I'm a fool to kill you

THIRTY-FOUR

With Ava’s directions we drove to the neighborhood, but stopped down the block from her house.

‘OK, Jerry, take a walk and see what you can see.’

‘Sure thing, Mr G.’

It was getting toward dusk as he got out of the cab and walked down the street.

‘So tell me, Eddie, how did you and Jerry meet?’ Ava asked.

‘He didn’t tell you while you were playin’ gin?’ I asked.

‘He doesn’t like to talk about himself,’ she said. ‘All he told me was that you and he were both from Brooklyn. Is that where you became friends?’

‘No,’ I said, ‘it was in Vegas a couple of years ago, when Frank, Dean and the fellas were shootin’ Ocean’s Eleven.’

‘Oh, that thing about Dean being threatened?’ she asked.

‘Yep,’ I said. ‘Frank brought Jerry in to help me with that.’

‘You have quite a friendship,’ she said.

‘Well-’

‘He’d do anything for you, did you know that?’

‘Well-’

‘And you like him. Don’t try to deny it.’

‘Well. . of course I like ‘im,’ I told her. ‘Why would I try to deny that? Plus he’s saved my ass more than once.’

‘He is a terrible gin player, though,’ she said. ‘Just awful. But he is sweet, and gentle as a lamb. Are you sure he’s a torpedo?’

‘He doesn’t like that word,’ I said, ‘but yeah, he’s broken an arm and a leg or two in his time. I think he’s just sweet to you, the way he was to Marilyn.’

‘He met Marilyn?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, earlier this year he helped me with something I was doing for her,’ I said. ‘But he was mad at me, said I ruined her for him.’

‘Ruined her how?’

‘He said after meeting her he couldn’t help but think of her as a little sister.’

‘And is that the way he thinks of me, now? As a little sister?’

‘Oh, no-’

‘Then what? A big sister?’ I could see that neither one appealed to her.

Ava,’ I said, ‘believe me when I say no man could ever think of you as their sister.’

‘Especially you, right?’ she said, touching the back of my neck.

‘Ava, that has to stay between us,’ I said. ‘Nobody can know what happened. Not Jerry, and especially not Frank.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, Eddie,’ she said, ‘that will be our little secret.’

Jerry appeared just then, opened the door and got in. Ava pulled her hand away from the nape of my neck.

‘I didn’t see nobody,’ Jerry said, ‘not on either side of the street.’

‘OK, but I’ve been thinking. .’

‘What?’ Jerry asked.

‘Maybe we should wait until after dark.’

‘And what do we do in the meantime?’ Ava asked. ‘Sit here in this old cab?’

‘No,’ I said, ‘I thought we could go and buy Jerry some new clothes.’

She brightened.

‘Shopping! Oh, that sounds like fun.’ She clapped her hands. ‘And I know just the place. Start ‘er up, big guy.’

She took us to a men’s clothing store right on Hollywood Blvd. and, true to her word, she had fun, especially picking shirts out that Jerry never would have picked out for himself. But he was too polite to say no.

Except when they got to the register.

‘No, no, don’t be silly,’ she told us. ‘Of course I’m going to pay.’

‘No, Miss Ava,’ Jerry said, ‘I’m gonna pay for my own clothes.’

‘I thought I could get the Sands to pay for it all,’ I offered.

She slapped me on the arm and said, ‘No, don’t ruin my fun. Paying is part of it.’ She looked at Jerry. ‘Are you going to ruin all my fun?’

‘No, Ma’am.’

‘Then step aside.’

We both moved and allowed her to pay cash for everything. She even carried the bags.

The male clerk looked at us and said, ‘You fellas notice how much she looks like Ava Gardner?’

‘What?’ Jerry said.

‘Not so much,’ I said, and we followed her out.