[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
money what I wanted was to get a look at his identification.
I flipped his wallet open, extracted his driver s license, student
ID card, athletic pass, and a ten dollar bill, and threw the wallet
into the bushes. All pieces of identification bore the names James
Harrington. His driver s license said that he lived at 1074 Redfern
Street. I threw the rest of his ID after the wallet. Listen, you,
I m going to get up now. I looked over and saw that Tonia was
now on her feet. Good. She looked a little dazed, and the back
of her clothes were pretty muddy, but she seemed all right. My
friend and I are going to walk away. You are going to give us a
few minutes, then you will retrieve your wallet from the bushes
and skate off. In the other direction. Understand?
Yeah, yeah, he said indignantly. I don t know what you re
so steamed about. It was just an accident.
Mmmhmm, I said, getting off him.
I took Tonia s arm and walked her out of the park. I looked
back once and saw James Harrington scrabbling in the bushes.
When I looked back again, he was nowhere in sight.
Are you okay? I asked Tonia.
She nodded. He just knocked the wind out of me. Don t you
think you overreacted, though? It did seem like an accident.
I shrugged. It s possible, I suppose. But that kid had to do a
turn Baryshnikov would be proud of in order to hit you.
She looked at me in surprise. To hit me? But why? Then
comprehension dawned. You don t think...
46
Maybe.
Oh. But he s gone! she said in frustration, looking around.
Now we ll never find out.
I smiled. Oh yes we will. I got a look at his driver s license. I
may even have a little chat with him later today. Don t worry. If
he knows anything, he ll tell me.
She bristled. You seem very sure of yourself.
Well, let s just say I m persuasive.
She looked at me suspiciously.
Would you like to go somewhere and have a drink? I
suggested. She was looking a little white, I thought.
Actually, yes, she said. Maybe even a double.
Tonia finished off half of her double Scotch in one swallow.
I was impressed. A serious drinker. I want to know something
about you, she asked me curiously.
Oh? What? I couldn t imagine what she could possibly
find of interest about me, except whether I had dropped out of
kindergarten or elementary school. My stock, I sensed, was not
high with Tonia.
How did you know to do what you did?
I raised an eyebrow.
Back there in the park. With that boy.
I took a careful swallow of my own Scotch, followed by a
deep breath. Practice. As I expected, she frowned.
Practice, she repeated. She thought this over for a moment,
then looked up at me. Do you have to do a lot of that kind of
thing?
You mean being nasty? Intimidating people?
She nodded.
Sometimes. Especially when people don t immediately tell
me what I want to know. Extracting information is just a learned
skill, after all. Why did I have the feeling that we were going to
reprise last night s conversation? I knew already that she didn t
like what I did. But she had agreed to accept it. Why couldn t she
just let things lie?
So you think of what you do as a skill?
I took another sip of Scotch. Of course. Instincts alone
47
aren t good enough. The fine art of persuasion takes a long time
to learn. Although it s probably a skill, not an art. Persuading
people to do what you want takes a lot of trial and error to find
out what methods work best. To find the things that people
respond to. And then, you practice the methods. I shrugged.
That s it.
You make it sound so easy, she said critically, but we both
know it can t be that easy. You re talking about using whatever
methods the situation calls for to...persuade people. That s not
persuasion. That s coercion. In some cases, violent coercion.
That s right.
She finished her drink in silence.
I wanted to say something in my own defense, but nothing
clever occurred to me. Well, if she wanted to think of me as a
thug, she could go ahead and do that. I hadn t noticed her ask me
not to use violent coercion on hers and Val s behalf, though. My
crap detector vibrated. Did I detect a double standard here?
Do you want to eat lunch? I asked her. There s a great little
natural food café not too far from here. In fact, we could walk.
Thanks, she said. I would like to eat something. Although
the temptation is to sit here and have a few more Scotches. She
deftly extracted a couple of coins from her jacket pocket. No
fumbling in handbags for her. I think I ll cancel my class and
my office hours this afternoon, she told me, fiddling with a
dime. You may find this quite laughable, she said, frowning
at me belligerently, but I m beginning to feel a little, well,
apprehensive.
I don t find that laughable at all. They whoever they are
clearly mean you to be frightened. I shrugged. If I d just been
run down in the park, I might be frightened, too.
She bent forward intently. But you re not, are you?
I said nothing.
Well, are you?
No.
Malcolm was obviously pleased to see me, and when
48
he saw who I had with me, his pleasure turned to delight. I
made introductions, and he found Tonia and me a seat by the
window.
The soups are always good here, I suggested.
Tonia nodded distractedly and when the waitress came to
take our order we ordered black bean soup and whole grain
bread. And tea.
Tonia tucked a stray wing of black hair behind her ear and
looked at me. This isn t the sort of place I would have thought
you d like.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]