Ambient 06 - Going, Going, Gone by Jack Womack Read Free Book Online Page B

Don’t need the liner notes but I got to see the cover.«
    I clicked off and cradled.
    »Sorry, sorry,« I told my house guests. Chlojo popped her contacts out and gave me a look that could fry eggs.
    »Forgotten, forgiven,« Eulie said, shrugging. »We’ve quantified theoreticals. Cease and rebag, Chlo.«
    Big baby slung the satchel over her arm and dropped in the boxes like she was scooting along on cotton detail. Eulie slid the rod and her card back into her bag and pressed the top shut. »You’re rolling?« I asked.
    A pause. »Leaving, yes. We’ve questions still, but have basics.«
    »Will you let me in on why these two have such a heavy jones for me?« I asked. »This is my castle, after all, I’d like to know who keeps hopping over the moat.«
    »You’ve nexused,« Chlojo said, stonepussed.
    »I’m what?«
    »You’re centring the phenomenon,« Eulie said. »Unexplainable, presently.«
    »Lucky me.«
    »We’ll visit again. Possibly without notice. Acceptable?«
    »We can work something out,« I said, sidling in closer so she could better appreciate my own charms. Maybe it was only Chlojo’s wicked muggles in action but the notion stuck in my head that I’d never met any kitten with her kind of purr. It wasn’t just the white boots; the pink ray shone on her with a vengeance and I was rocking with a steady roll. I was willing to cut her some slack even if she was one of Bennett’s. »When?«
    »Depends on circumstance,« she said. »Walter, I’m questioning. How do you work?«
    »Whenever I need to but I don’t make it a steady habit,« I said. »Long as you keep your time in to a minimum the boys in the boat might keep you on the line but they’ll never haul you in.«
    »No, I’m confusing you,« she said. »What is your job?«
    Mighty peculiar line of inquiry if Bennett’s goal was to find out something he didn’t already know. Granted, he might not have filled her in on what my gig was even if she’d asked. »Freelance work,« I said. »For the government, mainly. Acts of chemical interference in the national interest.«
    She stared at me. »That’s necessaried?«
    »You’d be surprised,« I said. »In return I get considerable leeway when it comes to how I spend my free time. Listen, there’s something I got to ask.«
    »What?«
    »Let’s say you’re Greek, maybe Sicilian. Just for the sake of saying it.«
    »AO,« she said, frowning. »Why?«
    »But Chlojo here owns up to being half Jamaican. How does she get by without constantly getting run down by the bloodboys?«
    »Uncomprehended,« Chlojo said. »Bloodboys?«
    Eulie smiled like she’d finally gotten the punchline. »Chlo,« Eulie said. »Recollect preparatory briefings. Foreseeable dissimilitude.«
    Chlo nodded. Neither of them answered my question. »Walter, would you favour us?« Eulie asked.
    »Love to,« I said. Couldn’t beat these two when it came to keeping mum. If they weren’t Bennett’s gals that was probably a plus. Truthfully I was getting to the stage where I’d start going not just out of the way for Eulie, but completely off the map. »How so?«
    »Would you demonstrate a record?«
    »You mean you want me to play one?« Both of them gave me the go-ahead. »Got any favourites?«
    »Nada,« Eulie said. »You select.«
    Strolling casually to the wall I pondered the choices. Chick Webb or Charlie Christian? Barbecue Bob or Blind Lemon? Maybe put on the mountain boys to get a different kind of missing? Grayson and Whitter or Tom Karnes, in that case? Or go lightheaded and pick Ted Weems and his Orchestra? »Nagasaki« as done by Billy Costello, the guy who did the voice of Popeye? Inspiration hit me and I slid out one of my faves. The gals circled me like buzzards, eyes wide, while I performed the rituals. After laying the disc on the papered plate I positioned the needle and let Geeshie Wiley spin.
     
    If I die, if I die,
    In the German War,
    Pleeeeeeaaase take my body
    Send it back to m’