Weekend by Andrew Neiderman, Tania Grossinger Read Free Book Online Page A

sinewy young man with legs so long a friend once said his upper body must have been placed there as an afterthought, walked quickly across the back lot to get to the “dungeon,” as the lower level staff‘s dorm was often called. They had called him at his basement office. Some sort of commotion going on down there was threatening to get out of hand. That was just what he needed now, with one of the silver sterilizing machines on the blink, trouble with a front elevator and an outbreak of cockroaches in one of the cottages … more problems.
    He could already hear the yelling as he turned down the small knoll. Two of the Puerto Rican dishwashers and Margret Thomas, the chambermaid, were going at it in the entranceway, egged on by friends of both sides.
    “What the hell’s going on?” he asked Domingo, the laborer who had called him earlier.
    “Those two, José Lorca and Pablo Gomez, have been shacking up with some of the whores down at the bowery building.” Halloran looked at him incredulously. For that he had been called away from his desk?
    The bowery building had never been his favorite place. It was a seedy apartment house a half mile down the highway from the Congress, an eyesore if ever there was one. The Goldens had tried for years to buy up the property but for some reason, the owners refused to sell.
    “They said they had to go there because Tony the Chinaman, their roommate, was so sick they couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him.”
    “Well, Tony’s in the hospital now and they can go back. What’s the problem?”
    “They asked Margret to clean up their room and she refuses. Says she’s only paid to clean the dungeon once a week, she did it five days ago, and they can go fuck themselves.”
    “And the President of the United States thinks he has problems.”
    “The guys say they’ll quit if she doesn’t and I figured you didn’t want to have to go looking for more dishwashers on the July fourth weekend.”
    “You’re right, Domingo. Good thinking.” He turned his attention to the fracas.
    “All right, hey Margret, HEY!”
    She turned away from the dishwashers as soon as she saw who it was, but the Puerto Ricans continued to argue as though she were still there.
    “Let them clean their own mess,” she said to Halloran.
    “It’s not really their mess,” Domingo interceded. “That’s their complaint.”
    “What kind of mess are we talking about?”
    “You heard how sick Tony was … throwing up and shitting all over the place.”
    “Yeah, so?”
    “So the place stinks. They say there’s filthy stuff and crap all over. I don’t want to go in there.”
    Halloran stepped back and wiped the sweat off his forehead. It was beginning to get hot. He took Margret’s arm and pulled her a few feet away.
    “Where are you taking me? I ain’t done nothing wrong.”
    “Relax,” he said. “I’m not taking you anywhere. I’ll tell you what I’ll do.”
    She put her hands on her hips defiantly as she shifted her weight from one hip to the other. Her gargantuan breasts that had so amazed Sandi jiggled suggestively and for a moment Halloran lost his train of thought.
    “Put your eyes back in,” she said directly to his face. Margret Thomas was not one to be put out by authority.
    He turned red. “Look,” he said quickly. “I don’t need more aggravation today. Clean their fuckin’ room and I’ll put you in for a whole day of overtime.”
    “A whole day?” She relaxed her stance. “You ain’t shittin’ me now, are you?”
    “Would I shit you?” He laughed, knowing full well what he’d really like to do to her. “A whole day. But keep it to yourself. It’s nobody’s business but ours.”
    “One day’s pay. That’s a deal.” She turned and walked quickly back to the dungeon. The Puerto Ricans quieted down and things appeared to get back to normal.
    Halloran walked over to Domingo. “I think everything’s under control now. Thanks for letting me know.”
    “Hear