Part 18 (2/2)
”You've sort of hinted.”
”I tell you, he's okay. One more man can't hurt.”
”A c.u.n.t can hurt.”
”She's all right for a girl.”
”Christ, Loony. Why didn't you just put a f.u.c.king ad in the paper?”
”He's all right. If he ain't all right, I'll waste him myself. Right now. You don't like him, I'll cut his b.a.l.l.s off right here, suck the girl's eye for a grape. Right here. Right now.
Say the word. Don't even look at them if you don't want. Say kill them, I'll go over there and kill them. You tell me what to do. What you want, that's what you get.”
”Let me see them.”
”Sure. You don't like them, just give me the word. You say it, I'll do it. Stone's the same.
You the same, Stone?” Stone nodded.
Loony pulled up his sweats.h.i.+rt. A sheathed knife was stuck in the front of his pants. ”Just say it.”
”All right, let's meet this Jimmy and his c.u.n.t.”
”Her name's Angela.”
”I don't give a f.u.c.k what her name is.”
”Just saying.”
”Don't say d.i.c.k, Loony. You're smarter when your mouth is closed.”
”Yeah, all right. I don't know d.i.c.k.”
They walked over to the car. A back door opened and a lanky boy with a pimpled face got out. A dark, attractive girl followed him.
”Love birds,” Brian said.
They didn't say anything. Angela slid her arm around Jimmy's waist.
”You a spick?” Brian asked her.
”Yeah, I guess.”
”You are or you aren't. Which is it?”
”Yes.”
”You two want in?”
”Yeah,” Jimmy said. ”Yeah, we want in.”
”What about you?” Brian asked Angela.
She looked at Jimmy. ”Sure.”
”We play hardball here. You know that?”
”Yeah, we know.”
”You don't play the game right, may find yourself fertilizing center field. Know what I'm saying here?”
”Yeah, I know,” Jimmy said. ”We know.”
”That's good. You might be asked to play all positions on this team. First base, catcher, shortstop. Anything we want you to play, you play it. Got that?”
”Got it.”
”And her.”
”Got it,” she said. ”I do what Jimmy says.”
”No, you do what I say.”
”She will,” Jimmy said.
”That's good, real good. I like to see a girl that knows her place in the scheme of things.
One last thing, now that you're in don't think about flaking out. There aren't enough places to hide or enough police to protect you.”
”Got you,” Jimmy said.
”You're in then. Now, go ahead and get back in the car. I'm going to talk to Loony and Stone here.”
They got back in. Brian walked with Loony and Stone to the middle of the yard.
”What do you think?” Loony asked.
”I don't know. You watch them. They go to the police, something like that, and I'll have your b.a.l.l.s to stuff with coffee beans so I can have me a rattle. Got me?”
”Got you. They won't go no place. We'll watch them, won't we, Stone?”
Stone nodded.
”All right. I'm holding you to it. I don't want to see you guys again until the twenty-eighth. And get a shotgun, and some knives. Be sure you bring the knives, sharp knives. I'm going to cut that G.o.dd.a.m.ned teacher's heart out.”
”We'll get the knives,”
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