1944 - Just the Way It Is (8 page)

Harry Duke looked pained. ‘I hope you didn’t teach her those names, Paul,’ he said. ‘She’s embarrassing me.’

Schultz suddenly moved and smacked Lorelli’s face with the flat of his hand. She reeled back, screaming in a high-pitched wail.

The door burst open and Joe rushed in. He came to a full stop when he saw Duke and threw up his hands. His face went the colour of old ivory.

‘It’s all right, Joe,’ Duke said, amiably. ‘Don’t stand on ceremony. This can be any one’s fight by the look of it.’

Joe lowered his hands slowly and then looked across at Schultz who sat in a heap like a malevolent toad.

Lorelli picked up the poker from the fireplace and suddenly rushed at Schultz. There was a look of vicious fury on her face. As she swept past Duke, he kicked her legs from under her and she went over with a thud that shook the room.

Duke nodded to the poker and Joe hastily picked it up. Lorelli sat up, sobbing with rage.

‘We’d better break this party up,’ Duke said. ‘Otherwise someone’s going to get hurt.’ He grabbed at Lorelli as she scrambled to her feet and frustrated another attack on Schultz. He held her tightly against his side, with his arm round her, holding her wrist. ‘Now, you’ve got to behave,’ he said, ‘or I’ll leave you and then you might get into an awful lot of trouble.’

She struggled for a moment, then began to calm down.

Still holding her, Duke looked at Schultz. ‘Well, Paul,’ he said, ‘I guess I’ll drift. You won’t miss this little girl, will you? For your own safety I think I’d better take her along with me.’

A look of alarm sprang into Schultz’s eyes. ‘Wait,’ he said, sitting forward in his chair. ‘She doesn’t want to leave me.’

‘Doesn’t she?’ Duke was amused. He looked down at Lorelli. ‘What do you say about that?’

Before she could answer, Schultz went on quickly, ‘Let me talk to her alone, Harry. She’s only a child. She doesn’t understand.’

‘They certainly rear tough children in this district,’ Duke said. ‘And I don’t think you’d better see her alone, Paul. You might start trying on neckties again.’

Lorelli said, ‘I’m through with you, you fat heel. I hope the next time I see you, you’ll be filling a hole in the ground.’

‘Well, there can’t be any mistake about that, Paul,’ Duke said. ‘Will you come along with me, or do you want to go someplace on your own?’ he went on to Lorelli.

She glanced up at him, chewing her full underlip, her eyes still bright with anger. ‘I’ll come with you,’ she said, without hesitation.

‘You certainly know how to make up your mind,’ Duke returned, releasing her. ‘Sorry, Paul, but I always do what I’m told when I’m told by a telling looking tootz.’

Schultz gripped the arms of his chair. ‘Don’t be a fool, Lorelli,’ he said. ‘You’re only heading for trouble. You stay here. I’ll see you right. You know what I mean.’

Lorelli sneered at him. ‘Go bowl a hoop,’ she said, then to Duke, ‘Well, what are we waiting for?’

Duke moved towards the door, circling so that he could watch Schultz and Joe all the time.

Schultz seemed suddenly to lose control of himself. He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes snapping fire, and his great face turning mauve with fury. ‘You talk and you’ll be sorry,’ he shouted at Lorelli. ‘Do you hear? That’s all he wants you for . . . to make you talk. I know Duke. He picks up women and drops them when he’s through with them. You silly little fool! You’re throwing away any chance you’ve got of making money by going with him.’

‘Watch your blood pressure, Paul,’ Duke advised. ‘There’s no need for us to fall out. I’m just taking the girl some place where you can’t worry her. I’ll see you in the morning and we’ll talk it over. So long, Paul.’

Schultz took no notice of him. He shook a quivering finger at Lorelli. ‘If you open your trap, I’ll find you. I don’t care where you hide, I’ll find you and I’ll fix you and you’ll be sorry.’

Lorelli laughed in his face. ‘You can’t scare me,’ she said. ‘Look at my protection,’ and linking her arm in Duke’s, she went out of the room.

The moment they were outside in the street, Duke broke into a run. ‘Come on, baby,’ he said, ‘I don’t want Paul to help me on my way with a shotgun.’

‘Fancy being scared of him,’ Lorelli said, contemptuously, running with difficulty because of her tight dress. ‘Hey, wait a moment, will you?’

Duke put his hand under her arm and forced her on. There came a faint phut behind them and a bullet whined past their heads, flattening against a lamp post.

Lorelli gave a little squeal, jerked up her skirts and leapt forward like a deer. She outpaced Duke, who began to laugh.

‘Who’s scared now?’ he panted. He increased his length, caught up with her and grabbed her arm. ‘Over this way.’

Another phut sounded and this time the bullet zipped between their heads. Lorelli caught her breath in a sob and covered the next ten yards in two jumps.

‘I didn’t think Paul could shoot so well,’ Duke said, bundling Lorelli head first into his car. He scrambled in beside her, started the engine and accelerated violently. An angry wasp sang past the windscreen as the car gathered speed. In another second, the houses on each side of the street changed into a blurred ribbon as the needle of the speedometer flicked to sixty miles an hour.

‘That’s done me a power of good,’ Duke said, leaning back, with his hands resting lightly on the wheel. ‘My liver wanted a little jolt and, by golly, it got it.’

Lorelli was examining her stockings under the light from the dashboard. She muttered angrily when she saw that she had driven her knees through both of them.

‘I bet this is the first shooting Bentonville’s ever had,’ Duke said, keeping the car travelling at a high speed. ‘I don’t think Paul likes us anymore.’

Lorelli snorted. She sat still for a few minutes and then she said, ‘So you’re Harry Duke?’

‘Mrs. Duke’s one and only son. And while we’re on the subject where have I seen you before?’

‘Oh, I get around,’ Lorelli said, airily. ‘My name is Lorelli. Just Lorelli. Not Lorelli Montgomery or Lorelli Spewack. Just Lorelli.’

‘I see,’ he said, gravely. ‘Any particular reason, or isn’t it my business?’

‘There are plenty of reasons,’ Lorelli returned. ‘One of them is that I didn’t have any parents.’

‘That’s interesting,’ Duke said, swinging the car on to the main road. ‘You came out of an egg, I suppose?’

‘Something like that,’ Lorelli admitted. ‘I can’t remember the

exact details, but it was on those lines.’

‘How would you like a nice cup of coffee and a chicken sandwich?’

‘What, now?’

‘This very second,’ Duke returned, crowding on brakes and stopping the car outside an all-night drug store.

‘I’d like that very much,’ Lorelli returned, climbing out of the car. ‘Do you mind if I have a ryvita instead of a sandwich? I’ve got to watch my figure.’

‘I should have thought that wasn’t necessary. You could get lots of guys to watch it for you.’

They went into the drug store which was deserted except for a sleepy assistant who was dozing at the end of the counter. He looked up with a start and then smiled. ‘You’re late, Mr. Duke,’ he said, chattily, then he glanced at Lorelli and admiration

came into his eyes. ‘What’ll you have?’

Duke waved to Lorelli who ordered a ryvita with tomatoes and a coffee. Duke ordered a club sandwich.

While they waited, Lorelli again muttered over her stockings. ‘What am I going to do?’ she demanded, fiercely. ‘I can’t go around in these.’

‘That’s all you women think about,’ Duke said, yawning. He was beginning to feel tired. ‘Hey, Jos, can you sell the lady a pair of silk stockings?’

The assistant brought the sandwiches. ‘Sure, I’ll sell her anything.’

‘She doesn’t want anything, she just wants a pair of silk stockings.’

The assistant nodded. ‘What size, lady?’

Lorelli told him and he came back with a box of assorted shades. ‘Help yourself, lady,’ he said, putting the box on the counter.

‘Okay, Jos, leave ‘em there,’ Duke said. ‘And scram. I’m in conference with this young woman.’

Jos gave what he thought was a leer and took himself off to the far end of the bar.

Lorelli poked at the stockings with one finger while she devoured the ryvita. She kept moving her head, frowning as she felt the muscles in her neck stiffening.

‘Can we pursue your autobiography?’ Duke said, with his mouth full.

Lorelli shook her head. ‘I’m not talking about myself,’ she said. ‘Anyway, not tonight. In the morning, I might consider revealing my past, but tonight I’m the mystery woman.’

Duke stirred his coffee thoughtfully. ‘Well, all right,’ he said, ‘you’ll have to be a little more helpful tomorrow. That is, if you want me to help
you.
Haven’t I seen you in Paul’s office sometime?’

She nodded. ‘Several times,’ she said. ‘I suppose your mind’s full of business. Otherwise you’d remember me.’

Duke shook his head. ‘It isn’t that,’ he said. ‘I make it a rule not to be interested in another guy’s girl. What did you pick on Paul for?’

Lorelli’s face clouded. ‘That’s all for tonight. Station X closing down,’ and she busied herself with the sliced tomatoes. Then she said, ‘I want somewhere to sleep.’

‘You have no money, no clothes and a figure that wants watching. Quite a problem, ain’t you?’

‘I’ll take care of my figure, you can take care of the other things.’

Duke thanked her.

She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was just after two o’clock.

‘Listen,’ Duke said, gently. ‘Didn’t you telephone me this evening and tell me to leave Bellman alone?’

‘Did I?’ Her big, black eyes went suddenly blank. ‘I might have. I telephone so many people.’

‘Bellman interests me,’ Duke went on, sipping his coffee. ‘Not that I like the guy. I wouldn’t like you to think he means anything to me. He just interests me. Maybe you know something about him.’

Lorelli nodded. She wiped her fingers on the skirt of her dress and began to turn the stockings over carefully. ‘I know lots of things,’ she said.

‘Tell me,’ Duke urged. ‘Let me be your father confessor.’

‘I never had a father,’ she returned, pulling out a pair of flesh coloured stockings and examining them for flaws, ‘I wouldn’t know what to do with one now.’

‘You don’t have to do anything. I’d do all that’s necessary.’

‘I believe you would,’ she returned, slipping the catches on her suspenders and unpeeling the torn stockings.

He glanced away and concentrated on his coffee. The assistant, however, leaned over the counter to watch Lorelli with simple interest.

She glanced up and caught him at it. ‘Take your eyes off me,’ she said, ‘or I’ll cut your lights out.’

The assistant jerked back so quickly he upset a jar of molasses.

‘What a simple child of nature you are,’ Duke said with a grim little smile. ‘Never mind, Jos,’ he went on to the assistant, ‘rub it in your hair. From the look of it, it’d make a swell dressing.’

When Lorelli had changed her stockings, she stretched and yawned. ‘I could do with a bed,’ she said. ‘I’ve got a pain in the neck and a head like hell. Haven’t you got any heart?’

‘Sure,’ Duke returned, ‘but I’m rather at loss to know what to do with you. I don’t want to take you to my apartment. That would lead to one thing and another which I want to avoid.’

She looked surprised. ‘Do you?’ she said. ‘You don’t have to worry about me. You won’t find me fussy.’

‘I didn’t think you would be for one moment,’ Duke returned. ‘But, odd as it may seem, I am extraordinarily fussy myself.’

She glared at him. ‘I like your nerve,’ she said, suddenly becoming angry. ‘If you don’t think I’m good enough for you. . .’

‘It is not that at all,’ Duke said, hastily. ‘It’s whether you’re bad enough for me.’

Lorelli was so surprised, she didn’t know what to say.

‘On the other hand, I think Paul might try to find you and I wouldn’t like to think of you alone and unprotected. So, I think we’ll wake up my old friend Peter Cullen and get him to chaperon us.’

‘Do you think that would be a good idea?’ she asked, her face falling. ‘I thought it might be nice to go off alone and get acquainted.’

Duke shook his head. ‘I’ve been very strictly brought up,’ he said, and went over and shut himself in with a telephone.

While she waited, Lorelli ordered another cup of coffee. She smiled at Jos when he brought it to her, but he wasn’t interested anymore. A jar of molasses can be a headache when it spreads itself over a floor. She had given him quite enough work for one evening. He slapped down the coffee, took away the box of stockings and went back to his cleaning.

Duke came back, ‘It’s all fixed,’ he said. ‘Finish your coffee and let’s go.’

Lorelli touched her neck tenderly. ‘I’m going to have a stiff neck tomorrow,’ she said. ‘The fat beast hit me.’

‘Well, don’t bear malice,’ Duke said. ‘Maybe you aggravated him.’

She finished her coffee and slid off the stool. ‘You’ll have to stake me,’ she said, ‘I’ve no money.’

‘That’s all right,’ he said, taking out some small change. ‘Whenever I run into a dame I begin spending money. That’s what keeps trade on the move.’

Out in the street, they got into the car and drove rapidly to Peter Cullen’s apartment.

They found him still dressed, looking a little heavy eyed.

‘Come in,’ he said, looking at Lorelli curiously.

‘This is Pete Cullen,’ Duke said to Lorelli. ‘He’s a nice guy, so don’t say anything that’d shock him. Pete, this is Lorelli. Not Lorelli Montgomery, nor Lorelli Spewack, but just Lorelli. She was hatched out of an egg.’

Peter blinked, smiled at Lorelli and stood staring, a trifle embarrassed.

‘The idea, Pete,’ Duke said, smoothly, ‘is for this young woman to have your bed and you and me to sleep in chairs. Not perhaps a good arrangement, but in the long run, you’ll be glad that you cooperated.’

‘I don’t want to take this guy’s bed,’ Lorelli protested, ‘I can sleep on the floor.’

Duke took her firmly by her arm and pushed her into Peter’s bedroom. ‘Go to bed,’ he said. ‘Tomorrow we’ll have a nice little chat all about what you want and what you don’t want.’ He closed the door behind her.