“Anything else, and I’d explode,” she said. “You mind a strictly professional observation?”

“As long as it doesn’t hurt too much.”

“Why do you work so hard looking like an ex-con?”

“’Cause that’s who I am.”

“Then try being somebody else for a while, you’ll do better, make more money.”

“Be specific.”

“You’ve got a full head of hair hidden in your skull—grow some of it, and get it cut nice.”

“It’s a lot of trouble.”

“Looking good already is. And get a couple of suits made.”

“Too expensive.”

“If you read something besides the tabloids you’d see ads for tailors. They ain’t Savile Row, but they’d look a lot better on you than that low-end mall stuff you wear. They’d fit, for one thing.”

“It’s a thought.”

“Something else—you keep your weight up to intimidate people.”

“It’s a good thing when you want their money.”

“Lose thirty pounds and talk ’em out of it. If you keep hitting people in the back of the neck you’re going to paralyze somebody or worse, kill ’em.”

“So what?”

“So the cops want you a lot worse when it’s a serious crime. I mean, a guy gets rolled in a train station, a cop can dust him off and send him home with a few words of friendly advice, but when the cop has to ride in the ambulance with him to the ER and watch some intern try to bring him around and fail, and his wife and kids show up and scream, that makes the cop want to put you away, or worse, shoot you.”

“You have a point.”

“And that tattoo on your neck really sets you up for a lineup in a precinct, you know?”

“It’s permanent.”

“It’s a couple of hours in a doc’s office and a grand out of pocket. Ditch it, grow some hair, get some clothes.”

“Then I’d look like everybody else.”

“That’s kind of the point, Curly. That’s how you stay out of lineups. Nine out of ten people the cops question are going to say you looked like the guy on the Three Stooges, don’t you know that?”

“I always kind of liked it.”

“It’s fine in prison, not so good on the street. Do you have a real name?”

“Marvin Jones.”

“Well, Marv, that’s nice and anonymous. A girl could like a name like that.”

“Okay,” Curly said, “my hair is already growing, I’ll skip lunch, and you can pick out a tailor for me and walk me through the experience.”

“And when I get back in a week or two, you can take me to a nice restaurant and buy me a steak.”

“Back from where?”

“A girl’s gotta keep moving, if she wants to make any money.”

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