III
Cow
When I see what this flunky has done to them Leopards, I call him a coolcat right away. But then we jump him and he ain't so cool. Angel andTiny grab him under the arms and I'm grabbing the stuff he's carrying.Yeah, we get out of there.
There's bulls on the street, so we cut through the back and over thefences. Tiny don't like that. He tells me, "Cow. What's to leave thiscat here? He must weigh eighteen tons." "You're bringing him," I tellhim, so he shuts up. That's how it is in the Boomer Dukes. When Cowtalks, them other flunkies shut up fast.
We get him in the loft over the R. and I. Social Club. Damn, but it'scold up there. I can hear the pool balls clicking down below so I passthe word to keep quiet. Then I give this guy the foot and pretty soon hewakes up.
As soon as I talk to him a little bit I figure we had luck riding withus when we see them Leopards. This cat's got real bad stuff. Yeah, Inever hear of anything like it. But what it takes to make a fight he'sgot. I take my old pistol and give it to Tiny. Hell, it makes him happyand what's it cost me? Because what this cat's got makes that pistollook like something for babies.
* * * * *
First he don't want to talk. "Stomp him," I tell Angel, but he's scared.He says, "Nay. This is a real weird cat, Cow. I'm for cutting out ofhere."
"Stomp him," I tell him again, pretty quiet, but he does it. He don'thave to tell me this cat's weird, but when the cat gets the foot acouple of times he's willing to talk. Yeah, he talks real funny, butthat don't matter to me. We take all the loot out of his bag, and I makethis cat tell me what it's to do. Damn, I don't know what he's talkingabout one time out of six, but I know enough. Even Tiny catches on aftera while, because I see him put down that funky old pistol I gave himthat he's been loving up.
I'm feeling pretty good. I wish a couple of them chicken Leopards wouldturn up so I could show them what they missed out on. Yeah, I'll take onthem, and the Black Dogs, and all the cops in the world all atonce--that's how good I'm feeling. I feel so good that I don't even likeit when Angel lets out a yell and comes up with a wad of loot. It's likeI want to prime the U.S. Mint for chickenfeed, I don't want it to comeso easy.
But money's on hand, so I take it off Angel and count it. This cat wasreally loaded; there must be a thousand dollars here.
I take a handful of it and hand it over to Angel real cool. "Get us somecharge," I tell him. "There's much to do and I'm feeling ready for somecharge to do it with."
"How many sticks you want me to get?" he asks, holding on to that moneylike he never saw any before.
I tell him: "Sticks? Nay. I'm for real stuff tonight. You find Four-Eyeand get us some horse." Yeah, he digs me then. He looks like he's prettyscared and I know he is, because this punk hasn't had anything biggerthan reefers in his life. But I'm for busting a couple of caps of H,and what I do he's going to do. He takes off to find Four-Eye and therest of us get busy on this cat with the funny artillery until he getsback.
* * * * *
It's like I'm a million miles down Dream Street. Hell, I don't want towake up.
But the H is wearing off and I'm feeling mean. Damn, I'll stomp mymother if she talks big to me right then.
I'm the first one on my feet and I'm looking for trouble. The wholeplace is full now. Angel must have passed the word to everybody in theDukes, but I don't even remember them coming in. There's eight or tencats lying around on the floor now, not even moving. This won't do, Idecide.
If I'm on my feet, they're all going to be on their feet. I start togive them the foot and they begin to move. Even the weirdie must've hadsome H. I'm guessing that somebody slipped him some to see what wouldhappen, because he's off on Cloud Number Nine. Yeah, they're feelingreal mean when they wake up, but I handle them cool. Even that littleflunky Sailor starts to go up against me but I look at him cool and hechickens. Angel and Pete are real sick, with the shakes and the heaves,but I ain't waiting for them to feel good. "Give me that loot," I tellTiny, and he hands over the stuff we took off the weirdie. I start topass out the stuff.
"What's to do with this stuff?" Tiny asks me, looking at what I'm givinghim.
I tell him, "Point it and shoot it." He isn't listening when theweirdie's telling me what the stuff is. He wants to know what it does,but I don't know that. I just tell him, "Point it and shoot it, man."I've sent one of the cats out for drinks and smokes and he's back bythen, and we're all beginning to feel a little better, only still prettymean. They begin to dig me.
"Yeah, it sounds like a rumble," one of them says, after a while.
I give him the nod, cool. "You're calling it," I tell him. "There's muchfighting tonight. The Boomer Dukes is taking on the world!"