Maximum Bob

Ray said, “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”

She said, “Gary was really a nice guy. And he was good. I mean at his job, I saw him, he was tough, he was careful… What I can’t understand, how he let a guy like Elvin, this clown… You know what I mean?”

“I know,” Ray said. “Listen, why don’t you tell me the whole thing, from the begi

She said, “He’s dead because of a fucking alligator, if you can believe that. An alligator he killed. Now it’s killed him.”

Elvin found Hector in the kitchen ru

“Well, life goes on, don’t it? You guys sure like to party. Act like nothing bad can ever happen to you. The doc’s out there in the gold room with his music on, talking to a dead zebra else he’s talking to hisself. Smokes rock and then weed, up and then down, I said to him, ‘Why don’t you make up your mind?’ He goes, ‘Huh?’ Like, where am I? Stoned and smashed at the same time. What’re we making there?” The booger didn’t hear him, or pretended not to. “Shut that goddamn thing off.”

He let it go another few seconds before flicking the switch. There were banana peels on the counter and the color of the mixer was pale yellowish. Hector was getting a couple of glasses ready. He had on clothes for a change, what looked almost like a regular shirt tucked into tight black silky pants. His high-heel Cuban boots brought his ponytail up even with Elvin’s chin, Elvin leaning against the butcher table.

“Making more of that banana shit?”

Hector turned his head to the side. “You want one?”

“Not if I was on fire. What’d you tell the cops?”

“Nothing much.”

He had to be drunk to sound this calm.

“They get tough with you?”

“Why would they do that?”

“Scare you. People get scared, they tell things before you even ask. What’d they want to know?”

“Last night it was all about you. Where are you? What do you do here? Today they had a warrant and searched the house. They took the doctor’s hunting rifles.”

“Aw, his flamingo shooter? That’s too bad. They find where you hide the money?”

“They weren’t looking for money. They asked about the Cadillac, what happened to it.”

“Yeah, they knew it was gone, didn’t they?”

Hector turned from the counter wiping his hands on a dish towel. Elvin watched the way he laid the towel over his shoulder then and picked up one of the drinks.

“I told them you took it.”

Speaking right up. Elvin judged he’d drunk a load of that banana shit already.

“Well, what I told ‘em when they asked, I said yeah, I had the car at one time, but my nephew Dale borrowed it. ‘Cause he did. They’re go

Thinking it would catch the booger off guard. But all Hector said was, “Not much,” and took a big sip of his drink, still calm.

“Wipe your mouth.” He had foam all over it. “They ask if I knew her?” Elvin watched him pass the back of his hand across his mouth and then lick his hand, his tongue turning that yellowish color.

“I said she was here that one time with you.”

“What’d you tell ‘em about me, last night?”

“They wanted to know where you were. I said I didn’t know.”

“I expected they might come by. What they like to do, they think you’re a suspect, is put you in jail overnight and not talk to you till the next day. So I was go

“I saw it,” Hector said.

“But then last night I thought, why spend the money on a mo-tel? I’ll go on over to Earlene’s when she gets done working. I went, I had to throw this dink out just taking his clothes off. Earlene looks at me, she goes, ‘I never said a word to nobody. Honest.’ See, there she was telling me something I never asked, ‘cause she was scared. I go, ‘When was this you never said nothing to nobody?’ I find out the hair-puller cop and Ms. Touchy was both talking to her the other night.”

“I don’t know who you mean,” Hector said. “But did you beat her up, Earlene?”

Listen to him. “No, I didn’t,” Elvin said. “I don’t hit girls or queers.”

“Which do you like better?”

Elvin squinted at him. “You must’ve had a couple jars of that banana shit talking like you are. When I was in the joint I cut one or two of you, but I never hit any. So you’re fairly safe, less I decide to shoot you in the head. You understand me?”

“Why are you so upset?”

“Why’m I upset? Listening to you? All I want to know is how the law found out about Earlene. You told ‘em, didn’t you?”

Hector shook his head, still calm. “They already knew.”

“How could they?”

“I don’t know, but they did. The woman knew it, your probation officer.”

“She was here too?”

“In the afternoon, before the police came. She’s also Dr. Tommy’s officer.”

“Since when?”

“How do I know. She said the cop was coming back who was here before? Then I look at the paper today, I see why he didn’t make it. I thought they arrested you.”

“For what?”

“Well, you did shoot him, didn’t you?”

This booger kept talking right up, not acting a bit nervous. Elvin stared at him trying to figure it out.

“You think it was me, huh?”

“It was all you talked about the other day. The cop was here-remember how you took hold of me, almost threw me down the stairs?”

Elvin watched Hector roll his eyes, acting cute.

“You little booger, I would’ve you didn’t give me my gun back. But you didn’t mention that time to the law, did you?”

“I’m not crazy,” Hector said.

“I figure you didn’t, else I’d still be up on Gun Club Road with the deputies.”

“I’ve told them nothing and I don’t intend to,” Hector said. He took a sip of his drink. “I have a feeling, without anyone telling on you, you’ll be back in prison before you know it.”

“I’ll pull some stunt’ll get me caught?”

“You’ll do something.”

“You think I’m reckless, huh? Well, the way I see it, taking chances is the hot sauce you put on life to make it tangy. Otherwise I’m no better off’n you are sitting, watching it go by.”

“Did you make that up?”

“Buddy of mine said it and I like the ring of it.”

“A prison buddy?”

“Up at Starke, yeah.”

He watched Hector cock his head to one side, holding the glass at his mouth and peering over the rim. Acting cute again.

“You play at being the hell raiser,” Hector said, “but there’s more to it than that.”

This was good, the booger trying to read him.

“You’re saying I’m not the genuine article? Take a look at my sheet, it’ll make your hair stand up.”

Hector said, “Only my hair?” Raising his eyebrows like he was flirting. Then was serious again saying, “You’re a bad boy, Elvin, but why? I think because you want to get caught.”

Elvin had to grin. “I never heard of that one.”

“So you can go back to prison,” Hector said, “and be with your friend So

Elvin wasn’t gri

Ray Diaz watched his sister hang up the phone and come over to the sofa.

“That was Lou Falco. There’ll be a service for Gary at St. A

“I heard you,” Ray said, watching her sit down again. She seemed worn out. “TAC has surveillance on him. He’s back at the doctor’s house right now.”

“If he did it they’ll put it on him sooner or later,” Ray said. “If he was in that hair place the chances are they’ll find evidence of it, prints, something.”