en. They both spoke to the injured man, patted him on the shoulder, then stood up and left. Purcell bent over the injured man and slipped two bills into his pants pocket. He spoke to him and the man answered. Purcell replied, his voice angry. The man shook his head back and forth on the ground. Purcell started cursing in English. He turned to me, "Sack of shit says he can鈥檛 get up."

"Huh," I said.

Purcell gave the man a little kick in the hip and said something in Spanish. Then he grabbed the man鈥檚 arm and tried to haul him up. He didn鈥檛 budge. He was dead weight. Purcell dropped his arm. "All right," he said, "you get his shoulders and I鈥檒l get his legs," and he stepped around the man to his feet. I didn鈥檛 move.

He waved. "Come on, let鈥檚 go."

"That鈥檚 my coat there," I pointed.

"Yeah? So?" he said.

"It鈥檚 ruined," I said.

His expression deadened as he figured it out, which took about two seconds. He shook his head and cursed again. He took out his wallet and handed over a fifty.

"I need a hundred more," I said.

If either of us had been smoking the whole block would鈥檝e exploded. "Listen," he said, "I wouldn鈥檛 be paying anybody anything if I could speak enough Spanish to make these tacos understand if they don鈥檛 do what I say I鈥檒l tell the police whatever I want. But even though you鈥檙e a goddamn briar you understand me, don鈥檛 you?"

"The police might hassle me on your sayso," I said, "but that鈥檚 about all they could do. And think about it. If I do end up talking to them, I鈥檓 such a briar I might let it slip how you run a straight cash business."

He turned his back to me and started muttering. He stayed that way at least a half-minute. Then he turned back around holding out five twenties. His mouth was very tight.

Lifting the man was like picking up one end of a rowboat full of water, if you鈥檝e ever done that. We carried him ten yards, rested, then went the last ten yards to the street. Purcell drop

上一页  [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]  ... 下一页  >>