. He mopped his ace. !hen, with a practiced eye, and a whispered voice, he asked,
8How much98
8=or one o us or both98 ?arie asked.
8-oth9 7ell, I hadn.t...8
8!hink about it.8
8I am.8 .
8!hink ast,8 ?arge said.
87e like to work together,8 ?arie said.
8!he -obbsey !wins down on the =arm,8 ?arge said.
87e know things they don.t even know in Paris yet,8 ?arie said.
87e know things ain.t even been invented yet,8 ?arge said.
8How much98 -lock asked again.
8=ity or the aternoon, including the stretcher bearers.8
8!he what98
8!he stretcher bearers. !o carry you out when it.s over.8
-lock chuckled. 8How much without them98
8!wenty-ive or me alone. ?y name.s ?arie. It.s a bargain, believe me.8
8I.ll think about it,8 -lock said.
85ome on, come on,8 ?arie prompted.
85an.t you 0ust wait a minute98
83ove don.t wait a minute, mister,8 ?arie said.
82ot in July it don.t,8 ?arge added.
8!wenty-ive.s too high,8 -lock said.
8?ake it twenty, sport. , double sawbuck, what do you say98
8"ou.re on.8
8%r vice versa,8 ?arie said dryly. &he turned to her riend. 87ell, I.m set 2ow what are you gonna do with all that love
busting inside you, huh, ?arge98
Je !albot looked at the wall clock and let the luncheonette.
It was iteen minutes past twelve.
&he wasn.t coming. He.d been a 0erk to think she.d keep the date. He went out into the street, thankul that he had worn his
whites today. :od what a hot day, why hadn.t she kept the date, why in hell hadn.t she kept the date9 He wanted to hit
somebody. He 0ust or the hell o it elt like hitting somebody. "ou meet a girl like that maybe once inA %h, the hell with it.
,ngrily, he stamped back into the luncheonette.
8I.m shoving o, 3ouise,8 he said.
87hat98 3uis answered.
8&he didn.t show. I.m leaving.8
8:ood,8 3uis said, nodding. 8"ou will be better o out o this neighborhood. !here are other girls, sailor.8
8"eah, that.s or sure,8 Je said.
He walked out o the luncheonette again. It was a damn shame, he thought, because ... well ... he.d almost ound it. He.d
almost, in the space o what was it, ten, iteen minutes9
In that short a time, he.d almost ound it, but o course he should have known. 2othing good comes easy. ,nd yet, it had
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seemed so right, it had 0ust seemed ... seemed right, where ... where eyes meet and ... and without touching ... without saying
very much...
!he hell with it;
He strode out o the luncheonette, and the irst people he saw were =rederick -lock and the two prostitutes.
?arge winked at him.
Je s)uared his hat and walked directly to the trio.
87ell, well, well,8 he said.
8=eel like a party, sailor98 ?arge asked.
He hesitated or 0ust a moment, his eyes roaming the street. !hen he said, 8"es, goddamnit, I eel :u" like a party;8 and he
grabbed ?arge.s elbow, and the our o them turned the corner and went o up the avenue.
!wo boys wearing bright-gold 0ackets turned into the block.
!hey stood with their hands on their hips or a moment. -oth wore sunglasses, both wore their dark hair in high crowns. !he
bigger o the two, and the older A a boy o about twenty who stood a little over si$ eet tall A wore a silver identiication
bracelet on his right wrist. His name was !ommy. !he other boy, nineteen and short by modern standards, was called 3i.C
Hiller. His real name was Phil. He had never killed anyone in his lie, but the name made him sound like a guy who.d cut out
your liver or the price o an ice-cream soda. !he tall one, !ommy, nodded at Phil and they walked directly toward the crate
where Papa and the two girls stood craning their necks.
8Hey, kid,8 !ommy said.
Papa turned. 8"ou talk to me98
8% the bo$,8 !ommy said latly.
8Huh98 Papa said. 87hy98
8"ou heard him,8 Phil said. 8% the bo$. 7e want a view.8
Papa looked down to where &i$to stood near the side o the crate.
8&i$to, go call...8 he started, and Phil shoved out at &i$to beore he could move.
8&tay put, sonny,8 he said.
8<on.t hurt him, 3i.C Hiller,8 !ommy said. He chuckled. 8Just cripple him.8
83isten, why do you want trouble or98 6lena said, looking past them to where /ip stood at the ices cart near the corner.
87ho wants trouble98 !ommy asked gently. 83i.C Hiller and me, we asked your riend very politely to get the hell o that
bo$, that.s all. !hat ain.t no trouble.8
8!hat ain.t no trouble at all,8 Phil said.
In that instant, 3ieutenant -yrnes waved his arm at the rootops, and the police opened ire. !he iring was a precise,
methodical operation designed to keep ?iranda away rom the ront windows. ,t the same time, the distant echo o guns could
be heard in the back yard, and over that, like a triangle player in a hundred-piece orchestra, the sound o shattering glass.
?iranda appeared at the ront windows or 0ust an instant, looked into the street, saw what he was supposed to see, and ducked
back into the apartment.
!he cops o the 87th rushed the doorway to the let o 3a :allina.
?iranda saw them the second beore he ducked his head. 3ieutenant -yrnes led the charge, shooting up at the windows as
he ran. -ehind him were &teve 5arella and ,ndy Parker and hal a do#en patrolmen, all with guns in their hands. =rankie
Hernande# brought up the rear. %ne by one, the cops entered the tenement. Hernande# seemed to be ollowing them and then,
suddenly, at the last moment, he swerved to the right o the doorway and lattened himsel against the ront o the building.
,t the same time, 5aptain =rick A who commanded the uniormed cops o the 87th A brought the megaphone to his mouth
and shouted, "7e5re -om!n( !n, 2!r#n*#! 7e5re (o!n( o %no-% h# 1ron *oor r!(h o11 !" h!n(e"."
!here was no answer rom within the apartment.
"7e5re -om!n( !n, 2!r#n*#! 7e5re -om!n( u/ ho"e "e/" r!(h now!" =rick shouted, and he hoped ?iranda would buy it.
In the hallway, -yrnes, 5arella, and Parker crouched on the steps. !hey could hear the gunire outside, could hear shouts
rom the cops, screams rom the crowd, the sound o glass breaking and wood splintering, the high whistle o slugs that
caromed and ricocheted.
%utside, =rankie Hernande# stealthily moved past the glass ront o 3a :allina, working his way toward the ire escape.
!he crowd was suddenly hushed.
!he only sound on the street now was the e$plosion o the revolvers on the rootops and in the windows acing ?iranda.s
apartment.
&he came around the corner hurriedly.
!here were tears on her ace, and her blouse had pulled ree rom her skirt, and she thought she could still eel the imprint o
5ooch.s ingers where he had touched her. It was twenty minutes past twelve, and she hoped against hope that Je would still
be there, hoped he had at least the aith to reali#e ... to reali#e wh#+ !ears streaking her ace, she rushed into the luncheonette.
He was not there.
&he looked at the empty stools, and then she turned to 3uis and she said, 83uis, there was a sailor...8 and 3uis nodded
instantly.
8He let.8
8I ... I couldn.t get away and then ... the crowds in the street...8
8He let,8 3uis said again.
&he turned rom him )uickly and went into the street again. &he could hear the pistol shots, thunder on a sunny day. 85hina,
hey, 5hina;8 &he wished it would really rain, she wished the skies would open and A 85hina, hey, don.t you hear me98 A rain
would come down to wash the streets, wash all the...
8Hey; Ch!n#!5
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&he looked up suddenly. 87hat9 %h A oh, hello.8
/ip was standing by the ices cart, grinning.
8Hey, how are you, 5hina98
8=ine,8 she said. 8I.m ine, thank you.8
8"ou want some ices98
82o. 2o, thank you, /ip.8
He studied her. 87hat.s the matter98
82othing.8
8"ou look like you was crying. 7as somebody bothering you98
&he shook her head. 82o, no.8
8I anybody bothers you, you 0ust let me know,8 he said. 8I.ll take care o them the way I.m gonna take care o ,lie.8
8"ou leave ,lie alone;8 she said sharply and suddenly, her eyes lashing.
8Huh98
87hy do you want to hurt him9 "ou have no right to hurt him;8
8Hell, I ain.t araid o h!m!" /ip said.
82obody said you were.8
8It.s 0ust, he.s got this coming, that.s all.8
8"ou know he didn.t do anything, /ip. "ou %now that.8
8He done plenty; I.m gonna bust him wide open. I.m gonna...8
&he began crying suddenly and itully. 87hy do you #$% that way98 she shouted. 87hy do you have to sound so tough9
,ren.t you ever yoursel9 5an.t you be your"e$1+"
&urprised by her sudden passion, he stared at her, speechless.
87hat are you trying to show98 she asked, the tears running down her ace. 87hat are you trying to do9 ?ake it worse here
than it really is9 7hat.s wrong with you9 7hat the hell is wron( with you98
He stared at her, conused. He reached out to touch her, not knowing that the tears were something which had been building
inside her rom the moment 5ooch attacked her, building on the wild run rom the tenement to the luncheonette, building
against the desperate hope that the sailor would still be there, kept in check by sheer will power, and now overlowing' he did
not know these things, he only knew that she was crying. ,nd in the ace o such emale vulnerability, in the ace o anguish
such as he had never known or seen, /ip pulled back his hand, unable to touch her in that moment, unable to establish a contact
which seemed in that moment too intimate, too revealing.
8Hey ... hey. listen,8 he said, 8don.t cry. 7hat do you want to cry or98
8Promise me you won.t do anything to ,lie,8 she said. 8Promise me.8
83isten ... hey, you don.t have to cry.8
8Promise me.8
85hina ... everybody knows what I said I was gonna do. 3ike I told themA8 He hesitated. 8I told them you was my girl.8
8"ou shouldn.t have said that.8
8I know. I mean, even I know you ain.t my girl. 3isten, can.t you stop crying9 "ou want my handkerchie98
82o,8 5hina said, sobbing. 8I.m not crying.8
8Here, take it,8 he said, handing her the handkerchie. 8I hardly used it yet.8
&he took the handkerchie and blew her nose.
8"ou want some ices98 /ip asked lamely.
82o. /ip, you won.t hurt him, will you9 He did nothing to me, believe me. He.s a nice boy.8
/ip did not answer.
8"ou.ll be doing something very wrong i you hurt him.8
8"ou ain.t sore at me, are you98 His voice dropped. 83ike because I said you was my girl98
82o. I.m not sore.8
8I won.t say it no more,8 he said gently. He shrugged. 8I don.t even know why I said it.8 He thought or a moment. 86$cept
maybe because you.re so nice, you know98
8!hank you,8 she answered, and she smiled weakly. &he handed him the handkerchie. 8I got it all wet.8
8%h, that.s okay, that.s okay.8 He shrugged. 8"ou eel a little better now98
8, little.8
8"ou really shouldn.t cry, 5hina. It.s a sin to cry unless like something serious happens, you know9 3ike unless you lost
somebody or something.8
8I *!* lose somebody, /ip.8 Her eyes clouded or an instant, and then she shook her head. 8"ou promised9 ,bout ,lredo98
87ell, I didn.t e$actly...8
8I wouldn.t want you to get into trouble,8 she said.
He stared at her as i she had uttered the words in >ussian. His brow urrowed. He kept staring at her. !he concept seemed
new to him. 2or could he understand her concern. It wasn.t as i she was struck on him or anything, he knew lots o girls who
were, but 5hina wasn.t. &o what was it9 7hy should she give a damn about him one way or the other9 ,nd yet, he knew she
wasn.t lying. &tanding with her, he knew that she was as much concerned or his saety as she was or ,lie.s.
8I got to think about it,8 he said.
8"es, think about it. Please.8 &he touched his hand briely, and started o toward the corner.
He watched her go, a rown on his ace.
"P!*#(u#"," the man at the cart said.
/ip nodded. !he man had put the ive cups o ices into a cardboard container. /ip paid him, and then picked up the container
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with both hands. He kept rowning, and then the rown disappeared, and his ace broke into a grin as he turned back toward the
packing crate.
=rankie Hernande# had reached the hanging ladder o the ire escape.
8e -#re1u$ w!h ho"e )ue", he thought. I1 you *um) )#"#r*" /u hem #ny $ower, you5$$ h! me. An* h# wou$* )e he en*
o1 h!" U% -#/er.
-racing himsel, the gun in his holster now, he leaped up or the hanging ladder, missed, and dropped silently to the
pavement. He lattened himsel against the building and looked up. !he volley rom the rootops was eectively keeping
?iranda away rom the windows. He moved out, 0umped or the ladder again, caught it with one hand, reached up with the
second hand, and then, hand over hand, began climbing. !he ladder began to drop as he climbed, inching on s)ueaking, rusted
iron hinges, drowned out by the roar o the guns rom across the street. He drew his .F8, heted it in his hand, and began
climbing the remaining rungs to the ire escape.
!he people in the street watched him silently.
!he guns showered destruction against the ront o the building.
/ip was still smiling when he reached the crate, still thinking o what 5hina had said. &omehow, he elt curiously relieved,
as i ... as i something very heavy had been taken o his mind. ,nd then he heard the voice.
87ell, now, ain.t this nice9 %ne o the darling 3atin Purples bought ices or us;8
He looked up sharply. He recogni#ed the gold 0acket instantly, and the words 8>oyal :uardian8 lashed into his mind, and he
told himsel not to be araid, but he elt a tight knot o ear beginning in his stomach.
8H-hello, !ommy,8 he said.
8Hello, /ip,8 !ommy answered. 8"ou.re 0ust in time. :et your boy o the bo$.8
8:et ... but...8 He paused, nibbling his lip. !he carton o ices in his hands elt suddenly very heavy. 8-ut it.s ... it.s my bo$,8
he said. 8I brought this all the way over rom the...8
8It belongs to whoever.s using it,8 !ommy said. 8,nd we want to use it8
8,w look, !ommy,8 /ip said, 8what do you want bad blood or, huh9 5an.t we...98
!ommy reached up suddenly, twisting his ace into Papa.s trouser leg, pulling him o balance, and dumping him into the
street. /ip, his hands ull o ices, his mind whirring with the new thoughts 5hina had put there, stood by helplessly, wondering
what to do now, wondering why...
8-low,8 Phil said to him.
8,w, come on, Phil, can.t we...98
83i.C Hiller,8 Phil corrected.
8&ure, can.t we...98
"8$ow!" Phil said irmly.
He shoved out at /ip suddenly. !ommy, trained or the maneuver, stuck out his oot /ip tripped, staggered backward, the
cups o ices leaving his hands and spattering over the street. He 0umped to his eet instantly, his hand darting or his pocket.
2othing was in his mind right now but salvation. I 5hina had said anything to him, he.d now orgotten it. ,ll he knew was
that he was being threatened by two >oyal :uardians, that he was outnumbered and vulnerable.
,s his hand closed on the switch knie in his pocket, he thought only I (o o (e ou o1 h!".
8<on.t pull the blade, /ip,8 !ommy said gently.
/ip.s eyes moved )uickly to !ommy, saw that his hand was already in his pocket. !hey licked to Phil who was ready to
charge in on his lank. 4ndecided, he aced them. 6lena, on the crate, began to laugh nervously. !ommy grinned and then
picked up the laugh, and then Phil 0oined him, and their laughter was triumphant and, hearing the laughter, /ip began to
tremble. He wanted to ight them, he wanted to destroy them, wanted to pull the blade and rip into them, show them who he
was, show them who they were laughing at. -ut ear aawled in his belly like black worms, and he elt his ingers loosening
their grip on the knie. In impotent rage, his eyes brimming with tears he did not wish to show, he whirled suddenly and kicked
at one o the ices cups in the street.
,nd then he saw Hernande# on the ire escape.
=lat against the side o the building, edging silently past the irst shattered window, and then the ne$t, his gun in his hand,
Hernande# hesitated or a moment, and then crouched beside the third window.
He brought up his revolver.
/ip understood what was happening in an instant.
-urning with shame and indignation, wanting to e$plode, wanting to show these rotten bastards they couldn.t kick him
around, wanting to shout, to rip, to gouge, to release the shame that growled inside him, wanting to show that he was /ip, /ip,
/IP;, he looked up at the irst-loor windows and suddenly, without knowing why, he cupped his hands to his mouth.
"Pe/e!" he bellowed. "The 1!re e"-#/e!"
13
7hen Hernande# heard the yell, he thought at irst that his ears were deceiving him. His immediate reaction was to turn his
head toward the street. ,nd then he reali#ed that ?iranda, in the apartment, had whirled at the sound o the shouted words.
,nd then he recogni#ed the look in ?iranda.s eyes, and Hernande# tightened his inger on the trigger o the .F8, and then he
heard the e$plosions inside the apartment and then he was spinning backward and alling. He had been crouched outside the
window, so he ell no more than three eet to the iron loor o the ire escape, but it seemed to him that he was alling through
space or a very long time, and it seemed to him that he hit the iron slats with the orce o a meteor slamming into the earth.
!here were two bullets in his chest.
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41
He had never been shot beore, not when he.d been a ?arine participating in the Iwo Jima landings, and not since he.d 0oined
the police orce. He had seen wounded men, a $o o wounded men, when he.d been in the service, but somehow he had
detached the wound itsel rom the event which had caused the wound. He had been raised on the kid games o 5ops and
>obbers, 5owboys and Indians, )#n(! I got you; )#n(! you.re dead; and there had always been something glamorous to the
idea o getting shot. 6ven when he had seen the open gaping wounds, the notion o glamour had persisted.
He knew now that the notion was alse, and he wondered which con man had ever sold him such a silly bill o goods. 7hen
the bullets slammed into his chest, he elt nothing at irst but impact. He had been punched beore, punched with hard driving
ists that had knocked the wind out o him, and he knew what it elt like to be hit. He had once been struck with a hammer
swung by a delirious building superintendent, catching the blow on his shoulder, eeling the sharp sudden pain o metal against
lesh. -ut he had never been shot, and he knew now that when a man got shot he didn.t daintily clutch his chest and say,
84ggggh;8 and then do a ancy movie-e$tra dive. He knew that the orce o a bullet was like the orce o a steam locomotive,
and he knew that when you got hit with a bullet, you got knocked o your eet. It was as simple as that. ?aybe everyone didn.t
get knocked o his eet when he was shot, but the bullets that struck Hernande# spun him around rom his crouch and then
knocked him lat to the ire escape.
He elt only impact and shock at irst, and then the cold sensation o alling through space, will-less, unable to control
himsel, simply alling, alling, and then colliding with metal, powerless to stick out his arms to cushion the all.
,nd then he was on ire.
!he ire enguled him. It started with the two gaping holes in his back where the bullets had let his body, and then ran
straight through his body like burning tunnels to the two smaller holes at the points o entry, and then suddenly lared up to
consume his entire chest, and then his shoulders, and then his throat and his ace, a roaring ire. He ound it hard to breathe, he
sucked in air through his parted lips, and he dimly reali#ed that one o the bullets must have gone through a lung, and then
blood bubbled out o his mouth, and he thought it was saliva until he saw its bright-red splash on the cu o his shirt, and then
he panicked.
:asping or breath, his body on ire, pain lancing through him, he elt the panic rush into his head and settle behind his eyes
like a pair o thumbs pressing outward. ?ore blood bubbled rom his mouth.
:iddily, he wondered i he were going to die.
!he thumbs kept pressing against the backs o his eyes, spreading darkness which came in waves and retreated. He could
hear shouting in the street below. He wondered i they.d collared whoever had done the yelling.
He wanted to puke.
He elt the nausea start deep in his stomach, tasted the vomit in his throat, and then the ire escape was spinning, the sky was
spinning, the world was spinning, and he choked on his own blood and crashed into unconsciousness.
!he boys had vanished like ,rabian horse thieves.
/ip had begun running the moment he.d shouted the warning to ?iranda, shoving his way through the crowd, dashing
around the corner. Papa and &i$to, as soon as they reali#ed what had happened, ollowed him. ,ll three were gone beore
-yrnes, 5arella, and Parker rushed rom the doorway o the tenement.
-yrnes turned his head toward the ire escape instantly. 8=rankie;8 he yelled. 8=rankie;8 !here was no answer.
87hat happened98 Parker asked, struggling to catch his breath. 8Is he dead98
8I don.t know. He.s 0ust laying up there. 7e got to get him down.8 He stared suddenly at the sidewalk beneath the ire
escape. 87hat the hell is ... Jesus; Jesus 5hrist;8
87hat is it98 5arella asked.
8!hat.s blood;8 -yrnes said, something like awe in his voice. 8!hat.s )$oo* dripping down;8
!he men watched the steady patter o drops to the pavement. !he drops ell silently, as straight as arrows, one ater the
other, spattering to the pavement in an ever-widening stain.
87e got to get him o there,8 -yrnes said.
8It was a kid who yelled the warning to ?iranda,8 one o the patrolmen said.
83eave it to the kids,8 -yrnes said, shaking his head. 8&ometimes I think the kids in this precinct are more damn trouble than
all the proessional thieves put together.8
8It ain.t them,8 Parker said, watching the dripping blood in ascination. 8It.s the parents. !hey come here without even
knowing how to speak the language. 7hat the hell can you e$pect98
8?y old man had a brogue you could cut with a knie,8 -yrnes said. 87hat.s that got to do with...8
87hat.d you say, 3ieutenant98 a reporter behind the barricade asked. 8,bout the kids98
82othing or publication.8
8"ou think the kids today will grow up to be like Pepe ?iranda98
82o. !hat.s not what I think.8
87hat *o you think, 3ieutenant98
8I think we.ve got a bleeding man on that ire escape, a man who may be dying. I think I want to get him o there while
there.s still a chance or him, and I think you.d better get o my back beore I restrict the area to all reporters.8
8<on.t get touchy,8 the reporter said. 8I.ve got to peg this story on "omeh!n(."
8%n something9 7hat the hell do you want9 , -arnum and -ailey circus9 Peg it on ?iranda, peg it on =rankie Hernande#
who may be up there dead, or all I know;8
83ie is cheap, 3ieutenant,8 the reporter said.
8Is it9 !hen peg your story on your asshole; ,nd leave me alone;8 ,ngrily, -yrnes strode o toward the s)uad car.
8-oy,8 the reporter said, raising his eyebrows. 8He.s sure got a low boiling point, hasn.t he98
8He.s been working in this precinct or a long time now,8 Parker said. 8!his ain.t e$actly the garden spot o the universe.8
8I.m only trying to get some ideas about ?iranda, that.s all,8 the reporter said. 87hat the hell, nobody.s 0ob is easy.8
42
42
8"ou want some ideas on ?iranda98 Parker asked. 8!hen look around you. ?iranda.s only the end product. "ou don.t have
to be in that apartment with him to know what he.s like. Just look around you, pal. "ou.ll see ?iranda in every stage o his
development.8 Parker nodded sagely. 8Just take a look,8 and then he ollowed -yrnes to the patrol car.
!ommy and 3i.C Hiller saw 5ooch the moment he came around the corner.
8Hey, !ommy,8 Phil said. 8!here.s one o them.8
8%ne o who98
8!he 3atin Purples. ?an, i the cops spot that 0acket...8
85all him over,8 !ommy said.
87hat or98
8!o tip him o. "ou want the cops to get him98
87ho cares they get him or not9 He.s a 0erk.8
8Jerk or no, I don.t like the cops to score. 5all him over.8
Phil shrugged. 8Hey; Hey, kid; Hey, you;8
5ooch, who had been searching the crowd or /ip and the boys, stopped dead in his tracks, recogni#ing the gold 0ackets at
once, hesitating.
85ome here,8 Phil said.
5ooch approached the crate warily. 8"ou talking to me98
8"eah, Hey, what.s your name again98
8?e98
8"eah, who do you think9 I orget your name. 7hat is it again.8
85ooch.8
8&ure. 5ooch. !hat.s right.8 Phil nodded. 85ooch, this is !ommy %rdi#, he.s war counselor or the >oyal :uardians. He.s
maybe got a tip or you.8
87hat kind o tip98 5ooch asked suspiciously.
8%n the ourth at Hialeah,8 Phil said, and he burst out laughing.
8<on.t clown around,8 !ommy warned. 8"ou want this tip, 5ooch98
87ho.s clowning98 Phil said. 8>rrrrrracing ans...8
8Hnock it o;8
8I was 0ust...8
"=no-% ! o11!"
Phil ell silent. He put his hands in his pockets and glowered at !ommy.
8"ou want the tip, 5ooch98 !ommy asked again.
8<epends on what kind.8
8, good tip. I.m being nice to you.8 He paused. 8:et rid o that purple 0acket.8
5ooch was silent or a moment. !hen he said, 87ho says98
8I.m giving you good advice. <itch the 0acket.8
87hy98 5ooch said narrowly. 8&o you can say you busted a 3atin Purple98
8Huh98
8"ou heard me.8
8%h, man, don.t be a worse meatball than you are,8 !ommy said. 8I got better things to do than...8
8&crew him,8 Phil said. 83et him ind out or himsel.8
8"ou don.t get no trophy rom me, pal,8 5ooch said.
83ook,8 !ommy started, patiently trying to e$plain, 8i you keep wearing that 0acket...8
8!he 0acket stays on; 2o goddamn >oyal :uardian tells me what to wear.8
8&ee98 Phil said. 87hat.d I tell you9 3et the creep ind out or...8
82o, wait a minute, Phil,8 !ommy said.. &omething hard and cold had crept into his voice and into his eyes. He studied
5ooch minutely, and then said, 8"ou ought to watch your mouth, boy, you know98
8I don.t have to watch nothing,8 5ooch said. He did not know whether or not he was araid. ,ctually, he did not eel araid.
2ot with our guns rucked into the waistband o his trousers. -ut at the same time, he knew that something was pushing him
into sounding two members o the toughest gang in the neighborhood. He could only assume the orce propelling him was ear.
,nd yet, he did not eel araid.
!ommy climbed down o the packing crate. 8"ou got a re#$ loose mouth, boy,8 he said. 8"ou ought to watch the way it
spills over.8
8"ou take care o your own mouth,8 5ooch said.
8"ou.re really looking or it, ain.t you, boy9 "our day ain.t gonna be complete until we break your arm, is it98
8"ou inished making big noises98 5ooch asked. 8I.m in a hurry.8
!ommy stepped into his path. 8&tay put, boy.8
8!ommy,8 Phil warned, 8there.s a million bulls all over the...8
8&hut up;8 !ommy said tightly, without turning his attention rom 5ooch. 8I give you a chance to take o that 0acket nice
and polite, now didn.t I, 5ooch9 =or your own good, I asked you. %kay. 2ow you.re gonna take it o because I.m e$$!n( you
to take it o. 2ow how about that98
8How about it98 5ooch answered.
8"ou take it o, or I cut i o your back;8
8&ure. !ry it.8
8"ou.re the kind I like,8 !ommy said, taking a step orward, his hand reaching into his pocket. 8"ou.re the kind o spunky
43
43
little bastard I...8
8Hold it;8 5ooch whispered. 8Hold it right there, man; I got our pieces under this 0acket, and I swear to :od I.ll use every
riggin. one o them;8
!ommy stopped suddenly, eyeing 5ooch, wondering i this were 0ust a blu. It did not seem to be. 5ooch.s eyes were
steady, his mouth tight.
8&o come on, hero,8 he said conidently.
83et it go, !ommy,8 Phil said worriedly, his eyes licking to the cops swarming over the street.
!ommy studied 5ooch an instant longer, and then backed away. 87e got a big man with a piece here, Phil,8 he said. 8"ou.re
real big with them pieces, huh, 5ooch9 7ell, I got some more advice or you. =riendly advice. <on.t never go walking about
without a piece rom now on, you hear9 -ecause, buddy, you are going to need one. "ou are really going to need one.8
8!hanks, you yellow bastard,8 5ooch said, grinning, and then he turned on his heel and ran o toward the corner.
85ooch, huh98 !ommy said, smoldering. He nodded. 8%kay, 5ooch. 7e.re gonna see about you, 5ooch.8
8, nut;8 Phil said, shaking his head. 87e try to help him, and he turns on us.8 He shook his head again. 8It 0ust don.t pay to
be nice to nobody.8 He looked up at the girls. 8"ou chicks gonna stand on that bo$ all day long98
87hat else is there to do98 6lena asked.
83et.s go up to my pad,8 Phil said. 8?y people are out. 7e roll back the rug in the parlor, and we have a little 0ump, what do
you say98
8I don.t know,8 6lena said. 8Juana98
8I don.t know. 7hat do you think98
8It.s too hot to dance,8 6lena said.
8%kay, so let.s go get a beer,8 Phil said. 87hat the hell.s the sense in hanging around here9 <on.t you know what.s gonna
happen98
82o. 7hat.s gonna happen98
86ventually, they.re gonna shoot Pepe,8 Phil said simply. 87hat do you think9 He.s gonna get away98
8He might,8 6lena said.
8Impossible.8
87hy is it so impossible98
8-ecause there.s got to be a moral,8 Phil said. 8!he -ad :uy never wins. 5rime don.t pay. %therwise the -reen %ice don.t
let it through.8 He burst out laughing. 8Hey, !ommy, you dig that9 !he -reen %ice...8
8"eah, I caught it,8 !ommy said. 8!he son o a bitch; I was trying to help him, can you imagine that98
85ome on, girls,8 Phil said. 83et.s cut out, huh98
8Juana98 6lena said.
8%kay,8 Juana said.
8:reat,8 Phil said, helping them o the crate. 8-elieve me, you.d be wasting your time hanging around here. ,in.t nothing
gonna happen to Pepe but he.s gonna get killed.
I the police had been as conidently sure o the outcome as was Phil, they would not have bothered to arm themselves with
tear-gas pellets this time at the bat. =or whatever Phil might have thought about the inevitability o Hollywood-type gangland
movies, Pepe ?iranda h#* broken out o an apartment the day beore, and today he had shot a patrolman and a detective, and
the possibility e$isted that he might shoot a ew more detectives A or even another lowly patrolman or two A beore the
estivites were over. ,nd, granting this possibility, there was the urther possibility that he could and might break out o this
apartment today, oiling the police, the -reen %ice, the brothers 7arner, and even ,nthony -oucher. In any case, this time
the cops were playing it sae. %ne o their patrolmen had been carted away in an ambulance, and one o their detectives lay
spilling his blood, drop by drop, to the sidewalk below, and those seemed like enough casualties or one day.
&o they lined up across the street like Hessians on a ?assachusetts ield in C777, and they put their tear-gas guns to their
shoulders, and they awaited the order which would release a new volley o bullets against the windows across the street,
driving ?iranda back so that they could plop their triple tracer shells into the apartment. !here was nothing as sad as a crying
thie, and all those valiant men in blue would watch ?iranda with aching hearts as he burst into tears, but that was the way the
little tear-gas pellet bounced.
3ieutenant -yrnes waved his arm at the rootops, and the volley began. !here was no glass let to shatter, and even the
window rames were so badly splintered that the new cascade o bullets seemed to seek out instinctively the relatively
untouched brick surrounding the windows. -ig chunks o red brick showered onto the ire escape and the pavement below.
Hernande#, lying as still as a stone, was covered with red dust.
8%kay,8 -yrnes said to the men in the street, 8get it going. ,im or the windows and get as many in there as you can;8
!he men started iring. !he triple tracer shells arced in la#y spirals toward the window. =rom inside the apartment, ?iranda
let out a roar like a wounded animal. !here was a hiss, and then a cloud o smoke, and then more hisslike e$plosions and
suddenly tear gas was pouring rom the open windows. !he pellets raced about the apartment like decapitated rats, designed to
wriggle and s)uirm so that they could not be picked up and returned to the street. !he scent o apple blossoms drited into the
street, a mild scent wated over the heads o the crowd. ?iranda was cursing a blue streak now, shouting and roaring. He
appeared at the windows once, and was driven back by a !hompson gun which all but ripped away hal the side o the
building.
,nd then, suddenly, in the street, there was a pop and a hiss, and the scent o apple blossoms was unimaginably strong, and
,ndy Parker reeled backward rom one o the patrolmen and shouted, 8"ou stupid idiot; "ou goddamn stupid idiot;8
14
44
44
7ell, you can.t blame people or accidents. People have accidents all the time, and cops are only people, and i a gun
misires, it misires, and that.s that. ,nd i a tear-gas pellet which is supposed to go #ooming up through the air suddenly plops
onto the asphalt and e$plodes there, those are 0ust the breaks. ?aybe Parker shouldn.t have been standing so close to the
patrolman iring the pellet. -ut accidents w!$$ happen, and Parker w#" standing close to the gun when it misired, and close to
the pellet when it e$ploded, so that he got the irst mushrooming whi o tear gas beore the pellet went di##ily skipping into
the crowd. !ear gas ain.t 5hanel 2umber 1. 6specially when it goes o practically in your ace. His eyes began to burn
instantly. -lindly, he reached or his handkerchie, cursing the patrolman, and compounding the elony by rubbing the
chemical deeper into his smarting eyes.
-awling like a baby, he staggered toward the luncheonette, the handkerchie to his ace. -ehind him he could hear the
shrieking o the crowd as the pellet traced a cra#y path among them. People began coughing and shouting. -yrnes was yelling
orders at patrolmen. ,ll Parker knew was that his ace and his eyes were burning.
83uis;8 he shouted. 83uis;8
He groped his way to the counter, the handkerchie to his ace.
83uis, where are you98
!here was no answer. Parker took the handkerchie away rom his ace. He tried to see past the tears in his eyes, but he saw
only blurred shapes, da##ling, shimmering tears o streaked light.
83uis;8 he shouted. 8:et me some water; I can.t see.8 He was beginning to panic. 7hy didn.t 3uis answer him9 7hy
wouldn.t 3uis help him9 83uis; 7here #re you+ Help me; :et me some water; &u!"! &u!"!"
3uis came running rom the back o the shop, his eyes wide with concern. ".ue /#"#+" he said. ".ue /#"#+"
,nd Parker shouted. 87here are you, you stupid spic;8
!he words stopped 3uis as eectively as bullets. !hey slammed into his ears and ricocheted in his mind and then paraly#ed
him. He stood with his arms at his sides, staring at Parker.
83uis98
"S!."
8=or 5hrist.s sake, get me some water. Please get me some water.8
"S!," 3uis said. "S!." <a#ed, he moved away rom the counter.
8Hurry;8
In the street outside, the iring had stopped. :reat billows o gas poured rom the shattered windows o the apartment,
hovered on the windless air. People were covering their aces with handkerchies and cursing at the police or unleashing this
blight. 3uis brought a bowl o water to the counter. Parker groped or it blindly, touched the rim with his hand, and then dipped
into it. 3uis watched him silently. Parker washed his eyes and his skin, sighing, repeating the motion over and over again. ,nd
inally he dried himsel with the handkerchie and lited his ace. 3uis was still staring at him.
".ue /#"#, m#r!-on+" Parker asked, grinning, using a &panish obscenity.
82othing,8 3uis said. He shook his head wearily. 82othing.8
87hat.s the matter, huh98 Parker asked, still grinning. 87hat.s the matter, eh, -#)ron+" ,nother obscenity, but there was no
answering smile rom 3uis.
"De n#*#," 3uis said. 82othing.8
8"ou sore at me9 .5ause I was yelling at you9 Is that it9 ?an, I elt like my eyes were on ire. "ou sure were a liesaver.8
"S, I was a liesaver,8 3uis said blankly.
Parker elt suddenly uneasy. 8Hey, come on,8 he said. 8"ou going to let a little yelling come between riends98
,ter a long while, 3uis said, 82o, ,ndy, I would not let a little yelling come between riends.8
%utside, 3ieutenant -yrnes lited the megaphone to his lips. "2!r#n*#+ C#n you he#r me+"
87hat do you want, you son o a bitch98 ?iranda shouted, coughing.
"Th!" !" !, 2!r#n*#. Are you re#*y o -ome ou+ Or *o we "hoo our w#y !n+"
!here was a long silence. Parker moved )uickly out o the luncheonette. 3uis was still staring at him as he let.
87hat the hell is he doing98 Parker asked 5arella. 87hy don.t we move in right now9 I.ll bet he can hardly see in there.8
8Pete doesn.t want any more shooting unless it.s absolutely necessary,8 5arella answered.
87hy give that punk a break9 7e can go in there and mop him up in two seconds.8
8&uppose he starts shooting into the street again98
8&o what98
8"ou want these people to get hurt98
8,ll I want is ?iranda.8
8,nd ater ?iranda, then what98 5arella asked.
87hat do you mean98
87hen does your private crusade stop98
87hat the hell are you...98
87hen are you going to orget that beating you took, Parker98
87hat beating9 7hat...98
8"ou know what I.m talking about;8
8,ll right. I.m never going to orget it,8 Parker shouted. 8%kay9 2ever. It taught me a lesson, buddy, and only a sap
would...8
87hat lesson, Parker98
8It taught me you can.t trust anybody in this lousy precinct, that.s what it...8
8,nd it also taught you to be araid,8 5arella said.
45
45
87hat98
8"ou heard me. ,raid.8
83ook, mister, you.d 0ust better stop right now, while you.re winning. I still ain.t orgotten the time you...8
87hen are you going to make a re#$ arrest, Parker9 7hen are you going to stop pulling in 0unkies and drunks9 7hen are
you going to tackle the real troublemakers98
8I do my 0ob;8 Parker shouted. 8I keep the streets clean;8
8-y picking up the wrong garbage;8
8It.s #$$ garbage here;8
8,nd you.re araid o it; "ou.re araid to take another beating;8
8"ou son o a bitch, I warned you to...8
"I5m w#!!n(, 2!r#n*#!" -yrnes shouted, and both men turned their attention to the lieutenant. 5arella.s ists were bunched.
Parker glowered at him, and then walked to where -yrnes was standing.
"0ow #)ou !, 2!r#n*#+ '!ve ! u/! 3ou h#ven5 (o # -h#n-e."
87hat chance do I have i I come out9 !hat old lady died, didn.t she98
"7h# o$* $#*y+"
8!he one I mugged,8 ?iranda said. He went into a it o coughing which lasted or several moments. !hen his voice came
rom the apartment again. 8!ell the truth, cop.8
"Th# wom#n5" "!$$ #$!ve, 2!r#n*#."
8I shouldn.t have hit her,8 ?iranda said. His voice aded. 8I needed money. I had to...8 He paused or a long time. 8&he.s
dead, ain.t she98
"She5" #$!ve, I o$* you."
8"ou.re lying to me. "ou.ll never get me out o here, cop. "ou think I.m coming out to ace a murder rap98
"The wom#n5" #$!ve. I1 you 1or-e u" o -ome !n #1er you, you h#ven5 (o # -h#n-e."
8I got news or you, cop. I never *!* have one.8
"O%#y, "o m#%e ! e#"y on your"e$1 now."
8=or what9 In payment or all the crap I.ve taken rom cops since I was old enough to walk98
"3ou *!"he* ou # )! your"e$1, 2!r#n*#. &e5" -u he #$%!n(. 3e" or no+ Do you -ome ou w!h your h#n*" u/, or *o we
)$#" you ou+"
8"ou want me, come and earn your salary.8
"O%#y, you5re -#$$!n( !. There5" :u" no #$%!n( o you, !" here+ O%#y, we5re -om!n( !n."
8Hey ... hey, cop;8
"7h# !" !+"
83isten, I ... I want a priest.8
"A wh#+"
8, priest. I ... I wanna talk to a priest.8
"7!$$ you -ome ou !1 we (e you one+"
8&end him up here. I gotta talk to him.8
"7hy+ Are you h!+"
82o, I ain.t hit. :oddamnit, do I need a ederal warrant to get a priest9 5an.t I get anything in this riggin. city without having
to beg or it98
"Ju" # m!nue, 2!r#n*#." -yrnes put down the megaphone. 87hat do you think, &teve98
8It.s a trick,8 5arella said.
8&ure,8 Parker said. 8He don.t want no priest. ,ll he wants is a shield.8
8I know,8 -yrnes said.
5arella stared at him. 8,re you thinking what I.m thinking, Pete98
8"es,8 -yrnes said. He put the speaker to his mouth. "2!r#n*#+"
8"eah98
"I5m (e!n( # /r!e" 1or you."
!here was something in /ip.s eyes which had not been there beore. &i$to studied his ace and tried to igure out what it was.
/ip looked as i he might begin crying at any moment. His. ace was red, and his lips were tight, and his eyes seemed to blink
too oten, as i he were struggling to hold back tears. -ut at the same time, there was a strength to the rigid thrust o his back,
an impatience to the way he clenched and unclenched his ists.
!he boys were standing on the avenue opposite ,lredo.s building. 2one o them wore the purple 0ackets now. 7ithout the
0ackets, they seemed like our high-school kids discussing girls or baseball or swimming. -ut, o course, they were discussing
murder.
87hat do you think, 5ooch9 Is he up there or not98
8I don.t know,8 5ooch said, looking across at the building. 8%ne thing or sure, he didn.t go to church.8
87hy we deetch dee 0ackets, hey98 Papa asked. 8I lak dee purple 0acket.8
8!he 0ackets are hot,8 /ip said impatiently. 85an.t you keep your mind on what we.re doing here98
8-ut I lak dee 0acket. I don.t see why...8
8"ou think this is the right time, /ip98 5ooch interrupted. 8!he streets are crawling with bulls.8
8It.s e9#-$y the right time. 6very cop m the city.s got his hands ull with Pepe. 7e can move in on ,lie and get him beore
they even know what happened.8
87hat.s dee sense havin. a 0acket i you cann wear it, huh98 Papa persisted.
/ip whirled on him angrily. =or a moment, it seemed as i he would strike him. 8"ou want to end up on -ailey.s Island98 he
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46
shouted.
87here.s dat98
8In the middle o the >iver <i$; It.s a prison. "ou wear the 0acket, and that.s where you.ll wind up.8
87ha. did I do, huh98 Papa asked. 87hy I cann wear dee 0acket9 7hy they put me in 0ail i I wear dee 0acket98
8%h, man, try to e$plain anything to this moron; 7hy the hell don.t you go back where you came rom98 /ip said angrily.
8:o to Puerto >ico, will ya9 <o me a avor.8
8I I b.long dee 3atin Purples,8 Papa said logically, una#ed, 8I shoul. wear dee 0acket. <en ever.body knows who I am.
!hass what you say, /eep. &o now I cann wear dee 0acket. 7hy not98
8<on.t try to igure it out, Papa,8 /ip said. 8Just take my word or it. >ight now, we got ,lie to worry about.8
85ann we let it wait, /ip98 &i$to said. 87ha.s the hurry9 ?aybe tomorrow...8
/ip.s eyes lashed, and again he looked as i he were about to cry, and yet he seemed strong and determined at the same
time. 82ow;8 he said. 8!oday; I.m sick o waiting or tomorrow; I.m gonna be somebody o*#y!"
8"ou don. have to kill ,lie to be somebody,8 &i$to said.
87hat.s the sense talking to a tiger9 "ou.re like a goddamn oreigner. 3ook we ain.t debating this no more. It.s decided
already.8
8-ut who decided98 &i$to asked.
8I decided.8
8!hen why don. you go shoot him98
!he words came out o his mouth beore he reali#ed he was going to say them. !hey produced an instant silence. /ip
clenched his ists and then unclenched them.
87hat.s your story, &i$to98 he said sotly.
&i$to took a deep breath. 8I don. think we should shoot him.8
8"ou don.t, huh98
82o.8
87ell, I think we should. ,nd that.s that.8
8!hat.s what...8
8!hat.s wh#+" ;!/ said, his ists working. 8:o ahead, inish it8
8!ha.s what Pepe ?iranda would do,8 &i$to blurted. 8!ha.s not what my odder would do. ?y odder woul.n shoot nobody.8
8&o what the hell is your ather9 , big shot9 He works in a actory, or Pete.s sake;8
87hat.s wrong wi. workin. in a actory98
8"ou want to be a actory worker, go ahead. I don.t wanna work in no damn actory;8
87hat you w#nn# do98 &i$to asked, and again there was a silence. He was certain that /ip would begin crying this time.
!his time the tears seemed on the verge o eruption. 8"ou wanna go aroun. killing people all the time9 Is that what you wanna
do98 &i$to persisted.
83ook...8
8"ou tink it.s so smart to kill somebody9 ?y people never kill nobody, not here, not on the islan.. &o what.s so special
abou....8
8"ou.re looking or trouble,8 /ip said )uietly.
87e kill ,lie ... wha.s the sense9 7hat does that make us98
8"ou.re looking or trouble,8 /ip repeated.
8"ou tink .cause we beat up somebody, .cause we...8
8&hut up;8
8... act like tough guys ...8
/ip slapped him suddenly and viciously. &i$to.s head snapped back. He was shocked or a moment, and the blow had hurt
him. -ut he stared at /ip coldly, and then wiped his hand across his mouth.
8,ll right98 /ip asked.
&i$to did not answer. 5ooch watched his ace, a slight smirk beginning on his mouth. Papa seemed conused, as i he did not
know whether to smile or rown.
8,ll right98 /ip asked again. ,gain, there was no answer. 8,ll right,8 he said nodding. 83et.s map this out.8
5ooch grinned. He was glad this nasty disciplinary business was out o the way. He was glad they were moving into action
again. 87hat.s the irst step, /ip98
8=irst, we gotta ind out i ,lie.s still in the apartment. Papa, you and &i$to.ll take care o that. :o up in the hallway and
listen outside the door. I he.s in there, you.ll hear him. !hen you come back and report to me.8
8How do we get him out, /ip98 5ooch asked.
8,ll we got to do is get him in the hallway.8
8-ut how98
8I don.t know.8 He paused, thinking. 8,in.t he got no buddies9 3ike Papa could call him out, makin. believe he was a
buddy.8
5ooch shook his head. 8,lie.s a lone wol.8
8!here must be somebody he trusts, somebody he.d come out in the hallway to talk ... hey;8 He snapped his ingers. His ace
was suddenly alive. I ever he.d looked about to cry, he did not look that way now. 8&ure,8 he said. 87e say we want to be
riends, see9 !hat.s the story we give. ,nd the go-between believes it, and tells that to ,lie. 7hen ,lie comes out in the
hallway, )#m!"
8"eah, but who, /ip9 7ho.s gonna be the go-between9 7ho we gonna get that ,lie would trust98 /ip grinned rom ear to
ear. 85hina,8 he said.
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15
In the hallway o the building in which ,lredo :ome# lived, &i$to suddenly knew what had to be done. Perhaps he had
known it all along, perhaps he had known ever since he.d gone into the drugstore, known without admitting it to himsel. -ut
he knew now that one could not stand committed by reusing to commit onesel. ,nd he knew now that more than the mere
presence o police on the street was necessary to prevent the senseless murder o ,lredo :ome#. He recogni#ed that he must
choose a side and choose it now, and that once he had made his choice he would have to deend it. He was very young to be
inding himsel at such a crossroad. !oo young, perhaps, to be making a choice which would inluence another.s lie as well as
his own. -ut the crossroad was there, and he aced it, and he made his choice unheroically. He made his choice the way most
choices are made, made it through a combination o character and conviction. =or &i$to, no other choice would have been
possible. !he choice was as much a part o him as his hands. 8Papa,8 he whispered.
.7ha.s dee matter98 Papa said.
8&it down. I wann to talk to you.8
!he boys sat on the steps leading to the irst loor. It was dark in the hallway, and )uiet. ?ost o the building.s tenants were
out in the street watching the siege. -ut even though he knew he would not be overheard, &i$to whispered. ,nd because
whispering is contagious, Papa whispered, too. &ide by side in the darkened hallway, the boys talked.
87ha.s dee matter98 Papa asked again.
8Papa ... this ... this is all wrong.8
87ha.s all wronn98
87hat we going to do. !o ,lie.8
8/eep say...8
8Papa, please. 3isten to me. Please.8
8I lis.nin., &i$to.8
8Iss wrong to kill ,lie, Papa.8
87ronn9 -ut /eep say...8
8Iss wrong; Papa, look ... look, you like it here9 "ou like this city98
"S!."
87e come here ... is nice here ... is better. 7e don. want to be like that Pepe ?iranda up there;8
Papa hesitated or a moment, conused. !hen he said, 8Pepe ?iranda.s the grays thin. ever happen this neighborhood.8
82o, Papa. 2o. He brings shame to us.8
Papa shook his head. :ently, like a ather about to e$plain something to a avored child, he covered &i$to.s hand with his
own. !hen, with little patting motions characteristic o the slow movement which had earned him his nickname, he said, 82o,
no you wronn, &i$to. He the grays thin. ever happen aroun. here.8
8Papa, he %!$$" people;8 &i$to said, pulling back his hand.
"S. He.s brave.8
8Papa, that.s not...8
8He.s a brave man,8 Papa insisted. 8He hole o all dee cops, an. he...8
8He.s not brave; He.s no good; He don. care or you or me, ony or himsel. He iss bad, an. he brings disgrace to us.8
82o, &i$to,8 Papa said slowly. .7o e" ver*#*. De n!n(un mo*o..."
8<on. speak &panish;8 &i$to said. 87e here now, we speak 6nglish.8 He paused. 8Papa, you understan. what I.m saying98
"S, yo -om/ren*o. Pero..."
8<on. speak &panish;8
87hy I cann speak &panish98 Papa asked, pu##led.
8Papa, listen to me,8 &i$to said desperately. 87e not gonna kill ,lle.8
8&ure, we gon. kill him,8 Papa said, nodding.
82o. 2o, we not. 7e kill him, then we doin. wrong. 3ike /ip. 3ike Pepe.8
8/eep bought me /!*#(u#", &i$to,8 Papa said.
8Papa, he iss bad.8
8/eep9 -ad98
8"es, yes.8
8,n. Pepe98
8"es, him too.8
82o,8 Papa said. He shook his head. 8/eep say he iss good.8
&i$to was trembling. He did not want to play his trump, and yet he saw that Papa was still unconvinced, saw that more was
needed.
8Papa, you think I am good98
"S!."
87ould I do something bad, Papa98
82o. I don. think so.8
8Papa...8
He sucked in a deep breath.
8Papa ... the one who called the police ... the one who told them where Pepe wass ... it was me. I called them.8
!he hallway was silent. He elt at once that he had made a terrible mistake, that he had revealed something which should
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48
have remained secret. Papa studied him with blank eyes.
"3ou tole on Pepe98 he asked incredulously.
8"es.8
8How you know where he wass98
8I saw him yesterday. I recogni#e his picture rom the paper. ,ll day, I wonder about it. !hen I think ... I think it.s best to
tell.8
8-ut ... but tha.s bein. ... a r#, &i$to.8
82o.8
8-ut you tole on Pepe;8
8"es.8
87hy9 7hy you do this98
8-ecause he iss bad.8
Papa was silent or a long time. !hen he scratched his head and said, 8I Pepe iss bad, why does /eep say...98
8/ip only wants to be big. He thinks it makes him big to boss. -ut it.s ony big when you let everybody live his own lie.
Papa, listen. Please. Please listen.8 He suddenly elt like crying. He clutched Papa.s arm iercely and said, 8Papa, we go this
way now, we never stop, you hear98
8I hear. S!, "!."
87e go this way now, we get like /ip, and then we wind up like Pepe. 7e bring more shame to the )#rr!o. 7e hurt
ourselves.8
"S!, "!, -om/ren*o."
"P#/#, ,u!en #*n# #$ reve" #n*# e$ -#m!no *o" ve-e". I we take the wrong road, we make the 0ourney twice.8
8-ut ... /eep iss )#*+"
8"es, yes.8
&truggling with this new idea, Papa said, 8-ut he bought me /!*#(u#"," and then ell silent. His brow was urrowed, his eyes
pu##led. ,ter a long time, he said, 8,n. Pepe iss bad too98
8"es.8
8&i$to... iss you alone who thinks like this9 %r ever.body98
86verybody, Papa. 6verybody in the streets.8
8I ... &i$to ... I wanna be lak ever.body in thees city. -ut /eep say...8
8Papa, we are only strong i we do the right thing.8
,gain, Papa was silent, thinking. He shrugged and turned to &i$to.
8I ... I don. wann to be dee bad guy, &i$to.8
82o.8
8I wann to be dee goo. guy.8
"S!, "."
He shrugged again. 8I don. know how to say in 6nglish.8
8"ou are with me, Papa98
Papa beamed. "S!, I am wi. you, &i$to.8 He continued smiling. 8&i$to98 He paused. 87e dee goo. guys, &i$to98
8"es, Papa,8 &i$to said very sotly. 87e the good guys.8
!he other good guys came up the street.
!here were two o them. %ne was a detective lieutenant named Peter -yrnes. !he other was a priest named &teve 5arella.
5arella elt rather oolish. He had elt oolish in the rectory o the church while arguing with =ather <onovan who had,
perhaps rightully, insisted that the policemen were planning something which would make a mockery o a man.s aith in :od.
8!his man doesn.t have a aith in :od,8 -yrnes had said. 8He wants a priest up there or one reason and one reason alone.
He wants to use him as a shield to get out o that apartment.8
8How do you know that98
8I know it,8 -yrnes said. 8!ake my word or it. !he last time Pepe ?iranda was inside a church was the day he was
bapti#ed.8
8He may wish to make his peace.8
8=ather, I respect your attitude, believe me. -ut I think I know a little more about this man than you do. 2ow you can either
let me borrow one o your black things, whatever you call them...8
85assock.8
8"es, your cassock, or else we.ll have to root around someplace else and ind one. !hat.ll take time, and ?iranda may shoot
somebody else during that time. 2ow, it.s up to you.8
8,nd suppose his re)uest or a priest is legitimate98 =ather <onovan asked.
8!hen I.ll come straight down rom the apartment, and I.ll come straight here, and I.ll give you back your hassock...8
85assock.8
85assock, and you can go up and see him yoursel. Is that air98
8It sounds air.8 =ather <onovan had studied -yrnes. 8?y garment would never it you, 3ieutenant8
8I.ll s)uee#e into it.8
=ather <onovan shook his head. 82o. "ou.ve got at least thirty pounds on me. !he garment is cut tight to begin with.8
8=ather, we.re in an awul hurry. 5ould we please...98
8-esides,8 5arella said, 8you can.t go up there, Pete.8
87hy not98
8"ou.ve been our talk-man so ar. I somebody else starts using the megaphone, ?iranda.CC get suspicious. "ou.ve got to
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49
stay in the street and keep talking to him.8
8I.m going up,8 -yrnes said. 8I wouldn.t ask any o my men to take a chance like...8
8!he cassock doesn.t it you,8 5arella said.
8!he hell with the ... pardon me, =ather.8
8,nd ?iranda would smell a rat,8 5arella said.
8I don.t care what he...8
8&o I.d better go up. =ather <onovan and I are about the same si#e.8
8&teve, you can.t...8
8!hat.s settled,8 5arella said.
8&teve...8
87hat98
8I ... nothing.8 He paused. 8He.s a killer.8
8I know.8
8,nd it was my idea to...8
8It was our idea. 7e got it at the same time, Pete. >emember98
8I you get shot, you damn ool...8
8I.ve been shot beore,8 5arella said.
!he men stared at each other.
8,ll right,8 -yrnes said, sighing, 8where.s the cassock, =ather98
2ow, walking down the street, 5arella still elt oolish. =or i Pepe ?iranda had not been inside a church since the day o his
baptism, 5arella hadn.t been inside one A not to pray, at least A since shortly ater his conirmation. !hat was a long, long
time ago. Parading down the street now in a priest.s long black apparel, eeling the cold hard snout o a .F8 against his belly
beneath the black cloth, trying to look pious as hell, he elt only oolish. , set o prayer beads was entwined around his right
hand. He )uickly shited them to his let, so that his right would be ree or a )uick draw i it came to that.
87hat.s the plan98 he asked -yrnes.
8I.ll tell ?iranda we.ve got his priest. He.ll probably check rom the window. !hen you go up.8
8!hen what98
8I he wants to coness or something, let him coness. 7atch or your chance, and slug him i he turns his back.8
8-ut you told =ather <onovan...8
8"eah, I lied in church,8 -yrnes said. 8,ctually, ?iranda isn.t going to make any conession, &teve. He.s going to grab you
the minute you walk into that apartment, and he.s going to use you as a shield when he walks out.8
87hat do I do9 7ait or my chance and then...8
8"ou do nothing. 3et him lead you out I.ll have men on either side o the doorway. !he minute he steps into the street, you.d
better duck.8 -yrnes paused. 8I.d eel a lot happier i I were doing this mysel, &teve.8
87hy98 5arella grinned. 8-ecause I might get killed9 ?y goodness, what a thing to be worrying about.8
8"ou.re not worried about it, huh98
8<idn.t you hear that reporter, Pete98
87hat do you mean98
83ie is cheap,8 5arella answered.
!hey had come up to the s)uad car now. -yrnes reached into it or the megaphone. 8"ou set, &teve98
8,s set as I.ll ever be.8
8&teve, we.re going to begin blasting the minute he clears the ront stoop. !he shots will be coming rom behind him, but I
can.t guarantee that all these bums learned anything at the police academy. 7hen you clear the stoop, make a dive or the
sidewalk.8
8%kay.8
8:ood luck.8
8!hanks.8 5arella paused. 8&uppose he 0ust wants to pray a little98
-yrnes shrugged. 8"ou.ve got a set o prayer beads. 4se them.8 He paused. 8:ood luck,8 he said again.
83et.s get it moving,8 5arella said, 8beore I chicken out.8
-yrnes picked up the megaphone and blew into it. "2!r#n*#+" he called. !here was no answer. "2!r#n*#+" &till no answer.
8?aybe he slit his own throat,8 5arella whispered.
"2!r#n*#, h!" !" &!euen#n 8yrne". C#n you he#r me+"
8I hear you. 7hat is it98
"7e5ve (o your /r!e"."
87here is he9 :et him out in the middle o the street. I want to see him.8
5arella nodded at -yrnes, and then took a deep breath. &lowly, he walked to the center o the street.
"3ou -#n5 "ee h!m !1 you *on5 $oo%," -yrnes said.
!here was a long silence. &uddenly, ?iranda.s head popped up above the window sill. He looked into the street or no longer
than ten seconds, and then dropped rom sight again. 6ven in that short a time, -yrnes and 5arella saw that his eyes were
pued and his ace was streaked.
8,ll right,8 ?iranda shouted. 8&end him up.8
"No "o 1#", 2!r#n*#," -yrnes said, thinking, I.ve got to make this look good. He knows we wouldn.t send up a priest unless
he makes some concession. He knows we.re considering the idea that this may be a trap. He knows we.re not stupid.
87hat is it now98 ?iranda said.
"The /r!e" "#y" r!(h where he !" un$e"" I (e "ome /rom!"e" 1rom you," -yrnes said.
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50
8Here we go,8 ?iranda answered, and the people in the street began chuckling.
"3e", here we (o, 2!r#n*#. I5m no "en*!n( u/ # m#n you -#n u"e #" # "h!e$* o (e ou o1 h# #/#rmen."
87hat kind o a louse do you think I am98
"Do I h#ve o #n"wer h# one+" -yrnes said, and again the crowd chuckled. !his was beginning to get good. 2one o that
grim stu any more. Just a plain old battle o wits, like a good television routine.
8,ll right, cop, what do you want rom me98
"Num)er one> we5re "en*!n( u/ #n un#rme* m#n who !n"!"" he w#n" o "ee you #$one #" # re/re"en#!ve o1 'o*. I w#n
you o re"/e- h#, 2!r#n*#." :od orgive me, -yrnes thought.
8,ll right, all right.8
"Num)er wo> I w#n you o #$% o h!m. A)ou -om!n( ou o1 here. I *on5 %now why you w#n o "ee h!m, #n* I *on5 -#re.
8u I w#n your /rom!"e h# you5$$ #$% o h!m #)ou -om!n( ou."
8Is that all98
"Do I h#ve your /rom!"e+"
87hat makes you think I.ll keep any promise I make98
"Th!" !" # m#n o1 'o*, 2!r#n*#."
8%kay, okay, I promise.8
"D!* you he#r h!m, F#her+" -yrnes asked 5arella.
8I heard him,8 5arella answered.
"3ou -#n ener he )u!$*!n( #ny !me you $!%e."
5arella nodded, sucked in another deep breath, walked directly to the ront stoop o the tenement, and entered the hallway.
-yrnes put down the megaphone, looked at his watch, and then told 5aptain =rick he wanted our o the best marksmen he
could ind. !hen he began praying.
16
I you.re :od, you.ve got all these little things to take care o, you see. %h, not the business o getting the sun to rise on time,
or the stars to come out. ,nd not riding herd on the seasons so that they arrive when they.re supposed to, not things like that.
!hose are the big things, and the big things almost take care o themselves. It.s those damn $!$e things that get so bothersome.
,nd i you.re :od, you can.t 0ust ignore them, you know. "ou can, o course, move in mysterious ways your wonders to
perorm. !his means that you can leave a ew loose ends here and there and nobody will )uestion them because you are, ater
all, :od. ?aybe you.ve got a bigger design in mind which will not become apparent to us poor slobs until maybe decades rom
now. %r centuries. &o who are we to )uestion9 -eing :od, you are perectly entitled to occasional sloppiness.
%r maybe these things aren.t even in your control, who knows9 ?aybe you 0ust sort o set the universe every day, the way
somebody sets a clock, and then let it run on its own, ast or slow, however it wants to, without touching it again until it.s run
down and needs another winding. ?aybe that.s the way you operate, and nobody.s going to )uestion that either, :od, you can
bet your lie on that, :od.
%nly sometimes, no oense meant, you ought to work a thing out and not 0ust let it happen, you know9 3ike take that Puerto
>ican girl and that sailor, take them or e$ample. 2ow, being :od, you could i$ them up real ine, couldn.t you9 3ike, or
e$ample, /ip and 5ooch could ind her, you see, and /ip is dragging her down the street towards ,lie.s pad when wh#m! who
should appear9 !he sailor; How.s that, huh9 He didn.t go o with the whore ?arge, you see. He only started to, but then he
changed his mind. ,nd here he is back on the street, ace to ace with 5hina. He looks at her, and she looks at him, and their
eyes lock, and slowly they walk across that street to each other, and tolerance and understanding lash in the sailor.s eyes, I
$ove you, Ch!n#, coupled with a little bit o honest lust, I $ove you, Je11, wh#m they clinch, and we ade out on /ip who shrugs
his shoulders and says, 8%h well, what the hell, easy come, easy go.8
How.s that, :od98
!hat.s great.
-ut that isn.t the way it happened.
!he street was impossible. !he crowd was an$ious or the kill now, an$ious or the die to be cast either way. !hey didn.t
much give a damn at this moment whether or not ?iranda would kill the priest and the police lieutenant and the commissioner
and the mayor and the governor and even the president. !hey didn.t care whether or not a cop on one o the rootops would ire
a lucky shot and catch ?iranda "/$#n% between the eyeballs. !hey only wanted it to be over and done with, either way. ,nd so
the crowd was restless, and a little mean, and hot, and uncomortable. It was a crowd which was beginning to resent this tie
game which had run into ourteen innings. !he tenth inning had been a treat and the eleventh a distinct bonus and the twelth a
lovely dividend, but the thirteenth brought on thoughts o other things to be done. 7atching a game was great un A but lie
was real and lie was earnest, and lie was going on ou"!*e that ball park.
&o the crowd resisted the shoving o /ip and 5ooch, and occasionally the crowd shoved back at the two boys and cursed a
bit, and did everything possible to make the task o locating 5hina unimaginably diicult.
In iteen minutes. time, /ip and 5ooch gave up the search.
It was 0ust as well that they had, because 5hina wasn.t in the neighborhood any longer. 5hina had gone over to the park
where she had sat by the lake and watched the people in the rowboats. !hat.s where 5hina was. &he cried a little, yes. In the
park, by the lake, watching the rowboats.
!he sailor9 <id he wander back to the street9 <id he amble over to the park9
!he sailor went to bed with a prostitute named ?arge. ?arge was a practiced whore, and she pleased the sailor immensely.
!he sailor paid her iteen dollars, which was nearly every cent he had. !hen he walked to the subway, got on a train, went
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51
downtown to where his ship was docked, started up the gangway, saluted the ensign on the antail, saluted the oicer o the
deck, went to the rear compartment, took o his whites, put on a pair o dungarees and a chambray shirt, climbed into his sack,
and went to sleep until the loud-speaker amidships announced, 85how down.8 He ate a good dinner, saw a movie on the boat
deck that evening, went to bed about eleven o.clock, and sailed or &an <iego the ne$t morning. He never saw the Puerto
>ican girl named 5hina again in his lie. He probably went back to =letcher, 5olorado, eventually. ?aybe she lashed into his
mind every now and then A like once every twelve years. ?aybe he remembered her dimly and wondered what had become
o her. ?aybe, married to 5orrine and running an insurance business, he sporadically thought o 5hina in an ideali#ed way, the
most beautiul girl in the world, e$otic, that day in a strange city, ar away, I wonder what became o her, I wonder.
&he sat in the park and wept a bit and watched the rowboats.
"ou are :od, and you can do it any way you want to. "ou can even get them married the ne$t day beore his ship sails.
,nything you want to do. ,ll the possibilities are there. ,nd you.re :od, and there isn.t anyone who.s going to slap your wrist,
no matter how you do it.
-ut :od, man, that is the way it happened.
&teve 5arella knocked on the door. !here were bullet holes in the door, and 5arella remembered that Pepe ?iranda had shot
a patrolman through that door, and he suddenly wanted his .F8 in his hand.
2ow, easy, he told himsel. 2ow 0ust take.it easy, and don.t panic. 7e are going to play this ?iranda.s way because there are
a lot o people out there on the street, and we don.t want them to be getting shot. &o be cool. "our hand is shaking, and you are
itching to pull that .F8 so that you.ll have something more than a set o prayer beads in your ist when that door opens, but be
cool, &teve-o, be cool and...
!he door opened.
, .*1 automatic was the irst thing 5arella saw. !he door opened 0ust a crack, and there was the .*1, its big ugly snout
pointing into the hallway. 5arella.s mouth elt very dry.
8I.m ... =ather <onovan,8 he said to the automatic.
!he door opened wider. 5arella.s eyes panned up rom the .*1, the hand holding it, the thin wrist, the black hair curling on
the arm, the narrow shoulders, the sweat-stained undershirt, the sudden pu o black hair in the hollow o the throat, the wings
o the man.s collarbones, his thin neck, and high cheekbones, brown eyes, pued lids, a balding head, and desperation. ,dd a
man up, add the parts, orm a total picture, and the total is desperation. It was there in ?iranda.s eyes and in his mouth and
even in the way he held the .*1, his head tilted to one side, his shoulder sort o leaning into the gun, the gun close to his body
as i it were something he cherished, a tie to reality.
85ome in a minute,8 ?iranda said.
5arella stepped into the apartment. !he place was a shambles. !he urniture, the loors, everything in the room bore the
ravaging marks o gunire. It was inconceivable to think that a human being had been in this bullet-pocked room and managed
to escape getting shot.
83ooks like they dropped an atom bomb in here, don.t it98 ?iranda said.
8"es,8 5arella answered.
8"ou.re not scared, are you9 !hey won.t shoot with you in here, it.s all right.8
5arella nodded. He was not scared. It was only ... he elt odd all at once. He did not eel like a cop. ?iranda was not treating
him as i he were a cop. ?iranda was behaving as i he were truly a priest, a person he could talk to, rela$ with. He wanted to
say, 8I.m not what you think, ?iranda; <on.t show yoursel to me;8 but the words would not come.
8-oy, this has been murder,8 ?iranda said. 83ook, I didn.t ask you up here to coness to you or nothing. I think we ought to
get that straight.8
8!hen why did you ask me to come up98
87ell...8 ?iranda shrugged. He seemed like a young kid in that moment, a young kid who is about to tell a priest that he
took o a girl.s underpants on the roo. 5arella kept staring at him. ?iranda held the .*1 in his hand loosely, e$pecting no
trouble rom this man he thought was a priest, embarrassed because he was about to reveal something, dishonorable to him.
8I.ll put it to you straight, =ather,8 he said. 8I got to get out o this apartment.8
8"es98
8&o ... so you.re going to take me out.8
8I am98
?iranda nodded. 8I know that.s pretty crumby. -ut I got
to get out o here.8-87here do you go rom here, Pepe98
8I don.t know.8 ?iranda shook his head. 8"ou know, =ather, you reach the point where ... where there ain.t many places let
to go.8 He laughed nervously. 87here...8 He laughed again. 8I don.t know. I don.t know where I.ll go once I get out o here.8
8!here.re a lot o cops out there, Pepe.8
8"eah, I know.8 He sighed. 8?an, this kind o stu ... I h#e this kind o Public 6nemy 2umber %ne stu, you dig9 I 0ust
hate it. %h man, it.s like ... like something is e$pected o me, you know what I mean9 I.ve (o to be the bad guy. I don.t know i
it makes any sense to you, =ather.8
8I.m not sure it does,8 5arella answered, pu##led.
87ell, like ... like there are sides. I.m the bad guy.8 He shrugged. 8I.ve #$w#y" been the bad guy. 6ver since I was a kid. &o
I.m still the bad guy. !hey e$pect me to be the bad guy. !he people, I mean. It.s like ... I don.t know i I can e$plain this. It.s
like sometimes I don.t know who is the real Pepe ?iranda, and who is the guy I ... the /!-ure" o the guy, you ollow9 !he
various /!-ure" o the guy.8
8I don.t know what you mean,8 5arella said.
8!he /!-ure"," ?iranda repeated. 83ike the cops have a picture o me.8 He chuckled. 8It.s got a number right across the ace
o it.8 He chuckled again. 8,nd the people in the street got another picture o me. ,nd the kids got a picture. ,nd you got a
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picture. -ut they.re all dierent pictures, and none o them are really me, Pepe ?iranda.8
8!hen who is98 5arella asked.
8I don.t know.8
8"ou.ve killed people, Pepe.8
8"eah.8 He paused. 8I know.8 He shrugged, but it was not a shrug o indierence, not a shrug which said, 8&o I killed r
people, so what98 I it had been that, 5arella would have instantly elt like a cop again. -ut it was not that. It was simply a
shrug which said, 8I know I.ve killed people, but I don.t know why,8 and so 5arella still elt like a man who had come up here
to #$% to ?iranda, not to harm him.
87ell, anyway,8 ?iranda said, 8I.ve got to get out o here.8
8-ecause the people in the street e$pect it98 5arella asked.
82o. 2o, I don.t think that.s...8
8!hen why98
87ell...8 ?iranda sighed heavily. 8I ain.t got a chance, =ather,8 he said simply.
8!hen give up.8
87hy9 :o to 0ail9 ?aybe the electric chair i that woman dies9 <on.t you see9 I got nothing to lose.8
He recogni#ed in an instant that ?iranda was absolutely right. ?oreover, i 5arella were in his position, in this apartment,
surrounded by policemen, acing either a lielong 0ail sentence or death in the electric chair, he would undoubtedly react in
e$actly the way that ?iranda was reacting. He would try to get out o that apartment by air means or oul. He would try to
escape.
87ell...8 he said, and he ell silent.
!he two men aced each other.
8"ou see what I mean, =ather98
87ell...8
?iranda shrugged. !he apartment was silent.
8&o ... so I got to use you as a shield, =ather. !hey won.t shoot i I come out with you in ront o me.8
8&uppose they reuse to recogni#e ...8
8%h, they won.t. !hey won.t try nothing. I.ll tell them I.ll shoot you i they try anything.8
8,nd i they "hou$* try something9 7!$$ you shoot me, Pepe98
Pepe ?iranda rowned.
"7!$$ you, Pepe98
,ter a long while he said, 8I got to get out o this apartment, =ather. I (o o (e ou o1 here!"
!here were two patrolmen on either side o the stoop. 5aptain =rick had chosen them rom his ranks, had chosen our o his
best shots, and then they had gone to 3ieutenant -yrnes or their instructions. !heir instructions were simple. &hoot to kill.
,nd so they waited on either side o the doorway now, our marksmen with their pistols drawn, waiting or something to
happen.
=rom the irst-loor windows o the tenement, ?iranda.s voice came.
83ieutenant;8
"3e"+"
8!his is ?iranda; I.ve got the priest. I.m coming out.8
"7h# *o you me#n, 2!r#n*#+ 3ou5re (!v!n( u/+"
8:iving up, my ass; !he priest is coming out with me. I you.ve got any cops in the hallway, you.d better get them out now.
"ou hear me98
8It.s gonna work,8 Parker whispered to -yrnes.
"There #re no /o$!-emen !n he h#$$w#y, 2!r#n*#."
8!here better not be. I want a clear path when I come out. !his priest is staying with me all the way. ,nybody so much as
looks cockeyed at me, the priest gets it.8
"I hou(h you m#*e # /rom!"e, 2!r#n*#."
8<on.t make me laugh; I.m coming out.8
-yrnes put down the megaphone and )uickly drew his revolver. He turned slightly, so that his body hid the revolver which
hung in his hand alongside his right thigh. Parker drew his gun, too, and then looked around or a good spot rom which to ire.
-ehind the s)uad car9 2o, no. !here; !here was a place; !he packing crate over there. He pushed his way through the crowd
and climbed onto the crate. He checked the chambers o his .F8, wiped his upper lip, and then aced the doorway. !he street
was very silent now. 4pstairs, inside the building, they could hear a door slamming.
8,ny cops in the hallway98 ?iranda shouted. 8,ny cops here98
!here was no answer. &tanding, watching the doorway, watching the patrolmen lanking the stoop, -yrnes thought, A$$ he
h#" o *o !" urn h!" he#*. 0e5$$ "ee he /#ro$men, #n* he5$$ /u # )u$$e !n Seve5" )#-%. Th#5" #$$ he h#" o *o. Patiently,
-yrnes held his breath.
8I got the priest,8 ?iranda shouted rom the hallway. 8<on.t try nothing, you hear98
!he crowd had turned toward the doorway to the building. !hey could see nothing beyond the door. !he hallway was dark,
and the bright sunshine did not reach beyond the lat top step o the stoop.
85lear a path;8 ?iranda shouted. 85lear a path, or I.ll shoot into the crowd; I don.t care who gets hurt;8
!he crowd could see a pair o igures in the hallway now, dimly. !he priest was almost invisible because o his black
cassock, but ?iranda could be seen airly clearly, a short thin man in a white undershirt. !hey hesitated in the vestibule, and
?iranda peered past 5arella.s shoulder and into the street.
/ip pushed his way through the crowd with 5ooch. !he street was terribly silent, and he wanted to know why. 7hat the hell
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was happening9 He was angry because they.d been unable to locate 5hina, angry because he wanted this ,lredo :ome# thing
to end now, angry because things seemed to be going wrong, and he wanted them to go right. -ut, in spite o his anger, he was
curious. !he silence intrigued him. He pushed up to the barricade 0ust as 5arella and ?iranda came onto the ront stoop.
?iranda.s eyes licked the street. He was partially covered by the priest, so that a shot rom across the street could not be
risked. !hat let only...
,nd ?iranda turned to look to the let o the stoop.
5arella was ready. He.d been waiting or the movement ever since they.d let the apartment. He.d been wondering where he
would look i he were ?iranda, and he.d reali#ed that nobody could shoot rom the other side o the street, and so any trap
would have to be set on this side o the street, any shots would have to come rom behind.
&o 5arella knew that ?iranda knew, and he.d been waiting or the sideward movement o ?iranda.s head because he had
urther reasoned that ?iranda would begin shooting the second he saw the cops on either side o the stoop.
/ip saw the cops the same moment ?iranda did. It was too late to shout a warning.
5arella elt ?iranda.s head and eyes lickering to the let.
'o! he told himsel.
He went.
2o one said a word. ?iranda turned toward 5arella in the same instant that 5arella threw himsel headlong down the light
o steps.
,nd then the shooting started.
17
8Pepe;8 /ip yelled. 8Pepe;8 -ut he was too late.
!he crossire was true crossire. ?iranda whirled to the let, and the bullets suddenly smashed into him rom the right side o
the stoop, spinning him around. He slammed into the railing and ired a shot at the patrolman who seemed closest to him, and
then suddenly there were shots on his let, and he reali#ed he was caught in a deadly crossire, and he ran o the stoop toward
where 5arella lay sprawled at the oot o the steps. -yrnes began iring rom the other side o the street, and Parker began
iring rom the crate, and then it seemed that every cop on that block had been waiting or 0ust this moment because the street
suddenly reverberated with ear-shattering sound as the bullets caromed into the gutter.
He seemed to be bleeding rom a do#en places.
!he white undershirt seemed to sprout blood like poppies in an instant. His own gun kept bucking in his hand, but there was
blood dripping rom his ace and into his eyes, and he 0ust ired blindly and sort o groped out toward the crowd as i he were
reaching or salvation and didn.t know whose ace held it.
Parker came down o the crate, his service revolver trembling in his hand. !he cops on the rootops stopped iring all at
once, and the men behind ?iranda stopped iring as he stumbled blindly across the street, moving toward Parker who was
similarly drawn toward him. It was almost as i someone had placed two magnetic igures on a long table. !hey moved toward
each other ine$orably, ?iranda blinded by blood, and Parker drawn into that street by something he would never understand.
?iranda.s gun clicked empty, and he looked at Parker in supplication, blood dripping into his eyes and bubbling out o his
mouth, the mouth open, the hands limp now, the head twisted to one side like a 5hrist who had climbed down rom the cross.
8:ive me a break,8 ?iranda whispered.
,nd Parker ired.
His shot took ?iranda in the throat at close range, nearly ripping away the back o his neck. , resh blossom o blood
erupted, e$posing ?iranda.s windpipe as he staggered orward again. His voice bubbled rom his torn throat, a whispered
voice that sounded as i it were coming rom one o those trick underwater recording chambers, a voice directed only to
Parker, a voice that sought out Parker on that spinning red street.
85an.t you ... can.t you give me a break98 ,nd again Parker ired. ,nd this time, he kept his inger on the trigger, tightening
the pressure each time a slug roared rom the barrel o the gun, watching the slugs rip into ?iranda, watching ?iranda topple
into the gutter lielessly, and then standing over him and pumping bullets into his body until his gun was empty, and then
grabbing a gun rom the patrolman standing ne$t to him and beginning to ire at the dead ?iranda.
8!hat.s enough,8 5arella shouted.
/ip pushed past the barricade and lung himsel at Parker.s back. Parker brushed him o like a pesky ly, swinging his huge
shoulders, knocking /ip to the pavement.
83eave him alone;8 /ip shouted. 83eave him alone;8
-ut Parker was hearing nothing. He ired the patrolman.s gun at ?iranda.s head, and then he ired again, and he was
preparing to ire a third time when 5arella grabbed his arms and pulled him away rom the body.
8&omebody get up there to =rankie;8 3ieutenant -yrnes shouted. 8%n the double;8
!wo patrolmen rushed into the tenement. -yrnes walked over to ?iranda and stared down at him.
8Is he dead98 a reporter called.
-yrnes nodded. !here was no triumph in his voice. 8He.s dead..8
8!hey killed him,8 /ip said to 5ooch. 8!hey killed him. !he bastards killed him.8 He clutched 5ooch rantically. 87here.s
&i$to9 7here.s Papa9 7e.re gonna get him now, you hear me, 5ooch9 !hey killed Pepe, 5ooch. "ou understand that9 !hey
killed him;8 His eyes were wild. , thin layer o sweat covered his entire ace.
87hat about 5hina98 5ooch asked. 8"ou said we needed 5hina to...8
8!he hell with 5hina; ,lie.s gonna get his, you hear98
, patrolman appeared on the ire escape. !he street went )uiet. He walked to where =rankie Hernande# lay still and silent,
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and he knelt down, and -yrnes waited. !he patrolman stood up.
83ieutenant98
8"es98
8=rankie.8 !he patrolman paused. 8He.s dead, sir.8
-yrnes nodded. He nodded again. ,nd then he reali#ed the patrolman was waiting or instructions and, still nodding, he said,
8-ring him down. % there. % the ire escape. 7ould you ... would you bring him down, please98
!he reporters had pushed past the barricade now, and they surrounded the body o the dead ?iranda. =lash bulbs popped on
the street, challenging the sunshine.
87here.s &i$to and Papa98 /ip asked. 8<idn.t I say to meet me here98
83ook, /ip, calm down. !ry to...8
8<on.t tell me what to do;8 /ip shouted, shaking 5ooch.s hand loose. 8I know what I.m...8 and he stopped talking.
&i$to and Papa had turned the corner, but it was not he!r appearance which had caused the sudden widening o /ip.s eyes.
He stared at the two boys and then he stared at their companion, and he balled his ists, because the person with them was
,lredo :ome#.
87haA98 he started, and in that instant two patrolmen came rom the doorway o the tenement, carrying the body o
=rankie Hernande# on a stretcher. !he people in the crowd began murmuring his name as the body went past. Handkerchies
appeared, and women sniled into them. !he men in the crowd were taking o their hats and holding them to their chests.
8It.s =rankie,8 3uis said. 85lose the doors; =or respect; =or respect;8 He reached up or the overhead door o the
luncheonette and pulled it down. %n the avenue side o the shop another man pulled down the door there, so that the shop
aced the street blindly A 7e w!$$ no -on*u- )u"!ne"" wh!$e you /#"" )y, my 1r!en* 4 as the patrolmen carried the body o
Hernande# toward the ambulance.
85an we get a ew more pictures o ?iranda, 3ieutenant98 one o the reporters asked.
8!ake all the pictures you want,8 -yrnes said. 8He.s in no hurry. 2ot any more.8
3uis rolled back the doors. !he shop was open again.
87hat happens now, 3ieutenant98 the reporter asked.
-yrnes sighed heavily. 87e pile him in the meat wagon, and we cart him o. I get my men o the streets. !ry to unsnarl the
traic. ,nd then take up a collection or a good cop. I don.t know. 7hat happens ne$t98 He turned to 5arella. 8&teve98
8"eah98
87ho.s gonna tell =rankie.s ather9 7ho.s gonna go into that candy store around the corner, where he.s got =rankie.s picture
pasted to the mirror, who.s gonna go in there and tell him =rankie is dead98
8I.ll do it i you like, Pete.8
82o,8 -yrnes said, sighing and shaking his head. 8It.s my 0ob.8
87e really nailed him, didn.t we98 Parker said, striding over. 87e really nailed the son o aA8
8&hut up, Parker;8 -yrnes snapped.
87hA98
8&hut your goddamn mouth;8
87h-what the hell is wrong now+5 Parker asked, his ace taking on a hurt and astonished look.
&i$to, Papa, and ,lredo stood near the luncheonette. /ip walked to them )uickly.
87hat is this, &i$to98 he asked.
87hat do you think it is, /ip98
8I don.t like guessing games. 7hat are you up to98
8I tell you, /ip,8 &i$to said simply. 8I you wann to kill ,lredo, you got to kill us all.8
87hat the hell are you talking about, you meatball98
8I say it pretty plain, /ip.8
8"ou know me an. 5ooch are heeled9 "ou know we can blast you all over the sidewalk98
"S!, we know,8 &i$to said. 8:o ahead. -last us all ov. the sidewalk.8
87hat do you...98 /ip stopped and looked into &i$to.s eyes. &lightly unnerved, he said, 87hat do you A mean98
8-e careul, /ip,8 5ooch said )uickly. 8!hey got something up their sleeves. I can see it. !hey.re too ... they.re too sure o
themselves.8
8&i$to.s got them bualoed,8 /ip said )uickly. He turned his attention to Papa. 8"ou.re on the wrong side, Papa. "ou stick
with &i$to, and it.s like siding with the ones who killed Pepe. "ou.d be...8
8Pepe brings disgrace to the )#rr!o" Papa said.
8,ll right, that.s enough pictures,8 -yrnes shouted. 83et.s get him out o here, huh98
!wo patrolmen reached down and rolled ?iranda onto a stretcher. ,nother patrolman threw a blanket over him. :ingerly,
they stepped around the pool o blood in the gutter and began moving toward the luncheonette.
8!he doors;8 /ip shouted. 85lose the doors or him;8
-ut no one moved toward the doors. Instead, the people in the street watched the body as it passed by, and slowly, one by
one, they turned their backs to it, so that the body, as the cops carried it toward the luncheonette, was presented with a solid
wall o denial.
8!he doors;8 /ip shouted again. 87e should close the doors;8
-ut no one moved. %ne by one, they denied the body o ?iranda, and then A silently, so silently A they began moving o
the street. 7hat had been a milling, shouting mob not ten minutes ago was suddenly a dispersing group o whispering people,
and then not even a group any more, simply a ew stragglers, people in twos and threes' and then the street barricades were
carted away, and the s)uad cars revved their engines, and the street seemed to settle down into its &unday niche again, )uiet,
peaceul. It almost seemed as i nothing had happened on that street that day.
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/ip stood beore the opened doors and watched the body o ?iranda shoved into the ambulance, and then he whirled toward
&i$to and shouted, 8"ou think you.re gonna get away with this98
8?ove aside, /ip,8 &i$to said calmly. 87e wann to get through now.8
8"ou won.t be able to walk the street no more;8 /ip shouted. 8"ou think you...8
87e.ll see,8 &i$to said, and the three boys stepped away rom the luncheonette, and walked past /ip and 5ooch who did not
move to stop them.
8"ou.re making a mistake;8 /ip yelled ater them. 8"ou.re making a )!( m!"#%e!" -ut he did not run ater them, and he did
not try to stop them. 87hy didn.t you help me, 5ooch98 he said suddenly, angrily. 8=or 5hrist.s sake, we 0ust let them walk
#w#y, or 5hrist.s sake;8
8!hey.re ... they.re too strong, /ip,8 5ooch said in a whisper.
87e.re the ones with the guns;8 /ip protested.
8"eah, but ... they ... they were strong,8 5ooch said, and his voice ell.
8,wA8 /ip made a meaningless little gesture with his right hand. 8,wA8 He stared o down the street. !he s)uad cars had
pulled away now. Patrolmen were still lingering on the block, but most o the police were gone. !he street stretched ahead in
sticky blackness washed with hot sunshine. %n the avenue, the traic had started up again. 8Jesus, what a ... what a miserable
day this turned out to be,8 /ip said, and he looked at 5ooch with troubled eyes.
8"eah,8 5ooch said sotly.
/ip looked back at the street, and then he sighed heavily. 87ell ... what do you want to do the ... the rest o the aternoon,
5ooch98
8I don.t know,8 5ooch said.
8,in.t you ... ain.t you got no ideas98
87e could go to the licks, I guess.8
8"eah,8 /ip said emptily.
8%r play some stickball, maybe.8
8"eah.8
8?aybe go or a swim at the pool.8
8"eah. "eah, maybe we could do that.8 He turned his head suddenly and 0erkily because he did not want 5ooch to see the
tears that had sprung into his eyes. 2or did he know why he was crying. It was 0ust that, all at once, in the heart o one o the
biggest cities in the world, /ip had elt all alone, utterly alone, and the enormity o the city and the inconse)uence o himsel
had A had suddenly rightened him.
8I guess A I guess we.ll ind something,8 he said, and he thrust his hands into his pockets, and the two boys walked up the
sun-drenched street, their heads bent.
,ndy Parker passed them on his way to the luncheonette. He glanced at them, shrugged, and went in to say hello to his
riend 3uis.
8"ou still sore at me, 3uis98 he asked, as i this had been troubling him all along, as i it were important or him to know
that 3uis was not angry.
82o, ,ndy,8 3uis said.
86verybody.s sore at me,8 Parker said blankly. He paused. 87hy.s everybody sore at me98 He paused again. 8I do my 0ob.8
He looked up at 3uis. 8I.m sorry I yelled at you, 3uis.8
8It doesn.t matter.8
87ell, I.m sorry.8
He stared at 3uis. ,nd because 3uis was a human being, and because apologies are never sincere unless they are tested,
unless someone hurls into the ace o 8I.m sorry,8 the unorgiving reply, 8who cares whether you.re sorry or not9 :o drop dead
in a corner;8 and gets one or two urther responses. :ets, 8In any case, I really am sorry,8 or gets, 87ell i that.s the way you
eel, go to hell;8 and knows by these urther responses whether the apology was real to begin with, being human, 3uis tested
the apology.
8"ou should have thought o that beore you spoke,8 he said, and his eyes narrowed, and he waited or Parker.s answer.
Parker nodded. 8I should have,8 Parker agreed. 8I.m sorry.8
!he men stared at each other. !here was nothing urther to say or now. Perhaps there was nothing urther to say ever.
87ell, I ... I better get back to the s)uad,8 Parker said.
"S!."
Parker waved, seemed to become embarrassed in the middle o the gesture, and let his hand drop. &lowly, he shuled o up
the street.
, reporter walked into the luncheonette and took a stool. 87ell, everything )uiet again, huh98 he said. 83et me have a cup o
coee, huh98
8&t., everything )uiet,8 3uis answered.
8Just like the island, huh98 the reporter said.
Instantly, 3uis answered, 82o, not 0ust like the island,8 and then he paused, and then he looked at the reporter, and then he
said, 8-ut maybe not so bad anyway, eh9 ?aybe not so bad.8
<own the street, the church bells began tolling.
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