Sleepers

'Gettin' away with this go

'No,' I said, turning back to face him. 'It'll just give me something a little sweeter to remember. Somethin' nicer to think about.'

'I read that shitty paper you workin' on now,' Fat Mancho said, standing and picking up his soda crate. 'Read it every day. Still ain't seen your fuckin' name anywhere.'

'Be patient,' I said. 'Some day you will. Just keep on buyin' it.'

'I don't buy shit,' Fat Mancho said, walking back into his bodega. 'I never put any of my money in a stranger's pockets.'

'You still married to two women?' I asked him, standing and dusting the back of my pants.

'Two wives and a lady friend,' Fat Mancho said. 'They can't get enough of what I got.'

'Must be good,' I said.

'They like it,' Fat Mancho said. 'That's what counts.'

'Thanks, Fat Man,' I said, leaning against his doorway. 'I owe you. I owe you big time.'

'Bet your ass you owe me, fucker,' Fat Mancho said. 'And you ain't leavin' this spot till you pay me for that fuckin' pack of gum.'

SIX

I was sitting on the hallway steps, my back inches from the apartment door, a bag holding a six-pack of beer by my side, when Carol Martinez lifted her head and saw me.

'Mug me or marry me, Shakes,' Carol said, searching through her open purse for her keys. 'I'm too tired for anything else.'

'Will you settle for a couple of beers?' I asked, tapping the paper bag.

'If that's your best offer,' she said.

'I'll throw in a hug and a kiss,' I said.

'Sold,' she said.

I stood up and put my arms around her waist and held her close to me, feeling her soft curves, even under the layers of thick jacket and sweater. She looked as pretty as I'd ever seen her.

'You need something, don't you, Shakes?' Carol asked, warm hands rubbing the back of my head and neck.

'I could use a glass,' I said. 'I hate drinking out of a can.'

Her apartment was clean and orderly, filled with books and framed posters of old movies. The kitchen had a small table in its center and a large cutout of Humphrey Bogart in a trench coat smoking a cigarette was taped to the fridge.

'You pour the beer,' Carol said, taking off her jacket. 'I'll put on some music.'

'You got any Frankie Valli?' I asked.

'You're so old-fashioned, Shakes,' Carol said with a laugh. 'Valli was gone before the pill.'

'At least he's alive,' I said. 'Which is more than I can say for your pal Bogart.'

'Bogie's always go

'Well, don't throw away their albums just yet,' I said, handing her a glass of beer, watching as she put a Bob Seger record on the turntable.

'I don't have any to throw away,' she said, sitting down next to me on the small, pull-out couch in the center of the living room.

We sat there quietly, listening to Seger frog his way through 'Tryin' to Live My Life Without You', sipping our beer, my head resting against a thick, hand-quilted throw pillow.

'You look tired,' Carol said, placing a hand on my knee. 'They don't give you time for sleep on this new job of yours?'

'How much do you know?' I asked, turning my eyes toward hers.

'Just what the neighborhood says,' Carol said.

'And what does the neighborhood say?'

'That they're going to put John and Tommy away,' she said, sadness touching her eyes and voice. 'And that their best friend is going to be the one to do it.'

'You believe that?'

'It's hard not to, Shakes,' Carol said. 'I mean, unless we all have it wrong, he did take the racking case.'

'Yeah, he did take the case,' I said.

'Then what else is there to say?' she asked, drinking the rest of her beer and trying not to cry.

I sat up and moved closer to her, our hands touching, our eyes on one another.

'You know Michael very well,' I said. 'Maybe even better than I do.'

'I thought I did,' Carol said. 'I really thought I did. Now, I don't know.'

'You do know, Carol,' I said. 'You know he loves you. And you know he'd never do anything to hurt you or me or Joh

'Then why take the case?' Carol said. 'For God's sake, he even went in and asked for it. What the hell kind of friend is that?'

'The best kind,' I said. 'The kind who will throw whatever he has away, just to help his friends. The kind who never forgets who he is and what he is. The kind who's crazy enough to think he can get away with what he's trying to do.'

'What are you telling me, Shakes?' Carol asked. 'You've lived in this neighborhood a long time, Carol. Long enough to know that everything is a shakedown or a scam. Why should this be any different?'

'I'll go get us another beer,' Carol said, walking back into the kitchen. By now, Bob Seger was singing 'Against the Wind'. 'You want a sandwich with it?'

'You got any fresh mozzarella and basil?' I asked,

'How about a couple of slices of old ham on stale bread?'

'With mustard?'

'Mayo,' Carol said.

'You got me,' I said.

We ate our sandwiches, drank our beer and listened to music, the two of us relaxed in each other's company and lost in the valleys of our own thoughts. After many moments had passed, I asked her why she had stopped dating Michael.

'It just happened,' Carol said. 'He was living in Queens, working and going to school. I was here and doing the same. We'd go weeks without seeing each other. After a while, it was easier to let it go.'

'You still love him?'

'I don't think about it, Shakes,' Carol said. 'If I did, I'd say yes. But Michael needed to get away from Hell's Kitchen. Get away from the people in it. I was one of those people.'

'And you're with John now,' I said.

'As much as anybody can be with John,' Carol said. 'The man I know is not the boy you remember. But there's something special about John. You just have to look harder to see it.'

'You visit him?'

'Once a week,' Carol said. 'For about an hour.'

'Good,' I said. 'Keep that up. Just don't tell him you see me. In fact, don't tell him anything. The more it looks hopeless to him the better this might work.'

'Why not tell him?' Carol said. 'Might make things easier.'

'He'll put on a tougher act in court if he thinks he's cornered,' I said. 'I want that little baby face of his looking straight at the jury and I don't want it to look happy.'

'Why didn't you ever ask me out?' Carol said, a thin hand ru

'You were Mikey's girl,' I said. 'He got to you first.'

'And after Mikey?' she said, her face shiny and clear.

'I never thought you'd say yes,' I said.

'Well, you were wrong, Shakes,' Carol said.

'Will you say yes to me now?' I said, holding her hand in mine. 'No matter what I ask?'

Carol leaned over and put both arms around me and rested her head against my neck.

'Yes,' she whispered. 'What do you want me to do?'

'Break the law,' I said.