The Predators (18 page)

The sarge raised Buddy another fifty cents. But Buddy didn’t stop. He threw two dollars down on the table. “See that, Sarge.”

“You’re one dumb son of a bitch,” the sarge said, eyeballing Buddy. He chewed on his cigar and thought for a moment. “I’ll see you and raise you five bucks!” he said, waving the five-dollar bill in the air.

Buddy covered the five-dollar bet.

The sarge spread his cards on the table. He had four aces. And one of them was the ace of spades that was in my hand. I whistled out loud.

“Shit!” Buddy swore, showing his hand. Three queens.

The sergeant pulled in his winnings and started gathering the cards. “This ain’t no game for kids,” he said.

Buddy walked away in silence. I looked back at the table. The sarge was turning over all the hands of cards. When he turned over my hand, he saw my ace of spades. He hesitated for a moment, looked up, and nodded at me. I knew I had done the right thing.

Buddy and I walked out of the barracks over to the baseball diamond and sat down on one of the benches. “That prick is a cheat!” Buddy scowled as he lit a cigarette.

“He’s also our sergeant,” I said. “Remember, he made you corporal. Look, we’ve been here two months, and I’ve learned a little bit about him. He’s Caesar here. He likes you. Don’t push him and he’ll be nice to you.”

“I saw him palm one of the aces,” he said.

“So, you learned one thing,” I said.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Don’t bet dollars in a quarter game. On our salaries, you can’t get crazy.” I took out a cigarette and lit it. Boy, when you’re outside, the smoke tastes good.

“Heard anything from Kitty?” he asked.

“Nothing. Her telephone was turned off,” I said. “As a matter of fact, I’ve heard nothing from anybody in New York.” I dragged on my cigarette. “Next week they’re shipping us out to auto mechanics school in Detroit. I’m thinking about running over to New York City for a day to find out what’s going on before we go.”

“You’re even stupider than I am. One day out spells AWOL. They dump you in the crapper for six months and there goes everything. You’re fucked,” Buddy said. “Besides, if they find out that my papers were copied from yours, we both will be in federal prison for years.”

I decided to try to phone Kitty again before I turned in. There wasn’t the usual crowd lined up at the telephones. It was late. About midnight. I threw in my dimes and gave the number to the operator. A moment later she told me that the telephone number I had given her was disconnected. I thought for a moment and then asked her to call Uncle Harry’s number at home.

At least that number was working. I could hear the telephone ring. After six or seven rings there was no answer. I hung up and collected my dimes and walked back to the barracks. I didn’t understand. Uncle Harry and Aunt Lila never stayed out this late, and the telephone was right by the bed. Even if they had been asleep they should have answered. I made up my mind that I would telephone earlier tomorrow evening.

As I entered the barracks the sergeant yelled at me from his room.

I knew the sarge’s voice so I ran as fast as I could across the barracks to his room. He was still in uniform. It must be something important, so I stood at attention and saluted. “Yes sir, Sergeant,” I said.

“Asshole,” he snapped. “You’re over two months in the army and you don’t remember that you don’t salute a noncommissioned soldier?”

I dropped my hand. “I’m sorry, sir,” I said.

He shook his head in disgust. He handed me a telegram. “This just came in from the company’s office. I got it after the card game. I looked around for you but didn’t see you.”

“Thank you, Sergeant,” I said, tearing the telegram open. It was from Fat Rita.

DEAR JERRY. VERY IMPORTANT. CALL ME. TEL. NO. JA1-5065. WILL BE AT THAT NUMBER DAY AND NIGHT. SIGNED. RITA KASTENBERG.

I put the telegram in my shirt pocket.

The sergeant was curious. “Was that from your girlfriend? The only time they telegram you is if they are knocked up or need money.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I answered. “She just worked at the same place that I did.” I hesitated a moment, then asked the sergeant: “I know it’s late, Sarge, but could I get permission to use the phone again? I won’t be too long.”

“Sure you can go. I just hope she ain’t knocked up!” He laughed.

I went back to the pay phones. I was lucky. Only a couple of other guys were there, but it seemed like it took forever before they were off the phone. It was 0100 army time before I could call.

Fat Rita answered. “Jerry?” She sounded as if she had been crying.

“I got your telegram. What’s going on?” I asked.

“Harry took over my brother’s business, Jerry, and he sold it out from under us,” she said, sniffing.

“How did he get control of the business?” I asked.

“He got Eddie back to betting on horses. Then when Eddie couldn’t pay off his markers he took the business.”

“What about my money?” I asked.

“I asked Harry about it and he said that it was his money because your father skimmed the bets when he was working for him,” Rita said, starting to cry.

“The son of a bitch!” I swore. “Wait until I tell Aunt Lila about this. After all, my father was her brother.”

“Your uncle didn’t tell you?” she asked. “You won’t even be able to talk to her. She’s in the hospital dying of cancer. They say it could be any day.”

“Jesus,” I swore again, and hit the wall with my fist. “Harry never told me. He knows that I love Aunt Lila. He should have told me.”

“He’s way ahead of you,” Rita said. “He’s even got your girlfriend, Kitty. He moved her into the apartment and kicked out the schwartze. He also moved Kitty into his office with him and made her the manager since he spends a lot of time at the hospital. The first thing she did was give me two weeks’ notice.”

“I’ll get the son of a bitch on the phone and straighten him out!” I said, almost shouting.

“Save your nickel,” she said. “You’ll never get him. He’s spending the night with Kitty and they changed the telephone number at the business.”

“I’m really fucked,” I said. “I’m being shipped out next week to another camp and I can’t even get a one-day pass.”

“There’s nothing we can do here,” she said. “But a friend of ours has set us up with jobs at Kaiser’s. Eddie and I are planning to leave for California the minute I get my severance pay.”

“Damn!” I said. “It seems like the whole world has gone crazy.”

“Ain’t it the truth!” Rita answered. “But Eddie and me appreciate what you tried to do for us. As long as we stay here I’ll let you know about your Aunt Lila.”

“Thanks, Rita,” I said. “You’re a real friend.”

“I love you, Jerry,” she said. “Just don’t get yourself killed in the war and I’ll pray for you. Good luck.”

“And good luck for the two of you, Rita. I really mean that. So long,” I said, and hung up the receiver.

It took me a half an hour to make my way back to the barracks. It was dark; all the lights had been turned off. Through the windows, the streetlights showed some of the bunks as I walked into the barracks. I could see Buddy sitting up in the dark on the edge of his bed, his legs dangling, a cigarette glowing from his lips. “Where the hell were you hanging out?”

“I was on the phone,” I answered.

“What was goin’ on?” he asked.

“My Aunt Lila is dying in the hospital,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “She is a very nice lady. I liked her.”

“That’s only part of it,” I said. “Uncle Harry got Eddie into the horses again and when he couldn’t pay his markers he took his business.”

“The next thing you’re going to tell me is that Harry took over your girlfriend, Kitty.”

“You’re right,” I said flatly. “But Harry kicked out his colored girl and moved Kitty into the apartment. Then he made Kitty the manager of the business. The first thing she did was fire Fat Rita.”

“And what about the money you had in Eddie’s business and the money Kitty had stashed in the bank for you?” Buddy knew everything I had done.

“Gone,” I said. “He says that it’s all money that my father skimmed off from him.”

He took a deep breath and squashed out his cigarette in an ashtray. “You’re fucked.”

“I don’t give a damn,” I snapped. “AWOL or not, I’m going over to the city and I’ll give them both hell. You taught me how to use a knife.”

“And you spend the rest of your life in the can,” Buddy said. “Let me take care of it for you. I can get in touch with a couple of friends of mine from Harlem. They will do something quietly and you will be as clean as an angel.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s not the same thing.”

“The same thing might look like the electric chair,” Buddy said. “You should get into your bunk and get some sleep. By the morning you will cool down. In a week we’re moving out of here to Detroit and yesterday is another world.”

I looked at him as I thought. Finally, I nodded in agreement. “You know, you’re a pretty damn smart son of a bitch!”

Buddy laughed.

I walked over to my bunk, stretched out, and went right to sleep.

5

We arrived in Detroit, but not at a regular army base. We were sent to an automobile school at the Willys Overland factory. This was the company that manufactured the jeeps, shipping them to the armed services by the hundreds every day. Outside the factory, the army had built large Quonset huts which became the barracks for the two hundred soldiers assigned to the school. It was not too bad. Much better than the training camp at Fort Dix. At least here we only had an eight-hour day.

It was Buddy’s heaven. He had a crap game running every night and booked the horses all day long. I wondered how he ever got his auto mechanic lessons done. But he managed to do it all.

After being in Detroit for two weeks, I was worried. I hadn’t heard anything from Fat Rita and I wanted to know what was happening with Aunt Lila. It was a Sunday evening when I placed a call to her. The phone rang a few times before she answered.

“Rita?” I asked.

“Jerry!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for the last week but the stupid army wouldn’t give me any information. All they would say is that you will get a postal number before you go overseas and I could write you at that time. They said it would reach you wherever you went.”

“I haven’t got it yet,” I said. “When it comes through, they’ll just send it to my family.”

“I guess they’ll send it to Harry,” she said softly. “Your Aunt Lila died last week. I thought about you and wished you could have been there. I liked your Aunt Lila and I went to her funeral.”

I was silent for a moment. “Harry’s a prick,” I said. “He’s a relative. The army would have let him call if they knew it was about a death. He didn’t give a damn because he knew that I loved her.”

“He didn’t want to see you,” Fat Rita said. “He had Kitty with him at the funeral, all dressed in black. He knew that you would have killed them.”

“Why was she in black? She’s not even in the family,” I said.

Fat Rita took a deep breath. “She is now! Two days after the funeral they got married.”

“Jesus! She’s only half his age!” I exclaimed.

“I worked for him for nine years,” she said. “He always had young girls. Rosey, his little black girl, was only seventeen when he took her in.”

“I had to be stupid,” I said. “I never knew he liked them that young.”

“It’s over,” Fat Rita said quietly. “Now we can all get on with our lives and to hell with him. I’m so glad that you called me tonight because tomorrow we will take the train to California.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll find a way to keep in touch with you and Eddie. Have a good trip, and good luck. And thanks for giving me the news.”

I put the telephone down. It wasn’t Harry alone that I was angry with. I was even angrier at Kitty. The bitch! She turned everything I had, my money, her pussy, over to Harry. Love at first sight, I guess.

6

Buddy and I did well in the mechanics school. As a matter of fact, we were real experts. They decided to keep us in Detroit as teachers for each new mechanic platoon. In six months we were promoted to sergeant and each of us was put in charge of a teaching section. I was motor repair and rebuilds. Buddy had the best part of the work. He was in charge of painting all parts and exteriors of the jeeps. He wanted to paint the jeeps black, but the army only called for olive green, so his artistic endeavors came to nothing. As sergeants we were entitled to use a jeep on every third weekend leave. It was immediately after our promotion that we requested leave.

The sergeant gave us the weekend pass. We used one of the older jeeps and Buddy drove us into town. Downtown Detroit was all black. The tenements were filled with black families who worked for the automobile factories nearby. They were not building automobiles now, only tanks and engines for airplanes and PT boats. The blacks had nothing but money. They were paid high hourly wages and as much overtime as they wanted.

Buddy knew exactly where he was going: a tenement that seemed to look a little better than the others. Painted. Cleaned. As we walked up to the entrance, a big man was standing guard at the door Buddy spoke up to him. “My cousin, Leroy, in there?”

The guard seemed to know Buddy. “He’s downstairs in the club.”

“We’ll go down to see him,” Buddy said.

“Not so fast,” the guard said. “He’s working out a new show an’ he don’t want nobody to bother him.”

“You call him and tell him that his cousin, Clarence, is here,” Buddy said. “He’ll see me. I sent him the girls for the new show.”

I looked at Buddy. “I didn’t know you had those connections.”

He winked. “In the black world, all of us stick together.”

The guard came back from the telephone. “You can go down and see him. You know the way?”

“Tell me,” Buddy said. “I’m new in town.”

He followed the guard to the back entrance of the building. Then he led us downstairs and into an empty kitchen behind the club. We could hear a piano and the beat of the drums as we walked into the club itself. There was a long bar and about thirty tables that could seat about ninety customers. One wall of the club was a small stage, a dance floor, and a place for a small group that could sit close to the piano and drums.