“I wish I could still drink too much.”
“Since you’ve got the inside story, let me ask you something. One of my friends was stupid enough to get a wild-blue-yonder contract. What’s going to happen to her now?”
“May I have one of your cigarettes?” he says.
I hand him a Malediction and light it for him. He blows out a long, satisfied stream of smoke.
“What about Brigitte?” I say.
“Don’t worry about lovely Ms. Bardo. When the two previous Deaths died, all blue-yonder contracts became null and void. She’s like the rest of you now. Someday she’ll see me again and we’ll take a final walk together.”
“What about Tykho? Is she on the menu?”
“Tykho. Yes. She is a special case, isn’t she? Maybe I should pay her a visit while I’m here. Let her know there’s a new sheriff in town.”
“Take me along if you do.”
He takes another puff of the cigarette.
“No. I won’t be seeing her on this trip. But she’s on my naughty list.”
He looks over my shoulder into the store.
“What’s that music? It’s lovely.”
“It’s Martin Denny. Carlos can tell you more than you ever wanted to know about him. I’ll introduce you.”
“Please do.”
“But don’t tell him you’re an angel, especially not the Angel of Death. I don’t have that many friends. I need to keep them all.”
“Of course.”
I go inside. Candy has her red Danelectro guitar out and is showing it to Cindil. They’re plotting how to get her a bass cheap.
Candy spots me across the room and I signal for her to come over. She hands the guitar to Fairuza and heads over my way.
“Cool party, huh?” she says.
“The coolest. I have something for you.”
“Yeah? Gimme. I’m drunk and going to get drunker, so show me now while I can see straight.”
I take out a dirty handkerchief and hand it to her.
She gives me a funny, what-the-fuck look.
“This is a heavy hanky.”
“Open it.”
She smiles the moment she sees the brass knuckles with hearts on the tip of each finger loop. Slips them on and play-punches me in the jaw. Then kisses me on the spot where she clocked me.
“Thank you! Where did you get them?”
“Manimal Mike did them. He melted down the Nazi knuckles and made these. I figured it was good revenge on the fuckers.”
“What every fashionable lady needs,” she says. “I love them.”