Funny Boys by Warren Adler Page B

going to the restaurant and about the two men who had gotten fresh and what Pep had done to one of them. Seymour grinned.

    “Bet they not walkin good no more,” Seymour said. “Go aftra Pep’s girl an ya could say goodbye to ya immies for a long time.”
    “He was wonderful. I feel good with Pep. You know. Secure.”
    “Ya put in a good woid faw me?”
    “Of course,” she lied. In the excitement of the evening, she had forgotten.
    “Good goil, Mutzie.”
    She told him that she had met some of Pep’s business associates in the restaurant.
    “Like who?” Seymour asked.
    She searched her memory.
    “A shortish guy named Reles. He called him Kid something.”
    “You met the Kid? Kid Twist?” Seymour’s eyes expressed how awed he was by such an event.
    “And an Albert.”
    “Cheez. Albert Anastasia. Cheez. I can’t believe it. I wish I was a goil. Cheez. Albert Anastasia. He’s way up in the combination. Along with Pep and the Bug. Cheez. I can’t believe it.”
    “What’s the combination?”
    “You don know?”
    She shook her head.
    “Aw, it’s just a business name,” Seymour said, suddenly cautious and hesitant. “Nothin faw you to know about.”
    “I’m gonna go out with him again tonight,” Mutzie bragged.
    “Tonight? Pep’s gotta job. I know cause I’m gonna be wid him.”
    “Then it must be after the job.”
    “Cheez. You and Pep.” He waved a finger in her face. “Remember who put you guys in touch, so now you keep puttin in good woids for yours truly.”

    Seymour got up. He patted his sister affectionately on the head.
    “Who knew what kind of a sister I got,” he said. “I always thought you were a dumb brat.”
    When she got to the corner at a little after ten, Pep wasn’t there yet, although the fellow he called the Bug stood there in a group of other men. The candy store had a fountain counter that opened to the outside and she ordered a small egg cream, nursing it while she waited. Occasionally the men looked at her with what seemed like genuine admiration. Already, she imagined, she was being treated as Pep’s girl. She loved being branded in that way. Pep’s girl. It was like a song.
    At ten twenty, one of the pay telephones rang in the candy store and the man behind the counter yelled “Bugsy” and the man called Bugsy came in and answered the phone. He came back outside a few moments later and gave a thumbs up sign to one of the men who was standing around, then he walked over to Mutzie.
    “Pep’ll be here in about twenty minutes.”
    “Thank you,” Mutzie said, noting how considerate Pep had been to call ahead to let her know that he would be late.
    She saw his Caddy pull up to the curb, and when he got out he straightened his clothes. But before he came forward to the corner she watched him buff up his shoes with a piece of cloth that he had taken out of the glove compartment. Then he looked into the Caddy’s side mirror and adjusted his hat, then, smoothing his jacket and straightening the handkerchief in his pocket, he moved toward the corner.
    “Be a minute, doll,” he told her as he moved into the candy store followed by the man called Bugsy. They went into the back room behind the cigar displays and he was out fifteen minutes later standing beside her, looking resplendent, showing a broad,sparkling smile as he put a hand around her waist and led her to the Caddy.
    He opened the door on the passenger side for her like a true gentleman then got in on the driver’s side. Once in the car, he put the key into the ignition but before he turned it, he leaned over and gave her a deep soul kiss, squeezing her breasts. She reached out and caressed his tongue with her own and she could not deny the thrill that swept through her.
    “You my baby, Mutzie?” he asked when he lifted his mouth from hers. She felt his breath in her ear, then his tongue as he tickled her there.
    “Yes, Pep,” she whispered, meaning it. She had never been happier.
    He held her for a few