Hazel mouths Shut the fuck up and pulls up on her door handle. They climb out of the van and Eddie comes around the back to stand behind her. There are three Hyenas, one out front and two others about two yards behind him. The front man is Loke and he’s holding a small nylon duffel bag down by his side.
Hazel steps forward and hands him the grocery sack. He doesn’t say a word. He simply nods and tosses the sack at the feet of one of his backup men, who picks it up and holds it under his arm.
“Not going to count it?” Hazel asks.
Loke shakes his head and tosses her the duffel. She follows his example by turning and handing it over to Eddie, who hefts it in his hand and seems to debate its weight.
No one says a word and Eddie moves to leave, but Hazel clears her throat suddenly and reaches into the pocket of her jeans. She hears a quick crush of gravel and looks up to see one of Loke’s men has gone into a semicrouch and has a bead on her with a snub-barrel.38.
She hears Eddie whisper “Shit” and she stops moving, then slowly, with exaggerated care, she draws out a brass money clip with some bills pinched in it. Everyone stays rigid. There’s a tension in the moment that’s manifested in the lack of motion and the sound of Eddie’s breath.
“I had asked you,” Hazel says, “about another item.” She extends the money clip out in the air toward Loke.
He stares at it for a while, then makes a quick hand gesture and his backup comes upright and stows his piece back wherever he drew it from. Loke reaches around to the rear waistband of his pants and brings forward his own handgun, a.44 automatic.
He shifts the gun in his hand and holds it out to Hazel grip-first. She takes the gun without looking at it and extends the money clip.
Loke shakes his head.
“I want you to have that,” he says in a whispery voice. “It’s a gift. Instead of roses.”
Hazel opens her mouth, hesitates, then closes it again. She stares at Loke and pushes the clip back into her pocket, then she nods and starts to move for the van. Eddie follows her, climbs in behind the wheel, cranks the engine, and rolls the van back a few yards.
Hazel passes the gun from hand to hand, getting a feel for it, enjoying the coolness of the plating against her skin. When she turns to look out the window, Loke and his men are gone.
It’s not until they’re three blocks from Gompers Station that Eddie finally breaks the silence and says, “What the fuck is that for?”
Hazel’s face stays expressionless, but she gives a small shake of her head like she’s disappointed.
“We’re in the Park now, Eddie,” she says. “We’re in Bangkok now.”
They’re quiet for another block and then Eddie says, “You gonna start popping liquor stores or something?”
They swing up an entrance ramp of the interstate. Hazel sighs and stares out at the lights of the oncoming cars. After a while she says, “No. No liquor stores, Eddie. You know, you’re a sweetheart, but you got no feel for symbolism.”
27
Flynn watches Wayne standing before the glass elevator, staring up at the floor numbers, probably unaware of the fifty-dollar bill still crumpled in his fist.
Ronnie slides an ad cart into its slot and lowers the volume on a voice excited by a Volvo sale. She slides the headphones to her neck, swivels to face Flynn, and asks, “What the hell happened to Wayne?”
Flynn shrugs and says, “Sudden yearning for Tandoori. But don’t worry, he said he’d bring back enough for all of us.”
She squints at him and holds back a smile, and he says, “How long’s the ad?”
“Not long enough.”
He walks to her, swivels her back until she’s facing the board, and begins to run his hands through her hair, then drops them down and starts in on her shoulders again. After a moment, he comes over the slopes of the shoulders and starts to unfasten the top button of her blouse.
“No way,” she says. “I’m on in thirty seconds.”
“Might take longer than that,” he whispers, sliding a hand inside the blouse and fingering a nipple over the camisole. He can feel her lungs bring in air. She reaches up and back, touches the side of his face with her hand. The ad voice says, “… prices do not reflect dealer prep or tax,” and without removing Flynn’s hand, Ronnie leans forward, pulls the headphones back on, adjusts a volume knob, hits a button, and says, “Hello, caller from southern New Hampshire, you’re on Libido Liveline, confide in Ronnie.”
She gives no indication that anything unusual is happening. Flynn knew she’d be all control and it makes him want to push things further, make it a harder test. He switches to her left breast, this time sliding his fingers inside the camisole and squeezing a bit, leaning his head down at the same time to kiss her neck. Her head moves abruptly, but he’s not convinced she wants him to stop.
Yes, hello. I’m a first-time caller.
Thank you. Thank you very much. For calling.
Flynn brings his tongue out and tastes her neck. The sharp, lingering sting of her perfume surprises him as much as the sudden change in her voice. He thinks she sounds like some female version of Elvis.
I’m not sure exactly how to start here. I’m just not … I’ve heard you in the past, you know, discuss my, discuss the type of problem I’m—
You’re nonorgasmic, correct? This is what you told my assistant? You’re not able to achieve orgasm?
The caller doesn’t respond at first and Flynn thinks she might be a little put off by Ronnie’s interruption and the abrupt manner she’s taking. He agrees that it isn’t her normal procedure and he wonders if his tongue and lips and hands are at all responsible. He hopes so and undoes another button on the blouse.
Are you still there, caller? Hello?
I’m here. I’m listening.
Have I identified your problem?
[Pause] Yes. You’re correct.
All right, then, let’s go to work. Now, I have to ask you a series of questions, and I need to know, before we get going here, if you’re going to have difficulty answering. Because, as you can imagine, these are questions of a fairly intimate nature and I’m getting the sense that you’re a bit apprehensive about being on the air.
Flynn pushes both his hands down inside her shirt, begins to squeeze both breasts and at the same time massage each nipple with his thumbs. Under the board, Ronnie kicks off her shoes.
It’s just that, I’ve listened before and I never—
My manner surprised you. You thought I was abrupt with you. And I was. What you have to understand is that I don’t have the luxury here of spending an hour with you, face-to-face, one-on-one, taking months to learn the personal history, to become versed in the childhood, review the traumas, hear all the details about the choice of lovers.
Yes, I understand.
I have to operate on instinct and the nature of the problem and the tone of the voice in my headphones. And I’m limited on time. Now, in the past you may have heard me take a more patient tack with another caller. But I’m sure we were dealing with a different problem. And certainly with a different person, correct?
Yes, yes, of course.
He brings his hands out and starts to unfasten all the buttons. He pulls the blouse out of the skirt and opens it wide, showing the silk, cream-colored teddy below.
Now, I’m going to need complete honesty from you if you want to accomplish anything tonight. And I’m going to need you to believe that, in fact, this one call, this next ten or fifteen minutes of talk, could change a very important part of your life. I’m asking for a good deal of faith on your part. Okay?
Yes, okay, I’m ready.