Maxine made a sharp turn off the boardwalk, down a side street. I made the same turn just as a car door slammed and an engine caught. I ran to the car, reached it just as its wheels spun. And then the car was gone. And since Maxine was nowhere to be seen, I supposed Maxine was gone, too.
Sally slid to a stop and bent at the waist to catch his breath. “That's it for me, man. From now on fuck the heels.”
Lula crashed into him. “Heart attack. Heart attack.”
We were all walking around, gasping for breath, and Grandma trotted up. “What happened? What'd I miss? Where is she?”
“Got away,” I said.
“Dang!”
Three guys came out of the shadows at us. They looked to be late teens, wearing baggy homey pants and unlaced court shoes.
“Hey, momma,” one said. “What's happening?”
“Give me a break,” Sally said.
“Whoa,” the kid said. “Big bitch!”
Sally straightened his wig. “Thanks.”
The kid pulled a Buck knife out of his pants pocket. “How about giving me your purse, bitch?”
Sally hiked up his skirt, reached into his briefs and pulled out a Glock. “How about using that knife to slice off your balls?”
Lula whipped a gun out of her red satin purse and Grandma hauled out her .45 long-?barrel.
“Day my make, punk,” Grandma said.
“Hey, I don't want any trouble,” the kid said. “We were just having some fun.”
“I want to shoot him,” Sally said. “Nobody'll tell, right?”
“No fair,” Lula said. “I want to shoot him.”
“Okay,” Grandma said. “On the count of three, we'll all shoot him.”
“No shooting!” I said.
“Then how about if I kick the shit out of him?” Sally said.
“You're all nuts,” the kid said, backing away. “What kind of women are you?” His friends took off, and he ran after them.
Sally put his gun back in his pants. “Guess I flunked the estrogen test.”
We all stared at his crotch, and Grandma said what Lula and I were thinking.
“I thought that bulge was your dingdong,” Grandma said.
“Jesus,” Sally said, “who do you think I am, Thunder the Wonder Horse? My gun wouldn't fit in my purse.”
“You need to get a smaller gun,” Lula said. “Ruins your lines with that big old Glock in your drawers.”
* * * * *
GRANDMA, Lula and Sally were asleep fifteen minutes out of Atlantic City. I drove the big car in the dark and the quiet, thinking about Maxine. I still wasn't convinced this was anything other than a wild-?goose chase. True, I'd seen Maxine, just as her mother had said but she'd gotten away a little too easily. And she hadn't looked all that surprised to see me. Her car had been parked on a dark side street. Not the sort of thing a lone woman would do. It was safer and more convenient to park in the parking garage. She'd taken off in a black Acura. And while I didn't actually see her get in the car, I suspected she wasn't driving. It had all been too fast. The motor had caught the instant I heard the car door slam shut.
So I was thinking maybe she wanted to throw me off. Maybe she was still in Point Pleasant. Maybe she'd paid her rent for the month and didn't want to move. So when she discovered her mother had informed on her, she concocted this scenario to keep me away from Point Pleasant. Or maybe this was another game. Maybe Eddie Kuntz had been right about Maxine's fascination with James Bond.