Gilded Latten Bones

42

Salvation did not get in a huff. He just went away, no doubt deleting my name from his roll of potential character actors.

"Sorry about that, Sarge."

"He ain't timid no more."

"No. Unless he was on the street."

"No shit dere. Dat attitude don't cut no nutin' wit' da brunos. If dey was any dat da Director didn't already ship off ta da work camps."

An interesting notion, that law and order had become so ubiquitous that smarmy little peckerwoods like the Remora could turn snotty and not have to pay with bloody head wounds.

What did Deal Relway think of that unintended consequence?

"Anyway, you were telling me that Morley's country fiancee might be in town hoping to dip into his pockets."

"Dat's just one t'eory."

"Are there others?"

"Probably. You gotta ast da Capa. Me, I don't t'ink so fast so I jes' follow along."

"I see. Don't put yourself down. You have a knack for doing the right thing at the right time." He saved my life, once upon a time. "Did you hold back anything from the Capa? Something you guys thought might upset her?"

A downside to being a sociopath, like Belinda, was that people walked on eggshells around you. They didn't tell you things that might upset you. You ended up operating in a bad news vacuum.

Belinda was smart enough to see that. She created ways around the standard distortion. But those ways would not work inside a closed and loyal crew like Morley's. Belinda might suspect that they were blowing smoke and leaving things unsaid but that would be outside her imperial reach.

"Any other time, Garrett, an' you'd be right. If Morley survivin' wasn't involved, we'd mix up a whole stew a half-troots an' misleadin' troots. We wouldn't let her know what was really what. But dis time it was himself as da table stakes. Dis time we had ta tell her true."

The dialect had weakened. I understood every word.

Morley's crew would not hold out on Belinda while she could do their friend and employer some good.

They would turn loose nothing that didn't bear on the immediate problem, though.

"You didn't hold anything back?"

"Nut'in'! We gotta get our Morley back-which I guess we sorta got, if'n he ever come outta dat coma-an' we gotta have a shot at fixin' whoever done whatever got did ta him. We figure you an' da Capa tagether are gonna see the blood spread where dat's gonna do da mos' good. An' I t'ink I better get on back down ta da place, now. Dey're gonna need me. Dis is da busiest night a da week."

"I wouldn't want to interfere with business. Get going. If something turns up that might interest me don't waste time letting me know."

Sarge nodded. "He's gonna make it, ain't he, Garrett?"

"I'm sure. Tell the others. Morley will be back real soon."

"T'anks, Garrett." He stared at me for several seconds. "Maybe you ain't da complete sponge we always t'ought."

Sarge, Puddle, and others of Morley's bunch had, back when, treated me like I carried a social disease. They had kept it in check only when Dotes was there, watching.

"I'm pleased to hear you say that, Sarge. It means a lot. Now go back to work and make Morley rich."

As Sarge headed out I realized that I could not remember what Morley called the place he had opened across from the World. What was wrong with me? Tinnie and I had eaten there several times.