Comfort to the Enemy (2010) by Elmore - Carl Webster 03 Leonard
Authors: Elmore - Carl Webster 03 Leonard
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Naval Air Transport pilots always had whiskey and they'd sell it for 35 to 50 bucks a fifth if they needed money. Or sometimes they'd trade a bottle for a case of beer.''
''You were in the duck,'' Louly said, ''when you got shot. . .''
Carl was in the bathroom rinsing, now drying his face. He said: ''We were coming back from Manus with our stores. Crossed the stream to Los Negros, up the bank and into some growth, and the Nip hit me wit h a rifle shot." Carl stepped into the bedroom pinching the love handle above his left hip. "George Klein was with me and a big boy from Arkansas named Elmer Whaley. I remember he and I sucking on Beech-Nut scrap that trip. There were more shots as I dove for cover in the stern and saw George and Elmer Whaley go down. Not shot, taking cover. I listened to that rifle fire again in my head and held up two fingers to my mates. I said: 'We don't know where they are. We have to wait till they come to us.' I said, 'You're dead, so don't move.' George said they didn't have thei r c arbines. I didn't have mine either." Louly said, "You go armed, 'cause something like this could happen?" "No," Carl said, "the island was secured. The First Cavalry swore, no live Japs left. Over 3,000 killed. The First Cavalry lost something like 300 killed and 1,100 wounded. The war on Los Negros was over. No, we brought the carbines for fun, fire off a fe w r ounds." "Where were they, the guns?" "Up front, at the bow. George was crawlin g t oward them." "By then you must've had your .38 in yo u h and," Louly said. "The one with the front sight filed off?"
"I believe it was," Carl said, starting to grin. "The same one I used to save my husband' s life?"
Carl was grinning in the vanity mirror.
"You have the hammer eared back?" "I believe I did." "You hear them coming through the growth?" "Taking forever. They're both off to the left, so I held the .38 on the port-side gunnel where I though t t hey'd appear, judging from the noise they're making coming through the growth. I see an Oriental face in a dirty cap appear above the gunnel -- he's bringing up his rifle as I shot him. Now the other one, taller than the first guy, appears and I see him aiming at me as I'm looking right at him, his face pressed against the stock of his rifle. I shot him a half-second before he fired and it threw him off. I got hit in the leg instead of between the eyes.''
''My hero,'' Louly said, head lowered to brush her hair, her eyes raised to Carl in the mirror. ''I remember you got your medals and your honorable discharge and quit limping.''
''I'd served my country,'' Carl said.
''And I'm just starting.'' Louly quit brushing. ''Tomorrow I'm the lady marine at a war-bond rally.'' ''What do you do?''
''Smile, act cute in a military kind of way. Roy Eldridge and Anita O'Day'll be there, and some others.''
'''Let Me Off Uptown,''' Carl said. ''Roy an Anita don't need any others. I'll try to make it, but first I have to supervise a new guy, Gary Marion. You want to picture him, he's one of those tough little bull riders from the rodeo.''
''What's wrong with him?''
''I have to settle him down before he start shooting Germans.''
There was a coal miner named Joe Tanzi from Krebs, who started digging coal when he was a kid, 13 years old but big for his age. On his 44th birthday, still going down in the mines, he told his wife he wasn't going to work anymore. He was going to hitch a ride to McAlester and rob the first bank he came to on Choctaw Avenue. Two weeks before this at Osage No. 5 an explosion sealed off Joe Tanzi for four days wit h f our dead miners and five lunch pails. Joe didn't eat much, the smell of the dead miners made him sick. He decided he was through with mines.
His kids were grown by then. The boys had left Krebs for Tulsa and the oil fields, and the girls were married and keeping house. His wife locked the front door and went to her mother's.
That morning of his birthday Joe Tanzi had put on a clean shirt and pants
''You were in the duck,'' Louly said, ''when you got shot. . .''
Carl was in the bathroom rinsing, now drying his face. He said: ''We were coming back from Manus with our stores. Crossed the stream to Los Negros, up the bank and into some growth, and the Nip hit me wit h a rifle shot." Carl stepped into the bedroom pinching the love handle above his left hip. "George Klein was with me and a big boy from Arkansas named Elmer Whaley. I remember he and I sucking on Beech-Nut scrap that trip. There were more shots as I dove for cover in the stern and saw George and Elmer Whaley go down. Not shot, taking cover. I listened to that rifle fire again in my head and held up two fingers to my mates. I said: 'We don't know where they are. We have to wait till they come to us.' I said, 'You're dead, so don't move.' George said they didn't have thei r c arbines. I didn't have mine either." Louly said, "You go armed, 'cause something like this could happen?" "No," Carl said, "the island was secured. The First Cavalry swore, no live Japs left. Over 3,000 killed. The First Cavalry lost something like 300 killed and 1,100 wounded. The war on Los Negros was over. No, we brought the carbines for fun, fire off a fe w r ounds." "Where were they, the guns?" "Up front, at the bow. George was crawlin g t oward them." "By then you must've had your .38 in yo u h and," Louly said. "The one with the front sight filed off?"
"I believe it was," Carl said, starting to grin. "The same one I used to save my husband' s life?"
Carl was grinning in the vanity mirror.
"You have the hammer eared back?" "I believe I did." "You hear them coming through the growth?" "Taking forever. They're both off to the left, so I held the .38 on the port-side gunnel where I though t t hey'd appear, judging from the noise they're making coming through the growth. I see an Oriental face in a dirty cap appear above the gunnel -- he's bringing up his rifle as I shot him. Now the other one, taller than the first guy, appears and I see him aiming at me as I'm looking right at him, his face pressed against the stock of his rifle. I shot him a half-second before he fired and it threw him off. I got hit in the leg instead of between the eyes.''
''My hero,'' Louly said, head lowered to brush her hair, her eyes raised to Carl in the mirror. ''I remember you got your medals and your honorable discharge and quit limping.''
''I'd served my country,'' Carl said.
''And I'm just starting.'' Louly quit brushing. ''Tomorrow I'm the lady marine at a war-bond rally.'' ''What do you do?''
''Smile, act cute in a military kind of way. Roy Eldridge and Anita O'Day'll be there, and some others.''
'''Let Me Off Uptown,''' Carl said. ''Roy an Anita don't need any others. I'll try to make it, but first I have to supervise a new guy, Gary Marion. You want to picture him, he's one of those tough little bull riders from the rodeo.''
''What's wrong with him?''
''I have to settle him down before he start shooting Germans.''
There was a coal miner named Joe Tanzi from Krebs, who started digging coal when he was a kid, 13 years old but big for his age. On his 44th birthday, still going down in the mines, he told his wife he wasn't going to work anymore. He was going to hitch a ride to McAlester and rob the first bank he came to on Choctaw Avenue. Two weeks before this at Osage No. 5 an explosion sealed off Joe Tanzi for four days wit h f our dead miners and five lunch pails. Joe didn't eat much, the smell of the dead miners made him sick. He decided he was through with mines.
His kids were grown by then. The boys had left Krebs for Tulsa and the oil fields, and the girls were married and keeping house. His wife locked the front door and went to her mother's.
That morning of his birthday Joe Tanzi had put on a clean shirt and pants
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