The skin Gods jbakb-2

by Richard Montanari

  "All my clothes are big. It works out well."

  She smiled. "What's your name?" she asked, having to shout over the music. A new dancer was up, a chunky Latina in a strawberry-red teddy and maroon pumps. She danced to an old-school song by the Gap Band.

  "Denny."

  She nodded, as if he had just given her a tip on her taxes. "My name's Lucky. Nice to meet you, Denny."

  She said Denny with an emphasis that told Byrne she knew it was not his real name, and, at the same time, that she didn't care. Nobody at the Tick Tock had a real name.

  "Nice to meet you," Byrne replied.

  "Whatcha up to tonight?"

  "Actually, I'm looking for an old friend of mine," Byrne said. "He used to come here all the time."

  "Oh yeah? What's his name?"

  "His name is Julian Matisse. Know him?"

  "Julian? Yeah, I know him."

  "Know where I can find him?"

  "Yeah, sure," she said. "I can take you right to him."

  "Right now?"

  The girl looked around the room. "Gimme a minute."

  "Sure."

  Lucky made her way across the room, over to where Byrne figured the offices were. He caught Victoria's eye and gave her a nod. After a few minutes, Lucky returned. She had her purse over her shoulder.

  "Ready to go?" she asked.

  "Sure."

  "I generally don't provide such services for free, ya know," she said with a wink. "Gal's gotta make a living."

  Byrne reached into his pocket. He pulled out a hundred-dollar bill, tore it in half. He handed one half to Lucky. He didn't have to explain. She grabbed the half, smiled and took him by the hand, said: "Told ya I was Lucky."

  As they headed to the door, Byrne caught Victoria's eye again. He held up five fingers.

  They walked a block to a crumbling corner building, the type of structure that was known in Philly as a Father, Son and Holy Ghost-a three-story row house. Some called it a trinity. Lights burned in a few of the windows. They walked down the side street and around back. They entered the row house and walked up the rickety stairs. The pain in Byrne's back and legs was excruciating.

  At the top of the stairs, Lucky pushed open the door, entered. Byrne followed.

  The apartment was crackhead-filthy. Stacks of newspapers and old magazines lined the corners. It smelled like rotting dog food. A broken pipe in the bathroom or kitchen had left a damp, briny odor throughout the space, warping the old linoleum, decaying the baseboards. There were half a dozen scented candles burning throughout, but they did little to mask the stench. From somewhere nearby a rap song played.

  They walked to the front room.

  "He's in the bedroom," Lucky said.

  Byrne turned toward the door to which she was pointing. He glanced back, saw the infinitesimal tic on the girl's face, heard the creak of the floorboard, caught the flickering reflection in the window overlooking the street.

  As far as he could tell, there was just one coming.

  Byrne timed the impact, silently counting down as the heavy footsteps approached. He sidestepped at the last second. The guy was big, broad- shouldered, young. He slammed into the plaster. When he recovered, he turned, dazed, came at Byrne again. Byrne planted his feet and brought the cane up and out with all his strength. It caught the guy in the throat. A clot of blood and mucus flew out of his mouth. The guy tried to regain his balance. Byrne hit him again, this time low, just below the knee. He screamed once, then folded to the floor, scrambling to get something out of his waistband. It was a Buck knife in a canvas sheath. Byrne stepped on the man's hand with one foot, kicked the knife across the room with the other.

  The man was not Julian Matisse. It had been a setup, a classic ambush. Byrne had all but known that it would be, but if word just happened to spread that a guy named Denny was looking for someone, and that you fucked with him at your own peril, it might make the rest of the night and the next few days move a little more smoothly.

  Byrne looked at the man on the floor. He was clutching his throat, gasping for air. Byrne turned to the girl. She was shaking, backing slowly toward the door.

  "He… he made me do it," she said. "He hurts me." She pushed up her sleeves, revealing black-and-blue bruises on her arms.

  Byrne had been in this business a long time, and he knew who was telling the truth and who wasn't. Lucky was just a kid, not a day over twenty. Guys like this guy preyed on girls like her all the time. Byrne rolled the guy over, reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, took his driver's license. His name was Gregory Wahl. Byrne rummaged his other pockets and found a thick roll of cash in a rubber band-maybe a grand. He peeled off a hundred, pocketed it, then tossed the money to the girl.

  "You're… fuckin'… dead," Wahl managed.

  Byrne pulled up his own shirt, revealing the butt of the Glock. "We can end this right now if you like, Greg."

  Wahl continued to stare at him, but the threat was gone from his face.

  "No? Don't want to play anymore? Didn't think so. Look at the floor," Byrne said. The man complied. Byrne turned his attention to the girl. "Leave town. Tonight."

  Lucky looked side-to-side, unable to move. She had noticed the gun, too. Byrne saw that the roll of cash had already been spirited away. "What?"

  "Run."

  Fear flashed in her eyes. "But if I do, how do I know you won't-"

  "This is a one-time-only offer, Lucky. Good for another five seconds."

  She ran. Amazing what women can do in high heels when they have to, Byrne thought. In a few seconds he heard her footsteps on the stairs. Then he heard the back door slam.

  Byrne knelt down. For the moment, the adrenaline negated any pain he may have felt in his back and legs. He grabbed Wahl by the hair and pulled his head up. "If I ever see you again this will seem like a good time. In fact, if I even hear about a businessman getting rolled down here in the next few years I'm going to assume it was you." Byrne held the driver's license in front of his face. "I'm going to take this with me as a memento of our special time together."

  He stood up, grabbed his cane. He drew his weapon. "I'm going to look around. You are not going to move an inch. Hear me?"

  Wahl remained defiantly silent. Byrne took the Glock, put the barrel against the man's right knee. "You like hospital food, Greg?"

  "Okay, okay."

  Byrne walked across the front room, edged open the doors to the bathroom and bedroom. The windows were wide open in the bedroom. Someone had been in there. A cigarette burned in an ashtray. But now the room was empty. BYRNE RETURNED TO the Tick Tock. Victoria was standing near the ladies' room, chewing on a fingernail. He made his way over. The music was pounding.

  "What happened?" Victoria asked.

  "Nothing," Byrne said. "Let's go."

  "Did you find him?"

  "No," he said.

  Victoria gave him the eye. "Something happened. Tell me, Kevin."

  Byrne took her by the hand. He led her toward the door.

  "Let's just say I hit the Wahl." THE X BAR was in the basement of an old furniture depot on Erie Avenue. A tall black man in a yellowing white linen suit stood at the door. He wore a Panama hat and red patent-leather shoes, a dozen or so gold bangle bracelets on his right wrist. Two doorways west, partially shadowed, stood a shorter but far more muscular man-shaved head, sparrow tats on his massive arms.

  The cover charge was twenty-five dollars each. They paid a pretty young woman in a pink leather fetish dress just inside the door. She slipped the money through a metal slot in the wall behind her.

  They entered and went down a long, narrow staircase to an even longer hallway. The walls were painted a glossy raspberry enamel. The thumping rhythm of a disco song got louder as they neared the end of the corridor.

  The X Bar was one of the few hard-core S amp;M clubs left in Philadelphia, a throwback to the hedonistic 1970s, a pre-AIDS world in which anything went.

  Before they made the turn into the main room, they en
countered a niche built into the wall, a deep alcove in which a woman sat on a chair. She was middle-aged, white. She wore a leather master mask. At first, Byrne wasn't sure if she was real or not. The skin on her arms and thighs looked waxen, and she sat absolutely still. When a pair of men approached, the woman stood up. One of the men wore a full-torso straitjacket and a dog collar attached to a leash. The other man roughly yanked him to the woman's feet. The woman took out a riding crop and lightly flailed the one in the straitjacket. Soon he began to cry.

  As Byrne and Victoria made their way across the main room, Byrne saw that half the people were in S amp;M costumes: leather and chains, spikes, catsuits. The other half were the curious, the hangers-on, the parasites on the lifestyle. At the far end was a small stage with a lone spotlight on a wooden chair. No one was on the stage at the moment.

  Byrne walked behind Victoria. He watched the reactions she aroused. The men immediately spotted her: her sexy figure, the smooth confident gait, that mane of black shiny hair. When they saw her face they did a double take.

  But in this place, in this lighting, she was exotica. All styles were served here.

  They made their way to the back bar, where a bartender was wiping down the mahogany. He wore a leather vest, no shirt, a studded collar. He had greasy brown hair, swept back from his forehead, a deep widow's peak. Each forearm held an elaborate spider tattoo. At the last second, the man looked up. He saw Victoria and smiled a mouthful of yellow teeth, topped by grayish gums.

  "Hey, baby," he said.

  "How are you?" Victoria replied. She slipped onto the last stool.

  The man leaned over and kissed her hand. "Never better," he replied.

  The bartender looked over her shoulder, saw Byrne, and his smile quickly faded. Byrne held his gaze until the man looked away. Byrne then glanced behind the bar. Next to the shelves of liquor were racks of books appealing to the BDSM culture-leather sex, fisting, tickling, slave training, spanking.

  "The place is crowded," Victoria said.

  "You should see it on Saturday nights," the man replied.

  I'll pass, Byrne thought.

  "This is a good friend of mine," Victoria said to the bartender. "Denny Riley."

  The man was forced to officially acknowledge Byrne's presence. Byrne shook hands with him. They had met before, but the man at the bar didn't remember. His name was Darryl Porter. Byrne had been there the night Porter had been busted for procuring and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The bust came at a party in Northern Liberties where a group of underaged girls were found partying with a pair of Nigerian businessmen. Some of the girls were as young as twelve. Porter, if Byrne remembered correctly, had done only a year or so on a plea bargain. Darryl Porter was a chicken hawk. For this and many other reasons, Byrne wanted to wash his hand.

  "So what brings you to our little slice of heaven?" Porter asked. He poured a glass of white wine and set it in front of Victoria. He didn't even ask Byrne.

  "I'm looking for an old friend," Victoria said.

  "Who would that be?"

  "Julian Matisse."

  Darryl Porter furrowed his brow. Either he was a good actor or he didn't know, Byrne thought. He watched the man's eyes. Then-a flicker? Definitely.

  "Julian's in jail. Greene, last I heard."

  Victoria sipped her wine, shook her head. "He's out."

  Darryl Porter mugged, wiped down the bar. "First I'm hearing of it. I thought he was pulling the whole train."

  "He's out on some kind of technicality, I think."

  "Julian's good people," Porter said. "We go back."

  Byrne wanted to jump across the bar. Instead he glanced to his right. A short, bald man was sitting on the stool next to Victoria. The man was meekly giving Byrne the eye. He wore a Campfire Girl outfit.

  Byrne turned his attention back to Darryl Porter. Porter filled a few drink orders, returned, leaned over the bar, whispered something in Victoria's ear, keeping eye contact with Byrne the whole time. Men and their fucking power trips, Byrne thought.

  Victoria laughed, tossed her hair over a shoulder. It made Byrne's stomach flip to think she would in any way be flattered by the attentions of someone like Darryl Porter. She was so much more than that. Maybe she was just playing her part. Maybe it was jealousy on his part.

  "We've got to run," Victoria said.

  "Okay, babe. I'll ask around. If I hear anything, I'll call you," Porter said.

  Victoria nodded. "Cool."

  "Where can I reach you?" he asked.

  "I'll call you tomorrow."

  Victoria dropped a ten on the bar. Porter folded it up and handed it back to her. She smiled, slipped off her stool. Porter smiled back, went back to wiping down the bar. He didn't look at Byrne again.

  On stage, a pair of women in blindfolds and gag ball trainers knelt before a huge black man in a leather mask.

  The man held a thong whip.

  Byrne and Victoria stepped out in the humid night air, no closer to finding Julian Matisse than they had been at the beginning of the night. After the madness of the X Bar, the city was shockingly still and quiet. It even smelled clean.

  It was nearly four o'clock.

  On the way to the car, they rounded a corner and saw two kids: young black boys, maybe eight and ten years old, patched jeans, ratty sneaks. They sat on a row house stoop behind a box full of mixed-breed puppies. Victoria looked over at Byrne, lower lip out, eyebrows aloft.

  "No, no, no," Byrne said. "Unh-unh. No way."

  "You should have a puppy, Kevin."

  "Not me."

  "Why not?"

  "Tori," Byrne said. "I have enough trouble taking care of myself."

  She gave him a puppy look of her own then knelt down next to the box and surveyed the small sea of furry faces. She grabbed one of the dogs, stood, and held him up in the streetlight, like a chalice.

  Byrne leaned against the brick wall, propped his cane. He took the dog. The puppy's rear legs freewheeled in the air as it began to lick his face.

  "He likes you, man," the younger kid said. He was obviously the Donald Trump of this organization.

  As far as Byrne could tell, the puppy was a shepherd-collie mix, another child of the night. "If I were interested in buying this dog-and I'm not saying I am-how much would you want for it?" he asked.

  "Fiddy dollars," the kid said.

  Byrne looked at the handmade sign on the front of the cardboard box. "It says twenty dollars on the box."

  "That's a five."

  "That's a two."

  The kid shook his head. He stepped in front of the box, obscuring Byrne's view. "Nunh-unh. These is thorobed dogs."

  "Thorobeds?"

  "Yeah."

  "You sure?"

  "Most def."

  "What kind are they exactly?"

  "They Philadelphia pit bulls."

  Byrne had to smile. "Is that right?"

  "No doubt," the kid said.

  "I've never heard of that breed."

  "They the best, man. They do they bidness outside, they guard the house, they don't eat that much." The kid smiled. Killer charm. He was headed all the way in one direction or the other.

  Byrne glanced at Victoria. He was starting to soften. Slightly. He tried his best to conceal it.

  Byrne slipped the puppy back into the box. He looked at the boys. "Isn't it a little late for you guys to be out?"

  "Late? Nah, man. It's early. We up early. We businessmen."

  "All right," Byrne said. "You guys stay out of trouble." Victoria took his arm as they turned and walked away.

  "Don't you want the dog?" the kid asked.

  "Not tonight," Byrne said.

  "Forty for you," the kid said.

  "I'll let you know tomorrow."

  "They might be gone tomorrow."

  "Me, too," Byrne said.

  The kid shrugged. And why not?

  He had a thousand years to go.

  When they reached Victoria's car on Thirteenth S
treet, they saw a van across the street being vandalized. Three teenaged boys broke the driver's window with a brick, setting off the alarm. One of them reached in, grabbed whatever was on the front seat. It looked like a pair of thirty- five-millimeter cameras. When the kids spotted Byrne and Victoria, they took off down the street. In a second they were gone.

  Byrne and Victoria shared a glance, a shake of the head. "Hang on," Byrne said. "I'll be right back."

  He crossed the street, turned 360, making sure he was not being observed, and, after wiping it down with his shirttail, dropped Gregory Wahl's driver's license into the burglarized vehicle.

  Victoria Lindstrom lived in a small apartment in the Fishtown section. It was decorated in a very feminine style: French provincial furniture, gauzy scarves on the lamps, floral wallpaper. Everywhere he looked he saw an afghan or a knitted throw. Byrne envisioned many a night when Victoria sat here alone, needles in hand, a glass of Chardonnay at her side. Byrne also noted that, with every light on, it was still dim. All the lamps had low-watt bulbs. He understood.

  "Would you like a drink?" she asked.

  "Sure."

  She poured him three inches of bourbon, handed him the glass. He sat on the arm of her couch.

  "We try again tomorrow night," Victoria said.

  "I really appreciate this, Tori."

  Victoria waved him off. Byrne read a lot in the wave. Victoria had a stake in getting Julian Matisse off the street again. Or, perhaps, off the world.

  Byrne gulped half the bourbon. Almost instantly it met the Vicodin in his system and produced a warm glow inside. He had held off drinking alcohol all night for that very reason. He glanced at his watch. It was time to go. He had taken more than enough of Victoria's time.

  Victoria walked him to the door.

  At the door, she put her arms around his waist, her head on his chest. She had kicked off her shoes and, without them, she seemed small. Byrne had never really realized how petite she was. Her spirit always made her seem larger than life.

  After a few moments, she looked up at him, her silver eyes nearly black in the dim light. What began as an affectionate hug and a kiss on the cheek, the parting of two old friends, suddenly became something else. Victoria pulled him close and kissed him deeply. Afterward, they pulled back and looked at each other, not so much out of lust as, perhaps, surprise. Had this always been in them? Had this feeling been simmering just below the surface for fifteen years? The look on Victoria's face told Byrne he wasn't going anywhere.