Small Crimes (17 page)

'I
am so sorry for what I did to you eight years ago,' I said, hamming it up, but
for the most part meaning what I was saying. I wish to God there was some way I
could take it back, that I could've been the one stabbed instead of you. But
there's nothing I can do, Phil, except pray that you can find it in your heart
to forgive me.'

It
was all true, but I still I laid it on pretty thick. All he could do was stand
there and take it. I let my eyes wander to the crowd that had gathered around
us and could see that I'd won over a few of my fellow townspeople. Not all, but
a few. At that moment I made up my mind. If that sanctimonious holier-than-thou
sonofabitch was going to screw around with prostitutes and then try to act
morally superior to me, the hell with him.

A
police cruiser pulled up with its siren blaring. Tony Flauria stepped out of
it. 'Okay,' he said, bulling his way forward, his eyes focused on me, 'someone
call in an emergency?'

Thayer
stepped forward. 'Nothing but a misunderstanding, Officer.'

Flauria
looked towards Phil. 'Is that right, Mr. Coakley?'

Phil
stood silently for a moment and then nodded.

Flauria
gave me a long hard look before turning back to his cruiser. The crowd started
to disperse. Phil hung back until we were alone.

'Hey,
Joe,' he said as he walked off. 'What can I say? I made a mistake. Don't worry,
next time I'll be more careful. Next time my evidence will be rock solid. I
promise.'

I
watched as he walked away and got in his car. His two girls were sitting there
waiting for him. All three of them looked like ghosts as they drove by. I
waited until they were out of sight and then walked a block to a payphone. I
then called and left a message for Dan Pleasant, telling him where I would be.

It
was ten thirty. After seven years of watching his routine, I knew Morris Smith
would be in his office reading the Sunday paper. I headed over to the Bradley
county jail. When I got there I found Morris with his feet on his desk, leaning
back and doing the Sunday crossword puzzle. He seemed surprised to see me.

'Well,
hello there, young fellow,' he croaked. He struggled to pull his feet off his
desk and then extended a hand to me. 'To what do I owe the pleasure of your
company?'

'L
thought I'd swing by and see if I could interest you in a game of checkers.'

'Why,
certainly. I'm always up to teaching a youngster like you a lesson or two.'

His
soft rubbery face seemed to light up as he took the checkerboard from his desk
drawer. . 'How's business been?' I asked. 'Oh, very light,' he said. 'No steady
customers since your recent departure. Only a few temporary guests. A few
drunks and disorderlies. Nothing too interesting. So, Joe, Sunday's my day off.
How'd you know I'd be here?'

'Come
on, Morris. Who are you trying to kid? If you're going to read the Sunday
paper, you might as well collect overtime while doing so.'

He
chuckled at that. We had the pieces set up and his rubbery, jovial face became
deadly serious as he made the first move and stared intently at the board.

I
was just killing time while I waited for Dan to show. I wasn't paying enough
attention and before I knew it I had a sure win. There was no way out of it
without making an obvious blunder, so I took the game. Morris's mood seemed to
darken with the loss.

'You caught me off guard,' he noted sourly.
'Sooner or later I was bound to get lucky.’

‘Quit gloating and set them up again.' I let him
win the next three games and his mood brightened. 'Your luck's left you, young
fellow,' he said as he tried to suppress a smile.

'I've
got to learn when I've met my match,' I said. Halfway through the next game, I
let myself accidentally blunder into a combination that would leave me being
double-jumped. Morris spotted it and couldn't keep the smile from his face. He
moved quickly, pouncing on the move, and then settled back in his chair, his
hands folded across his thick body, a thin Cheshire cat grin playing on his
lips.

'So,
Joe,' he said, 'have you given any thought about leaving Bradley?'

'I've
been thinking about it.'

I
pretended to notice the double jump I was being forced into. I winced, swore,
and then grudgingly made the move I had to. I could tell Morris appreciated the
show. He carefully double-jumped me and picked up my checkers.

'I
heard about what happened a couple of nights ago,' he said. His thick eyelids were
raised as he watched me. 'With Phil's daughter and those two boys. You almost
ended up back here. Or worse.'

'I
should have recognized her,' I said. I hadn't seen her since she was fourteen,
and she was wearing dark glasses, but I should have recognized her.'

'Maybe
so. But I think, Joe, your luck has run out in these parts. You'd be better off
with a fresh start someplace else. As much as I'd miss these games and the
sterling competition that you offer me, I think that would be the best thing
for you.'

There
was a knock on the door. As it swung open, Dan Pleasant leaned in.

'I
was hoping to catch you here, Morris,' he said, and then he did a double-take
as he pretended to be surprised by my presence.

'Speak
of the devil,' he said. 'Joe, I was just talking about you.'

He
ambled over to me, a pleasant smile stretched across his face. After we
exchanged handshakes, he shook his head as if in amazement.

'How
long has it been, Joe? Years, huh?' Then to Morris, 'What are you doing letting
this miscreant hang around here? He'll set a bad example for our other
tenants.'

Morris
seemed a bit taken aback by Dan's arrival. 'I've been teaching this young man a
lesson in humility,' he croaked out in that gravel voice of his.

Dan
pulled up a chair and sat down, leaning back with his hands clasped behind his
head. 'I'm glad I found you here, Morris. I need an inventory of the
stockroom.'

Morris
made a face. 'It's Sunday. Can't it wait until tomorrow when I can put one of
my staff on it?'

'I'm
sorry. I'm working on a budget proposal and I need this right away. Of course,
since you're here putting in overtime, I figured it wouldn't be too much of an
imposition.'

'And
you need the inventory right this moment?'

'I
would like it, yes.'

Morris
raised his eyelids as he glanced suspiciously at both of us. With a great deal
of effort he pushed himself out of his chair. As he made his way across the
office, he stopped to waggle a finger at me.

'Don't
go moving those checkers around. I have the position right up here.'

He
tapped his skull and gave us both one last suspicious glance before leaving the
office and closing the door.

Dan
turned to me, smiling as pleasantly as ever.

'I
wasn't kidding before about just talking about you,' he said. 'What happened
this morning?'

'I
ate some powdered doughnuts before church. Some of the powder must've gotten on
me and Phil thought it was cocaine residue. He jumped me right there in the
church parking lot.'

'You're
kidding?'

'Nope.'

Dan
chuckled at that. I guess our DA friend is chomping at the bit to nail you any
way he can. Let me ask you a question. What the hell were you doing going to
church?'

'I
don't know.' I looked away. I guess I was trying to fill some spiritual void.'

'Yeah,
well, you should've tried filling it last night at Kelley's.' He was still
smiling, but it was thinner and less pleasant. I talked with Toni. I don't
understand you, Joe. That was all the spiritual enlightenment you needed right
there. And an exclusive and expensive one at that. A hell of an expensive one.
Here I go out of my way to help you out and what do you do? You walk out on
her?'

'I
wasn't feeling good last night.'

'You
weren't feeling good, huh?' He started laughing, but it came out kind of
brittle and harsh. 1 don't know. You've been acting soft in the head ever since
you got out of jail. All I asked of you was to keep a low profile, do what
needs to be done, and then move the hell away from here. Instead you go to
Zeke's just begging for trouble—'

'I
didn't go to Zeke's looking for trouble.'

'Of
course you did. The same reason you went to church this morning. It's making me
wonder whether I can count on you. It's really causing me to think, Joe,
especially about your Tuesday deadline.' He paused to study me, his smile now
completely gone. 'So what's so important that I had to be dragged here?' he
asked.

'I
found out something about Phil last night.'

'Yeah?'

I
hesitated, feeling a little sick inside thinking about what I was doing.

'Hurry
it up. I don't have all day.'

I took a deep breath and told Dan about Phil's
weekly trysts. 'No kidding?’

‘No kidding.'

His
smile came back. 'Well, it explains why you walked out on Toni.'

'Why's
that?'

'Never
mind,' he said, chuckling to himself. He seemed to enjoy whatever private joke
he was having. He wiped a tear from his eye and asked, 'What girl's he seeing?'

'I'm
not sure, but I think it's the redhead.'

'Susie?'

'Yeah,
I think so.'

'What
do you know,' he said. 'He's got good taste, I'll give him that. So why's this
so important?'

I
hesitated again as I felt my stomach twist into knots. I waited until the
discomfort passed. 'If your boys can catch them in the act, you could have the
county bring a morals charge against Phil. That would sideline him for at least
a week and buy us some more time.'

He
sat like a mannequin as he stared at me, his smile frozen into something not
quite human. He was like that for a good several minutes.

'Why
am I wasting my time with you,' he finally said.

'We're
playing a waiting game now with Manny,' I tried to explain. 'If we can buy enough
time this problem is going to resolve itself and—'

"There
is no problem if you take care of either Manny or Coakley. That's all that has
to be done. It's so damn simple, but you want to make it into some big
complicated mess. I really think you have gone soft in the head, Joe. I'm
serious about that.'

He
got out of his chair and took several angry paces before turning back to me.
'Quit trying to be so fucking smart,' he forced out. His skin color had dropped
to a sickly white. He was breathing hard and I could tell he was making an
effort to control his emotions. 'You think you're so goddam brilliant, and
maybe in some ways you are, but in other ways you're the stupidest motherfucker
I know. This is simple. So very fucking simple. Just take care of it and get it
done before Tuesday. This is the last time I'm going to tell you that.'

'Dan,
why don't you think about what I said—'

'Shut
the fuck up.' He pointed a finger at me. 'Just shut your mouth and think. Quit
acting like a goddam moron.'

He
started towards the door, but stopped to face me.

I'm
pissed off right now,' he said. 'So don't get too offended, okay? Just fucking
think and do what needs to be done. And when Morris comes back, tell him I'll
pick up his inventory later in the week.'

After
Dan left, I sat alone and generally felt lousy. It just seemed like such a
rotten thing to do, telling Dan about what Phil was doing. If I hadn't maimed
him, he wouldn't be seeing a prostitute. And here I was trying to expose him
even further. I felt some relief that Dan wasn't going to use what I told him,
but it still made me sick to my stomach thinking about it. At that point I made
a decision. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen, but Phil was
going to be left out of it. I wasn't going to cause him any more damage. I
wasn't quite sure what I was going to do, but I knew that much.

When
Morris came back with his inventory, I gave him Dan's message. It left him in a
foul mood. I let him beat me a few more times and it mollified him somewhat. A
little before twelve thirty I stood up and offered him my hand.