Family Loyalty

   B-B Eyes entered the Bird Club and looked around. The place barely half-full, a sorry showing for a Friday night. A trio played some light music on the stage which at one point had held a full 16-piece band. Waiters moved sluggishly between tables, with a few more hovering near the bar. They didn’t to seem to fear for their jobs.
    B-B Eyes took at seat at the bar and got the bartender’s attention.
    “Tell my brother I’m here.” B-B Eyes barked.
    The bartender nodded and stepped into a back room. He returned a moment later, followed by a wild-eyed man smoking a cigarette.
    “B-B.” Jacques acknowledged his brother.
    “Shock-Eyes, good to see you.” B-B smiled smugly.
    “Don’t call me that, you know I don’t like it when you call me that.” Jacques' tone did not match B-B’s playful one. “Are you drinking?”
    “Are you buying?”
    “You’re my brother and you’re going to ask me that?” Jacques picked up a bottle from behind the bar and poured two glasses.
    “It’s not the good stuff, is it?” B-B asked. “I’d hate to think I was bankrupting you.”
    “I’ve got my head above water.” Jacques explained, and took a swig. He didn’t look at B-B Eyes as he said it.
    B-B Eyes turned and leaned his back against the bar. He spread his arms out. “Yeah, yeah. Besides, this place is better without a lot of people. Who wants to be crammed in like a sardine, like at Club Grey or the Ritz.”
    “Are you here alone?” Jacques asked, not wanting to acknowledge the subtle dig.
    “Kitty’s visiting her sister this week.” B-B explained. “And B.D. is in jail.”
    “What, again?” Jacques shook his head. “When’s that idiot going to stop getting caught?”
    “You’re telling me.” B-B lamented. “I tried to give him a nice simple job making deliveries for me, but he won’t do it. Insists on coming up with his own schemes, which never work. This time it’s just petty larceny, though, so he should be out soon.”
    The brothers sat in silence for a moment, which was interrupted when the door burst open. A slim, dark-haired girl entered, followed by a loose group of well-dressed young men and women. A waiter approached and attempted to guide her to a table, but she breezed past him and set herself down at a table near the bandstand. Her entourage joined her, spilling over into nearby tables. She chatted loudly with some of her group, then called the waiter over and ordered champagne.
    “Who’s that?” B-B Eyes asked.
    “Debby Thorndike.” Jacques replied with a groan. “Society broad. Rich and noisy. She’s a real pain.”
    The woman called Debby yelled at the musicians “Play something that swings!” She then drummed her hands on the table to set a tempo. The band complied.
    “You’re the owner, throw her out.” B-B said turning back to his brother.
    “I can’t, she spends too much.” Jacques replied. “Besides, she’s good scenery. She’ll probably pass out in an hour.”
    B-B chuckled. “You know, Shock, it really pains me to see you like this.” He took another sip of his drink. “I could help take the pressure off. You wouldn’t have to put up with some uppity tart like that, and you’ve got that nice big store room that connects to your loading dock…”
    “I’m not letting you store your bootleg tires here.” Jacques said flatly. “I told you a hundred times. I’m staying legit, got it?”
    “Sure, sure. Legit.” B-B turned his eyes back to Debby Thorndike. She had roped one of her male friends into an awkward tango, but couldn’t seem to decide whether she wanted him to lead or not. Frustrated, she pushed him away and pulled another of her male companions to his feet.
    “She’s a feisty number.” B-B observed. “And not too hard on the eyes, either. Comes from money, you said?”
    “Yes.” Jacques confirmed. “Just like your wife, remember?”
    “Don’t ruin my fun, okay?” B-B Eyes watched the young woman intently.

***

     Debby Thorndike kept her vitality for longer than an hour. Jacques guessed that she must be pacing herself better. Or she had slept especially late that morning. As the night wore on, her group dwindled. Her friends either left, or started to nod off in their seats. Frustrated, Debby looked around her.
    “You are all crushing bores, do you hear me?” She grabbed her wrap off her chair, knocking it over in the process. “Bores and leeches, that’s what you are! I don’t know why I bother with any of you!”
    Debby stormed out of the club. B-B Eyes, who had kept his gaze on the young woman all night, followed closely after her. He emerged into the dark street and found her waiting at a taxi stand.
    “It might be a while.” B-B Eyes offered. “You want a lift? I’ve got a sweet little car with some brand new tires on it.”
    Debby looked at him, startled by his forwardness.
    “Well, aren’t you a gentleman.” Debby tapped the dimple in B-B Eyes’ chin. “Cute, too, with your baby face.”
    “Yeah, I’m a real darlin’.” B-B Eyes pushed his hat back on his head, leering, and wrapped an arm around Debby’s midsection. He pulled her away from the street.
    “Hold on, now, Tiger. I’m not that kind of girl!” Debby protested.
    “I know exactly what kind of girl you are.” B-B’s voice was low and menacing. He had nearly dragged her into the alley next to the building.
    “Get your hands off me!” Debby was becoming frantic. “I’ll scream!”
    “Who’ll hear you?” B-B Eyes grabbed the back of Debby’s neck and pulled her face to his. She cried out in protest but the noise was muffled by his mouth. She gathered her strength and pushed him away. He stumbled back into the brick wall of the Club with enough force to knock his derby hat off.
    “Why, you little…” B-B lunged at her.
    Debby raised her hands to hold him off. With her right hand, she grabbed his throat. She raised her left hand and raked her fingernails down and across his face. In her panic and fear, she swiped with all of her strength, and her manicured nails gouged deeper than she had expected.
    B-B Eyes cried out and staggered back, clutching his hands to his face. Blood seeped through his fingers and onto the unlit sidewalk. Debby fled up the street, losing her shoes in the process but not looking back. B-B Eyes' sputtering curses rang in the night air behind her.

-Later-

    B-B Eyes sat in the kitchen of his home. His wife Kitty was cutting off the bandage that had covered his eye and part of his face for several days. A hand mirror sat on the table in front of him. Jacques and a blond man wearing eyeglasses sat at the table as well, waiting to see the results.
    “And she hasn’t been back to the Club since then?” The man asked Jacques.
    “I haven’t seen her or any of her friends.” Jacques replied. “But we’ll find her.”
    “And when you do, then what?” The bespectacled man asked, scratching his neck.
    “That’s what we’re here to talk about, Itchy.” B-B Eyes answered.
    Kitty removed the bandage and looked at her husband’s face. She stiffened, but didn’t gasp. B-B Eyes picked up the mirror and looked at himself. Five red lines cut through the right side of his face, from his forehead to just below his eye, the scars from Debby’s assault.
    “Can you see?” Kitty asked.
    B-B Eyes blinked, then focused on each of the people in front of him. He closed his left eye to test the vision in his right.
    “Yeah. Yeah, I can see like normal.”
    “Well, that’s something anyway.” Kitty breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll make some coffee.”
    “It’s not that bad, actually.” Jacques offered. “The one over your nose is barely there. And maybe they’ll fade with time.”
    “Not likely.” Itchy responded. “But that’s good. Makes you look dangerous. People will give you a wide berth.”
    “Thanks, fellas.” B-B Eyes slumped back in his chair. “I’m glad you’re both here. Means a lot to me.”
    “Of course.” Jacques said.
    “I wouldn’t have missed it.” Itchy added.
    “Uh-huh. But where’s Shaky? Anybody seen him?” B-B Eyes asked.
    “He’s in Vegas, getting married.” Itchy scratched his armpit, then behind his ear.
    “Again?” B-B Eyes raised his eyebrows in surprise. The gouges in his face deepened.
    “Yeah.” Itchy explained. “As near as I can figure, this broad he was seeing found out about one of his scams. So, basically, he has to marry her to make sure she can’t testify against him if he gets caught.”
    “Poor dope.” Jacques said.
    “Not so poor.” Itchy offered. “The broad’s got a few adult daughters from a prior. Real lookers, too. Blondes.” Itchy chuckled. “So, the new wife might end up having an deadly accident at some point, and ol’ Shaky will need some comforting maybe.”
    “Heh. I should be so lucky.” B-B Eyes laughed sardonically, then stifled himself when Kitty entered with a coffee pot and cups. She set them on the table. “Thanks, honey.”
    “You boys want sugar? We’re out of cream, but I’ve got sugar.” Kitty offered
    “Black’s fine.” B-B Eyes answered for the group. “Now, why don’t you leave us alone for a while, huh? We’ve got some planning to do.”
    “You’re sure, dear?” Kitty’s voice was tired, but concerned. “You don’t want me to bring you some salve or anything?”
    “I’m fine, I’m fine.” B-B Eyes shooed her away. Kitty left without another word.
    “So, with Shaky gone and B.D. locked up, that just leaves us to get back as this Debby Thorndike bitch.” B-B Eyes announced. He turned to Itchy. “Unless your brother can help?”
    “No, Twitch is trying to keep his hands clean.” Itchy explained.
    “Doesn’t he work in the sewers?” Jacques asked.
    “For the moment. He keeps saying he wants to get in at the City Records Department, but he’s got to start at the bottom and work his way up.”
    “’Bottom’ is right…” Jacques chuckled.
    “So, it’s just us.” B-B Eyes wanted to get the group back to their purpose. “And I’m assuming I can count on both of you.”
    B-B Eyes leveled his gaze at his brother. It took Jacques a moment to register what B-B Eyes was implying. He straightened in his chair.
    “Hey, come on, Beeb.” Jacques said. “This isn’t like me not helping with your bootleg operation. That stuck-up little piece of ass almost took your eye out. What kind of a brother would I be if I didn’t help settle the score? You’d do the same for me, right?”
    “Exactly.” B-B Eyes leaned forward conspiratorially. “Now, the first step is to find out where she drinks, then make arrangements to get her good and juiced one night. This operation is basically a Reverse Badger Game. Itchy, you can forge a good marriage certificate, right?”


End