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I hesitated. Then I said, "No, I don't reckon that would be so smart. There's nothing to be gained by that… Does Bob know about this?"
"Why bother him? There's nothing he can do."
"Well, I just wondered if we should ask him-if it would be all right for me to-"
"Be all right?" He frowned. "Why wouldn't it be all right?… Oh, I know how you feel, Lou. He's just a kid; you know him. But he's a murderer, Lou, and a damned cold-blooded one. Keep that in your mind. Think of how that poor damned woman must have felt while he was beating her face in. You saw her. You saw what her face looked like. Stew meat, hamburger-"
"Don't," I said. "For Christ's sake!"
"Sure, Lou, sure." He dropped an arm around my shoulders. "I'm sorry. I keep forgetting that you've never become hardened to this stuff. Well?"
"Well," I said. "I guess I'd better get it over with."
I walked downstairs to the basement, the jail. The turnkey let me through the gate and closed it again; and we went down past the bullpen and the regular cells to a heavy steel door. There was a small port or peephole in it, and I peered through it. But I couldn't see anything. You couldn't keep a light globe in the place, no matter what kind of guard you put over it; and the basement window, which was two-thirds below the surface of the ground, didn't let in much natural light.
"Want to borrow a flash, Lou?"
"I guess not," I said. "I can see all I need to."
He opened the door a few inches, and I slid inside, and he slammed it behind me. I stood with my back to it a moment, blinking, and there was a squeak and a scrape, and a shadow rose up and faltered toward me.
He fell into my arms, and I held him there, patting him on the back, comforting him.
"It's all right, Joh
"J-jesus, Lou. Jesus Jesus Ca-Christ. I knew-I kn-new you'd come, they'd send for you. But it was so long, so long and I began to think maybe-maybe-you'd-"
"You know me better'n that, Joh
"S-sure." He drew a long breath, and let it out slowly; like a man that's made land after a hard swim. "You got a cigarette, Lou? These dirty bastards took all my-"
"Now, now," I said. "They were just doing their duty, Joh
We sat down side by side on the bolted-down bunk, and I held a match for our cigars. I shook the match out, and he puffed and I puffed, and the glow came and went from our faces.
"This is going to burn the old man up." He laughed jerkily. "I guess-He'll have to know, won't he?"
"Yes," I said. "I'm afraid he'll have to know, Joh
"How soon can I leave?"
"Very soon. It won't be long now," I said. "Where were you Sunday night?"
"To a picture show." He drew hard on his cigar, and I could see his jaw begi
"You know what I mean, Joh
"Well"-puff, puff-"I don't see what that's got to do with this. I don't ask you"-puff-"where you-"
"You can," I said. "I intend to tell you. I guess maybe you don't know me as well as I thought you did, Joh
"Aw, hell, Lou," he said, shamed. "You know how I feel about you, but-All right, I'd probably tell you sooner or later anyway. It was"-puff-"here's the way it was, Lou. I told the old man I had this hot date Wednesday, see, but I was afraid of my tires, and I could pick up a couple good ones cheap an' hand him back something each week until I got 'em paid for. And-"
"Let me sort that out," I said. "You needed tires for your hot rod and you tried to borrow the money from your father?"
"Sure! Just like I said. And you know what he says, Lou? He tells me I don't need tires, that I gad around too much. He says I should bring this babe to the house and Mom'll make some ice cream, an' we'll all play cards or somethin'! For Christ's sake!" He shook his head bewilderedly. "How stupid can a person get?"
I laughed gently. "You got your two tires anyway, then?" I said. "You stripped a couple off a parked car?"
"Well-uh-to tell the truth, Lou, I took four. I wasn't meaning to but I knew where I could turn a couple real quick, an'-well-"
"Sure," I said. "This gal was kind of hard to get, and you wanted to be sure of getting over with her. A really hot babe, huh?"
"Mmmmph-umph! Wow! You know what I mean, Lou. One of those gals that makes you want to take your shoes off and wade around in her."
I laughed again, and he laughed. Then it was somehow awfully silent, and he shifted uneasily.
"I know who owned the car, Lou. Soon as I get squared away a little I'll send him the money for those tires."
"That's all right," I said. "Don't worry about it."
"Are we-uh-can I-?"
"In just a little," I said. "You'll be leaving in a few minutes, Joh
"Boy, will I be glad to be out of here! Gosh, Lou, I don't know how people stand it! It'd drive me crazy."
"It'd drive anyone crazy," I said. "It does drive them crazy… Maybe you'd better lie down a while, Joh
"But"-he turned slowly and tried to look at me, to see my face.
"You'd better do that," I said. "The air gets kind of bad with both of us sitting up."
"Oh," he said. "Yeah." And he lay down. He sighed deeply. "Say, this feels pretty good. Ain't it fu
"Yes," I said. "It makes a lot of difference, and-That's that. You didn't tell 'em you got that twenty from me, Joh
"Hell, no! What do you think I am, anyway? Piss on those guys."
"Why not?" I said. "Why didn't you tell them?"
"Well, uh"-the hard boards of the bunk squeaked- "well, I figured-oh, you know, Lou. Elmer got around in some kind of fu
"I see," I said. "I don't take bribes, Joh
"Who said anything about bribes?" I could feel him shrug. "Who said anything? I just wasn't going to let 'em hit you cold with it until you figured out a-until you remembered where you found it."
I didn't say anything for a minute. I just sat there thinking about him, this kid that everyone said was no good, and a few other people I knew. Finally I said, "I wish you hadn't done it, Joh
"You mean they'll be sore?" He grunted. "To hell with 'em. They don't mean anything to me, but you're a square joe."
"Am I?" I said. "How do you know I am, Joh
He chuckled and dropped his cigar butt to the floor. "Gosh, Lou. I sure enjoy hearing you talk-I've never heard you talk that way before-but it's getting kind of late and-"
"Yeah, Joh