Twisted City

Ke

I didn't bother answering.

"I made up a will," he went on. "I paid a lawyer to do it, so it's real official and everything. When I die an envelope gets opened. I wrote out the whole thing how I saw you kill Ricky, how you said you'd kill me if I went to the cops. I got copies of the pictures in there too, with your name and everything. So you see how you can't win, Davey boy. You better hope I live a long life, because when I die you go to jail. Until then, you gotta do whatever the fuck I tell you to do. I don't know if you knew this, but there's no statute of limitations on murder. I could die thirty years from now and they'd still put you away."

I looked at Ke

Ke

"It was an accident," I said. "He was coming after me»

"I did some research," Ke

The book says an associate editor takes in thirty-five to seventy-five a year. So I figure you're probably making fifty a year now, give or take. After Uncle Sam, you probably take home about two grand a month.

I don't want you to go broke that won't help me any. What I'm go

"My rent's sixteen-fifty a month," I said.

"That's your problem, not mine," Ke

"What if I lose my job?" I said.

"I guess you'll have to find another one. But first just to get us started I want that twenty grand."

"I don't have twenty grand."

"Get it."

"I can't get it. I have nowhere to get it from."

"You must got retirement money, a 401 (k) or some shit like that."

Last time I checked, I had about fifty thousand dollars in my 401(k), and I also had a Roth IRA with about fifteen grand.

"Sorry," I said. "I got wiped out when the market crashed."

"You must got something in it."

"Maybe a couple grand."

"Take it out and give it to me."

"I can't. There're forms to fill out paperwork. It could take a few days to get the money, and I'll have penalties and»

"Look, I don't wa

Ke

"Tonight," he said, "ten o'clock Tompkins Square Park."

"I can't tonight," I said.

"Yes, you can," he said. "You know, it's kind of 4 don't know the word fu

Ke

I didn't move for a while, and then I called Angie at home and left a message on her machine, canceling our date tonight. I told her that there had been an emergency with my aunt and I had to go to Long Island for the weekend. I didn't know how I'd come up with Ke

With the rest of the money Aunt Helen had lent me and the paycheck that had been direct-deposited into my bank account this morning, I could scrape up the money for the first two grand. After that, unless I drained my retirement accounts, I was in trouble. I'd have to live on Kraft macaroni and cheese and Ramen noodles, and I'd probably have to work nights and weekends.

Since I didn't have to meet Ke

A couple of people in Production stayed until around seven, and then I had the office to myself; the only sounds were the hum of the air-conditioning system and an occasional horn or siren from Broadway.

I didn't feel like sitting around doing nothing, so I wrote a final draft of my article on Prime Net Solutions. Earlier in the article I'd mentioned how Prime Net had been the major sponsor of a sailing competition, so, continuing with the metaphor, I wrote:

Prime Net has weathered a great storm, and if the company stays on its current course, and market winds remain steady, the future for this DSL firm will be full of blue skies and clear sailing.

When I finished the article, I did some editing, then left my office at about nine-fifteen.

The businessmen who cluttered the midtown streets during the day had been replaced by tourists and teenagers. I went to an ATM, withdrew the rest of the money I needed from my bank account and by taking a cash advance on my Discover card, and then I took the subway downtown.

I arrived at the Avenue A entrance to Tompkins Square Park at five to ten. The park at night didn't seem nearly as spruced up as it did during the day. As I headed along the path toward the middle of the park, I passed groups of seedy-looking guys, obviously drug dealers, huddled around trees or benches. One ski

I passed the circular, courtyard-like area in the middle of the park, and kept going. On the bench where Ke

Two minutes later, Ke

"On time, I like that," he said. "This is how I want it to go every time, you get my drift? None of that waiting-around-for-you-to-show-up bullshit."

I'd been pla