“That gives us an hour and a half to round up this junk, if we’re going to be out on the Island by two. I’m not supposed to be doing this alone, you know. There were four other people on my team.”
“What happened to them?”
“Well, Sibbie and Ralph, I have a pretty good idea what happened to them. The other two, I don’t know. I’m stuck with the list, that’s all I know.”
“This is quite a list,” he said.
“Yes, but I’ve got you already, so that’s a start, isn’t it?”
“Don’t count on me,” Buddwing said. “I’m supposed to be someplace else right now.”
“Oh, never mind that, give me the bottle.” He handed it to her. She lifted it to her mouth, winked at him, said, “Cheers,” and drank. “Ahhh, good,” she said. “Here. Have some.”
“I don’t want to get drunk.”
“Why not?”
“I told you. I’m supposed to be someplace.”
“Where?”
“Well,” he said, and shrugged.
“Oh, look how shy and cute. What is it, a girl? What are you embarrassed about? I don’t own you.”
“I know that.”
The blonde grinned. “What was it? Did Mummy send you down to the store for some goodies, huh?”
“Cut it out,” he said harshly.
“Ah, the beast emerges. I love bestial men. Give me that bottle.” She took it from him again and held it to her mouth, taking a long swallow.
“You’d better go easy,” he said.
“Why? I go hard or easy, however I want to. Any complaints?”
He shrugged.
“Good. No complaints, no backtalk, you’re with me right now, and she can wait. Anyway, I can’t read that list without your help. What’s the first thing on it? Not the man in the blue suit, I know that. That was down near the bottom someplace.”
“Well, the first thing on it is ‘Five Hundred Thousand Dollars in Cash.’”
“Easy,” the blonde said. “What’s next?”
“Easy? Five hundred thousand dollars in cash?”
“Sure.”
“I guess they mean play money.”
“No, I guess they mean real money. If you consider five hundred thousand dollars real money.”
“I do,” Buddwing said.
The blonde shook her head. “Five hundred million dollars is real money,” she said, “and even that isn’t so much. It’s all relative. Do you have any relatives?”
“A few,” he said, smiling.
“I have all sorts of relatives,” the blonde said. “I have enough relatives to go around the world and back again, twice, laid end to end.” She sighed and said, “If you don’t start drinking with me soon, I’m going to get angry. I don’t like to drink alone.”
“I think you’ve had enough, anyway,” Buddwing said.
“Don’t ever say that to me. Not if you want to be my friend.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, what’s your name?”
“I don’t have a name.”
“Ah-ha, a mystery man, Secret Agent X-9.” She paused and said, “That gives away my age, doesn’t it? How old do you think I am?”
“Thirty-five.”
“Yes, but I look thirty, don’t I?”
“No, you look thirty-five.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere,” she said. “What’s the second thing on that list?”
“‘A Black Cadillac Sedan.’”
“Easy,” she said. “We’ll call Carey.”
“I have exactly one dollar and forty-six cents in my pocket,” Buddwing said.
“It only costs, a dime to make a call.”
“Who’ll pay for the car?”
“We’ll charge it to my husband’s business. What else is on that list?”
“We still haven’t got the five hundred thousand.”
“Stick with me, honey,” she said, and winked. “Everything’s easy. Just swing with it, and don’t let the bastards get you down. Come on, come on, the list.”
“‘Your Name in the Newspaper,’” he said.
“Simple. The penny arcade on Broadway and Fifty-second. We can get it there. What else?”
“‘Three Good Men and True to Testify to Your Character.’”
“That was undoubtedly Sibbie’s idea. There are only five extra men at the party now, you know, so she naturally feels the need for a few more. Three good men and true, brother!”
“To testify to your character,” Buddwing reminded her.
“That’s all we need is three men to testify to my character. We’d better make it yours.”
“But I’m not going along with you,” he said.
“Why not? Look at what that list offers. Fame, fortune, adventure, romance, what more do you want?”
“Where’s the adventure and romance?” Buddwing said.
“Me. I’m on that list someplace.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m better than on that list. I’m here. I’m sitting right here next to you. Give me your hand.” She took his hand. “You feel that? That’s me. Now, come on, let’s go get this stuff.”
He looked at her steadily, appraising her.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“I’m not sure it’s what I want,” he said.
“No? What do you want?”
“I don’t know.”
“Shake hands with everybody in the world.”
“How are any of these things going to help me?” he asked.
“Help you what, for Christ’s sake?”
“Help me to know who I am.”
“Don’t talk metaphysics,” she answered. “Say what you mean.”
“I mean, lady, I’ve been lost since six o’clock this morning.”
“And no wonder. You keep asking stupid questions, you’ll be lost the rest of your life.”
“What did I ask that was so stupid?”
“You asked about identity. If you don’t know what identity is, then you don’t know anything.”
“Tell me.”
“Identity is five hundred thousand dollars, and a black Cadillac, and your name in the newspaper, and a beautiful blonde on your arm, and at least three lackeys to tell you how great you are. That’s identity.”
“Whose?”
“Yours, mine, everybody’s. If you want it, there it is, right on that list.” She smiled. “See? Didn’t I say I’d help you?”
“How have you helped me?” he asked. “All I’ve got so far is a meaningless scrap of paper.”
The smile turned into an impish grin. “You’ve also got a woman,” she said.
“So?”
“So I’m doing what a good woman is supposed to do. I’ve listened to what you want, and now I’ll help you get it, even if it scares hell out of me.”
“Why should it scare you?”
“Because I don’t understand you or the things you want. All I can do is feel your need, and try to help. I listened while you read your list to me, and now I’ll—”
“This list is yours,” he said. “Not mine.”
“Is it? Forgive me. I thought you wanted to know who you are.”
“I do.”
“Yes, that’s what you told me, remember? And I listened. And now I’m going along with you, to help you get—”
“You’re twisting it,” he said. “It’s you who needs these things, and you’re asking me to go along.”
“Is there really any difference, darling?” she asked.
“Maybe not.”
“There isn’t, believe me. Come on, have a drink.”
He hesitated, thinking over what she had just said.
“Come on, honey,” she coaxed. “The night is young, and we’ve got a whole damn city to plunder.”
He looked at her and nodded, and then took the cap off the bottle of Scotch. He put the bottle to his lips, drank, and handed it to her. She smiled over the rim of the bottle as she drank, and then pulled it away from her mouth and wiped a dribble of whiskey from her chin.