Dames Don’t Care by Peter Cheyney Read Free Book Online Page A

One eye is closed up an' his face is covered with blood.
    The guys playin' poker in the corner get up. One of 'em - a little guy - comes over.
    "Why don't you two mugs cut it out?" he says. "What do you think this is? Madison Square Gardens or what? An' what's the matter with you, Fernandez? Why must you always start somethin' around here?"
    Fernandez turns round an' grins at him.
    "Don't you like it," he says.
    He wipes this little guy across; the face with the back of his hand.
    "If you don't like it," he says, "get out."
    There is a sorta silence - the sorta stuff that they call atmosphere. Nobody says anythin'. Then The little guy who has just been smacked down gets up an' walks outa the room. His party go with him. Maloney has got up. He is standin' against the wall an' he don't look so good to me. I reckon that first punch of Fernandez' - that one across the table - shook him considerable.
    I go over to him.
    "Listen, big boy," I say. "Why don't you go some place an' get that mug of yours cleaned up. It ain't pretty. An' whilst you're about it I'd have a drink if I was you. You look as if you could do with one."
    I turn to Henrietta an' I grin.
    "Look, lady," I say. "Take him away an' do a big nursemaid act. After which," I say, "I reckon we might play a little game of cards around here."
    While I am talkin' Periera has come in the room. He is standin' just inside the doorway an' he is lookin' quite pleased. It looks like this Fernandez is a friend of his, an' the big guy around here. Henrietta don't say anythin' at all, but if she had gotta gun I reckon she woulda shot Fernandez. She just grabs this guy Maloney and pushes him towards the door.
    Fernandez looks over at them as they are goin' out an' laughs - he has gotta nasty sorta cackle.
    "Take that sap away an' lose him," he says.
    Henrietta turns around. She is as white as death. She is so burned up she don't know what to do with herself. Fernandez looks at her an' grins. Then he walks over to her an' before she knows what he is goin' to do he kisses her right on the mouth.
    "Run along, sister," he says, "an' don't get bet up because it won't get you no place."
    He comes back to the table.
    "Now maybe we can get ahead," he says, pickin' up the cards. The other guys, four of 'em at the big table, get set. They are goin' to play poker.
    "Are you comm' in?" says Fernandez to me.
    I nod.
    "Yeah," I tell him, "but justa minute. I gotta do something."
    I turn around and go outa the room. I can see Henrietta takin' the Maloney bird into a room way down along the balcony. I ease along there an' look through the door. She has put Maloney on a couch, an' she is in the corner getting a basin of water ready. Maloney don't look so good.
    I go in.
    "Say, sister," I start, "I reckon that your boy friend got a raw deal. Maybe he ain't in fightin' trim tonight. He cerainly can take it."
    She goes over to Maloney an' starts dabbin' his face with a towel.
    "I wish I was a man," she says. "I'd kill Fernandez." She stops work an' turns round an' looks at me. Her eyes are flashin' an' she looks good. I always did like dames with tempers. "Jim here would have smashed him to bits," she goes on, "but he can't use his arm properly. He broke it two weeks ago and it's not working properly yet. It was easy for that moron to be tough."
    Maloney starts comin' up for air. He struggles to get off the couch, but he can't make it. He falls back.
    "Let me get at that..." he mutters.
    I do a bit of quick thinkin'. I think that maybe I can do myself a good turn by gettin' next to this Henrietta in a big way. Maybe if I play my cards right she will talk, an' it looks as if this is the opportunity.
    "Don't worry, Maloney," I say. "You never had a chance with that arm, an' he caught you off balance." I look at Henrietta. "I was feelin' pretty burned up myself when that lousy bum went over an' kissed you like that," I go on. "That was a pretty insultin' thing to do in a room full of guys."
    "Oh, yes," she