Killing Them Softly

by George V. Higgins

  “Not particularly,” Steve said.

  “I never saw eyes on a guy like that,” Barry said, “I never saw eyes like that until after I hit them. The first time I saw that guy, I really thought: He’s gonna go over. But he doesn’t. It’s the way he always looks. Those’re bad eyes. He’s gonna die.”

  “We’re all gonna die,” Steve said. “Trattman’s gonna die.”

  “Yeah,” Barry said, “but not tonight, right Steve?”

  “I haven’t got no inside information,” Steve said. “I just got a job to do.”

  “Don’t gimme that,” Barry said, “I didn’t sign up for that. I want you to tell me, Trattman’s not gonna go to sleep tonight.”

  “Not by us,” Steve said.

  “Okay by me,” Barry said.

  “He didn’t say his prayers or something,” Steve said, “I can’t help that. But we’re not doing it.”

  “Okay,” Barry said. “I just wanna be sure.”

  “Just what I said,” Steve said. “Nothing else.”

  “Because I always liked Markie,” Barry said.

  “Everybody did,” Steve said. “You, you mostly liked the blonde.”

  “What blonde?” Barry said.

  “Oh come on,” Steve said, “the blonde he used to have at the One-Fifteen, remember her?”

  “That was the other game,” Barry said.

  “The game he knocked over himself,” Steve said.

  “We’re lucky, he didn’t have us there for that one,” Barry said. “I wouldn’t’ve wanted to be there for that.”

  “Oh for Christ sake,” Steve said, “sometimes you’re too fuckin’ dumb for fuckin’ words, you know that, Barry?”

  “Why?” Barry said. “The game got knocked over. We was there, we either would’ve hadda do something about it or else we would’ve been inna shit, we didn’t do something about it.”

  “Why the fuck you think he didn’t have us there?” Steve said.

  “That’s what I mean,” Barry said. “That was nice of the guy. He knows he’s gonna do something, he lets us out.”

  “You dumb fuckin’ shit,” Steve said. “I gotta have a talk with Ma. I know it now, she was fuckin’ the milkman. Maybe the milkman’s horse. You gotta be the dumbest fuckin’ shit on the face of the fuckin’ earth. You embarrass me, you know that? You stupid fuckin’ ginzo.”

  “He did,” Barry said.

  “You should’ve worn a helmet, Barry,” Steve said. “I mean that. I think you took too many shots inna head. Don’t you know why he let us out?”

  “He was being a nice guy,” Barry said.

  “He didn’t wanna pay us,” Steve said. “If we’re there, and we didn’t know, he would’ve had trouble. He didn’t want no trouble. He wanted money. He didn’t wanna share no dough with us. So he told us not to show up. He’s not nice. He’s just cheap. Just like everybody else. You dumb shit.”

  “I still liked the guy,” Barry said.

  “You liked the blonde,” Steve said. “Come on, Barry.”

  “He was married to that girl,” Barry said.

  “Jackie don’t think so,” Steve said. “Dillon, either. She was just something he had around.”

  “She was a nice girl,” Barry said. “I did like her.”

  “She hadda great big ass,” Steve said. “That’s all you think about, a great big ass.”

  “She did,” Barry said. “Still, not a bad girl at all. Nice bazooms. She was a good kid to talk to.”

  “Yeah,” Steve said, “right. Talk. Remember that night she come out there inna pink pants?”

  “Yeah,” Barry said.

  “You don’t,” Steve said. “Still, that was the biggest pink thing I ever saw.”

  “She was a nice girl,” Barry said.

  “You wanna be careful,” Steve said. “Some night I’ll get drunk and I’ll call Ginny up and tell her, you’re scoutin’ strange tail alla time.”

  “Steve,” Barry said, “you know …”

  “I know,” Steve said.

  “Ginny’s the best thing, ever happened to me,” Barry said. “I know, you’re always telling me, I’m a dumb shit. Okay, I’m a dumb shit. But I know some things. The times that girl, I couldn’t count them. You can kid around all you want. I don’t care if you are my brother. You know what? I get home tonight, don’t matter what time I get home tonight, it’s probably gonna be late, Ginny’ll be waiting up. We’ll have a beer and we’ll talk. Anybody gives Ginny a hard time, well, I’m maybe a little outa shape. But nobody better call Ginny and get her thinking something like that, or anything, that, especially that’s not true.”

  “Oh for Christ sake,” Steve said. “I was just hacking around.”

  “Not on that,” Barry said. “Ginny, Ginny’s sacred to me.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Steve said.

  “I mean that,” Barry said. “The rest of you guys, all right, you can think anything you want. But not me. Not me and Ginny.”

  “You mean to tell me,” Steve said, “Trattman’s pink broad, you didn’t fuck her?”

  “Nah,” Barry said. “I tell you, she was married to Trattman at the time. You don’t fuck somebody else’s wife. I wouldn’t do that.”

  “Jackie don’t think so,” Steve said.

  “Jackie don’t know, is what Jackie does,” Barry said. “She told me herself.”

  “You asked her,” Steve said.

  “I didn’t ask her if she was married,” Barry said.

  “Barry,” Steve said, “I’m ashamed of you. My own brother, and you asked somebody else’s girl to fuck.”

  “I did not,” Barry said.

  “I’m definitely gonna tell Ginny,” Steve said. “You’ll be lucky, you don’t get a mouthful of plates, you come in after this. You goddamned stud.”

  “I wasn’t married to Ginny then,” Barry said.

  “Barry,” Steve said, “you been married to Ginny since you’re twelve, you know that. You just didn’t get to church before, is all. Any time Ginny said: ‘Jump,’ all you ever said was: ‘How high?’ ”

  “I did not,” Barry said.

  “You did,” Steve said. “You give up boxing because Ginny didn’t want your face wrecked.”

  “No, I didn’t,” Barry said. “I give it up because I wasn’t no good.”

  “Who’s the light-heavy champ in Sixty-three?” Steve said.

  “All right, all right,” Barry said. “He wasn’t champ for long.”

  “Who was he?” Steve said. “I forget his name.”

  “When I fought him he hadda different name,” Barry said.

  “Yeah,” Steve said, “I remember. Tennessee Bobby Walker. Yeah. That’s the guy. How long’d you go with him?”

  “That was before,” Barry said.

  “Not much before,” Steve said. “Twelve and you TKO-ed him, and then fifteen and he splits you. And, who was that guy on the Ticonderoga?”

  “You remind me of Jackie,” Barry said.

  “I remind you of Ginny,” Steve said.

  “He was always at me, like you are,” Barry said. “That night Walker beat me? He was fulla fuckin’ shit, and I was hurt. That bastard cut me onna eye and he kept the laces in it all night.”

  “You did the same thing to him, the time before,” Steve said.

  “That didn’t make it feel better,” Barry said. “The only thing that bastard’s thinking about’s how much money he’s out. And I was hurt.”

  “You should’ve butted him,” Steve said.

  “I tried to,” Barry said. “Didn’t work. He had his head down too low. You know something? That’s the thing I liked about Markie. He never saw me fight. All you guys did.”

  “And we knew you quit because you’re chicken,” Steve said. “It’s all right.”

  “I wasn’t any good,” Barry said. “There’re guys that’re like that, you know.”

  “I know,” Steve said.

  “No you don’t,” Barry said. “You’re just like Jackie. I’m not gonna d
o this. I haven’t got nothing against Markie. I dunno why he didn’t stay married, the blonde.”

  “Barry,” Steve said, “they weren’t married. That was just something that went on a long time. She was letting you down easy. She didn’t wanna fuck you and she didn’t wanna hurt your feelings.”

  “No,” Barry said, “maybe, okay, but nothing Markie ever had, went on a long time. He’d just as soon get married as fuck around, he don’t care. He’s not a bad shit.”

  “No,” Steve said, “he’s not. He’s just an asshole when it comes to the broads.”

  “I still like him,” Barry said.

  “So do I,” Steve said. “I said that to Jackie. I, I don’t want to do this, you know? I really didn’t. Markie’s not a bad shit. I told him, I said: ‘Look, I used to work for the guy now and then. Me and Barry. Jeez, I don’t know. He always treated me all right.’ ”

  “Dillon was there too, wasn’t he?” Barry said.

  “Dillon was there,” Steve said. “White’s a fuckin’ sheet, he don’t use no breath to say nothin’, it’s probably his last. There’s dogs, I think, not as sick as Dillon.”

  “They’re both the same,” Barry said. “They’re both pricks.”

  “I don’t know,” Steve said.

  “I do,” Barry said. “I knew Jackie before I knew Dillon. I didn’t work for Dillon, after I worked, after I knew Jackie. Jackie didn’t have no work. They’re both the same.”

  “What difference it make?” Steve said.

  “You know Dillon,” Barry said.

  “Yeah,” Steve said.

  “You know Jackie,” Barry said.

  “Yeah,” Steve said.

  “You know the way Dillon looks now,” Barry said, “and it’s because he’s sick.”

  “He don’t look right,” Steve said.

  “Jackie always looked that way,” Barry said. “Always. He’s got the same eyes.”

  “Ahh,” Steve said.

  “I mean it,” Barry said. “I mean it. I did some things for that guy. When the fights’re on, and all, you know something? I bet that guy didn’t weigh one thirty then, and he wasn’t carrying nothing you could see, and you can see things, you know?”

  “Yeah,” Steve said.

  “A little shit,” Barry said. “He was always a little shit. And there was a lot of big guys around. And he had dough. And you know something? Nobody ever fucked with him. Nobody. Not officers, nobody. You know why? Because he looked the same way then that Dillon looks now. In the eyes. Like somebody hit him. Only he’s not hurt and he’s not going down. He’s just there. And nobody knew him from the next guy’s asshole, then. Now Dillon’s sick and he looks the same way. I don’t trust that guy.”

  “He’s all right,” Steve said.

  “He’s a mean little prick,” Barry said.

  “He doesn’t act like one,” Steve said. “He treated me all right. Any questions I had, he treated me all right.”

  “What’d you ask him?” Barry said. “What’d he say?”

  “I told him,” Steve said, “I said: ‘Look, I kind of like Markie.’ He said: ‘I know it. Everybody does. He’s a great guy. I told him once: “Markie, you ask girls to fuck, you don’t even want to fuck.” I said that to him.’ And you know what he says? Jackie said: ‘ “I’m staying in shape. Besides, how the fuck do I know, I don’t wanna fuck the girl, unless I fuck her? So I ask her, and she says, all right, I fuck her and then I know. After.’ ” I think, myself,” Steve said, “I think the guy’s afraid, there’s some broad some place inna world that’s gonna fuck, and he’ll die without asking her. That’s what Jackie said. ‘Guy gets more ass’n a toilet seat.’ ”

  “Well,” Barry said, “that’s him all right then. He’s got one with about a forty-inch setta boobs on her in there. He practically didn’t even get his coat off before he spotted her, and he was right next to her before I could even get a dime inna box to call you. He don’t waste any time.”

  “He’s been at it a long time,” Steve said. “You know that guy, except for when he first gets married, he goes out every fuckin’ night? Every night. When he gets married, for a little while he doesn’t. Then pretty soon, he does it again. So naturally, the broads he marries, there’s always something that tips them off, they’re all lizards themselves and he’s not home and they start figuring. But you imagine that? The guy’s close to fifty, and he’s, he’s not married, he’s never home. Never. You can say what you want about the guy, he is still one strong bastard.”

  “I hope he’s quick, too,” Barry said. “This fuckin’ dampness.”

  “He’ll be out,” Steve said. “All we got to do is be here and wait, just like whoever the broad is. Markie don’t waste no time. He knows what he’s doing. Half the gash went into that place, looking to get laid, they ended up inna rack with Markie. And he gives them what they’re looking for, too. They all, you know something? They don’t even know who he is.”

  “How come?” Barry said.

  “Onna one-night stand,” Steve said, “he don’t give his right name.”

  “Who’s he say he is?” Barry said.

  “Well,” Steve said, “he knows us, right? And he knows Dillon and he knows a lot of guys. And then there’s some guys he doesn’t know, some guys that, he just makes up their names. Depends on how he feels. So the thing is, there’s probably four, five broads, come in here or some place else one night all pissed off at their husbands, and they think they fucked us.”

  “That cocksucker,” Barry said.

  “Hey,” Steve said, “you got to give the guy credit.”

  “Sure,” Barry said, “and suppose one of them broads that he fucked and he said he was me, and Ginny finds out, huh? Then I’m deep in the shit and I didn’t even do it.”

  “Hell, Barry,” Steve said, “I mean, nobody could recognize you. What’s the matter, I thought Ginny trusted you.”

  “She does,” Barry said, “because she knows I don’t do that.”

  “Well,” Steve said, “look, he probably didn’t say he was you very much anyway. And the girls he meets, they probably don’t even hear the name. They’re just out to get laid. It’s always, he’s the head of the fuckin’ Mafia. He’s got this whole routine he goes through. ‘Just in town for a couple days. I’m in and out of town a lot.’ He is, too. Except the nights he runs the game, he’s here, he’s in Danvers, he’s in Lawrence, he’s all over the place. Then he pulls out this big roll. He’s got himself about eighty fifties there, and it’s nothing but fifties, either. And he’s got the rings. And then pretty soon: I’m staying with a guy. Can’t take no chances onna hotel, you got to sign everything. Can we, can we maybe use your place?’ And of course the broad, she hasn’t got a place. Well, she’s got one, but the old man and the kids’re there, and besides, she don’t want nobody to know she’s from around here. So the next thing you know they’re in a hotel and the broad’s paying for it. ‘He can’t take them to his place,’ Dillon told me. ‘There’s no bugs in there, for Christ sake. Bug’d be ashamed to live in that place.’ But he’s got the Cad and the gold rings and he goes around telling broads all kinds of things and they all believe him and he fucks them all. He’s done more for the world’n Christmas, you add it all up.”

  “Why’d you say that about Danvers?” Barry said.

  “Because he goes there,” Steve said. “There’s this club he goes to some times, up in Danvers. He goes over the Beach, too. The guy gets around.”

  “Ginny’s ma lives in Danvers,” Barry said.

  “I doubt he fucked Ginny’s ma, Barry,” Steve said. “You wanna know, though, I’ll call her up and ask her for you.”

  “Some day I’m gonna break your fuckin’ long nose for you, Steve,” Barry said.

  Trattman, wearing a mouse-colored, double-breasted overcoat, emerged from the Lobster Tail with a dark-haired woman in her forties. He raised his right arm, using his left hand to guide her toward the curb. An attendant in a snorkel coat pulled up in a tan Co
upe de Ville. Trattman opened the passenger door for the woman as the attendant got out on the driver’s side. Trattman closed the passenger door and walked around the front of the car. He handed a folded bill to the attendant. The attendant said: “Thanks,” with no sign of recognition. Trattman got into the Cadillac.

  Steve and Barry got into Steve’s metallic blue LTD hardtop, black vinyl roof, and shut the doors.

  The Coupe de Ville headed east on Boylston Street. It crossed the intersections at Hereford, Gloucester, Fairfield and Exeter streets on green lights. Steve kept the LTD three car lengths back, one lane to the right. He went through the Fairfield and Exeter intersections on yellow lights.

  “This isn’t a bad car either,” Barry said.

  “You ever decide,” Steve said, “stop fuckin’ around and do something, you can get something for yourself instead of bitching all the time about how everybody else’s got something and you don’t.”

  “Fuck you,” Barry said. “Last month I hadda lay out close to two hundred and fifty bucks for the fuckin’ dentist. Every time I get a couple bucks ahead, something comes along to fuck it up.”

  The Cadillac stopped for a red light at Dartmouth Street.

  “I must be gettin’ old,” Steve said. “All my friends’re having trouble with their teeth. Jackie was telling me, his wife’s all hot and bothered, she’s gotta have, what’re those things, root canals. ‘Which is gonna set me back about nine hundred bucks, I suppose, I’m through.’ I didn’t know stuff like that cost so much.”

  The light at Dartmouth changed and the Cadillac moved forward. The woman in the Cadillac moved closer to Trattman.

  “He’s telling her what he’s gonna do to her now,” Steve said.

  “The thing that really did it to me,” Barry said, “you know what that son of a bitch whacked me for Maine? Five hundred a day and expenses. I hadda pay him almost thirty-nine hundred dollars. Plus what I hadda give him before, a thousand, take the case in the first place.”

  The Cadillac had green lights at Clarendon and Berkeley. The Caprio car went through on yellow.

  “That’s because you’re a stupid shit,” Steve said. “No asshole inna world would’ve gone up there the way you did. You, you haven’t got no complaint. I think he did all right by you. You had anybody else, you would’ve gotten hooked again.”