“So that means they’re either going to get killed by the next in line or go to jail.”

“Spencer, don’t you know, these folks are in the Game?”

At first Spencer thought it was his imagination, but as Johnny Boy spoke, his gestures, mannerisms, and soon his whole demeanor changed, becoming more . . . youthful, more potentially aggressive.

“The Game?”

“What is the Game? The Game is about honor. Honor demands that if you front me off, in front of my peers or the public, in my universe, I have to do something about it. So when I do a drive-by in the middle of the day and let everybody see it, I’m trying to get my honor back.”

“What’s the point of having your honor if you’re dead or in jail?”

It was more shapeshifting than mimicry, as if Pucky were back in the car, using this suited white guy who had to be nearly sixty as a mouthpiece.

“Spencer, if I’m in the Game, then I don’t care. ’Cause I’d rather die like a G than live like a punk.”

“A G?”

“A gangster. And yeah, you’re right; if you die like a G, it’s a lose-lose situation. Number one you lose because you’re dead, and number two the person who shot you, if they get caught, they go to prison. So it’s a lose-lose proposition. However, this is the world they’d rather live in. Because if you’re Pucky and you let it go, then you gotta live like a punk, and everywhere you go you gonna be treated like a punk. You can’t go down to the liquor store and demand respect. Why? ’Cause you’ve been punked out and everybody knows it. Take a left here.”

Spencer knew then that Johnny Boy observed people more closely than was normal. Like many before him, he failed to appreciate the power to manipulate such a trait bestows.

“It’s the same the world over, Spencer. Wherever they’ve got the same toxic value system. Pucky and co, they might talk about having a beef, the Latinos they talk about machismo, in the Middle East it’s called thar I believe. Even you English had your pistols at dawn. The Albanians call it lekë, and they goddamn wrote the book on killing for honor.”

“So where do we fit into this?”

“Can’t you guess? While these guys are so busy beefing, they can’t handle their business. And if they do, they do it sloppily so when they get big, they get taken down real quick by wiretaps and the Feds’ money-laundering guys. Or they get taken down for a murder rap. It’s a shame because they’re making money. So we handle their business. We clean their money and take a cut. A big cut. And we stay out of trouble.”