clothing, left her that one black dress. A dress to wear when she watched them give me back to Mother Earth. A dress for my pending funeralization.
I touched her face, said, “One of us is gonna have to come up on some furniture.”
“All we need is a bed and a nice sturdy chair.”
“Cool.”
“And someplace for me to cook.”
We kissed again. If I could’ve packed up and moved inside that kiss, I would’ve.
I got inside my car, took a long look at her. And I stared long and hard. It was like when a man was on the bus heading to prison. He stared at things long and hard, tried to absorb and memorize them, etch them in his mind. I was absorbing, remembering, etching.
I rolled down the window and asked Panther, “You working tonight?”
She shrugged, wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. Her face had reddened, heated up by her insides. Her fearful tears were about to come on, but she was holding them back.
She asked, “What you need me to do?”
I told her, “Don’t go to work. I don’t want you anyplace they can find you. Do like I told you and get a room. Go to San Bernardino if you have to. I’ll call you in a little while.”
“Take me with you.”
“No.”
“Driver—”
“No.”
She nodded.
I asked, “You know any good clubs near Hollywood?”
“A few. Club 360 is tight. That hot spot is on Highland and Willoughby. Why?”
“Get that room. I’ll call you if I can.”
“What do you mean if you can?”
We looked at each other. Her sadness was about to erupt. What saved us was her cellular phone. It rang. It was her mother calling. She answered, still staring at me.
I drove away, took to the madness in L.A. traffic once again, Club 360 on my mind.
A newspaper clipping was on my seat. Read it while I drove. Police had reported to the scene of a car on fire in Lake Terrace. When they put it out they found a body in the trunk.
I tossed that threat to the wind.
My cellular rang. It was Lisa. My number one jeva.
I answered talking, told her, “Wolf knows everything.”
She didn’t say anything.
I said, “Lisa, and I know that his family keeps their eyes on him. I know. Smart move.”
Nothing on her end.
I said, “You there?”
“Look in the mirror. Look in the eyes of a dead man.”
My jeva hung up.
His family keeps their eyes on him. She knew what that meant.
I loosened my tie, let my window down, put my hand in the wind, let my fingers dance while I drove from Manhattan Beach to the edges of Hollywood, made a stop on Willoughby, drove in circles, checking to see if they had picked up my scent, then moved on.
La Brea and Melrose.
Bright lights were shining. Mrs. Robinson was on stage, in diva mode, once again in her fur coat, high heels, and thong. Once again that ass, tummy tuck, and upgraded breasts were seducing her young costar. She sang, she moved those hips, she seduced, had the room three degrees hotter than hell.
Arizona came to the doorway, motioned at me. She had on leather pants, high heels, makeup done, hair down, long and wavy. Her finesse peppered the air.
She said, “You double-crossed me.”
“You don’t sound surprised.”
She gave me a one-sided smile. “Where is the Maltese Falcon?”
“Talk first.”
She pushed her lips up, looked like she was trying to figure out what to do with my tense mood, how to play me away from my anger. She knew I needed her to make this happen.
Right now I had more desperation than anger. That was her saving grace.
Arizona said, “If I told you there was a truck down the street and it had a million dollars inside, and we were going to rip it off at noon tomorrow, tell me, would you wait until noon, or try and get the jump on me, be there at sunrise and claim that million-dollar prize for yourself?”
“Smart woman.”
Her expression was slick, cunning. “Let’s walk.”
“Sure. Let’s put one foot in front of the other and take a stroll.”
She handed me her leather jacket. I held it while she slipped it on. Valet ran up as soon as we stepped out the door. The worker was anxious to please. She spoke to him in Spanish. I don’t know what she said, but he looked at me, then looked away. She lit up a cigarette. Cloves scented the air, mixed with the exhaust from bumper-to-bumper traffic. The light was taking