The Peddler by Richard S Prather Read Free Book Online

bills, hundred- and thousand-dollar bills, filling the room, smothering her, flowing out of the doors and windows, a cascade, a flood, of money rushing day and night from the woman’s thighs.
    “O.K.,” said Leo. He casually stuffed the money into the envelope, sealed it, and thrust it into his inside coat pocket. “Thanks, Ethel. See you next week. I’m going to show Tony around a little.”
    “Fine, Leo. Make yourselves right at home.”
    Leo grinned. “Don’t worry.”
    They went out. Leo put his hand on Tony’s shoulder and steered him toward the front of the house. “You know the setup,” he said. “We passed the parlor when we come through. There’s where the guys go when they come in. Any girls that ain’t busy go in and the guy takes his pick— unless he asks for a certain dame. We got thirty rooms in this place so all the girls can work at once if it gets that jammed up.”
    Tony said, “How come you don’t just send all that cabbage to the bank every day? Aren’t you worried luggin’ it all around?”
    Leo grinned. “Bank? This don’t go in no bank account, pal. I even bum this slip I got when I finish tonight.”
    They went into the parlor. It looked very much like the large living room of an ordinary home. There were three big couches, some easy chairs, a table against the wall with some wilting chrysanthemums in it. It looked a bit dismal to Tony. There were four women in the room, scantily clad, and two men. As they entered one of the men went out through another door with a woman.
    Tony and Leo sat on a couch and Tony said, “Seems like you could fix this place up some, Leo. You know, make it sharper, more sexy. Hell, that’s what the guys come here for.”
    Leo said, “Don’t worry, they’ll come anyway. No need to spend dough makin’ the place fancy.” He grinned and tapped his coat over the fat envelope.
    “Maybe so,” Tony said, but he was thinking he’d make some changes if he were the boss.
    The two unattached women walked toward them. One of them, a tall black-haired woman with thin, arched eyebrows and a full mouth said, “Hi, Leo. You miss me?”
    “Sure, sweetheart, you know it.” He pulled her down on his lap.
    The other, a plump redhead, sat down by Tony and said, “You workin’ with Leo, honey?”
    “Yeah, in a way.”
    She smiled and rubbed his thigh with her hand. “Want to have a little fun?”
    Tony looked at Leo, who was squeezing the other woman, apparently in no hurry to leave. He heard the redhead and said to Tony, “Relax, pal. We got plenty time to hit the other places. Might as well enjoy the work, huh?” He laughed.
    Tony shrugged. In a few minutes Leo got up and said, “Might as well kill a half hour, pal. I’m gonna be busy for that long.” He looked from Tony to the redhead and grinned. “Won’t cost him nothin’, will it, Lou?”
    ” ‘Course not, Leo. You know better’n that.”
    “Go ahead, Leo,” Tony said. “I’ll wait here for you.”
    “You kiddin’? Don’t cost you nothin’, Tony.”
    “I’ll wait.”
    Leo shook his head, frowning, then he and the brunette went out of the room.

    The redhead said, “What’s the matter with you? Or is something wrong with me?”
    “Nothing wrong with you, honey. I just don’t mix business with pleasure.” He grinned. “And it would be a pleasure.”
    The answer mollified her a little, but she said, “You don’t know what you’re missin’, Tony.” She paused. “Tony what?”
    “Romero.”
    “You gonna be comin’ round with Leo much?”
    “Probably. I’ll be seein’ you.”
    “You do that.” The doorbell rang and three men came in. The redhead looked up, then said to Tony, “Well, honey, mama’s got to get back to work. See you later.”
    “Sure.”
    Tony sat in the parlor for almost half an hour, waiting for Leo, and the time passed quickly as he watched the stream of men come in, and noted the way the girls operated. He hadn’t been in a whorehouse for almost two