Part 21 (1/2)
”Well ... I want to be with you.”
”Yes, I want to be with you, too.”
”I want to kiss you again, I've been wanting to ever since ”
”Yes, yes-”
”But I don't want to hurt you.”
”But, baby, how can you possibly ”
”I just want you to know that.”
She stared at him silently. At last she said, ”You're a funny person.” She reached up and kissed him swiftly and then moved back from him and looked into his face and said, ”Come,” and took his hand.
12.
The party in Roger's room started at about five-thirty when f.o.o.k Shanahan came in with a man who lived on the second floor and whom Roger didn't know at all. He and Amelia had just come into the room, had in fact barely taken off their coats when f.o.o.k knocked on the door and - without waiting for anyone to answer - opened the door and came in, followed by a very tall thin man with thick-rimmed eyegla.s.ses and a thatch of brown hair turning white. His eyebrows were already completely white, thick and s.h.a.ggy; they looked fake to Roger, as if they had been pasted on as a disguise. f.o.o.k had a bottle of bourbon in one hand, and two gla.s.ses in the other. He went immediately to the dresser where he put down the bottle and the gla.s.ses and then he turned to Roger and said, ”Aren't you going to introduce us to the young lady?”
”Oh, sure,” Roger said. ”This is Amelia Perez. Amelia, I'd like you to meet f.o.o.k Shanahan, and I'm afraid I don't know the other gentleman's name.”
”The other gentleman's name is Dominick Tartaglia,” f.o.o.k said, ”and he's no gentleman, believe me.” Tartaglia laughed. f.o.o.k laughed with him and then said, ”I gather you two have just come in from the frozen tundra out there, and would appreciate a drink.”
”Well . . .” Roger said hesitantly, and then glanced at Amelia.
”Sure,” Amelia said. ”I'd love a drink.”
”The problem is one of numerical disproportion,” f.o.o.k said. ”We seem to have four people and only three gla.s.ses.”
”Roger and I can share a gla.s.s,” Amelia said, and smiled gently at him.
”Then there's no problem,” f.o.o.k said. He went to the dresser and opened the bottle. Amelia sat on the edge of the bed, crossing her legs and leaning forward, resting her elbow on her knee, one hand toying with the pearls at her throat. Tartaglia stood alongside the dresser, smiling as f.o.o.k poured the drinks. Roger glanced at Amelia to see if she minded them being here, but she seemed to be pretty happy. We'll make love as soon as they leave, he thought.
And suddenly he was frightened.
”We were waiting for you to come home, Roger,” f.o.o.k said, ”because we wanted to know how you made out with the bulls.”
”Oh, we had a nice talk,” Roger said.
”Were the police here?” Amelia asked, and she suddenly sat up straight and looked at Roger.
”Yeah,” Tartaglia said. ”Our landlady had a refrigerator stolen from her.”
”A refrigerator?” Amelia said. ”Thank you,” she said to f.o.o.k as he handed her the drink.
”I apologize for the lack of ice,” f.o.o.k said. ”Would you like a little water in that?”
”Spoils the taste,” Amelia said, and grinned.
”Ah, an Irish colored girl,” Shanahan said. ”The best kind.” He lifted his gla.s.s. ”Cheers, Miss.”
Amelia sipped at her drink and then raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes. ”Whoos.h.!.+” she said, and handed the gla.s.s to Roger. Roger sniffed it, and then took a short swallow.
”So what happened?” f.o.o.k asked.
”Nothing,” Roger said. ”They came in and they were very polite, and they asked me where I'd been last night, and I told them. Then, let me see, I guess we talked about how much I thought the refrigerator was worth, and then they said I could go home or stay here, whichever I wanted, they had no more questions for me.”
”That means they think he's clean,” Tartaglia said to f.o.o.k.
”Of course,” f.o.o.k said. ”We're all clean. Who the h.e.l.l would want to steal that old b.i.t.c.h's box, excuse me, Miss.”
”That's all right,” Amelia said, and she took another sip of the drink.
”Did you tell him about the shelves?” Tartaglia said.
”No,” f.o.o.k said.
”What about the shelves?”
”They found them.”
”What shelves?” Amelia asked.
”From the refrigerator. They found them near the furnace downstairs,” Tartaglia said.
”Which means,” f.o.o.k said, ”that whoever went to the trouble of stealing that broken-down piece of machinery also went to the trouble of removing the shelves from it first. Now does that make any sense to you?”
”None at all,” Amelia said, and finished her drink.
”Are you ready for another one, young lady?” Tartaglia asked.
”Just to take off the chill,” Amelia said, and she winked.
”She's Irish, I tell you,” f.o.o.k said.
Tartaglia took her gla.s.s and poured it half full. He poured more bourbon into his own gla.s.s, and then handed Amelia hers and walked to f.o.o.k with the bottle, filling his gla.s.s as f.o.o.k talked.
”What good is a refrigerator without shelves?” f.o.o.k asked. ”You're not drinking, Roger. You're supposed to be sharing the young lady's drink.”
”Amelia,” she said.
”Yes, Amelia, of course. You're a beautiful girl, Amelia,” f.o.o.k said. ”May I congratulate you upon your taste, Roger?”
”Yes, you may,” Roger said, and smiled.
”Congratulations,” f.o.o.k said. ”Isn't there another gla.s.s in this place?”