words from Abbie’s sentences, but there were so many different things to be baffled about that I hardly knew where to begin, and in the interim I was reduced to recoiling from everything she said.
“Just a little crease,” she said, and held up two fingers very close together. “Hardly anything,” she said. “The doctor said you should stay in bed for a day or two, and after that you should take it easy for a while, that’s all.”
“I shouldn’t be in the hospital?”
“You don’t have to be,” she said. “Honest, Chet, it isn’t really a bad wound at all. The doctor said the heat from the friction of the bullet going by sort of cauterized it right away, and besides that, it bled a lot, which helped to clean it, so there’s—”
“I don’t want to hear about it,” I said. I put my hand to my head—the front, not the part that twanged—and said, “My head hurts.”
“The doctor gave me some pills to give you,” she said, and went away.
While she was gone I had leisure at last to do some sorting out in the jumble of my mind, and when she came back I wasmore or less clear on the situation and had a few questions I wanted to ask. I waited till I swallowed the two small green pills with some water, then gave the glass back, thanked her, and said, “What about the police?”
“What about them?” she said. She put the glass down on the dresser and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Didn’t you call them?”
“Good Lord, no,” she said.
“Good Lord, no? Good Lord, why not?”
“Because,” she said, “the mob tried to kill you.”
I was getting confused again. “Excuse me,” I said, “but it seems to me that would be a hell of a good reason for calling the cops. To get police protection, if nothing else.”
She shook her head, saddened a bit by my ignorance. “Chet,” she said, “don’t you know what happens when the mob is after somebody and he goes to the police for police protection?”
“He gets police protection,” I said.
“He does not. More often than not he gets thrown out a window. Haven’t you ever heard of bribery? Payoffs? Crooked policemen? Do you think Tommy managed to run a book in plain sight here in his apartment in the middle of Manhattan without the police being paid off somewhere along the line? Don’t you think Tommy’s bosses have a lot of cops on their payroll, too?”
“Oh, come on,” I said. “You’re getting paranoid again. You keep—”
“The last time you said that,” she reminded me, “you got shot in the head.”
I felt myself duck, which was ridiculous. Like the old superstition about three on a match. On the other hand, how many people do you see either light the third cigarette with a new match or go ahead with the original match but then look vaguelynervous for a few minutes afterward? Hundreds. And I’m one of them.
Still, it struck me there was something wrong somewhere. I’d been shot. In the head. How could I be even contemplating not calling the police?
I said, “What do I do instead? For Pete’s sake, they’ll take another shot at me the next time they see me. I can’t go home, I can’t go to work, I can’t even walk down the street.”
“You’re not supposed to, anyway,” she said. “The doctor said you’re supposed to stay in bed for a couple of days, so you stay right here and you’ll be perfectly safe. Nobody knows you’re here. Nobody even knows I’m here.”
“That’s wonderful,” I said. “I lie around here for two days, and then I go out and get shot.”
“No, you won’t, Chet,” she said. “They won’t be after you any more by then.”
“That’s good news,” I said, “but I believe I have a doubt or two.”
“Well, you shouldn’t,” she said. “Just think about it for a minute.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Chet, don’t be silly. Ask yourself, why did they try to kill you?”
“I don’t want to ask questions like that. I don’t want to think about it.”
“Well,
“Just a little crease,” she said, and held up two fingers very close together. “Hardly anything,” she said. “The doctor said you should stay in bed for a day or two, and after that you should take it easy for a while, that’s all.”
“I shouldn’t be in the hospital?”
“You don’t have to be,” she said. “Honest, Chet, it isn’t really a bad wound at all. The doctor said the heat from the friction of the bullet going by sort of cauterized it right away, and besides that, it bled a lot, which helped to clean it, so there’s—”
“I don’t want to hear about it,” I said. I put my hand to my head—the front, not the part that twanged—and said, “My head hurts.”
“The doctor gave me some pills to give you,” she said, and went away.
While she was gone I had leisure at last to do some sorting out in the jumble of my mind, and when she came back I wasmore or less clear on the situation and had a few questions I wanted to ask. I waited till I swallowed the two small green pills with some water, then gave the glass back, thanked her, and said, “What about the police?”
“What about them?” she said. She put the glass down on the dresser and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Didn’t you call them?”
“Good Lord, no,” she said.
“Good Lord, no? Good Lord, why not?”
“Because,” she said, “the mob tried to kill you.”
I was getting confused again. “Excuse me,” I said, “but it seems to me that would be a hell of a good reason for calling the cops. To get police protection, if nothing else.”
She shook her head, saddened a bit by my ignorance. “Chet,” she said, “don’t you know what happens when the mob is after somebody and he goes to the police for police protection?”
“He gets police protection,” I said.
“He does not. More often than not he gets thrown out a window. Haven’t you ever heard of bribery? Payoffs? Crooked policemen? Do you think Tommy managed to run a book in plain sight here in his apartment in the middle of Manhattan without the police being paid off somewhere along the line? Don’t you think Tommy’s bosses have a lot of cops on their payroll, too?”
“Oh, come on,” I said. “You’re getting paranoid again. You keep—”
“The last time you said that,” she reminded me, “you got shot in the head.”
I felt myself duck, which was ridiculous. Like the old superstition about three on a match. On the other hand, how many people do you see either light the third cigarette with a new match or go ahead with the original match but then look vaguelynervous for a few minutes afterward? Hundreds. And I’m one of them.
Still, it struck me there was something wrong somewhere. I’d been shot. In the head. How could I be even contemplating not calling the police?
I said, “What do I do instead? For Pete’s sake, they’ll take another shot at me the next time they see me. I can’t go home, I can’t go to work, I can’t even walk down the street.”
“You’re not supposed to, anyway,” she said. “The doctor said you’re supposed to stay in bed for a couple of days, so you stay right here and you’ll be perfectly safe. Nobody knows you’re here. Nobody even knows I’m here.”
“That’s wonderful,” I said. “I lie around here for two days, and then I go out and get shot.”
“No, you won’t, Chet,” she said. “They won’t be after you any more by then.”
“That’s good news,” I said, “but I believe I have a doubt or two.”
“Well, you shouldn’t,” she said. “Just think about it for a minute.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Chet, don’t be silly. Ask yourself, why did they try to kill you?”
“I don’t want to ask questions like that. I don’t want to think about it.”
“Well,
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