Never Too Far (24 page)

After Joe got back in the cab, he turned to Mary and said, “We’ll have to wait a little longer. We’ll still leave tonight, though. I promise. Before we go, I’ll get you that dress. Maybe I’ll get some peaches or apples, if we can find them.”

He heard the whirling whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of a helicraft overhead. Mary stuck her hands inside the brim of her hat to cover her ears. Joe watched the sleek black body of the helicraft pass into view. On its smooth belly between the pivoting rotor-thrusters was the red symbol of the Guardian. The helicraft hovered for moment, swayed to the right, and then flew away in the distance along with the noise. 

As they drove away, his thoughts drifted toward home. He thought of how much he missed it and of how much he wanted to get back. He thought about their hardscrabble farm near the river, where the sky was clear and the land hushed and the air dusty but sweet. He didn’t care that they barely survived by scraping what they could from the hard dry earth, and he didn’t care that dust storms swept over them, killing off their livestock and burying their crops while they hid in the cellar for the black dusters to pass. It didn’t matter now. That was his home. That was their home. That was Mary and the baby’s home. With that money, as long as it lasted, he and Frank could go on buying expeditions every year and get all the family needed to survive.

He looked at Mary. He imagined her sitting on the back deck that he was going to build for her when they got back home. He could see it all clearly. He would step out of the barn, after milking the dairy cow they bought with the money, and see her sitting on the deck, rocking the baby in a chair. He would see the endless blue sky behind her and the sun shining on her like an angel. It was a perfect vision, and he couldn’t wait to experience it for real.

He planned to do a lot of things now; a lot of building and repairs that his parents never bothered with because secretly they thought it was useless. Although they never said that, their actions and demeanor made it obvious that they had given up hope. But imagine their reaction after he and Mary returned after being gone so long. Just imagine it. They’d be so happy to see them alive that they’d forget about how he and Mary had snuck away in the dark of night. His parents would forget all about the weeks and weeks of worry and fear that their youngest boy and adopted girl were lost and never coming back. Imagine the welcome. Imagine their surprise when he showed them all the money, the money that would bring hope back into their lives. And imagine the pride in Frank’s eyes.

Chapter 39

That night, before he went to meet Templeton at the Weimar Club, Mary tugged on his arm. She asked if she could come with him, but it was too dangerous this time. He knew she didn’t want to be left alone, especially after the other night. He also knew she was afraid he wouldn’t come back again, so he told her that it wouldn’t take long. It was a simple transaction. She would hardly know he was gone. He told her to think about the money and how that meant they could all be together for a very long time. When that didn’t satisfy her completely, he continued. He told her that at the first sign of trouble he would leave, and that he wouldn’t risk anything if it meant they wouldn’t be together. That seemed to work.

He left the horses and wagon in the stable because he was too afraid of leaving them somewhere unattended in the Fulfillment District. His plan was to bring Templeton back to the stable and give him the diesel there. Even though he was sure Templeton wouldn’t like that, Joe didn’t really care. He dreaded seeing him again, but it was a necessary evil.
Five thousand shekels was nothing to sneeze at. It wasn’t a huge fortune, not like the initial ten thousand, but if they were smart, it could last a good long time.

When he finally stepped inside the Weimar Club, his attention was immediately drawn to the stage. A small band of strings and brass played raucously as naked women painted in assorted colors cavorted around another woman who was unpainted. That woman was writhing around and spreading her hands all over herself. Joe knew he shouldn’t stare, but it was all he could seem to do. The rest of the big room was filled with tables of people drinking, smoking, and shouting. The air was clouded with white smoke. On a balcony were more women—strumpets, no doubt—with open tops and loose hair. They stood in front of doors where disheveled men stumbled in and out.

Templeton wasn’t hard to spot. He sat in the corner, like a giant rubbish pile, puffing on a cigar and clutching a stein of beer. Next to him were two strumpets with their blouses open and halfway off their shoulders.

When Templeton spotted Joe, he shouted, “Dirt-eater!”

Joe weaved through the mess of people until he was in front of Templeton’s table. His eyes were still filled with those tears that never fell. His white shirt was stained black with drool. The strumpets leaned against his massive body like they were leaning against a tower of rotting mattresses. They looked at Joe with glassy eyes and dull smiles. Their cheeks were rouged with pink circles and their eyelids coated in blue shadow. One of them had a gap in her front teeth.

“Wasn’t sure you would show,” Templeton said. “How do you like my accessories?”

He enveloped each woman in his heavy arms and shook them so their breasts bounced. Templeton laughed. Joe looked away and sat on a wood chair across the table.

“What about the deal?” Joe said.

“Deal? What deal?” he laughed. “We’ll talk business later. Now it’s time for fun. Where is that girl of yours? Don’t tell me you didn’t bring her?”

“I don’t want any fun. I just want to go. What do we need to do?”

“Slow down! You need to learn how to relax. Pleasure is peace, my friend.”

“I don’t care. I want what’s mine.”

“Nothing’s yours until I say it’s yours. You get it when I’m good and ready. What else are you going to do? Who else are you going to go to?”

“I can find someone else.”

“Really? Where? How?”

“I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.”

“One false move and you’re dead. Matter of fact, I could alert the authorities about you right now. There are more desperate losers out there besides you. It’s what keeps me in the money. Go ahead, walk away, if you got all the answers, if you’re such a big man, go ahead. Go. I dare you.”

Joe stared at Templeton. His watery eyes were full of smug glee, which only made Joe angrier and want to prove the fat beast wrong. He wanted to spit in his eyes and walk away.

“Awfully quiet,” Templeton said. “You don’t have any other choice. So don’t do something stupid.”

Joe slumped in his chair and accepted that he would have to put up with whatever Templeton wanted. He remembered the teachings of the Prophet Roy, who said, “The humble spirit grows strong” and “Only the meek find rest” and “Walk the earth as if you are air.” They were words he often found himself rebelling against, but now they provided the fortitude he needed to deal with Templeton.

“Ah, she’s here!” Templeton called out. “The loveliest dancer of them all.”

Joe turned to see who he was talking about. To his shock, he saw Eve sauntering toward their table. She wore a pale blue robe that billowed around her legs. Her hair was swept to one side and fell across her breast. He realized that she must’ve been one of the dancers on stage, but he never noticed her up there. He couldn’t picture which one she had been. Then it dawned on him. She was the one in the middle, the one that the painted girls were dancing around.

She appeared to be as shocked to see Joe as he was to see her. When their eyes met, she hesitated a moment as a flash of recognition ran across her face. But after that she acted very cool. She pulled the chair out beside Joe and nodded her head at him as if meeting him for the first time. She sat down. Joe shifted uncomfortably.

“Let me introduce you to my new colleague,” Templeton said, gesturing toward Joe.

Eve didn’t turn to him to shake his hand or acknowledge the introduction. He interpreted her indifference as hostility, especially after what happened in her room. What he wondered was how she knew Templeton. Or more to the point,
why
she knew him? To Joe, Templeton was disgusting and lecherous, so why would anyone want to willingly be associated with him?

Joe watched Eve take a silver case out of the side pocket in her robe, set it on the table, and flip it open to reveal a neat row of white cigarettes. She slipped one out, closed the case, tapped the end on the top of the case and slid the cigarette between her lips. Templeton suddenly lurched forward, rocking the table with the roll of his flesh as he struck a match. The end of the match disappeared in his fat fingers as he extended the tiny flame to ignite Eve’s cigarette. When he sat back with another lurch, the table rocked again.

“You were marvelous as always,” Templeton declared. “Come, sit by me.”

He callously pushed away the two half-dressed
strumpets to clear a space for him to lavish attention on Eve. As the other woman stumbled away, Eve blew out some smoke, picked her case up off the table, and got to her feet.

“I only have a few minutes,” she said, “before I have to get ready for the next show.”

“Of course, of course,” Templeton said.

Eve shuffled around the table and eased into the chair next to Templeton. He looked as if he wanted to engulf her. His wet, slippery lips trembled.

“You know the deal,” she said.

“Yes, of course.”

He plunged his hand into his hip pocket, dug around, and pulled out some bills that he set on the table in front of Eve. Joe had never seen paper shekels before. They only came in fifties and hundreds. There appeared to be several bills there, but he didn’t get a chance to see how much before Eve stashed them in her robe. Templeton then leaned toward her. His eyes fluttered, his nostrils flared as he breathed her in. He let out a purring sound that bubbled at his wet lips. The sight made Joe cringe, but Eve didn’t seem to be bothered at all. It didn’t look like the first time this had happened, especially when Templeton slithered his arm around her shoulders. He curled his hand like a fat claw across the top of her breast and caressed the bottom of her chin with a thick stumpy finger. Once again Eve took it all in stride.

“Why won’t you be mine?” he said.   

“I did that once. And look what it got me.”

Templeton chuckled.

“I could set you up far away from here,” he said.

“And be a prisoner? I already did that too.”

“I’m not going to be in this game much longer. I’ve got enough to get free now.”

“And give up your pleasures and power? You couldn’t leave if you wanted to.”

“I can do whatever I want.”

“Only because they look the other way and get a cut. Don’t fool yourself. They won’t want to lose their piggy ban
k or want their piggy bank to squeal.”

“You shouldn’t talk to me like that.”

“You shouldn’t talk like an idiot.”

“Who’s going to touch me? I’m invincible.” He threw out his arms and puffed out his chest to show his invincibility before hunching over Eve again. “Like you said, they don’t want to lose their piggy bank.”

“Unless they find another one and you become disposable.” 

He paused a moment, as if mulling over what she said, before saying, “What do you know?”

“Nothing. It’s hypothetical. All I’m saying is you aren’t exactly discreet.”

“You do know something
.”

“Only what I see.”

“Don’t tease me. Tell me what you know.”

“I think I’ve made my point.” She nodded at Joe without looking at him. “You think he’s deaf and can’t hear what we’re talking about?”

As she was saying that, Joe felt something nudge his foot and then tap his toes. He stared at Eve, but she didn’t make any sign that it was her, although it had to be her. He wasn’t sure what she meant by it. Maybe it was just to acknowledge him, or maybe it was to warn him.

“Him? A dirt-eater?” Templeton chortled. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“That’s exactly what I mean.” Eve said. “Don’t get comfortable. You have rivals who want to clear the way.”

“Clear the way?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No one has the balls to take me out.”

“Have you forgotten about Red?”

“Red is a punk.”

“He might be a punk, but he’s smart enough to see a chance.”

“Stop messing with me. You trying to make me paranoid?”

“I’m trying to save your ass.”

“By making me jumpy?”

“By making you see that conditions have changed.”

“So you are trying to warn me.”

“Take it any way you want. I have to go soon.”

“You can’t just leave me hanging like this.”

Eve didn’t say anything. She sucked in deeply on her cigarette and blew the smoke out slowly. The white tip was smudged with lipstick. Finally, she looked at Joe, but only briefly. He could see in her eyes that she was even more suspicious of him than before.

Chapter 40