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

says. "Well, I didn't see you doing anything about it."
    I smile.
    "Listen, lady," I tell her. "When you got your friend here all fixed, just come along back to the card room, an' you an' me'll have a little talk with this Fernandez guy."
    I scram.
    I go back to the card room. They are waitin' for me. Fernandez grunts like he is impatient to begin, an' I sit down an' ante up.
    We start to play poker. They are playin' ten dollar rises which is quite big enough for me, but I am not doing badly in the first coupla hands. I win. I look at Fernandez an' grin like I was sorta pleased with myself. He gives me a big scowl.
    We go on. There is a round of jackpots an' finally Fernandez opens it. He opens it for fifty dollars an' everybody plays. There is about two hundred an' fifty dollars in the pot. While we are drawin' cards I hear Henrietta come into the room. She comes an' stands just by where I am sittin'.
    Fernandez bets. He bets a hundred. The other guys throw their cards in. I stay in. I reckon he is bluffin' an' I am goin' all out on my two pairs.
    I see him. I was right. He has got two pairs sixes high an' I am tens high.
    I scoop in the pool.
    "You oughta learn to play this game, sucker," I tell him.
    He looks up.
    "An' what did you call me?" he says.
    I get up. I put my hands under the table ledge an' I throw the table over, sideways. This leaves a space between me an' Fernandez. I jump in. As he puts his arms up I drop my head an' give it to him under the chin. As he goes back I follow with a left an' right an' I connect on each side of his jaw. I stand off an' wait for him to come in. He does, but he is a bit shook an' I sidestep an' smash him one on the nose that busts the works properly. He goes down, an' while he is goin' I call him by an old-fashioned name. This sorta riles him. He gets up, an' he comes for me like a bull. I sink my head an' he gets it in the guts. He brings his knee up but I miss it an' hit him again in the stomach. This hurts him plenty, an' he goes up against the wall. I go after him an' I paste him. I get to work on this guy like I have never worked on anybody before. Once or twice he tries to make a comeback, but he is not so good. The one I gave him on the mark has finished him for a bit.
    Eventually he is just leaning up against the wall an' I smack him down. He stays put on the floor I look at Periera. He don't look so pleased now.
    "Listen, Periera," I say. "You take this punk tough guy outa here before he gets me really annoyed. Because I am a guy who is liable to hurt somebody some time. But maybe I will do the job myself."
    Periera don't say nothin'. I get hold of Fernandez by The collar. I yank him up an' I take him over to Henrietta.
    "Tell the lady you're sorry, punk," I say, "because if you don't I'm goin' to smack it out of you. Get busy."
    Just to help him along I flatten his nose - which is not so well anyhow, with my thumb.
    He comes across, an' says his stuff.
    I take him outside to the top of the stair leadin' down to the dance floor an' I kick him down. He bounces considerable. When he gets to the bottom he sits up like he was tryin' to remember what his first name was.
    I go back.
    "Listen, Periera," I say. "Where does this guy Maloney live?"
    He says he lives in some dump near Indio, so I tell him to get out a car an' drive Maloney home. He looks like he is goin' to object but he thinks better of it. I tell him that he had better take the Fernandez bird off as well, an' he says all right.
    I turn around to Henrietta. There is a little smile in her eye. I give her a big wink.
    "Get your wrap, sister," I tell her. "You an' me is goin' to do a little drivin'. I wanna talk to you."
    She looks at me an' she laughs.
    "You've got your nerve, Mr Frayme," she says.

CHAPTER 4
    PORTRAIT OF A 'G' MAN
     
    S ITTIN' IN the car, drivin' easy with Henrietta smokin' a cigarette an' lookin' straight ahead in front of her, I was feelin' pretty good. I was thinkin' that if there wasn't so much