“’Cause I mean,” Whitey said, “for most of the day he been hangin’ around with the nigger on that broke-down tug up this end of the dock.” He nodded toward the road we’d just come up that led back to the water.

“Yeah,” Hogg said, “with Big Sambo.” I could see the top of Hogg’s head. His hair was greasy and strung together like pulled pieces of yellow wax. “Naw, the kid had his fun runnin’ around Crawhole all day. But it’s late now and it’s time for me to get him back home—that’s what I come down here for. That’s what I’m gonna do.”

“Oh.” Whitey considered. “Then he’s kin of yours?”

“Nope,” Hogg said. “But he ain’t no kin of that nigger, either. He got folks home waitin’ for him, all worried about him bein’ out here where all that murderin’ and stuff is goin’ on. Good God-fearin’ white people—they sent me down to get him. I’m fixin’ to take him back.”

“Oh.” Whitey’s bright eyes came back up to mine. He pursed his lips a moment, then said to Hogg: “He’s a nice kid. Him and me got to be sort of friends, you know, while he was playin’ around down here. That was before all this Harkner shit come down.” Whitey’s head went over to the side a little. “Sort of sorry to see him go.”

“What you sorry for?” Hogg asked. But then he laughed.

Whitey took his hands out from his cartridge belt and sort of smiled.

Down in the dark, fingers slid up to my knee. A hand caught my other leg. He was moving down there.

“What you haulin’?” Whitey asked.

“Ain’t haulin’ nothin’,” Hogg said. “I’m bob-tail tonight. Can’t you see I don’t got no van?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure,” Whitey said. “I was just wondering what you had in there that stunk so bad.” He scratched his ear; his cap joggled on his tight, light hair. “Truck of yours smells about as bad as that goddamn scow moored up next to the Bunim barge—the Bunim barge—” Whitey nodded—“that’s where Harkner did in the last ones.”

Something tried to wedge between my knees. So I opened them. I could feel his mouth moving against my jeans, like he was whispering to my leg.

“Jesus—” Whitey shook his head—“that really is some stink in there!”

Hogg laughed again. “Well, I’ll tell you how it was, if you really want to know. Last night, see, I did myself a little too much celebratin’. ’Cause I got me a new job. Tied a pretty good one on, you know how you do? I came out the party and made it to the truck—in time to be sick all over it!”

Without looking down, I put one hand on the head between my legs. The hair was all stuck together.