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chapter 6
Romance
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I pushed open the door and glanced in.
Perry was pacing up and down, his hands in his pockets, a dead cigar clamped between his teeth. He looked up and scowled at me.
"Where the heck did you go! I can't find Delphina anywhere. Where could she be?"
"I don't know, but don't work yourself out. Women get like that. They blow off. It doesn't mean a thing."
He rubbed his jaw, shaked his head, and frowned.
"You think so, bro? I've never heard her speak like that before. Do you think I should go look for her, soothe her or something? I still need her around until the inheritance is in my grasp."
"I'd leave her alone. Women are funny animals, she will come back, don't stress."
He put his arm around my shoulders.
"Yeah, I think you are right, come on, let's eat."
At ten-fifteen, a car pulled up outside, and Delphina got out.
She went straight in, and we heard her enter the bedroom and locked the door.
Perry shook his head.
"Maybe I'd better talk to her."
"I'd leave it," I said. "She'll be okay tomorrow."
"Well, okay. Maybe you're right." He still looked worried. "She locked the door. I guess I will be sleeping alone tonight."
"Everything's fine," I said. "Goodnight, Perry."
"Goodnight, brother."
  I came out onto the veranda of the guest house I was in and sat down in one of the basket chairs.
I was feeling scared, worried sick and tired. Then a thought came to me, which made everything clear; Delphina planned everything, the whole thing of being angry at Perry has been an act.
She was making sure she would sleep alone this night, so when he was asleep, she could come out and talk to me, men she was damn smart.
I lit a cigarette and sat down to wait. I knew she wouldn't come out here for quite some time. I had a long wait ahead of me.
I imagined her in her dark bedroom, waiting for Perry to go to sleep. I wondered what she was thinking about and what she was planning. So I sat in the darkness, watching the house and waiting for her to come.
 The hands of my wristwatch showed eleven-fifty. For the past half-hour, I had been sweating it out waiting for her.
Then suddenly I saw her come out of the house. She moved languidly. She was wearing a white shirt and a full, light colored skirt. Tight at the waist and flowing out over her hips. She was certainly dressed for the occasion.
I was sitting in the basket chair in the shadows, and I watched her come, my heart thumping. I had a cigarette between my lips so she could tell where I was, I drew on the cigarette, making a little red spark in the darkness.
She came slowly up the steps and sat down in a basket chair near mine. "Give me a cigarette," she said.
I handed her my pack and my lighter. I couldn't bring myself to light her cigarette. I wasn't going to be that much of a slave to her. She lit her cigarette, then returned me the pack and the lighter. Her fingers brushed mine. They felt hot and dry.
"You puzzled me," she said. "I was sure you were a phony, but I didn't guess you were the escaped safe robber. You're quite a celebrity."
"What's it to you who I am so long you do the job am paying u to do? Why should you care."
"I have to think of myself." She stretched out her short legs, sinking deeper into the basket chair. "I could get into trouble with the police unless I tell them you're here."
"What's that got to do with it?"
"Everything so far as I'm concerned. Perry has a Lawrence safe. I want you to open it."
"Is there anything in it that you want?" I said, "Why don't you ask him for it?".
"Don't be funny!" she moved irritably. "Remember what I said this morning: from now on, you're going to do what I say or else..."
"Doesn't he give you enough? What do you want to steal his money for?"
"If you don't open the safe, you'll go back to Sentinel." she crossed her legs, adjusting her skirt. "I've heard about that jail. They're tough there. They'll know what to do with you once they get their heads on you. Are you going to open the safe, or are you going back to Sentinel?"
"Suppose I do open it - what happens then?"
"I'll give you the estate documents, the will, and a twenty four hour start to get away. And I'll have to keep the rest of the money."
She had certainly d up a nice little plot. I opened the safe. She collected the money, gave me a document, and I went on the run.
Perry would find the safe empty, and I would be missing. The finger would point to me. Once the police had my description, they would know I had opened the safe, and they would automatically jump to the conclusion that I had the money and papes.
If they caught me and I told them she had forced me to open the safe and she had the rest of the money, it would be my word against hers. It wouldn't occur to anyone to suspect her. Perry is too crazy about her to believe me. It was a sweet little plot, and it could succeed.
"But he loves you. And I didn't hire you so that you could double cross me on my own plans." I said, looking towards her. I couldn't see much of her just two hostile voices talking in the dark.
"Oh, shut up! How long will it take you to open the safe?"
"I don't know. Maybe I won't be able to open it. Those safes are tough. Without the combination, it's practically impossible to open them."
"You better open it!"
I was taking to gain time. She was sly as a fox and she had me over a barrel. There wasn't a Lawrence safe made that I couldn't open. But I hated the thought of losing all the money to her and hated the thought that when I ran away, I couldn't let that happen, but unless I did, I would go back to Farnworth, and that was something I just couldn't face. I had to think of a way to get out of this.
With my mind still busy, I asked, "Where's the safe?"
"In his bedroom."
"How do you expect me to open it without him hearing me?"
"He's going to a legion meeting tomorrow. That's when you'll do it."
I flicked the butt of my cigarette out into the hot night. As I lit another, I said, "And what are you supposed to be doing while I'm busting open the safe - watching me?"
"I will be with Gorman in the kitchen baking pies so that he doesn't suspect a thing."
Then I saw how I could fix her. It was easy. There was nothing to it, except I would be on the run again even though I had to favor Perry.
"What time does he leave, and what time will he be back?"
"He leaves at seven and gets back around two o'clock in the morning."
All right, you bitch, I said to myself, now I've got it fixed. You are in for a surprise. I'll open the safe. Then when you walk in to collect, you'll walk into a clip on the jaw. I'll take the money and everything it in, by the time you've come to collect, I'll be halfway across town. I'll make sure you can't use the telephone and I'll make sure you can't raise alarm until he gets back and finds you. Then I'll write to him and tell him the whole story and I'll send him back his money, every cent of it. If I do that he'll believe me. He'll have to believe me if I do that and I will gain his trust again and hopefully we'll be able to share the estate. That way she won't get a coin out of it.
"I will get you for this you double - crossing bitch." I said furiously.
"Oh, cut the crap." she said impatiently. "Are you going to open the safe or are you going back to Sentinel?"
"Well..." I paused, then went on, "I'm not going back to Sentinel."
"Then tomorrow."
I pretended to hesitate, then shrugging my shoulders, and said, "I guess so."
She got to her feet and flicked her cigarette away into the darkness.
"Don't imagine I'm bluffing, If you don't open the safe, you are going back to Sentinel."
"I said I'll do it, didn't I?" I said, looking up at her.
"You'd better do it." she said and walked down the steps across the moonlight towards the house.
I watched her go. Well, she had certainly played her cards, and it then depended on who outsmarted who.
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