Unhooking the Moon (24 page)

‘Thanks, Joey,' I said.

‘You're the best, Joey!' said the Rat.

‘I was thinking of helping out too,' said Tommy. ‘I was going to ask Ice if he really wanted to hire a private detective.'

Joey looked in the rear-view mirror. ‘So, your idea of helping out revolves around you making money.'

‘What difference does it make as long as he's found?'

‘It makes a lot of difference …'

I was hoping they wouldn't argue all the way downtown. But sometimes all you can do is hope.

It was dark by the time we reached Times Square. We parked the car on the West Side and walked up 42nd Street, which was swarming with people. Me and Tommy stopped when we reached Broadway and
waited for Joey and the Rat to catch up. They were laughing and joking like a couple of kids on their way to the funfair. And Times Square had that funfair feel about it. There were sailors and stag parties, and glamorous-looking girls. And there were lots of people in fancy dress. It was like a Mardi Gras.

Then a preacher stood on a stool and shouted at the thousands of people making their way to the different bars, nightclubs, and theatres. ‘Repent! Repent!' he ranted.

‘Repent?' said a chubby guy who'd had too much to drink. ‘I've only just got here!' Then he stood below the preacher. ‘Hey, Peter. Take my picture.' Some girls dressed as angels came along and stood next to him. A group of cops gathered around the angels, and a group of devils gathered around the cops. In the end there must have been about twenty people.

‘What about me?' asked the guy with the camera.

‘Oh give it here!' shouted the preacher. And getting off his stool he took the photograph. He gave the guy his camera back and returned to ranting. ‘Where's my stool! Somebody's stolen my stool! You thieving Babylonians, you're all going to burn!' Then the cops came over to calm him down.

‘I see the party's in full swing,' said Joey as he
reached us.

‘You and Marie Claire work Broadway,' said Tommy. ‘Me and Bob will work 42nd Street.'

‘Where will you be?' asked Joey.

Tommy looked around him. ‘By Madame Tussauds.'

Joey pulled me to one side and put his arm around me. ‘I trust you, Bob, but I don't trust him. You take care of the money, OK?'

‘Sure, Joe.'

‘Come on, Marie Claire. Let's go to work.'

‘See you later, Bob,' said the Rat.

‘Come here,' I told her. ‘You stay close to Joey and don't go wandering off!'

‘I won't.'

‘And don't be acting like a ghetto bitch!'

‘Me! Acting like a ghetto beep! I think not. What would Ms Mountshaft and the ballet say?'

‘Well, be careful.'

She stared up at me. ‘I can remember you carrying me in the rain because you didn't want my feet to get wet.'

The Rat could come out with the strangest things! ‘What's that got to do with anything?'

‘You've always looked after me, Bob, even when we were very little kids.'

I punched her on the arm. ‘Someone's got to keep you out of trouble.'

‘Come on, MC!' shouted Joey.

The Rat ran after him.

‘She'll be OK, Bob,' said Tommy. ‘That Joey's an arrogant little wop, but he'll look after her.' Tommy fixed two watches to each wrist and, pulling down his sleeve, he brushed the lapels of his suit. ‘Come on, Bob. Let's sell these suckers a watch.'

I stood against a wall and watched Tommy at work; it was a real education. He would ask a question, ‘How are you this evening?' or, ‘Excuse me, sir, where are you from?', and depending on their answer he would either step forward or let them go.

The suckers would always ask the same questions. ‘How do we know they're genuine? How do we know they won't fall apart? Are you a licensed retailer?' Tommy hadn't made a single sale until a group of sailors walked by.

‘Hey, boys! I've got something you might be interested in.' Tommy looked around him and then he pulled up his sleeves. ‘Top-of-the-range Swiss Army watches. They sell at six hundred dollars retail. You can have one for a hundred and fifty dollars and they're still in their boxes.'

‘Yeah,' said this large-jawed sailor. ‘Let's take a look.'

Tommy brought the sailors toward me and I opened up my rucksack. He pulled out a few boxes and passed them around.

‘They're hot, right?' asked one of the sailors.

‘Let's just say, they're a little warm,' said Tommy.

The large-jawed sailor had a quick talk with his shipmates. ‘OK, they look genuine enough. And I should know, I've had a few. We were all going to get a tattoo but a watch will do. We'll take one each and, since we're taking six, you'll take a hundred bucks a watch.'

‘Are you kidding? That's a third off!'

‘Forget about it, boys, he doesn't want our business.'

‘OK, you win,' said Tommy.

They handed Tommy $600 and wandered away while looking at their wrists.

‘Why did you give them the impression they were stolen, Tommy?'

‘People prefer buying stolen stuff. They think they're getting a better deal. Tells you something about human nature, don't it?'

I cringed but I had to ask him. ‘Shall I hold on to the money, Tommy?'

‘What, your friend don't trust me? Here, take it.'

I felt bad taking the money but I was glad he handed it over without a fuss.

Anyway, after making his first sale Tommy made one sale after another. And the more he sold the happier he seemed. My only problem was the money. Sometimes he would give it to me and other times it would go in his pocket. I was hoping he would hand it over when the time came, but I could see there being a problem.

Then a guy came and stood next to me. His face was pale and his eyes were red, and greasy blond hair dangled from his head.

‘What's in the rucksack?' he asked.

‘Oh nothing.'

‘Give it to me!'

‘I can't.'

The man's teeth clenched. ‘You can't or you won't?'

‘He won't,' said Tommy.

The man straightened up. ‘Suppose I take it!'

Tommy pulled out a small black baton and slapped it in his hand. ‘This is Harry. He's leather on the outside, but inside, he's lead. Now you move away or Harry goes over your head!'

The guy moved away glaring at Tommy as he went.

‘You OK, Bob?'

‘He was kind of scary.'

‘Full moon always brings them out. Don't worry kid. Shout if you need me.'

As the night wore on the bright lights began hurting my eyes. I was hoping we wouldn't be out there much longer. Times Square is a strange place when you're tired. But when I saw Joey running towards us I knew it was about to get stranger.

‘Is she here?' he shouted. ‘Marie Claire, is she here?'

‘No,' I said.

‘I turned my back for a minute and she'd gone! I've looked everywhere for her! I can't find her!'

‘OK, calm down,' said Tommy. ‘Where was the last place you saw her?'

‘Around 47th and Broadway. I thought she might have gone to the bathroom or something, so I waited. Then I had a good look around. I can't find her anywhere.'

‘How long since you last seen her?'

‘Half an hour, maybe more.'

‘Bob and me will head up Broadway. You get the car and cruise the area.'

‘I'm so sorry, Bob!' said Joey, and ran off to get the car.

The fear hit me hard. ‘We have to find her, Tommy! We have to find my sister!'

‘What? Is that panic I hear? Come on, Bob, she's probably just wandered off. If that idiot had stayed put, she would have wandered back again.' Tommy put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Come on, kid, we'll find her.'

We walked up on to Broadway and waded through thousands of people. Then, crossing to the other side of the road, we doubled back. Tommy stopped every now and again to speak to various people. They stood in doorways or leaned against walls or hid in the shadows of Times Square. I wouldn't have noticed they were there if Tommy hadn't spoken to them. ‘Fairhaired girl, selling watches, you seen her? There's a hundred in it for you if you spot her, answers to the name of Marie Claire.' His tone was serious when he spoke to the street people, but when he saw me watching him he smiled. ‘When we find her, Bob, we'll make her pay for supper.' But when he went back to scanning the street, he looked worried. I'd only known Tommy for a short time but I knew he wasn't the sort of person to worry. That look frightened me more than anything.

I scanned the crowd until my eyes hurt. I looked in
the corners of the buildings and down the dark alleys. I looked at every person who passed me. I looked at hundreds of faces and then I looked at thousands. I looked in restaurant windows. I even looked in the bars. I checked the coffee shops hoping to see her. I looked into the passing cars desperate not to see her. I turned and turned until the lights and the buildings went round me like a merry-go-round, but I couldn't see her anywhere.

Then Joey cruised along, looking around him as he came. He pulled up by us. Tommy put his hand on the roof of the car and they exchanged a few words. They never looked at each other as they spoke; their dark eyes scanned the streets. And for the first time I saw they were like father and son.

‘Keep looking,' said Tommy and the car cruised away.

Then the Rat's words ran around in my head like the plague
Take me home, Bob! Something bad is going to happen!
But I hadn't taken her home! And it must have been half an hour since Joey told us he couldn't find her. That means she had been missing for at least an hour.

‘You have to find her, Tommy!'

Tommy made no attempt to smile now. His face
was as grim as an undertaker's. I stopped looking for her. I only watched him. Only Tommy with his hustler's instinct could find her. He moved slowly. He stopped. His head turned from side to side. He moved on. He mumbled something to himself. Then he crossed Broadway and stood on the central reservation where me and the Rat had stood that first night. I followed him across. He turned 360 degrees. But then he froze. Something had caught his eye!

‘There she is!' he shouted and pointed across the street.

I looked but I couldn't see her! ‘Where?'

He pointed in a different direction. ‘There!'

A police car was weaving its way through the Times Square traffic. Her small face appeared in the back window. My eyes locked on to hers. She held my glance for a second. And then she was gone.

When I woke it was daylight. I reached for my phone but it wasn't there. I jumped up and went outside. Tommy and Joey were sitting in the sunshine.

‘It's OK, Bob. I've got it here,' said Tommy handing me the phone. ‘You were sleeping pretty good. I was scared she'd send you a message and you wouldn't hear it.'

‘I tried calling her, Bob,' said Joey. ‘But her phone's switched off.'

‘She'll have done that to stop the cops from taking it off her. But she'll send me a text message as soon as she gets a chance.'

‘The kids said you used to be a lawyer,' said Joey. ‘What will happen now?'

‘They'll call Social Services and they'll take her to a children's home. They'll keep her there until they figure out what to do with her.'

‘When she contacts you, Bob, we'll go get her,' said Joey. ‘Then I'll take you kids back to Canada. I'll carry on looking for your uncle, don't worry about that, but I think it would be best if you went home.'

‘There could be implications if you take her out of the home,' said Tommy. ‘They could throw a dozen charges at you. They could even charge you with kidnapping.'

‘Like I told you, Pops, I stand by my friends. What do you say, Bob?'

‘We have to get her back!'

‘OK, then it's settled. Now how about a late breakfast?'

‘I'm not hungry.'

‘I know it's bad, Bob. But not eating won't help.'

‘Joey's right,' said Tommy. ‘I'll fire up the barbecue and we'll have a good breakfast. Come on, kid. You can help. It'll keep your mind off things.'

Tommy put bacon and eggs on the barbecue while Joey did the coffee and toast inside. When it was done we ate it outdoors while watching the trains go by. A woman waved at me from one train. She looked kind of sad when I didn't wave back. When the train had gone I felt bad for not waving, but I felt bad anyway.

We drank more coffee and Joey smoked one cigarette
after another. A lot more trains went by. I paced back and forth between the trailer and the train tracks, and then I crossed the train tracks and walked down by the river. I couldn't stop thinking about where she could be. I wondered if she was frightened or feeling lonely like me. I thought about her in the police station joking around with the cops. The guys were right. She would be safe with the cops.

But what if she escaped? She might try and find her way back here. She'd have such a long journey. No, she wouldn't do that. She couldn't find her way back here. She would probably go back to the den. She might even go to Ice. But I don't think she could escape from the cops, not by herself. So they would take her to a home. I wondered what sort of home they would take her to. What if she had a fit? I should give myself up. But they might put me in a boys' home and keep her in a girls'. I looked at my cellphone for the thousandth time and then I wandered back to the guys.

They played cards outdoors while asking each other did they know various people, most of whom sounded like gangsters. Pete the Performer and Frank the Fence. Sal and Moe, and do you know Sonny the Saint? What about his brother Joe the Boxer who
killed Silent Steve in Havana's that night because he was looking at his girlfriend? Or what about Crazy Carl and those Benson Hurst boys? You hear about the fallout with the Russians?