Lula eyed the beer. "You tryin' to lure us away from our corner, girl?"

I grinned. I sort of liked them. "Thought you might be thirsty."

"Sheeit. Thirsty ain't the half of it." Lula sauntered over, took a beer, and chugged some. "Don't know why I'm wasting my time standing out. Nobody want to fuck in this weather."

Jackie followed. "You shouldn't be doing that," she warned Lula. "Your old man gonna get mad."

"Hunk," Lula said. "I suppose I care. Dumbass prick pimp. Don't see him standing out here in the sun, do you?"

"So what's the word on Morelli?" I asked. "Anything happening?"

"Haven't seen him," Lula said. "Haven't seen the van neither."

"You hear anything about Carmen?"

"Like what?"

"Like is she around somewhere?"

Lula was wearing a halter top with a lot of boob hanging out. She rolled the cold can of beer across her chest. I figured it was wasted effort. She'd need a keg to cool off a chest that size.

"Don't hear nothing about Carmen."

An ugly thought flashed through my mind. "Carmen ever spend time with Ramirez?"

"Sooner or later everybody spend time with Ramirez."

"You ever spend time with him?"

"Not me. He like to do his magic on skinny pussy."

"Suppose he wanted to do his magic on you? Would you go with him?"

"Honey, nobody refuses Ramirez nothing."

"I hear he abuses women."

"Lots of men abuse women," Jackie said. "Sometimes men get in a mood."

"Sometimes they're sick," I said. "Sometimes they're freaks. I hear Ramirez is a freak."

Lula looked down the street to the gym, her eyes locked on the second-story windows. "Yeah," she said softly. "He's a freak. He scares me. I had a friend go with Ramirez, and he cut her bad."

"Cut her? With a knife?"

"No," she said. "With a beer bottle. Broke the neck and then used it to . . . you know, do the deed."

I felt my head go light, and time stood still for a moment. "How do you know it was Ramirez?"

"People know."

"People don't know nothing," Jackie said. "People shouldn't be talking. Somebody gonna hear, and you be in for it. Be all your own fault, too, 'cause you know better'n to go shootin' your mouth. I'm not staying here and being party to this. Nuh unh. Not me. I'm going back to my corner. You know what's good for you, you'll come too."

"I know what's good for me I wouldn't be standing out here at all, would I?" Lula said, moving off.

"Be careful," I called after her.

"Big woman like me don't gotta be careful," she said. "I just stomp on them weird-ass motherfuckers. Nobody mess with Lula."