The Big Fix

ARNO

After they ate in a Syrian restaurant Arno had found, he suggested they take in a movie. But Jake shook his head, said he was too tired and wanted to hit the sack. He returned to the hotel.

Arno was going to the movie alone, but on the spur of nothing decided to get some sleep himself. Buying the evening paper and a jar of pickled black walnuts, he went up to their room. Jake wasn't there, but his overcoat and hat were hanging in the closet. Arno rang for a bellhop. Giving him a buck he asked, “Where's your girls, son?”

“Sir, the Southside doesn't allow that sort of...”

“Cut the gas, boy,” Arno said, slipping him another buck.

The bellhop was a stocky youngster with a sharp face, baby-scrubbed skin, and very wise eyes. Winking, he told Arno, “I know you're an all right guy, mister. Tell ya, there is one gal doing business. Real cute babe. But she's working now and you'll have to wait....”

“I know who she's working on, too. What's the room number?”

The bellhop hesitated. Arno went over to the bedside phone, put a fat hand on it. “Rather I ask the manager, son?”

“Aw now, mister, that's no way to act. Your buddy just went...”

“I know all about it. What's the room number?”

“One-fourteen.”

“Forget I asked, and don't try racing me to the room. What do they call you, kid?”

“Billy.”

“Okay, Billy-boy, beat it. You look like a hard-working, ambitious youngster. Maybe you'll work your way up to being a big-time pimp.”

On the way down to Room one-fourteen Arno tried one of the black walnuts. It was far too sweet and he tossed the rest of the jar into a sand-filled ash tray outside the elevator door.

Listening for a moment at the door of one-fourteen, Arno grinned as he heard muffled talk. Knocking gently, he heard the small sounds of bare feet crossing a carpet, then a woman's “Yes?”

“Billy. Open up,” Arno said, talking into the lapel of his coat to muffle the sound.

The woman whispered, “I'm busy.”

“Don't I know it? This is important.”

She cracked the door and Arno pushed it open, knocking a tall naked girl against the wall. She held her white belly where the doorknob had hit her. Jake was stretched out on the bed, also nude. Arno smiled at him, thinking, How dumb can a joker get? With a body like that he keeps paying for it.

The girl shut the door and, still holding one hand over her stomach, the other making a futile if modest attempt at covering her bouncing breasts, she asked, “What is this?”

“Don't worry about it, honey, I'm with him,” Arno said, sitting on the bed and watching Jake. The veins in his nose seemed very dark red in contrast to Arno's pasty face. He called over his shoulder, “Put a robe on and take a walk, hon. Or get in the can and stay there for a few minutes. I know you've been paid and the dough is yours.” Arno examined his nails for a second and suddenly a slim but vicious-looking switchblade appeared in his right hand. The blade, in the shape of a dagger, was razor sharp. He delicately cleaned his nails with the knife. When the girl closed the bathroom door, Arno said, “Jake, get dressed.”

“What's wrong with me having a broad?”

“You're in training.”

“Aw, stop it. A gal relaxes...”

“Stupid bastard, get dressed!” Arno said, keeping his voice low and steady. “You know I let you have all the trim you want, when I'm around to supervise things. But not when you're in training for...”

“But that might not be for weeks, months! You think I'm a monk or...?”

“I think it took me a long time to find our man. I don't intend chancing the deal being queered by you getting sick. Get dressed—fast!”

Jake got out of bed slowly, began dressing. Arno grinned at him. “Although you have the mind of a ten-year-old, don't glare at me like a kid, Jake. I know exactly what you're thinking, and forget it. I haven't muscles and I braise easily.” Arno waved the knife in the air as if it were a baton. “It's a funny world—there's you, one hundred forty-eight pounds of fighting muscle. And this knife can't weigh more than a few ounces, yet... Did I ever tell you about a slob I knew who found his wife two-timing him? Jake, all he did was make one fast motion over the back of her legs, sliced the muscles. She never walked again. One slash and those big muscles in your arms might be severed, never lift your arms again. The docs don't know how to sew nerves together— yet. Or a...”

“Okay, okay,” Jake said, quickly buttoning his shirt. “I'm out twenty bucks. I'll ask her...”

“Nope, we don't want a stink. I came as fast as I could,” Arno said, suddenly chuckling. “You see the way she caught the door? Like an old burlesque skit I once saw. Come on, lover, let's get some sleep.”

“But twenty bucks? I...”

“So you dropped two bills. That's better than being out fifty grand.”