“Not
everyone can be bought,” she said.
“Aw
honey, I don’t want to buy you. I just want to rent you for a while.”
He
caught her arm as she raised it to slap him. They stared at each other for a
moment and she lowered her hand to her lap. He signaled to the waitress for
another round.
“Just
listen to what I have to say. You’ve been on the run for months. I know you
didn’t empty his account. You must be short of cash.”
“What
do you want Manny?”
“Believe
it or not, I need your help sweetheart. I’m in a fix. The IRS wants to put me
away, but they’re willing to cut me a deal if I reel in a bigger fish.”
“You’re
going to rat out Joey? Do you have a death wish?”
He
shrugged and tossed back the rest of his drink as the waitress set down their
replacements.
“I
figure I’ll be okay if he goes away for long enough. Besides, it’s rat him out
or go to jail. Loyalty has its limits.”
“Okay,
fine. You made a deal. What does that have to do with me? I don’t know anything
about Joey’s business. I figured he was into something shady, but I kept my
head in the sand. I don’t know a damn thing.”
“You
know who he was hanging out with. You know where he spent his time. All you
have to do is give them something to work off of and they’ll do the rest.”
She
rubbed her face with her hands, feeling defeated. Manny had found her after
being on the run for three months. She had gotten lazy—stayed too long in one
place. It could have been worse though. If it Joey had found her, she’d
probably be a Jane Doe in a morgue somewhere.
“And
what do I get out of it?” she asked.
“You
get enough cash to stay out of sight for a while—at least until he goes away.
You could settle down somewhere and use your real name. Maybe go back to being
a blond. Come on honey, how much money do you have left? How much jewelry could
you possibly have had to pawn?”
“You’d
be surprised,” she said, gazing into her glass. “Joey thought he could buy me
too.”
“Sounds
like it worked.”
“No Manny. Like you said, he was just renting me for a while.”
“Think
about it. My new friends at the
IRS could make life on the run a little more comfortable.”
Manny
finished his second drink in one swallow and stood up. He let the money fall
onto the table and walked out.
I’m
linking up with this week's Write on Edge’s prompt. We were challenged to write a
piece that begins with the line, “’Not everyone can be bought,’ she said.” and ends with the line, “He
let the money fall onto the table and walked out.” This piece continues a thread I started with the short story
“Circling the Drain”. Check out the much expanded version of "Circling the Drain", which will be included in the upcoming collection "Precipice" from Write on Edge.
I'm here from Red Writing Hood. This is really solid. I hope that you are really working on doing something with this fiction (or cooking up something else) because this sucks you right in.
ReplyDeleteI love the concept of being rented -- for a while. Because haven't we all done that at one time or another?
Nice to meet you.
Thanks for stopping by! I'm glad you liked the "rented" idea. That's one of the things that popped into my head while I was brainstorming and it just lead me back to this character.
DeleteNice! This has the feel of 1920s gangster to it. I went back and read the first part so I know it's more modern but I love that it is so reminiscent of the Al Capone era. I can't wait to see what Circling the Drain looks like in Precipice.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I didn't have plans to take it beyond the first story until I saw this prompt. It just seemed to fit. Maybe we'll hear more from this character. She's going to need a name if we do!
DeleteI like this piece and am so, so glad you're following her character at least a little bit farther. I'm interested to see what she decides to do.
ReplyDeleteI like this piece and am so, so glad you're following her character at least a little bit farther. I'm interested to see what she decides to do.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Angela. I think I will have to expand on this story line a bit.
DeleteExcellent! Great job building the tension, and I really felt her resignation and sense of impending defeat.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was a fun one to write.
DeleteLovely!
ReplyDeleteTwo small edits: “What do you want[,] Manny?” "No, Frankie" - also: did you switch names here??
I love the play on "renting" and "buying" and how she brings his words back at the end. Well done! :)
www(dot)barbaragildea(dot)com
Thank you! Nice catch--I did indeed change his name from Frankie to Manny.
DeleteIt has a feel of being part of a different era. 30's gangsters and their dolls. Love the 'rented' concept.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It does have a gangster feel to it. Awesome job though. It moved at a nice pace that gave enough info to make a complete story.
Deletei enjoyed this piece. thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete