Savages

184

The other way with it.

Takes the offensive.

He meets Lado and Alex at a public place, the boardwalk at Town Beach, gets the news about the bloody jacking and the insinuation of guilt and he goes off.

“You better fucking do something about this,” Ben says to Lado. “I’ve been in this business for eight years and never had a person as much as scratched. I hook up with you and I get robbed, and now you’re telling me a man is dead?!”

“Take it—”

“You take it easy,” Ben says, jabbing Alex in the chest. “I thought you were the fucking Baja Cartel. I thought you offered protection. Well, it looks like you may be pretty good at snatching girls off the street, but when it comes to—”

“Enough.” This from Lado.

Ben shuts his mouth but shakes his head and walks ahead of him.

Nice day on Town Beach.

People in the water.

Sleek, tall, cut women playing volleyball. The muscles of their bare abs tight as drums.

The boys are out on the b-ball court. Middle-age gay men watch from the benches.

Sun shining on it all.

Another day in paradise.

Alex catches up with him. “You’re saying you had nothing to do with this.”

“I’m saying,” Ben, well, says, “that I’m going to have nothing to do with you if this keeps up. Deal or no deal, I’m not putting my people in harm’s way. You want my product, you guarantee our safety or I’m shutting it down. And you can call the Queen and tell her that. Better yet, put me on the phone, I’ll tell her that.”

“I don’t think you want to do that, Ben,” Alex says. “Remember who—”

“Yeah, I remember,” Ben says, making a point to look at Lado. “And as for your fucking aspersions, your asinine accusations that we’re somehow in on this shit, fuck you and the goat you rode in on. I’m not putting up with any more of that, either.”

“You’ll put up with what we tell you to put up with,” Lado says.

“Just handle your own problems, okay?” Ben says. “Don’t worry about me. I’m taking care of business.”

He walks away.

Crosses the PCH and leaves them standing there.