me, trying to put us together, then pointed at me. “You stay right there, both of you,” he said, and to
his partner, “Keep an eye on them.”
He turned and lumbered across the dance floor, up into the shadows. The other giant stood and glared
at us alternately, his eyeballs clicking back and forth. Obviously he was a man who followed orders to
the letter. When you‟re that big, you don‟t have to think.
There was a minute or two more of musical torture and then the music magically stopped.
“Up here,” Ape One yelled down. “Do them first.”
“On the wall,” Ape Two said. “I‟m gonna toss you.”
He patted us down and took a .357 and a switchblade knife away from Mufalatta. All I had that
looked threatening was a nail file, which he studied for several moments.
“It‟s a nail file,” I said finally.
“No shit,” he said. “I thought it was a toothpick.”
Ape Two led us across the hardwood floor and up into the far corner of the room to the only booth in
the place. Inside the booth was a round table and, behind it, a hand-carved chair big enough to suit the
Queen. Graves was sitting in the chair with one leg draped over an arm. He was dressed like a
Brazilian banker, in tan linen with a dark brown handkerchief draped from his jacket pocket and a
brown-and-white-striped tie. Like Zapata, he wore sunglasses in the dark.
Several of his lieutenants slipped back into the shadows. They didn‟t go anywhere, they just became
part of the ambience.
Graves leaned forward and pulled his glasses down slightly, peering over them.
“Well, what do you know, it‟s the dog lover.”
I smiled. The Kid didn‟t do anything.
“You shouldn‟t do that,” Graves said in a whispery rasp. “Come in a man‟s place flashing all that shit
around.”
Mufalatta smiled. “Well, what is was, King Kong and Mighty Joe Young there didn‟t think looks was
enough to get us an audience.”
Graves smiled. He was a handsome man. Whoever had done the job on his nose had done him a
favour.
“Who the flick are you?” he said quietly.
“Feds,” I told him.
He whistled softly through his teeth. “That‟s bad,” he said. “Am 1 drafted?”
“Yeah, the marines can hardly wait,” Mufalatta said.
“So, say your thing, man. What‟s it about?”
“Can we keep this between just a couple of us?” I asked.
Graves looked at Ape Two.
“They‟s totally clean,” the black giant grunted.
Graves leaned back and waved his hands. “Okay,” he said, “give us some air. You men drink?”
“Not right now,” I said.
“You the talker, dog lover?” he asked, nodding toward me.
I said I was.
“So talk.
I didn‟t know how I was going to start or exactly what I was going to say. I had to wing it. Graves was
no fool. If we were there because of the morning raid on Chevos‟ shrimp company, we would have
come in force with warrants. We wanted to talk and he was all ears.
“Things come to me,” I said. “Because of my business I hear things.”
“And what‟s been comin‟ at you, man?” the lean, ebony mobster said, still smiling.
“It comes to me that a Cincinnati gangster named Tagliani and his outfit came down here to set up
shop. They wanted the Front Street action, but they knew they had to get past you, one way or
another. They may have had some local help moving in here—that‟s up for grabs right now—but one
person Tagliani definitely did not have help from was Stoney Titan, and since you and Stoney have a
deal, they couldn‟t ease you out. It comes to me that the Taglianis decided to try the water, find out
just how tough you were, so they sent an Ohio hoodlum named Cherry McGee in to test you. He
couldn‟t take you, so Tagliani managed to frame you, and after you did your clock, you came out and
blew McGee up, along with a couple of his pistols.
“Meantime, they started taking over, squeezing in here and there. They started dealing heavy drugs,
mostly cocaine, to service the big rollers from out of town, which, it comes to me, is not your style.
They also had big money, and that‟s where they started hurting you. They were squeezing you out
because they had the financing.
“So it comes to me that you decided to make one big move, a coke connection in South America that
would net you maybe twenty, thirty mil on the street plus bite a big hole in their trade.
“Then, last Sunday, Tagliani hijacked your load, killed your people, and burned the boat, which left
you without your goods and owing the connections that fronted you. So, it comes to me, you declared
war and started wasting Taglianis. And then when Harry Raines got hot under the collar over all the
shooting, you put him away.”
I paused for a moment and then said, “That‟s the way it comes to me.”
He took off the sunglasses and bored holes in me with cast iron eyes.
“Dog lover, you‟re so full of shit you‟re contagious,” Graves murmured, without humour. “Comes to
you, my ass.”
“I said that‟s the way it comes to me, I didn‟t say that‟s the way it was. But that‟s how it could be
played, if enough people wanted it done that way.”
He leaned back and toyed with the glasses. Now I had his interest.
“Okay,” he whispered, “how do you think it was?”
“Well, here‟s the way it wasn‟t. I don‟t think you killed any of the Tagliani clan, except maybe
McGee and some of his gang. And I don‟t think you put Harry Raines away. Not only that, but I can
probably prove you didn‟t.”
“That‟s damn nice of you, brother,” he said. “What do you want rue to do in return, marry your
sister?”
“I want you to call off your guns, right now. Before the shooting really starts and a lot of people who
don‟t have anything to do with this get wasted.”
“You want we should stand in the middle of the boulevard and invite that fuckin‟ Nance to have target
practice on us, that it?” his voice rasped.
“I‟ll take care of Nance,” I said. “I got more reason than you. He‟s tried to kill me twice.”
For some reason that impressed Graves. He said, “I‟m not real clear on what it is you‟re offering me
to do for what.”
“If you hang up your guns, I‟ll see to it that the Taglianis do the same. Then all you have to do is sit
back and let the Feds put the rest of the Tagliani clan away and it‟ll be all yours again.”
“And the Feds‟re just gonna leave rue alone, right?”
“That‟s the way it‟ll work out,” I said.
“And what it is, you‟re just doin‟ this because you‟re a fine, upstanding dude that does good work,
right? Shit, man, what you take me for? I wasn‟t out pickin‟ cotton when the brains were handed out.”
“Look, I know about your deal „with Mr. Stoney and I don‟t—”
“1 ain‟t got no deal with Mr. Stoney ,“ he said. “He don‟t deal, man, don‟t come grubbin‟ around wit1
his hand out lookin‟ for part of the action, shit. That ain‟t his style. Me and Mr. Stoney have an
understanding. If I fuck up, I get hammered. If I don‟t, everything‟s velvet.”
“What I‟m saying is, I‟m after Tagliani. I don‟t care how you and Mr. Stoney run the town. It looked
pretty good to me in the old days.”
“You talked to Mr. Stoney about all this?”
“He‟ll figure it out by himself,” I said. “Personally, I think you‟re getting suckered into this gunfight
with Tagliani.”
His smile vanished, but the voice didn‟t change.
“1 don‟t get suckered, dog lover. That ain‟t my style.”