The Soft Centre

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Moe had remained in the cupboard recess at Fris-Fris’ bar until nine o’clock. In the meantime, Fris-Fris had alerted the boys along the waterfront to report on the activities of the police.

A telephone call at a few minutes to nine assured Fris-Fris the search for Moe had moved on and the immediate district was now clear of police.

He hurried to let Moe out of his hiding place.?‘They’ve gone for the moment,’ he said as he led Moe into a back room furnished only with a table and four chairs. ‘So what are you going to do now?’

During the time Moe had been shut up in the darkness he had grieved for Jacko’s loss. His grief had been devastating and genuine. He had adored Jacko. Now life without him was as empty to Moe as a hole in a wall. He just could not imagine what he would do with himself without Jacko. It was as if a shutter had slammed shut, cutting off his future existence. The five thousand dollars he had taken from Hardy’s penthouse meant nothing to him. What was money without Jacko?

Fris-Fris watched him anxiously. He had never seen Moe like this before: uncertain, his face haggard, his eyes sightless.

‘Moe! Baby! What’s the matter?’ Fris-Fris asked nervously. ‘You must think of yourself now. I could get you on a ship. There’s one sailing tonight for Jamaica. You have money, haven’t you?’

Moe sat on one of the chairs. He put the brief-case containing the five thousand dollars on the table. He stared across the room without apparently hearing what Fris-Fris had said.

‘Baby! Come on!’ Fris-Fris urged. ‘They could come back. They knew you and me know each other. We must make a plan.’

Moe suddenly snapped out of his mood. He stiffened, and the blank expression in his eyes changed to a murderous burning hate.

‘I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to get that slob who killed Jacko!’ Fris-Fris flinched.?‘You’re crazy! You must get away I Forget Hardy! You must think of yourself!’ ‘I’m going to fix that slob. I don’t care what happens to me so long as I fix him.’ Fris-Fris wrung his fat hands.

‘We’ll fix him, baby. The boys will take care of him. Every cop in town is hunting for you. You get on this ship. I’ll arrange everything. You don’t have to think of Hardy. The boys will take care of him.’

‘No one’s taking care of him but me!’ Moe shouted, hammering the table with his fists. ‘Anyone who touches that slob is in trouble with me!’

Fris-Fris lifted his hands helplessly.?‘All right, baby, but you will never get him. The heat right now is terrible. Every cop…’ ‘Oh. wrap up! Get me a change of clothes - something dark and snap it up!’

Fris-Fris had a sudden idea. He was desperately anxious that Moe should escape. His black face lit up.

‘I have a girl’s outfit here, baby. It would fit you. How’s about it? I have a bce-hive wig too. I’ll get you up so your own mother wouldn’t know you.’

Moe stared, then nodded.?‘Now you’re talking,’ he said.

Forty-five minutes later, a slim Jamaican girl, her black bee-hive hair like a helmet, her blue and yellow dress caught tight at her waist, her bare feet in yellow sandals, walked out of Fris-Fris’ bar and along the waterfront.

She was carrying a large yellow and blue handbag: in the bag was a .38 automatic.?*****

Gina and Hardy lay on the big double bed. Hardy was a little drunk. They had just made explosive love, and now Hardy wanted to sleep, but Gina was restless and uneasy.

‘Let’s talk,’ she said, stretching her beautiful naked body the way a cat stretches. ‘Lee! I’m worried sick. They can’t do anything to you, can they, for killing that fat beast?’

‘No,’ Hardy said. ‘It’s routine stuff. Harry will take care of it. Don’t keep on about it. It was self-defence. Now, relax, can’t you? Let’s sleep.’

But it’s not ten yet.’ Gina said. ‘How can I sleep? Let’s go somewhere. Let’s go to the

Coral Club.’?Hardy opened his eyes and peered at her.?‘If you imagine I’m going out while that black thug is still loose, you’re nuts,’ he said.

Gina’s eyes opened wide.?‘You mean he might do something to you?’?‘What the hell do you think we have a cop outside the front door for?’ Hardy asked impatiently. ‘What the hell do you think we have two cops planted in the lobby downstairs for? They think he’ll come up here after me. He and Jacko were husband and wife.’ He sat up abruptly. ‘I wish to God I hadn’t shot that fat ape. I don’t know why I did it.’

‘But suppose they don’t find him?’ Gina asked, also sitting up, her eyes alarmed. ‘You mean we have to stay here until he is caught?’

‘Yeah. I’m not going out until they do get him, and they will. Every cop in town is after him.’

Gina got off the bed and walked across the room to where her wrap lay on the floor. Hardy studied her nakedness as she moved and as she bent to pick up the wrap. He had known more women than he could hope to remember. Not one of them excited him as Gina excited him.

‘Get me a drink,’ he said, lying back on the pillow.