Dont hold your breath. Neither of us is that ambitious. You know what appeals to Donny about flipping houses? As much as the opportunity for profit? The chance to quit bidding on jobs. He hates that part, everything you have to take into consideration to come up with a price thats low enough to get you the job but high enough so you come out ahead doing it. Of course he has to do all the same calculations when hes the owner himself, but he says it doesnt give him the same kind of headache.
That changed the subject, and it stayed changed, but in bed that night, after a long shared silence, she asked if there was any way to get himself all the way off the hook.
He said, You mean as far as Al is concerned, since the police are only a problem if I get arrested and somebody runs my prints. With Al, well, times a healer. The more time passes, the less hes going to care whether Im alive or dead. As far as taking action to get him off my back
Yes?
Well, the only way I can see is to find some way to learn who he is and where to get hold of him. And then go there, wherever it is, and, uh, deal with him.
Kill him, you mean. You can say the word, its not going to bother me.
Thats what it would take. You couldnt sign a mutual nonaggression pact with him, settle the deal with a handshake.
Anyway, she said, he ought to be dead. Whats so amusing?
Who knew youd turn out to be such a tough guy?
Hard as nails. Is there any way to find him? You must have thought about it.
Long and hard. And no, I dont think there is, and if there is I sure cant figure it out. I wouldnt even know where to start.
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out for more. The sooner were out of one deal, the sooner we can get into the next, he told Keller, and after the deal closed Kellers one-third share of the net was just over eleven thousand dollars. He hadnt been keeping track of his hours, but knew his profit amounted to a good deal more than twelve dollars an hour.
He came home with the news, and youd have thought Julia already heard. The table was set with the good china, and there were flowers in a vase. I guess someone told you, he said, but no one had, and she congratulated him and kissed him and said the flowers and all were because she had news of her own. Theyd offered her a full-time teaching position for the coming year.
A permanent position, she said, and I wanted to tell them that nothings permanent in an uncertain world, but I decided to keep my mouth shut.
Probably wise.
That means more money, of course, but it also means benefits. And it means not having to make the acquaintance of a new batch of brats every month or so. Instead Ill get one batch of brats and be stuck with them for the whole year.
Thats great.
On the downside, it also means working five days a week for forty weeks a year, not just when some teacher gets sick or decides to move to I dont know where.
Wichita?
It ties a person down, but would it keep us from doing anything we really wanted to do? Whats great is having the summers off, and if you ever want to get away from New Orleans, summers the time when you want to do it. I think I should tell them yes.
You mean you havent already?
Well, I wanted to discuss it with you. You think I should go for it?
He did, and said so, and she served a dish shed adapted from a New Orleans cookbook, a rich and savory stew of meat and okra served over rice, with a green salad, and lemon pie for dessert. The pie was from a little bakery on Magazine Street, and while he was tucking into a second piece she told him shed bought him a present.
I thought the pie was the present, he said.
Its good, isnt it? No, but this was also from Magazine Street, just two doors up from the bakery. I wonder if you ever noticed it.
Noticed what?
The shop. I dont know, maybe I made a mistake. Maybe you wont like it, maybe itll just be a case of throwing salt in old wounds.
You know, he said, I dont have a clue what youre talking about. Do I get a present or dont I?
Its not exactly a present. I mean, I didnt wrap it. Its not the kind of present you would wrap.
Thats good, because itll save the time it would take to unwrap it, and we can use that time having this conversation.
Am I being nuts? Yes, Julia, youre being nuts. Dont go anywhere.
Where would I go?
She came back with a flat paper bag, so in a sense the present was wrapped after all, if informally. I just hope I didnt do the wrong thing, she said, handing it to him, and he reached into the bag and drew out a copy of Linns Stamp News .
Theres this shop, its not much more than a hole in the wall. Stamps and coins and political campaign buttons. And other hobby items, but mostly those three. Do you know the shop Im talking about?
He didnt.
And I walked in, and I didnt want to buy you stamps, because I thought that probably wouldnt have been a good idea
You were right about that.
But I saw this paper, and didnt you mention it once? I think you did.
I may have.
You used to read it, didnt you?
I was a subscriber.