they left by the back door, the same back door sam hill must have left by.
salome delilah jezebel smith closed the door behind her but did not lock it.
is this place open? johnny asked.
what do you care? my car is over there, under those trees.
the trees were bending in the wind. the car was a black 1948 desoto.
kind of noticeable, isn’t it?
people can’ t describe it because they don’t know what it is. get in.
johnny got in the passenger seat. there was a handbag under the steering wheel and salome took a desert eagle mark xix out of it and handed it to johnny.
what am i going to shoot with this, a lion?
just take it. you talk too much. you should conserve your strength.
they got out on the highway. the storm had slowed down, but it was still raining.
johnny expected to be driven further away from the town, to a house, probably old and run-down, in the middle of nowhere.
salome took a left, drove a while, took another left and then another. johnny realized they were circling back to town, close to where he lived, he did not say anything.
they came to the railroad tracks, nd crossed over them, to the part of town, “down by the tracks”.
it was now very late. it was still raining, but not very hard.
here we are. salome stopped in front of a slightly crummy looking apartment building.’
go in there, third floor, apartment 33.
how do i get in?
ring the bell for apartment 27, they will buzz you in. go up to apartment 33, and knock. if a guy opens it, do the deed. if no one answers,just blow the lock off. and go in and get the guy.
how do i know it’s the right guy?
don’t worry about it. and don’t think, just do.
johnny started to open the door. and you will be here when i come down?
of course. it is my interest that you get away.
johnny approached the building. just as salome said, he rang apartment 27 and got buzzed in.
he went up the stairs to the third floor. he kept his hand on the desert eagle mark xix in his pocket.
he knocked on the door of apartment 33. no answer. he knocked again, still no answer.
he did not want to try to blow the door off. i will try one more time, he thought, but louder.
then the door swung open.
johnny!
pete!
pete wilson had been johnny’s best friend in high school, but they had drifted apart. they had gone out for the baseball, football, and basketball teams together, but they had not made any of them. johnny had wanted to try the soccer team, but pete would have none of it.
it’s kind of late, johnny, pete was saying, what’s up?
just do, don’t think, johnny told himself. he managed to get the heavy pistol out of his pocket and blow pete to kingdom come with it.
the shots echoed through the old building like an atomic bomb. johnny ran and stumbled down the stairs still holding the pistol, and almost falling down twice.
salome was gone, as he had known she.would be. he looked around for a sewer to throw the gun away in, but could not see one.
the rain had stopped. he was not that far from his own apartment. all he wanted to do was sleep and he decided to just walk home.
he came to the river and threw the desert eagle mark xix into it.
when he got home he fell asleep immediately.
he had his strange dream about working in the supermarket.
i need a cup of coffee, i thought, and dressed and went down to the street and headed for winchell’s doughnuts.
detectives blackie mulligan and sissy starkweather were waiting for him at the corner. sissy had a bandage on her head, but otherwise they did not look the worse for the crash of the night before.
are you johnny dark? detective muligan asked.
no, johnny raven.
it is all the same. who are you anyway, johnny?
just a guy trying to live his life.
get in the car.
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