Tishomingo Blues Part 18

"For what?"

"My man Dennis."

Jerry shook his head as he opened the door.

Robert said, "Walter wants to stage a fight in the woods, dying to." It caught Jerry before he could walk out.

"But we won't be able to do it and still have the spectators watching us. See, they did fight in the woods at Brice's Cross Roads and Walter likes to do it right, make it look authentic." Jerry waited, holding the door open.

"Or he wants to get me and you and Dennis in the woods and take us out with n.o.body seeing it. I don't mean make it look like an accident. I told you, they inspect the weapons before you take the field. It can still happen-there was a man shot during a reenactment one time, but it was a strange situation, not one you can pull any time you want. So they'd have to set it up some other way, get us out of sight of the crowd, the people watching."

Jerry looked like he was thinking again, concentrating this time. He said, "You tell this guy what we know, him and the redneck, Arlen, and give 'em a reason to want to take us out." Robert nodded, the man catching on.

"So instead of us thinking of a way to get them in the woods," Jerry said, "you have them thinking of how to get us us in the f.u.c.kin woods." in the f.u.c.kin woods."

"And chase us," Robert said, "all the way to a levee road back there-I checked it out-where we put the truck."

"I forgot about that part, the truck."

"Doesn't work without it, Jerry."

He looked like he was thinking again, but about what? It was hard to tell. All he did then was shrug. He said, "Okay," and raised his voice toward the bedroom. "Annabanana, I'm going now." Robert wondered was she gonna come out to kiss him goodbye. Uh-unh. Her voice came back, "See you later."

"One other thing," Robert said. "The CIB man, John Rau? He lives for this reenacting. He's gonna be on your side, with you the whole time, and he won't leave till it's over. You hear what I'm saying? We don't want him anywhere near when we start shooting people. And we sure don't want to shoot him him."

Jerry said, "Whack a cop-only if your life depends on it."

"We want him far away when it goes down."

Jerry said, "How do we work that?"

"I'll have to think about it."

Jerry said, "I'll leave it up to you," the way he left everything, and was gone to roll dice. Robert glanced toward the bedroom as he walked to the balcony. He opened the doors and heard a woman's voice coming over the speakers, the TV woman, Diane-what was her name?calling the dives again, Diane telling the crowd they'd have to clap real loud if they wanted world champion Dennis Lenahan to hear them way up on that eighty-foot perch. There he was in the spotlight climbing to the top.

Robert moved to the railing to watch him: Dennis looking down at the crowd looking up at him, mostly white people from around here, small groups of teenagers, the older crowd in their lawn chairs. How many, a hundred? Close to it. Dennis deciding what to show them. Or thinking about his crossroads, way up there alone in the night. Thinking about money. Thinking about years to come and where he'd be. No, right now he was cool, he was haughty seeing himself in the air. Come on, flying reverse pike.

Anne's voice came from the bedroom. "What're you doing?"

"Watching my man."

"Are you coming?"

"In a minute. He's about to go off."

Every day honest people got into dealing drugs, it wasn't so unusual. Dennis wouldn't even be dealing, strictly speaking.

He had his arms raised, ready to go. Then lowered his arms and held on to the ladder with one hand as he leaned out and yelled down something and now Charlie was looking up at him. Now Charlie picked up a pole, the skimmer they took bugs out of the tank with, and mounted the ladder to the narrow walk that went around the tank and now Charlie was waving the skimmer over the surface of the water to make waves. Robert decided it was so Dennis could judge where he would enter the water, the man not taking any more risk than he had to. Good. Anne's voice said, "Are you coming or not?" sounding closer. He stepped toward the doorway, quick, to see her coming out of the bedroom in her kimono, open, nothing on under it. He thought, The Open Kimono The Open Kimono by Seymour Hare, and said, "Wait. Don't move." And turned back in time to see Dennis go off twisting and somersaulting to slice the water and come up with his hair slicked back in the spotlight. Hey, s.h.i.+t. How'd he know to make all those moves in two seconds? Maybe even less. by Seymour Hare, and said, "Wait. Don't move." And turned back in time to see Dennis go off twisting and somersaulting to slice the water and come up with his hair slicked back in the spotlight. Hey, s.h.i.+t. How'd he know to make all those moves in two seconds? Maybe even less.

He felt Anne's hand slip under his s.h.i.+rt and move up his spine. He said, "I love to watch people who make what they do look easy. No flaws, nothing sticking out."

"G.o.d, I hope you're not queer for him. Are you?"

"No, I never tried that. Like I never tried the opera. Or never roller-skated. I've ice-skated and I've skied. Steve Allen says to Jose Jimenez standing there with a pair of skis, 'So, you're a skier. Is that right?' And Jose Jimenez says, 'Yes,' with his accent, 'm a skeer to go down the hill.' " He felt her hand slide down his back and out from under his s.h.i.+rt. Her voice, off in the room now, said, "You want a gla.s.s of wine?"

"I'm trying to think ... Yes, I would, please. I'm trying to think of what else I haven't done that people do. One comes to mind-haven't camped out."

Anne said, "So you've never gotten laid in a tent," coming out with a gla.s.s of white in each hand.

"I have other strange places."

"Movie theater?"

"Many times, in my youth."

"Airplane?"

"Once, on a red-eye. How about you? What's the strangest place you ever did it?"

"You mean straight f.u.c.king?"

"What else we talking about?"

"You don't count a b.l.o.w. .j.o.b."

" Blow b.l.o.w. .j.o.b, you get that anywhere." job, you get that anywhere."

She said, "Let me think ... How about on the floor?"

"Everybody does it on the floor now and then. You think that's a strange place?" She said, "I don't want to play this anymore."

Like that. Like when she and Jerry argued ... Robert picking them up to go to some function, a wedding, and Jerry's yelling at her for never in her f.u.c.kin life being ready on time and Anne would say, "I don't want to talk about it." Jerry would look ready to smack her, but never did. He'd cool off and later on be calling her Queenie.

She said she didn't want to play anymore and Robert said, "That's cool," not caring one way or the other. He looked down at the crowd breaking up and Dennis, out of the tank now, talking to Diane Corrigan-Cochrane-that was her name-the Eyes and Ears of the North Delta, Robert thinking Dennis should have him some of that. Cute woman in her little shorts. Anne said something.

"What?"

"I said is this going to work? What we're doing?"

"Gonna work fine."

"Jerry thinks you're crazy."

"He's told me that. But he's here."

She said, "I have a bad feeling about it."

Robert said, "Want me to hold you? Tell you everything's gonna be all right?"

"I'm serious, and you make fun of me."

He could tell her she was easy to make fun of of, any time she became serious like that, having the bad feeling. But he didn't. No, he showed her he was as sensitive as he had to be, saying, "What's wrong, baby? What you worried about?"

"I keep thinking," Anne said, "something's going to happen to Jerry." What she meant was hoping hoping. Robert said, "Like he could get popped?"

"It's possible, isn't it?"

"You play the grieving widow till the lawyer cuts you a check?"

"You're not funny."

"Wear a black thong bikini around the pool?"

She walked away from him.

Robert said after her, "My sensitivity stretches so far and it snaps back on me." Dennis asked the TV lady if she'd have a drink with him, the least he could do, telling Diane she was the best dive-caller he'd ever had, and the bestlooking-as she followed him around behind the tank. He said he had to change first and she said, "Go ahead, I won't look." He watched her bend her head back to gaze straight up the ladder, then at the ground beneath the scaffolding where Floyd was shot, and then at him as he stood naked stepping into his underwear.

"I thought you weren't gonna look."

She said, "I lied."

They brought chairs from the patio bar out to the edge of the lawn, away from loud voices, a party going on, and sat next to each other with summer drinks, in the dark, Dennis' gaze on his ladder that rose against the sky and stopped, not going anywhere.

Her voice, close to him, quiet, said, "How long have you been hauling it around?" "Four years."

"Are you tired of it?"

"I'm getting there."

"Then what?"

"I don't know."

"Where're you staying?"

He turned his head to see the soft expression in her eyes, waiting.

"I have a landlady who stays up late."

"You want to go to Memphis?"

"Is that where you live?"

She nodded. "After I do the news?"

He said, "There's nothing I'd rather do than go to Memphis," and let it hang. She said, "But there's a lot you have to think about."

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe it."

She said, "You were on the ladder that night, weren't you?" He nodded, their eyes still holding.

"Arlen and the Bug?"

He nodded again.

She looked away, toward the ladder, before turning to him again. "I don't understand. Why you're telling me now."

"I don't know either. You asked.... If you hadn't I probably wouldn't have said anything."

"You needed to tell somebody."

"Who doesn't know? It's not like getting something off my chest and now I feel better. But you're the one to tell-maybe that's it-the TV lady, if I'm gonna tell anybody. Outside of a lawyer. But don't put it on the air yet, I won't admit it. You have to wait."

"Until what happens?"

"Till you see how it ends."

"What do you think will happen?"

"I haven't any idea."

It was only a few minutes later Robert showed up.

He said, "You all like to be alone?"

In that moment Dennis had to make up his mind. If he said yes, they'd like to be alone, he risked Diane bugging him until he told her everything that was going on. But if he said no, they wouldn't, he might never get to Memphis. All that in his mind when Diane said she had to go get ready for the eleven o'clock news. So Dennis said he was tired, he'd find Charlie and go on home. Robert said he'd drive him, but why didn't they relax and have a drink first. "There's something I want to tell you."

Now Dennis sat staring at the ladder with another vodka collins and Robert instead of Diane.

"You haven't made up your mind yet, have you?"

"To sell my soul? No, I haven't."

"You can't beat the deal."

"I don't have any offers to compare it to."

"There's poverty. What you gonna do when you can't dive no more? Listen, I'll answer any your questions and I'll be honest with you. What we in is a dirty business, but it's where the money's at. I want you in so I'm upping the pay schedule. Twofifty the first year. Five the second. We jump now like Regis does on his show to one million the third year. Also bonuses, also what you make off your Dive-O-Rama. Wuz wrong with that?" Robert grinned and sipped his drink. "How Miles Davis says it. 'Wuz wrong with that?' In his voice."

"What about Jerry?"

"Yeah, what?"

"What's he do? You said he use to be into arson."

"And high explosives, he learned about in the Nam. Jerry s.h.i.+pped home a footlocker full of C4 when he got out and was in business."

"With the Mafia?"