Dames Don’t Care (5 page)

The guy who is doin' the shootin' leans over the balcony an' puts a coupla shots into Sagers' legs. Sagers falls down an' the guy then walks over an' standin' at the top of the stairs puts another shot into his body. This would account for the fact that there wasn't any powder marks around the other bullet holes.

The shootin' guy then walks down the stairs, steps over Sagers' body, an' standin' two or three stairs below him, gets hold of his silver shirt-neck cord so as to pull him over his shoulder. In doin' this the cord breaks an' the little tassel falls off the end on to the stair where I found it. The killer then carries Sagers along to the store behind the bar an' dumps him in the ice chest, all of which is very interestin' only it don't get me any place except that I have gotta sorta idea that one day I would like to bust this shootin' guy a coupla hard ones an' get him the hot squat afterwards.

After all this thinkin' I go inside an' lie down an' read a detective magazine because it takes my mind off my business, an' then, when the evenin' starts arrivin' I get up an' I put on a very swell 'soup-an' -fish' that I have got, dinner pants an' a white serge tuxedo that makes me look like the King of Japan, after which I eat my dinner an' wisecrack with the girl in the reception.

At eleven o'clock I get out the car an' I take the desert road an' make for the Hacienda Altmira. I reckon that I will just stick around an' see if something is happenin' that is interestin'.

It is a swell night, an' when I get there I can hear the guitars goin'. A half a dozen horses are tied up around the back, an' there are a coupla dozen cars parked in the garage round at the side. I leave the car an' walk around to the front entrance.

Periera is there. He is all dressed up an' I can hear from the noise comm' along the passage that there are plenty people around. Periera says will I have a drink on the house an' I say yes, an' while I am checkin' in my fedora they bring me a highball. I say good health to him an' drink it, an' he takes a quick look at me an' says that if I would like a little game of anythin' there will be one goin' some time after twelve o'clock an' that it will be in the room on the balcony right at the top of the stairs. I say thanks a lot an' that I am game for anything that is a gamble from crap shootin' upwards.

He laughs an' I walk along the passage an' pull the curtain an' stand lookin' on to the main floor.

The place is crowded. All the tables are full of guys and there are some swell dames with 'em. Two, three cowboys-real or dude I don't know-are standin' up against the bar, an' the piece of dance floor is pack full of people dancin'. There are coloured streamers hangin' from the balcony, an' on the walls are long Spanish shawls an' here an' there a Mexican blanket - the place looks swell I'm tellin' you. The band know their stuff an' they are playin' a hauntin' tune-some Mexican tango, an' one of the guys on the band platform, who has got the sorta voice that makes a temperamental dame wanta go into a convent, is singin' a song about dyin' for love that is breakin' some of them janes' hearts.

There are two or three tables around the band platform an' the women sittin' at 'em are lookin' up at this guy like he was an angel or something. When one of the men with 'em - they look like business men from Los Angeles - says anything the dames sorta 'shut him up in case they miss a bit of the song, which only goes to show you that some dames are screwy as hell. These dames marry some business guy an' he buys 'em swell dresses an' takes 'em places where they can sling a warm look at a cheap palooka who is singin' in a club band. Sometimes they go the whole hog an' run off with these crooners, after which they get wise an' spend the rest of their lives tryin' to find another business man that they can get next to an' marry, so that they can get some more dresses an' sling longing looks at some different band guys.

I'm tellin' you that the place was a sight, one of the prettiest pictures I have ever seen, an' then just as I was goin' to move down an' walk over to a table I see a dame walkin' my way. She's comin' from the left of the room over by the windows. This dame has got what it takes-an' then a bundle! She is tall an' slim, an' she has got all the right curves. She's as pretty as a picture an' she has got her nose stuck up in the air like she was a queen. She is a brunette an' the way she has her hair done is aces. It is swell.

An' she looks tough. Her mouth is set in a hard line an' I see that she has got a jaw. Somehow for no reason at all I know that this is Henrietta.

I look back down the passage. Periera is still standin' there wisecrackin' with the girl who is checkin' in the hats. I nod my head at him an' he comes along.

"Who's the baby, Periera," I say, "the one who has just sat down at that table over there, the one by herself? I didn't know you had dames around here like that."

He grins up at me. This guy Periera reminds me of a snake. I don't like him a bit.

"Senor," he says, "we got everything. Thees lady ecs the Setiora 'Enrietta Aymes."

"You don't say," I crack.

I look surprised.

"Say listen, Periera," I say. "She ain't the dame that was married to that guy - what was his name - Granworth Aymes - the guy who bumped himself off in New York? I was there at the time. I read about it in the papers."

He nods, an' he puts on an expression like he was very sorry. Then he makes himself out to be the big guy. He says how this Henrietta came out to the Hacienda Altmira thinkin' that it belonged to Granworth, her husband, an' when she gets out there he has the sweet duty of tellin' her that the place is mortgaged over to him; that Granworth didn't pay off the mortgage, an' that it is his place.

He spreads his hands.

"Then, senor," he says, "there is some more troubles for thees unfortunate lady. There ees some argument about her money. She tells me she has no money. So," he goes on, "I let her stick around. I am a good man, you understand, senor. I feel sorry for thees poor woman. I let her stay around here an' be hostess until she makes up her mind what she would like to do."

"Yeah," I tell him. "It looks like you're a good guy, Periera. How about meetin' the lady?"

He nods, but just then I tell him it don't matter, because goin' towards the table where Henrietta is sittin' is a guy. He is a big guy an' he looks pretty regular to me. He has got a nice sorta face. I can tell by the way that this guy is lookin' at Henrietta as he goes towards the table an' the way that she looks back at him, that these two are pretty friendly. I grin at Periera.

"Looks like she's got a boy friend," I say, "nice lookin' guy. Who is he?"

"'Ees name is Maloney," says Periera. "'He comes around here a lot. He plays. Maybe he plays tonight."

I nod.

"Well, I hope I take some dough off him," I say. "By the way my name's Frayme-Selby Frayme. Do you play high stakes around here?"

He shrugs his shoulders.

"What you like, Seflor Frayme," he says. "For us the roof ees always the limit."

I say OK. Then I go an' sit down at a table and order myself a highball. I reckon it is not very much good my tryin' to muscle in an' talk to Henrietta while this guy is stickin' around.

The time goes on. Periera takes me over an' introduces me to some party sittin' at a big table. These guys are pretty warm-hearted guys an' the women with them can certainly dance. If I hadn't had my mind on the job all the time I would certainly have enjoyed that dancin'.

About two o'clock people start movin', an' in half an hour's time the place is pretty empty, except for about ten or twelve people who were stickin' around. It looks to me like these people are the ones who are goin' to do the playin'.

My party scram out of it, an' as I am sayin' goodnight to 'em, Periera comes over. He tells me that play will be startin' any minute now, an' that I know where the room is, the one at the top of the stairs. I tell him yes but I think I am goin' to have a walk around first. I go out the front way an' I walk around the place sniftin' the air. I am very funny about any sorta gamblin'. I like the game to get started before I bust into it.

About twenty minutes afterwards I go back. One of the waiter guys is closing down the windows on the left hand side of the club. The band have packed up and most of the lights are down. I walk across the floor, up the stairs an' go into the room at the top. It is a fair sized room, with a big table in the middle. There are some guys playin' baccarat at this table, an' at another little table in a corner another three guys an' two dames are playin' poker.

Maloney is at the baccarat table an' standin' near to him watchin' the play is Henrietta. All the guys up there are wearin' tuxedos, an' one or two of 'em at the baccarat table look plenty tough to me. It looks like everybody has been doin' some drinkin' too because there is that sort of atmosphere that comes when people get high.

After a minute Periera comes along, looks in an' then goes off some place. I just stick around and watch.

Maloney ain't doin' so well. He is losin' plenty an' he don't look so happy about it. Also he is lookin' a little bit puzzled as if he cannot quite understand somethin', an' I am wonderin' if somebody has been doin' a little fast stuff with the cards.

After about ten minutes Maloney goes banco an' flops on it. He loses a bundle. He turns round an' he looks at Henrietta with a silly sorta grin.

"It don't look anythin's comin' my way," he says. "I never seem to get any luck at all around here."

She smiles, an' believe me her teeth match up with the rest of her, an' did I tell you that she had sapphire blue eyes. Me, I have always been very partal to sapphire blue eyes!

"Why not give it a rest?" she says. "Or would you like me to play a hand for you?"

On the other side of the table is a big guy. He is a broad-shouldered fellow with a thin face an' a lotta black hair. I have heard him called Fernandez. He is watchin' Maloney all the time whilst they are talkin'. Then he chips in:

"It looks like both your luck's out," he says. "But," he goes on with a snicker, "maybe you always expect to win. Maybe you don't like losin'."

Maloney goes red.

"Whether I like winnin' or losin' is my business, Fernandez," he says, "an' I don't need any wisecracks outa you. I don't mind losin'," he goes on, "but I said that I've got a funny habit of always losin' when I play around here." He grins sorta sarcastic. "But maybe it is only my imagination," he says.

"You don't say," says Fernandez.

He gets up sorta very slow an' pushes his chair back. Then he leans across the table an' he busts Maloney a hard one right on the puss. You coulda heard the smack a mile away.

Everybodys stops everything. Maloney does a swell back fall over the back of his chair. He gets up an' he is lookin' groggy. By this time Fernandez has walked around to the end of the table. He gets Maloney off his balance an' chins him again. This guy Fernandez is lookin' like a burned-up tiger. He is all steamed up an' I get the idea that he is a dope. I stand over in the corner an' light a cigarette. I am just beginnin' to get interested.

Henrietta has gone back up against the wall. She is watchin' Maloney. Her eyes are glitterin' an' I know she is sorta prayin' that he can get up an' hand Fernandez something. In the corner one of the dames playin' poker, who is very high, starts cacklin'. She thinks it's funny.

Maloney gets up. He is shook all right, but wades in at Fernandez. He swings a right which Fernandez blocks, an' before Maloney can do anythin' about it Fernandez gives him another haymaker. Maloney goes down again an' he is not lookin' pretty. One eye is closed up an' his face is covered with blood.

The guys playin' poker in the corner get up. One of 'em - a little guy - comes over.

"Why don't you two mugs cut it out?" he says. "What do you think this is? Madison Square Gardens or what? An' what's the matter with you, Fernandez? Why must you always start somethin' around here?"

Fernandez turns round an' grins at him.

"Don't you like it," he says.

He wipes this little guy across; the face with the back of his hand.

"If you don't like it," he says, "get out."

There is a sorta silence - the sorta stuff that they call atmosphere. Nobody says anythin'. Then The little guy who has just been smacked down gets up an' walks outa the room. His party go with him. Maloney has got up. He is standin' against the wall an' he don't look so good to me. I reckon that first punch of Fernandez' - that one across the table - shook him considerable.

I go over to him.

"Listen, big boy," I say. "Why don't you go some place an' get that mug of yours cleaned up. It ain't pretty. An' whilst you're about it I'd have a drink if I was you. You look as if you could do with one."

I turn to Henrietta an' I grin.

"Look, lady," I say. "Take him away an' do a big nursemaid act. After which," I say, "I reckon we might play a little game of cards around here."

While I am talkin' Periera has come in the room. He is standin' just inside the doorway an' he is lookin' quite pleased. It looks like this Fernandez is a friend of his, an' the big guy around here. Henrietta don't say anythin' at all, but if she had gotta gun I reckon she woulda shot Fernandez. She just grabs this guy Maloney and pushes him towards the door.

Fernandez looks over at them as they are goin' out an' laughs - he has gotta nasty sorta cackle.

"Take that sap away an' lose him," he says.

Henrietta turns around. She is as white as death. She is so burned up she don't know what to do with herself. Fernandez looks at her an' grins. Then he walks over to her an' before she knows what he is goin' to do he kisses her right on the mouth.

"Run along, sister," he says, "an' don't get bet up because it won't get you no place."

He comes back to the table.

"Now maybe we can get ahead," he says, pickin' up the cards. The other guys, four of 'em at the big table, get set. They are goin' to play poker.

"Are you comm' in?" says Fernandez to me.

I nod.

"Yeah," I tell him, "but justa minute. I gotta do something."

I turn around and go outa the room. I can see Henrietta takin' the Maloney bird into a room way down along the balcony. I ease along there an' look through the door. She has put Maloney on a couch, an' she is in the corner getting a basin of water ready. Maloney don't look so good.