Unhooking the Moon (23 page)

‘Are you sure you ain't trying to save your friend, Sonny?'

‘I'm through trying to save him, Frank. I have heard the name. I just can't remember where from.'

Big Frank stared at the Rat. The Rat folded her arms and stared at Big Frank. I just stared at my life, which never so much flashed before me but sank away.

‘Even if what you say is true, I still don't have my money.' Frank turned to Tommy. ‘I told myself I'd be
lenient if you had two grand. If you can make it up right now I'll give you two more days.'

‘I don't have it, Frank.'

‘The bikes!' I said.

Me and the Rat bolted outside and came back with the bikes. ‘These are the best BMXs money can buy,' I said. ‘They cost five hundred dollars each! They'll more than make up for the seventy dollars that Tommy is short.'

Big Frank looked at them. ‘OK they'll do for my boys.' Then he turned to Tommy. ‘Hustler, you have two days to get me the grand plus a hundred dollars a day in interest. Twelve hundred dollars in two days or I'll break both your hands! Now get out of my sight! … Oh, and, little girl, let me give you some advice. Don't ever stick your neck out for nobody, especially a scumbag like him!'

‘Tommy's our friend! And you'll see, big things are going to come his way!'

I took her by the arm and walked her outside. I could have kicked her in the pants for that performance. Not that she cared; she looked pleased with herself.

‘Well, Tommy. That's another fine mess we've got you out of.'

Tommy looked a little down. ‘Sorry about the bikes, kids. I'll make it up to you.'

‘It's OK, Tommy,' said the Rat. ‘Just remember we're sailing on your boat when it comes in.'

‘I'll remember. Come on, kids. It's a long walk to Brooklyn Bridge.'

I didn't mind giving up the bikes to save Tommy from getting his hand broken, but New York got a lot bigger without them. And when he said we had a long walk he wasn't joking. It took us so long to get there I don't even want to talk about it! We didn't even have money to buy a drink. But eventually, after hours of plodding away, we reached the bridge and made our way up the boardwalk. Tommy developed a limp as we neared the top, not a false limp for the suckers, but a real limp. So we took a seat on a bench and looked at the river.

‘When my family first came here from the old country we used to live over there,' said Tommy, pointing toward Brooklyn. ‘The houses have been knocked down now but we used to have an attic apartment. My brother and me had a bedroom way up in the top. It had a round window, as I remember, and some nights we'd lie awake and look out at this bridge.'

‘You have a brother, Tommy?' I asked.

‘Not any more. He was fishing by the river one day and these kids asked him if he could swim. “Sure,” he said, and so they threw him in. He couldn't swim. Turns out they couldn't either. He drowned. He was only eleven. Sometimes I think about what would have happened if he had lived. How my life would have been different if I had a big brother looking out for me. I remember him playing the violin. He used to play “Three Blind Mice” over and over. I don't think he could play anything else. Who knows he might have grown up to be a famous violinist, but he drowned instead. But that's life. We wander around like blind mice searching for whatever it is we're looking for. From mice to miserable men, from the poetry of childhood's hour to the darkness of death's goddamn dominion, we never stop searching. Why can't we just
be
?'

‘Are you OK, Tommy?' asked the mice's very own relation.

‘Sure, I'm just tired. Come on, kids. Let's go meet this Joey character.'

So the three blind mice wandered over the Brooklyn Bridge and back to the spot where Joey
had first dropped us off, which seemed like a thousand years ago.

‘Here he is!' said the Rat.

Joey pulled up and jumped out of his car. ‘Hey, it's the original MC!' he said giving the Rat a hug. Then he hugged me. ‘Hey, Bobby! So you survived without me!' But when he saw Tommy the smile left his face. ‘Who's this?'

‘Tommy Mattolla from Manhattan.'

Joey looked puzzled. ‘So, what can we do for you, Tommy?'

I could see Joey didn't take to Tommy and so I tried to boost him up. ‘Tommy's a friend, Joey. He bought us breakfast this morning when we had no money, and now he's got nowhere to stay.'

‘Just need a place to hang my hat for a few days. I've got plenty on the go. There'll be money coming my way pretty soon.'

‘Kids, I'm staying in a trailer by the river. I ain't got room for him.'

‘You'll hardly know I was there, kid,' said Tommy.

‘Believe me, I'll know!'

‘Well, I don't know if I can let the kids go with you. After all, we hardly know you.'

‘Listen, Pops. You better be careful what you say or—'

The Rat snatched the
Post
from Tommy's pocket and showed it to Joey.

‘Isn't that the Iceman?' said Joey. ‘You're with the Iceman, MC!' Then he looked at Tommy and back at the paper. ‘Who are you again?'

‘Tommy's a friend, Joey,' said the Rat. ‘He has nowhere to stay. But I told him, “Joey will help you! He's a really good guy!”' Then she looked up at him with her big blue eyes.

Joey looked at Tommy. ‘Yeah, well, if you're willing to sleep outside, I've got a camp bed you can use.'

‘Great,' said Tommy and jumped in the car.

Joey shook his head. ‘Can't leave you kids alone for a minute, can I? Come on, let's head to the supermarket. I'll buy some steaks for a barbecue. Then you can tell me how you managed to befriend that rundown hustler and get your picture in the
Post
with the latest thing in rap, in the unbelievably short time that I've been away!'

We unlocked a set of gates and, bumping down a dirt road, we pulled up in front of a large silver trailer. The trailer was about sixty metres from the Hudson River and alongside the river ran train tracks. As we got out of the car an Amtrak train went by sounding its siren. Some of the people on the train waved at us and me and the Rat waved back. One crazy guy waved both arms while a little girl, held up by her mom, twinkled her fingers.

‘They'll wave at you from a train,' said Tommy. ‘But they'll pass you in the street without a word.'

When the train had gone, we looked around us. The land we were on had been cleared of anything green, but either side of us there were lots of trees and shrubs, and across the river there were tree-covered hills. Joey told us we were way up in the Bronx but I never imagined there would be so much nature. It
was like a little part of Canada.

‘Is this your land, Joe?' asked the Rat.

‘I wish it was. A construction company owns it. They're going to build condos here. My second cousin removed got me the job guarding the site. So far there's nothing to guard.' He pulled the grocery bags from the trunk. ‘Grab some of those bags, will you.' We helped Joey take the bags from the car to the trailer. It was quite roomy inside. There was a bathroom, a kitchen, and two separate compartments containing double beds.

‘You kids can take the spare bed. You're outside, Pops. There's a camper bed in here,' said Joey opening a cupboard door. ‘Right I'll go fire up that barbecue.'

Tommy prodded the mattress. ‘Looks like you kids are gonna sleep well. But what about my rheumatism?' he said rubbing his back.

‘You can have the bed, Tommy,' I said.

‘I don't wanna put you kids out.'

‘You have it Tommy,' said the Rat. ‘Me and Bob are used to sleeping outdoors.'

‘Well, if you insist.'

We went outside to see Joey putting burgers and steak on a sizzling grill.

‘How about if I do that?' said Tommy.

‘I've got it.'

‘I'd like to do it. To show my appreciation, so to speak.'

Joey handed him a spatula. ‘I'll do the beans and the fries inside.'

‘I'll help,' said the Rat.

Tommy found an apron and took control of the cooking. He turned up the heat and flipped the burgers one after the other. The smell made my mouth water.

Joey came out and gave Tommy and me a Coke.

‘What, no beer?' asked Tommy.

Joey ignored him and, extending a small table, he went back inside.

‘I get the feeling I'm not wanted.'

‘Joey don't mean nothing.'

‘It's OK. I've never been popular, not even in prison. But who wants to be popular in prison?' Tommy sniggered to himself. ‘How you like your steak, Bob?'

‘Medium, I guess … Was prison really bad?'

‘No, not really. It was boring, if anything. The only thing I didn't like was bumping into my former clients. They'd always complain about the way I defended them. And what got me was that most of them were guilty, at least I hope they were. But being a prison
lawyer had its benefits. People were always asking for help with their appeals and I'd always help them out. I'd charge a small fee, of course, or ask a favour in return. So it worked out OK in the end.'

The Rat came out and opened out some fold-up chairs. ‘We're done.'

Tommy turned one of the steaks over. ‘So are we.'

Joey put the fries and beans on the table and we all took a seat.

I hadn't eaten since breakfast and that's my excuse for taking a full steak and two cheeseburgers. We washed it down with Coke while the guys washed it down with beer. And I have to say it tasted pretty good.

Joey lit up a cigarette and sat back, satisfied. ‘I can't believe you kids stayed with the Iceman. What was he like?'

‘He was nice,' I said.

‘Ice was nice,' said the Rat. ‘He's our friend. We were on the TV with him as well, and we had a chauffeur and a limo and we ate in a fancy restaurant and everything. It was great.'

‘And now you're stuck in a trailer with old Joey.'

‘You're great as well, Joey,' said the Rat. ‘And the trailer's really nice.'

Joey took a long drag on his cigarette. ‘Yeah the trailer's nice and there's no rent to pay. Still, I wouldn't mind living in a Fifth Avenue apartment. Or having my first CD sell a million copies.'

Tommy put his plate down. ‘You got anything on the go?'

‘Yeah, I've got something.'

‘Anything I could get in on?'

‘Not really.'

‘Maybe I could help you out,' said Tommy.

Joey scoffed. ‘
You
help
me
out! I'm the one helping you out, and you look like you're used to it.'

‘Something on your mind, kid?'

‘Nothing I wanna share with you.'

‘How old are you, kid? Twenty, twenty-one? You've only just met me and you've got me in your pigeonhole. You look at me and you think what a broken-down bum. I'll never end up like that guy. But don't be so sure, kid. Life can turn around and bite you on the ass when you least expect it.'

‘You've had some bad luck, is that it?' said Joey. ‘It's not your fault, of course. That guy let you down or your horse never came in. Or those shares took a dive and took your savings with them. It's always easier to blame your problems on luck. But a real man
blames himself for his mistakes.'

Tommy looked at the ground.

I felt bad for Tommy. To some people he must have seemed like a bum but he was a good guy. They were both good guys. But they didn't like each other. And I felt awkward because me and Rat had brought them together. I tried to think of something to say that would lighten the mood. But the Rat beat me to it. ‘How did you get on with the cigars, Joey?'

The anger left Joey's face. ‘I did pretty good, Marie Claire. I sold them all. I gave some money to my stepparents and with the rest I bought watches. But now I have to get rid of the watches to get some cash flowing.'

‘Tommy could help you,' said the Rat. ‘He's a great hustler.'

‘What's the script, Joe?'

Joey didn't answer.

‘Well, if you don't wanna tell me,' said Tommy.

‘One hundred genuine Swiss Army watches. Got them at a bankruptcy auction in Baltimore. To break even I have to get forty dollars a watch. Figure I can double my money when I sell them, but it's selling them.'

‘Swiss Army, they're a good watch,' said Tommy. ‘If we went to Times Square tonight we could sell quite a few.'

‘Great!' said the Rat.

‘Times Square! Are you kidding? They got plain-clothes cops and Times Square security, not to mention the anti-terrorist units. I'd get the whole suitcase taken off me.'

‘Unless we work in teams. You take Marie Claire and I take Bob. They stay at a safe distance with the watches in their rucksacks. If the cops pinch us, we only lose a few watches.'

‘I lose a few watches!'

‘OK, you lose a few watches, but you see my point. And me and the kids will work for peanuts, let's say fifty per cent of the net.'

‘Sounds good to me!' said the Rat.

‘I don't like the idea of bringing the kids into it.'

‘It's OK, Joe. Me and Tommy have worked Times Square before.'

‘You took the kids hustling in Times Square.'

‘They were already there,' said Tommy. ‘That's how we met. And Marie Claire here's a real star.'

‘We'll be great together, Joey,' said the Rat. ‘We'll have them watches sold in a night.'

Joey seemed unsure, but the Rat's enthusiasm brought a smile to his face. ‘Well, I have no other plans. OK, let's do it.'

So that was it. Me and Tommy put the dishes away while Joey and the Rat loaded our rucksacks with watches. When we were done we locked up the trailer and jumped in the car.

‘Oh, I forgot to tell you, kids!' said Joey as we drove away. ‘I placed an ad in the
Post
and the
Village Voice
for anyone who knows a Jerome DeBillier, and I left my phone number. They'll be in the day after tomorrow, so who knows, maybe we'll get a bite.'