“You cheated Raven with crooked dice!”
“I won!”
“He’ll kill you!”
My fist lashed out and caught her in the mouth. A shock went through me as though I had struck myself. Quickly I picked her up and looked at her face. I didn’t want her bruised up, not when I had so much money and we could really live a while. Luckily, I hadn’t hurt her. I held her in my arms. Slowly her smooth, soft arms came around my neck, embracing me like a chicken’s wings embraced a chicken’s body. I felt her cheek against mine. Her face was hot.
Within a few minutes we were hurrying along the wet streets down which I had fled not half an hour ago. Near the subway entrance, a Pontiac, blue over white were its colors, with white walled tires, pulled up besides us. A short, stocky man in need of a shave jumped out in front of us. He kept one hand in his pocket.
“Blackie!” I said.
Anna carried the largest suitcase; I carried the smallest. I felt her other hand squeeze the muscle in my arm.
“Raven wants you,” Blackie said.
I knew the driver, too: Slim. He kept the engine running. I measured the distance to the subway entrance. I could probably knock Blackie down and beat it down the stairs before Slim got out of the car. But then where would I go? A goon like this Slim or Blackie had no better sense than to fire in a crowd.
“I’ve got to take my girl to the train,” I said. “I’ll be right around.”
“We’ll take her down.”
The goon took my arm and pushed me toward the car. I was ready to take my chances on belting him one and sprinting it a bit, when Anna spoke.
“Give me my bag, Dick. I’ll take the subway alone.”
Anna was a stubborn broad you had to hit on the head before she obeyed you, but she wasn’t dumb. I carried the suitcase with the money in it. I gave it to her and got in the car. Slim leaned out the window.
“Better bring the girl, too,” he said. His eyes were on the two pieces of luggage Anna carried.
“Now wait a minute!” Anna said. “I’ll have you arrested—”
“Shut up!” Blackie shoved her into the car and threw the luggage in after her. He crowded into the back with Anna and me and the luggage and slammed the door.
Slim kicked the car into gear with the heel of his right hand, raced the motor, and sped down the street. The tires made a sizzling noise on the wet pavement. Blackie smiled in the mirror at the face of the driver. I held Anna’s small hand. Her nail polish had chipped. She trembled. Her hand was cold. Blackie opened the small suitcase and discovered the money.
“Hey, Slim.”
“Yeah.”
“Ace here is really loaded. Old gentleman trick with his lady traveler by his side.”
“Wonder what Raven would say if a grand was missing when we got there?”
“He’d probably beat hell out of Ace here until he coughed it up.”
I looked at the side of Slim’s face and saw that Slim was smiling. An idea began to ferment. I turned to Blackie.
“What does Raven want with me?”
“Raven wants his money back. Queer bird, that Raven, wanting his money back.”
“I won it.”
Slim laughed. “I guess that makes Raven a sore loser. He’ll be sorry to hear that.”
Blackie sat the suitcase on the floor and took a revolver from his coat pocket and began to inspect it.
“I’ll split with you,” I bargained. “I’d rather split with you than give it all up to a sore loser. Tell him you couldn’t find me.”
Blackie was preoccupied. Slim did not answer.
“You could tell him you never found me.”
They were each thinking over my proposal. Quickly I divided eight thousand dollars three ways. A pretty good haul, I thought. But neither of the goons knew how the other felt; both were willing to cross Raven but who would speak first? I could read their minds. The silence was revealing. When Blackie looked up, I thought, “This is it!”
“Hey, doll,” Blackie said. “What’s your name?”
“Just call me Anna.”
The goon reached over and felt her bare knee. She pinched his wrist and bent his thumb back.
“Ouch!”
Slim laughed. “You let him do that to your girl, Ace?” He winked. “How did a punk like you get a broad stacked like that?”
I leaned forward, over the front seat. What could I do? I couldn’t face Raven, get roughed up, and lose all the money. I’d lose the girl, too, because I did nothing when the men talked to her this way or put their hands on her. Now where did that leave me, up the creek without a pot to pour. She wouldn’t stand me a meal or throw out a drink to me on the cuff when I dropped into the joint where she worked. Raven would spread the word that I was poison; my name would be mud all over the city, if I survived with my life.
“What’s Raven going to give you when you bring me in?” I was desperate.
Blackie leaned in front of Anna, pointing the Revolver at my stomach. I pushed back into the seat as far as I could.
“Listen, thief! One more word out of you, and I’ll let you have it. If we wanted to cross Raven, all we’d have to do is tell him you put up a fight and got hit too hard, croaked, and we couldn’t find the money. We don’t have to split nothing with you! We owe you nothing! Now shut up!”
He pulled the trigger of the revolver. I nearly fainted when I heard the hammer snap home. The snap was like an explosion to me. Pleased by the sound, Blackie put the revolver in his pocket and offered me this advice.
“Never try to corrupt an honest guy, chum.”
I had nothing more to say to these studs.
Slim turned into the parking lot of the Congo Club and stopped the car outside of Raven’s garage. Blackie picked up the small suitcase and got out. He held the door for Anna and me. The rock graveled earth made a crunching sound under our feet as we moved toward a rear entrance of the club. Anna trusted no one, with her woman’s mind; she carried the suitcase which contained her clothes. We went through the kitchen, into the club with the chairs on the table, and toward their boss’s office. Raven’s door was cracked. A light shone through the opening.
“We found them, boss.” Blackie threw the suitcase on Raven’s desk. “Just before they flew the coop.”
Raven was growing to be an old man. Already his hair had turned grey and his shoulders drooped. He stood behind the desk, a short man of five feet-five inches tall. He wore a gray suit. The collar of his white shirt was open, without a tie. He was sweating, though the office was not warm. Without replying to Blackie, he opened the suitcase and took the money out, placing it in piles on the desk.
“What’s the meaning of this?” I asked. “Are you a sore loser?”
“Under the circumstances, I’m a vengeful loser,” Raven said.
From his desk he took a silver cup. In it were six dice, three pair. He rolled the half dozen squares on the desk. I recognized the loaded pair and stared at them.
“Pick up one pair,” Raven said softly.
My breath was short and difficult. I leaned across the table, my face close to his.
“Why do you think I cheated?”
“Nobody’s accusing you.”
“You act like it.”
Raven pointed at the Dice. “Select a pair.”
Gingerly I picked up two of the dice. Anna stared at my face; instead of being afraid now, she seemed confident but bored, impatient.
“Now roll them,” said Raven.
I dropped the dice into the cup, shook them, and emptied the cup on the table.
“Pretty good point.”
He picked up the two dice, leaning forward against the table, and said: “Now once again. Two more.”
“What’re we playing for?” I tried to sound poised.
“The jackpot.” He pointed at the money.
“That’s my money. What do I get if I win?”