Casino Moon

61

JOEY SNAILS BROUGHT THE car to a full stop right outside Anthony’s house on Texas Avenue. There was a roll and a thump in the trunk and Teddy, sitting on the passenger’s side, gave a look back. Then he reached around to unlock the back door and Richie Amato, who’d been waiting for them on the sidewalk, got in.

“I can’t believe you whacked Vin,” he said in a dazed voice.

“I can’t believe I carried the body downstairs by myself,” Joey Snails whined.

“Will youse two shut up?” Teddy admonished them. “You sound like a couple of Girl Scouts, for fuck’s sake.”

“Yeah, but this was Vin!” Richie protested, sliding in behind Teddy. “He lived and died for you, Ted.”

“He hadda go,” Teddy said numbly. “He kept sticking up for that mutt. Hadda go. It was the only way.”

He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as the two younger men. A couple of brown leaves fell from the trees overhead and brushed the windshield. The three of them fell silent for a minute.

“You shouldn’t have done it,” Richie murmured. “The old man was the best thing that ever happened to you.”

“Oh, what are you?” Teddy turned around. “You gonna be a rebel too? Am I gonna have to discipline you, Richie?”

“No,” Richie pouted.

“All right.” Teddy faced front again. He let out a deep breath and sagged back in his seat.

The downstairs lights in Anthony’s house were still on. Through one of the front bay windows, Carla could be seen putting the kids to sleep.

“I think I’m gonna go inside and sit with my niece awhile,” he said in a weary voice.

He looked back at the trunk. “You all right to take care of this thing?” he asked Joey and Richie.

“Yeah, I guess.” Richie swallowed hard. He still seemed to be in a state of shock.

“Come back later to pick me up, after you get rid of him,” said Teddy. He was on automatic pilot too. His instructions were without thought or inflection. He rolled down the window and spit in the gutter. Then he put his hand over his stomach as if the effort had cost him too much.

“What if Anthony comes back here?” Richie tried stretching his arms, but wound up punching the car’s ceiling.

“He probably ain’t coming back until this fight’s over. And if he does come back, he’ll have Tommy Sick with him.”

“And what happens if he don’t have Tommy with him?”

A car swept by and its headlights shone in the rearview mirror. Teddy barely recognized his own eyes, looking small and furtive.

“You shoot him right in the face, so there’s no question,” he said, feebly making the sign of the gun with his hand. “Don’t worry about him giving you any problems. He ain’t half the man his father was.”