Part 36 (2/2)
”I'm baby-sitting tonight,” said Boyle, winking at Stefanos as he slipped into his wrinkled raincoat. He left money on the bar, clapped Karras on the shoulder, and left the Spot.
Baby-sitting, thought Karras. Couldn't Boyle come up with anything better than that? Who in the h.e.l.l would ever leave a baby with Boyle, anyway?
He relaxed. He was glad that Boyle was gone. Karras finished another beer.
Stefanos poured three fingers of Grand-Dad into a heavy, beveled shot gla.s.s and set it next to his bottle of Bud. The lights went out in the kitchen, and Darnell walked from the darkness. He adjusted his leather kufi on his head and b.u.t.toned his coat.
”Late for you to be getting out,” said Stefanos.
”Was waitin' for your redneck friend to leave,” said Darnell. ”He asks me if I can dunk again, me and him are gonna have it out.”
”Can you?”
”Funny.” Darnell looked at the bourbon-and-beer setup in front of Stefanos. ”Want me to hang around? You could drop me uptown.”
”We're gonna be a while,” said Stefanos.
”Let me get on out of here, then,” said Darnell. ”Dimitri. Nick.” Stefanos locked the front door behind Darnell and went back around the bar.
”Darnell tries to pull me out of here every night,” said Stefanos.
”He doesn't have too much luck, I take it.”
”Not too much. I guess I'm one of those guys who can't be saved.” Stefanos put one foot up on the beer cooler and raised his gla.s.s. ”Yasou, re.” ”Yasou, re.”
”Yasou, patrioti.”
Karras touched his bottle to Stefanos's gla.s.s and the two of them drank.
An hour or so went by. Slowly and quietly the edge came off, and they drifted toward the soft world. Cigarette smoke hung in the light falling from the Spot's conical lamps. Stefanos put on an old Otis Redding, and it was beautiful and sad. Karras sang ”You Don't Miss Your Water” while Stefanos smoked a cigarette. Stefanos thought Karras's voice was pretty nice. Neither of them said a thing after that.
Stefanos finished his shot of bourbon and poured another, knowing that he was coming to that place where he would talk. After the nursing home, there was never any question that he would tell Karras about Wilson and the men who were in town. That time had come. He looked at Karras and Karras was smiling in that way again and Stefanos leaned his elbow on the bar.
”Dimitri.”
”What?”
”Look here, man. There's something I've got to tell you.”
Karras laughed and shook his head.
”What's so funny?” said Stefanos.
”This about Thomas Wilson?”
”Yes.”
Karras smiled. ”I've been wondering when you were gonna come to that.”
THIRTY-FIVE.
SO THOMAS SPILLED it,” said Stefanos. ”I'm a little surprised.” it,” said Stefanos. ”I'm a little surprised.”
”So was I.”
Stefanos raised his chin. ”What'd you do?”
”I hit him,” said Karras. ”He let me hit him. I hit him in the face and I kept hitting him until I had nothing left. I left him there in the hall of my apartment building.”
”What happened then?”
Karras studied his skinned knuckles. ”I went into my place and I sat on my bed. I talked to myself and rubbed my face and got up and stared out the window. I washed my hands and paced around the apartment and then I went back out to the hall. I thought I might have killed him, but he was conscious. Sitting up, with blood on his lips and a gash on his cheek from where my ring had caught him. One of his eyes had begun to swell shut. He reached out his hand, and I took it and lifted him up.
”We went back into my apartment and I gave him a towel. I waited for him to get clean. He came out of the bathroom, and we sat in my living room and talked.”
”About what?”
”About what we were going to do next.”
”And?”
”Detective Jonas is Boyle's baby-sitting job, right?”
”That's right.”
”The men who killed my son are in town because they want to hurt Bill Jonas. They're here to do another job, too, and they think that Thomas is setting it up.”
”What are you going to do about it, Dimitri?”
”What I've been hoping to do for the last two and a half years. I'm going to kill those men.”
Stefanos looked into his drink. ”What about the law?”
”Like the man said. The law isn't always the answer.”
Stefanos finished his bourbon and put another gla.s.s on the mahogany. He free-poured two shots and slid one gla.s.s over to Karras. He uncapped two more beers.
”You know what it is to kill a man, Dimitri?”
”Do you? you?” Karras had a sip of bourbon and held the gla.s.s up to the light. ”I suppose you're going to tell me now.”
”Crack wise if you want to. But I'm trying to talk you out of it because I know what it's like. You're talking about taking a life. You can't reverse it. And after you've done it, you're never the same.”
”I do know what it means,” said Karras. ”But it's not going to stop me from killing those men.”
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