See Them Die полностью

He stared at her, confused. He reached out to touch her, not knowing that the tears were something which had been building inside her from the moment Cooch attacked her, building on the wild run from the tenement to the luncheonette, building against the desperate hope that the sailor would still be there, kept in check by sheer will power, and now overflowing; he did not know these things, he only knew that she was crying. And in the face of such female vulnerability, in the face of anguish such as he had never known or seen, Zip pulled back his hand, unable to touch her in that moment, unable to establish a contact which seemed in that moment too intimate, too revealing.

"Hey… hey. listen," he said, "don't cry. What do you want to cry for?"

"Promise me you won't do anything to Alfie," she said. "Promise me."

"Listen… hey, you don't have to cry."

"Promise me."

"China… everybody knows what I said I was gonna do. Like I told them-" He hesitated. "I told them you was my girl."

"You shouldn't have said that."

"I know. I mean, even I know you ain't my girl. Listen, can't you stop crying? You want my handkerchief?"

"No," China said, sobbing. "I'm not crying."

"Here, take it," he said, handing her the handkerchief. "I hardly used it yet."

She took the handkerchief and blew her nose.

"You want some ices?" Zip asked lamely.

"No. Zip, you won't hurt him, will you? He did nothing to me, believe me. He's a nice boy."

Zip did not answer.

"You'll be doing something very wrong if you hurt him."

"You ain't sore at me, are you?" His voice dropped. "Like because I said you was my girl?"

"No. I'm not sore."

"I won't say it no more," he said gently. He shrugged. "I don't even know why I said it." He thought for a moment. "Except maybe because you're so nice, you know?"

"Thank you," she answered, and she smiled weakly. She handed him the handkerchief. "I got it all wet."

"Oh, that's okay, that's okay." He shrugged. "You feel a little better now?"

"A little."

"You really shouldn't cry, China. It's a sin to cry unless like something serious happens, you know? Like unless you lost somebody or something."

"I did lose somebody, Zip." Her eyes clouded for an instant, and then she shook her head. "You promised? About Alfredo?"

"Well, I didn't exactly…"

"I wouldn't want you to get into trouble," she said.

He stared at her as if she had uttered the words in Russian. His brow furrowed. He kept staring at her. The concept seemed new to him. Nor could he understand her concern. It wasn't as if she was struck on him or anything, he knew lots of girls who were, but China wasn't. So what was it? Why should she give a damn about him one way or the other? And yet, he knew she wasn't lying. Standing with her, he knew that she was as much concerned for his safety as she was for Alfie's.

"I got to think about it," he said.

"Yes, think about it. Please." She touched his hand briefly, and started off toward the corner.

He watched her go, a frown on his face.

"Pidaguas," the man at the cart said.

Zip nodded. The man had put the five cups of ices into a cardboard container. Zip paid him, and then picked up the container with both hands. He kept frowning, and then the frown disappeared, and his face broke into a grin as he turned back toward the packing crate.

Frankie Hernandez had reached the hanging ladder of the fire escape.

Be careful with those buttets, he thought. If you dumb bastards put them any lower, you'll hit me. And that would be the end of this Uttk caper.

Bracing himself, the gun in his holster now, he leaped up for the hanging ladder, missed, and dropped silently to the pavement. He flattened himself against the building and looked up. The volley from the rooftops was effectively keeping Miranda away from the windows. He moved out, jumped for the ladder again, caught it with one hand, reached up with the second hand, and then, hand over hand, began climbing. The ladder began to drop as he climbed, inching on squeaking, rusted iron hinges, drowned out by the roar of the guns from across the street. He drew his.38, hefted it in his hand, and began climbing the remaining rungs to the fire escape.

The people in the street watched him silently.

The guns showered destruction against the front of the building.

Zip was still smiling when he reached the crate, still thinking of what China had said. Somehow, he felt curiously relieved, as if… as if something very heavy had been taken off his mind. And then he heard the voice.

"Well, now, ain't this nice? One of the darling Latin Purples bought ices for us!"

He looked up sharply. He recognized the gold jacket instantly, and the words "Royal Guardian" flashed into his mind, and he told himself not to be afraid, but he felt a tight knot of fear beginning in his stomach.

"H-hello, Tommy," he said.

"Hello, Zip," Tommy answered. "You're just in time. Get your boy off the box."