Hot-Wired in Brooklyn Read Online Free PDF Page A

the beer unfinished. He rose and followed me to the door. “I may have to stake out this
     guy Shork for a while,” I said. “Can I count on you?”
    “Of course, Eddie.”
    “What about leaving Desiree?”
    “There’s a reliable teenager downstairs who can baby-sit.”
    “Good. I’ll be in touch.”
    I was closing the door when he stopped me. “And what about Arnold Pulaski?”
    I let go of the doorknob; the door swung back toward himand my gaze turned colder. “You’ve been a real big help about that, Tooss. We won’t even have to tail him once he gets out
     on bail. If I wanna know what he’s up to, I’ll just look in the mirror.” I walked out without a good-bye.
    I brooded all the way back to Brooklyn. I was in such a dark mood as I neared the bridge that I took the East River Tunnel
     instead. Arnold the chicken thief, make that
car
thief, as the young Fast Eddie? Not on your life. I’d had my ups and downs as a teenager, but Arnold as Eddie? Not possible.
    Absolutely not.
    Never.
    The phone was ringing when I walked in. Herm Kowalski was on the line, and he wasn’t happy. “Jesus, Eddie! Do we have to scrape
     the bottom of the barrel every single goddamn time?!”
    “I sent you to Raymond Street, Herm. Who’d you expect to represent, Francis of Assisi?”
    “Jesus, Eddie!”
    “Okay, okay, tell me what happened.”
    “You really wanna know?”
    “Tell me, Herm. You’ll feel better.”
    “Well, first I go lookin’ for a bail bondsman. That’s two hours wasted right there…”
    “So, bill me, Herm. And?”
    “I wait another hour, the kid’s father shows up, and after he sobs, groans, and begs, we finally get a bail bondsman. The
     father doesn’t have a whole lotta collateral, so I agree to make up the difference. Judge Hines says that’s okay, and I’m
     ready to spring the little prick.”
    “And?”
    “And then he takes his goddamn sweet time comin’ out!”
    “Doin’ what?”
    “Tellin’ off the guards, makin’ a fuss gettin’ his valuables back, like they’re worth anything…”
    “And?”
    “And when he does finally come out, I start to tell him off for makin’ me and his old man wait, and you know what he
says?”
    I could guess.
    Tuck you!’ he says. Then he starts callin’ me names. Shyster, Asshole, One-Eye, you name it!”
    “Polack?”
    “He skipped that one. The little son of a bitch! And after I’d helped bail him out with my own friggin’ money!”
    “Sorry, Herm.”
    “I’m not done yet. Then he starts goin’ on about some guy named Shork. Top of his lungs, screamin’! Made a hell of a scene!
     Says he’s gonna bash the guy’s brains in! I thought they were gonna re-arrest him for the ruckus he was makin’, but the cops
     just threw him out! Can you believe it, Eddie? Even the Raymond Street Jail doesn’t want this kid!”
    “Sorry, Herm.”
    “I’m still not
done,
Eddie! We’re on the sidewalk finally, and I’m tryin’ to explain the conditions of his bail, and he asks, ‘Who the hell sent
     you?’ So I make a big mistake and tell him you did. And you know what he does?!”
    I didn’t ask.
    “You know what he does, Eddie?!”
    I knew.
    “The little prick spit in my face! And I’m billin’ you for it!”

CHAPTER
7
    I had the dream again that night. I was back under the Brooklyn Bridge, hanging by my bleeding hands in the early morning cold.
     The two goons who’d shown up at Shork’s office were there. One of them had Herm Kowalski s face. He was playing Superman’s
     part, crushing my fingers under heavy, hob-nailed boots. When it was Calamari Breath’s turn to stab me, Herm did that, too,
     with an eager smile.
    Then Arnold entered, just as before. He leaned over me and whispered, “You poor, dumb, fuckin’ dago. Still haven’t figured
     it out, have you?”
    “Figured
what?”
    “I’m just like you, Lombardi. But I’m
better”
    My mouth filled with blood as I cursed him. I felt myself falling again, heard his