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Back Just Thieves Save as PDF
Chapters (42)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Titles
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. 1
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 2
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 3
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. ACCOMPLICES AND EASY MARKS

The bottle was heavy and cumbersome in my fingers. So I grabbed it low, my palm and all five fingers pressed firmly around the bottle and hefted it to my mouth. I liked the taste immediately; I liked it even better by the end. I took my first drink and counted to forty-two then took another. Froehmer and my father were talking but I have no idea about what. I was too busy counting to another forty-two. I wanted another one. My father looked at me and then at Froehmer, and then, not looking at either one of us said, “Don’t make a habit of it.”

“I remember,” I told my father.

“You don’t remember the half of it, not one iota of it. No one knows what we did. All the good we did. And a little of the bad.” He smiled at that. “Froehmer did all right, let me tell you.”

“He seems like he’s still doing all right,” I said.

“And look at me. Look at him and look at me. I gave a lot, you know that? Maybe I gave too much. Look at this crap.” He held up his arm with the tubes coming out of it. “It’s not what we signed up for, is it, son?”

“It’ll be all right, Pop.”

“But will it be all right for us? That’s the question. Take what you can now, kid, cause you don’t know how it will all end up. Take it from Froehmer, even, if you have to. I know he’s helped you, but I helped him more, believe me. Whatever he says you owe him; he owes me twice as much, ten times as much. I hope he comes to see me. I’ll tell him to his face. I hope he comes.”

Maybe that’s why Froehmer wouldn’t come. I don’t know. Who would want to hear any of that? Who’d want to see it? I didn’t say anything to Froehmer, and didn’t bring him up again with my father. I continued on as before. Froehmer was doing all right by me so far. I wasn’t going to be greedy. I’d take the small things handed to me, just like I’d always done.

4

THE ENVELOPE

IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE OPERATION, I WOULD DO THE WORK AND A FEW DAYS LATER FROEHMER WOULD MEET ME AT THE DINER. After a cup of coffee, or maybe breakfast, he’d get up and walk out and leave an envelope on his seat. He also always left the check, always. I never cared; there was the envelope. We never talked about how much would be in the it; I always left that to him and he was always fair. After a while, it wasn’t Froehmer waiting in the diner, but somebody else, somebody who worked for him, like me.