“Just like that. And I asked myself, Okay, what do you want to be? And the picture filled in, you know, a few lines here and a few lines there. I was a good little soldier for the rest of my hitch. Then I came back and went into business.”

“You just taught yourself?”

“Shit, I invented myself. Gave myself the name Chance. I started out in life with a first name and a middle name and a last name, and wasn’t any of them Chance. I gave myself a name and created a style and the rest just fell into place. Pimping’s easy to learn. The whole thing is power. You just act like you already got it and the women come and give it to you. That’s all it really is.”

“Don’t you have to have a purple hat?”

“It’s probably easiest if you look and dress the part. But if you go and play against the stereotype they think you’re something special.”

“Were you?”

“I was always fair with them. Never knocked them around, never threatened them. Kim wanted to quit me and what did I do? Told her to go ahead and God bless.”

“The pimp with the heart of gold.”

“You think you’re joking. But I cared for them. And I had a heavenly dream for a life, man. I really did.”

“You still do.”

He shook his head. “No,” he said. “It’s slipping away. Whole thing’s slipping away and I can’t hold onto it.”

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

We left the converted firehouse with me in the back seat and Chance wearing a chauffeur’s cap. A few blocks away he pulled over and returned the cap to the glove compartment while I joined him in front. The commuter traffic had pretty much thinned out by then and we made the trip into Manhattan quickly and in relative silence. We were a little aloof with each other, as if we’d already shared more than either of us had anticipated.

No messages at the desk. I went upstairs, changed my clothes, paused on the way out the door and got the .32 from my dresser drawer. Was there any point in carrying a gun I seemed unable to fire? I couldn’t see any, but I put it in my pocket anyway.

I went downstairs and bought a paper, and without thinking too much about it I walked around the corner and took a table in Armstrong’s. My usual corner table. Trina came over, said it had been a long time, and took my order for a cheeseburger and a small salad and coffee.