“Over there. Pull over there”, I said as I motioned to the phone terminal under the El track. As I fished out a calling card, I could hear a rumble from above and knew a train was coming. I shouldn’t need long to make the call and would probably be clear before it got here. The shower those things throw off is a bitch to get caught in.
I inserted the phone card and typed in the access code and comcode number before picking up the receiver. It rang twice before a deep voice answered. I raised my collar to the mist.
“Uh-huh. You got thuh Axeman.”
“I checked you out and you got the job.” There was a hesitation and I figured he recognized my voice.
“What kinda job?”
“One that we already talked about.”
“You got the cash?”
“Yeah. Where do we meet?”
Since neither of us thought it would be a good idea for me to push my luck with the Johannas, he rattled off an address and we set a time a few hours away. I could make it without a lot of effort. If Macy survived a couple days with the route I gave her, he should be able to correct the problem.
I heard the rattle and scraping above and realized that I was wrong on my time before the train got close. I tucked my head and pulled my collar up higher and turned before it hit. With a scream like a banshee, it roared overhead and tossed black water in an arc. A sheer of wind and of water came down on me and soaked my overcoat. At least I had warning this time and had enough sense to keep my mouth and eyes closed.
Maab had trotted up behind me and took the deluge face first. She looked like a wet rat and gagged up the water. I tried not to laugh and she glared at me for a moment between wiping her eyes. Times like this, you can be sure that she wasn’t from around here.
“Didn’t your mother teach you not to look up?”
For a few moments, she could talk again and laughed with a hoarse voice. It was a poor attempt to mask the embarrassment but laughing probably eased the bruise to her ego. She ran her hands through her hair and flipped the water free. Once she had wiped enough of the grime out of her hair, her attention turned back to me.
“I was going to bring this to you!” she said, gesturing with a cheap umbrella.
“What and have me look like an uptowner? Thanks anyway.”
She paused for a moment then got a gleam in her eyes. “So how’s it feel? Being a top dog now?”
“Good, but it’ll feel better in a few days.”
“Hmm. Was that call to take care of Macy?”
“Didn’t I tell you that you should mind your own business?”
“Yeah, but I don’t listen too well.”
“You probably have grime in your ears. Lets get back to the truck.”
“Wait a sec“ she said and stepped close. She slipped her hands under my collar and kissed me warmly. I returned it but felt self-conscious. When she pulled back, her eyes were warm and deep.
“That’s a congratulations” she said and smiled.
“Thanks”. My mouth was warm and tingling, so speaking wasn’t that easy. Besides the blood was flowing to other areas that had taken priority over my brain. I needed to get clear before I really made a mistake.
“We need to go” I said and started to walk, but she held on and I stopped to look at her again.
“I think we ought to talk later. About us.” she said. She put stress on the “Us” and I knew what she meant. There were only two problems: one is that there wasn’t an “Us” and two, I didn’t believe either of us was capable of any real honesty. I wouldn’t trust her, no matter how much my hormones raged. I knew that I never trust anyone completely.
“Later. Right now we have to go.” I said and moved back. Something in the back of my mind kept telling me that I was being played, but the thought of losing my loneliness was making me edgy. That damn romantic side was kicking up again. With a little distance, I could probably think better.
Two and a half hours later, I was getting soaked under the side eave of a strip club a few blocks west of Paradise street. This was the sort of club that Chaz used to hit before he became famous and gave up the hard life. Its kind rings the higher class clubs like scar tissue around a wound and survives mostly on the runoff customer business. There wasn’t much of a Slop presence here and it felt like a good place to meet. Axeman was late, but I wasn’t overly concerned.
About half an hour later, he swaggered out of the back of the club to meet me. I almost didn’t recognize him without the cannon in his hands, but the gesture of unzipping his mask so he could talk removed any doubt. He probably was one of those lonely children who played too much with action figures. It would explain the corny act, but I didn’t think that could explain the rest of Prop culture. They’re almost as screwed up as Slops if you think about it.
When he stopped in front of me, I was aware again of how big he was and that coming alone could have been a mistake, but he was here for a job. He accepted the package like a kid with a new TV guide and thumbed through the pictures of Macy, the truck, and the rough map of her new route. I waited for any questions, but it must not have mattered how I got the stuff.
“No one walks away from the truck, ok?”
“Uh-huh. Metal motherfuckin’ rain and leaking scrap metal by tomorrow night. No problem.”
I left him and headed back to the truck, anxious to see what happened. I knew that I Macy would probably try something soon and I wanted to drop a ten ton elephant on her first. I never realized that her elephant was already falling.
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