Ed Green might have forgotten to ask about what was up between his partner and his boss, except that the next day they were acting peculiarly. They were sort of playing eye tag. Lennie would stare at the lieutenant until someone noticed, then he'd avert his gaze quickly, as though he were doing something wrong. The lieutenant was doing much the same thing. Once he even caught them catch each other's eyes and then quickly look away. Man, the vibe they were giving off was weird. At about 10:30 AM the phone rang and Lennie snatched the phone up like it was his ticket out of perdition.
On their way to the crime scene Ed decided he just had to ask Lennie what was up.
"So what's up with you and the lieu?" he asked casually.
Lennie gave Ed a sharp look.
"What do you mean what's up?" he said, trying a bit too late to play things cool.
"Oh no, don't try that on me, bro. I've had you two under surveillance all morning and there is definitely something strange going down," Ed countered.
"OK, look I shouldn't have tried to 'shine you on' but I can't really talk about it either, so can you just let it drop?" Lennie asked his partner hoping Ed would be a good egg about it, because he wasn't sure he could explain exactly what was wrong between him and Anita, except that his parting words left a lot up in the air.
"OK, but I got to warn you if you two keep acting squirrelly someone else is gonna notice, and well, it just looks weird," Ed said.
Just then they arrived at the crime scene. It looked to be a domestic dispute gone very badly. A woman and her lover were dead and of course the initial suspect was the husband. The preliminary investigation didn't turn up much but lasted just long enough to run into their lunch hour, so the partners agreed to have lunch before they went back to the precinct to write up their initial notes, wait for the M.E.'s report and anything the forensic lab might turn up from the evidence gathered at the crime scene. They passed the lunch rather quietly as Lennie thought about the evening before; he felt his parting words had left the ball in Anita's court.
When they arrived back at the precinct, Lt. Van Buren asked them to come into her office. Ed & Lennie both thought she'd want a preliminary report on the double homicide they'd just caught.
"The husband or one of the teenage kids is probably good for it," Lennie began but Van Buren waived him off.
"You better pass your theories and your notes off to Cordova and Johnson. The three of us have a meeting at One Police Plaza in about a half hour with the head of the Organized Crime Control Bureau," Van Buren told them.
"Really, to what do we owe the honor?" Green asked.
"Well, you owe it to being Briscoe's partner because the request came in for me, Briscoe and his partner," Van Buren answered.
"Anymore details than that?" Lennie asked.
"Only that it's a brief undercover op," she replied.
"Look, if we're gonna make it over to One Police Plaza on time you better go hand off that case to Cordova and meet me in the garage," Anita suggested.
Ed Green thought the short drive over to One Police Plaza wouldn't end. There was something about being in a car filled with tension, which Ed was beginning to suspect was sexual in nature, that made time seem to drag.
When they made it to the conference room they found the Commissioner of the OCCB William Tate, a tall silver haired man in his early 60s and the commander of the task force for the Russian mob, George Michaels, a shorter dark haired man in his early 50s, as well as EADA Jack McCoy. Introductions were made, with the exception of Van Buren and Michaels, as he had been her commanding officer when she worked in Narcotics.
Lennie was glad Jack McCoy had decided he could handle the meeting without his assistant Serena Southerlyn. The young ADA seemed to have a crush on him and Lennie found it a bit annoying. He knew a lot of men his age, no correction a lot of men of any age, would consider themselves lucky to have a beautiful, intelligent young woman interested in them, but Lennie wasn't interested in her. He smiled to himself ruefully, that was his problem he didn't want what he could have and couldn't have what he wanted.
"Lieutenant, detectives please take seats so we can explain what we need your help with," Commissioner Tate said cutting into Lennie's musings, motioning to three empty places around a conference table.
"Commander Michaels perhaps you could do the honors," Tate said as he relinquished the floor to the younger man.
"I'm sure you are aware that in organized crime families it is not to uncommon for there to be falling outs and those family arguments can escalate into all out gang wars which generally generate a lot of casualties amongst innocent bystanders. The Russian crime syndicate is on the verge of such a war. An informant inside one of the key families has tipped us off to the hiring of a professional assassin. We believe if we can get close to this hit man, we can, not only prevent the assassinations thus heading off the war, but we also hope to be able to deal a serious blow to the Russian syndicate at the same time," Michaels explained.
"So, how do we three fit in to your grand scheme to derail the Russian Syndicate's juggernaut?" Lennie asked.
"Well, according to our informant this hit man isn't local or Russian. We don't have a real name, but his nickname is 'the hustler'. According to our informant the word has been put out on the street to look for something special to make the hit man a happy camper. This 'hustler' has some very interesting tastes. He likes a very challenging game of pool, preferably 8 ball," Michaels looked at Lennie and just about everyone's head nodded in acknowledgement of his prowess with a cue, "and his favorite table stakes is the other player's girlfriend, particularly if she's a sweet little piece of brown sugar," Michaels said and looked at Anita Van Buren, who gave him a pained look.
"So, what's the plan here?" Ed asked, thinking he knew what it was and it might be a disaster.
"We've got a warrant and have put in tight surveillance at a pool hall in a mixed neighborhood that's on the Russian mob's turf. We put Lennie and Anita in the pool hall this evening to establish two things, 1) Lennie's a hell of a pool player and 2) Anita's his main squeeze. Then, hopefully tomorrow night, the hustler show's up and wins Anita from Lennie," Michaels concluded.
"Wait, I'm supposed to BET her and you want me to lose?" Lennie asked in disbelief.
"Yeah that's the idea, that way she'll be on the inside-"
Lennie stood up and yelled at Michaels pointing his finger at him as he made each of his points, "On the inside, with a guy who makes his living killing people, and who thinks a woman is an object, something you put on the rail instead of money!"
"Lennie, Lennie calm down," Anita said as she pulled him back into his seat.
"Look, I know you've been trying to put this together on the fly before this guy gets too established here, but I think Detective Briscoe's got a point. You can't send Lieutenant Van Buren off with this guy to who knows where with no protection," Jack McCoy argued.
"You afraid of this set up, Anita?" Michaels asked his former subordinate in a challenging tone.
"Honestly George? Yeah, because I've got no idea where I'm going with this guy and no idea whether back up could ever get there in time," she replied.
"Well, I guess this was a waste of time. I had no idea the Anita Van Buren I knew from our days in Narcotics had lost her edge riding a desk," Michaels commented angrily.
"Easy Michaels, " Commissioner Tate warned.
"Look, let's not throw the baby out with the bath water here," McCoy said. "Let's go ahead with getting the hit man to the pool hall, at least then we know who he is and maybe we can arrest him on something else. If he's not a local or a Russian maybe he's wanted somewhere else in the US or Europe," he suggested.
"Yeah, we pull him in on some warrant or something or maybe -" Lennie got up and started pacing as he was thinking.
"You know whom we're missing in this meeting?" he said as he turned to Jack McCoy.
"Who, Lennie?" Jack asked.
"The shrink, Skoda. I bet he could predict how this guy might react if I refused to use Anita as a bet or if I did bet her, but then beat him," Lennie proposed.
"How do you know you could beat him?" Michaels asked testily.
Jack McCoy answered for Lennie, "I've watched the detective play pool. In a straight up, honest game of 8 ball no one can beat him."
"What do you think, we run Lennie's idea past Emil Skoda and get a recommendation on how to play this?' Jack asked the OCCB commissioner. Tate nodded.
"May as well," Michaels conceded, realizing his original plan was toast. "Well Anita, guess you get to pull your slinky undercover clothes and those 4-inch stilettos out of mothballs after all," Michaels teased.
"Uh, speaking of looking the part, my partner here, no offense man," Ed acknowledged Lennie, "well he just doesn't quite look like a successful pool hustler," Ed Green observed.
"Lend me your good leather jacket and I'll match it up with a nice silk shirt and a good pair of pants, then if the department will pop for a first-class car and a roll of green stuff for flash, we're almost set, " Lennie countered.
"Almost? What else do you need?" Jack asked with a smile.
"Last time I played pool for money in New York State I was threatened with loosing my shield," Lennie said to Jack very seriously.
"OK, you've got prosecutorial immunity for any gambling necessary to the undercover operation," Jack promised, then as a joke added. "And you can keep whatever you win."
"OK, the surveillance van is set to be in position at 7PM. You should make arrangements to ride with them Green," Michaels informed Ed.
"Briscoe, you pick up a roll of bills down in property and then that flashy car you want at the police garage, then don't you go near the garage, or anything else that might give the Russians the tip off that you're an undercover cop," Michaels.
"Right," Lennie said, thinking to himself that Michaels' last comment was just another sign that he was a moron.
"Lennie when we get an idea from Skoda we'll send the info in with Ed," Jack said. "Ed what's your cover gonna be?"
"Well I was thinking I'd be the Lieutenant's baby brother and I'll come in and mooch some money from my big sister's trick over there," Ed teased.
"Oh yeah, having to give money to her no count brother will definitely make people think she's my woman," Lennie observed drolly.
"OK scatter folks, we've only got a few hours to pull this together," Michaels said as everyone began moving out of the conference room.
"It'd be easier to do that if we had the address of the pool hall," Lennie observed and an embarrassed Michaels quickly made sure everyone had the information they needed.
As they got out in the hall, Lennie asked Ed and Anita, "OK, anyone got an idea where I can get a nice silk shirt?"
Anita grinned, Ed laughed and shook his head then said, "Come on Bro, after we get your flash roll, we'll go do some shopping."
Ed then turned and said "You won't hardly recognize him when I get done with him."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Anita said while laughing.
"I'm going to take a cab back to the 2-7 and then I'm gonna cut out a bit early, so I can get ready for this evening," Anita told the two detectives.
"Uh, just remember it's a pool hall not a black tie affair," Lennie quipped.
"OK. I'll try," she teased.
"Oh and Lennie, I'll meet you at your apartment a little before 7, OK?" she asked.
"Uh, sure that should work out fine," Lennie said a bit nervously.
"Hey, partner you got a date with the boss," Ed teased after the two men got out of earshot.
"Shut up Ed," Lennie snapped.
"Right, shutting up."
Lennie stood shirtless in front of the mirror in his bathroom. He brushed his hair, trying to get it to look just right. Then he splashed on some cologne, shrugged into the new white silk shirt he'd bought, buttoned it up and was just tucking the shirt tail into his new charcoal grey slacks when his doorbell rang. He hurriedly threaded his new black alligator skin belt through his pant loops as he went to answer the door and was just fastening the buckle as he opened the door.
He stood there for a good 10 seconds taking in the vision in front of him. Lennie started at the 4-inch black high heel pumps on Anita's feet, proceeded up her curvaceous nylon clad legs, up to the short skirt of the red knit dress she wore, then lingered a moment at the gold chain cinched around her waist before following up to the tempting cleavage that peeked over the scooped neckline, he continued on up to the beautiful bare shoulders and neck and then finally looked into her grinning face.
"Do I pass inspection?" she asked.
Her voice finally broke the spell and Lennie stepped back to let her into his apartment.
"Do you ever! Wow, I hope I can keep my mind on the game," he blurted out.
"Uh, I have to get my jacket and stick, be just a minute," Lennie said.
As he walked away, Anita appreciated the drape of the material of both his shirt and his slacks. "Sorry I'm running late, Ed insisted I buy my own leather jacket rather than borrowing his, so the shopping trip took longer than I would have anticipated," Lennie called from his bedroom, a few seconds later he emerged with a black leather jacket slung over his right shoulder and a small but long and slender rectangular wooden case under his arm.
"Then I had a hard time finding my ankle holster," he called as he walked into the living room. He went to a hall closet and placed his jacket and the box containing his cue stick on a chair that sat near the closet. He pulled his gun down from a lock box on the top shelf of the closet, and then putting his right foot up on the chair, he placed the gun in the holster just under his right pant leg. He put on his leather jacket and picked up the cue case.
"After you my lady," he said and added silently, please let her be MY lady.
Lennie worked the remote to unlock the passenger door of the silver 2003 Lexus SC sport coupe parked in front of his apartment building, then moved in front of Anita to open the door for her.
"My lady's chariot," he said as stood back to let her in.
"Not bad," she said as she dropped gracefully into the seat.
Lennie walked around to the driver's side and got in.
He smiled at her and said, "Just wait," then he pressed a button on the dash and the car transformed into a convertible.
"Oh, my! You and Ed must have had the times of your lives driving this on your little shopping excursion," Anita said.
"No, I'm having the time of my life right now," Lennie said in a smooth voice that sent chills up Anita's spine.
Just before Lennie pulled away from the curb, he turned the CD player on and the car's excellent stereo system started pumping out Frank Sinatra singing All Or Nothing At All.
'Riding through Manhattan in a convertible with a handsome man I adore, love songs pumping out of the stereo,' Anita thought 'this would be perfect if not for the feel of the Smith & Wesson snub nose .38 strapped inside my thigh and the fact that I'm suppose to be playing the bait in an undercover operation'.
"So any idea what this car costs?" Anita asked by way of distracting herself.
"About as much as my first house," Lennie answered.
"Listen we ought to cover a few things about our persona for this operation. I think the closer we play to the truth the better. I don't expect you to have to do a lot of talking but if you have to, try not to get too carried away creating back story for us, OK?"
"Alright some simple things then. We aren't married to each other but each of us has been married in the past. OK?" she asked.
"Correction, you're still married but in the process of getting a divorce," Lennie responded,
"What about kids? Jobs?" she asked.
"You've got two grown sons Ric and Stefan and I've got a daughter, Julia that I don't get to see very much" he replied.
"See how easy it is if we stick to the truth?" Lennie asked and she nodded.
"What about jobs?" she asked.
"Uh, I shoot stick and play the ponies at the OTB. So I guess you'd have to say I'm a professional gambler. You are an office manager supervising a bunch of insurance investigators, but I don't like you're working, so you don't like to talk about it around me," he ad libbed.
"Where do we live?" she asked.
"We each have our own place until your divorce is final because your ex is a jerk, who will make the divorce drag out if you live with me," Lennie answered.
"How long have we been together? How did we meet?" Anita asked.
"Uh, hey it's your turn to come up with some of this stuff." Lennie said not wanting to write the whole back-story as he felt he might give away some of his feelings in doing so.
"We've been lovers for a long time, I didn't get divorced because of my kids, but now that they're grown, I'm going through with it. We met at the OTB a long time ago; my kid brother Ed introduced us. He sort of looks up to you like you're his mentor" she suggested.
"Uh well, hope we covered enough stuff cause this is the place," Lennie said.
"Wave you're on candid camera, see the surveillance van over there," she pointed down the street a ways.
"Yeah, hey don't do that," Lennie said as Anita started to open the door to the car. She looked at him puzzled.
"I want to put the top up and besides, I'd like to help you out of the car. It's just one of those little things, you know?" he asked.
"OK, but its easier getting out of a convertible than a sport coupe," she said as she let the door close.
"Uh, OK, just a second," Lennie hopped out of the car, went around to the passenger side and opened her door and helped her out. He then went back to the driver's side, reached into the back seat for his cue case, then put the top back up and closed the windows, before locking up.
"Let's go make an entrance, baby," Lennie said as he guided her to the entrance of the pool hall.
Lennie hadn't known quite what to expect from the address. It could have been a very new state of the art pool hall with the bright open feel of the chain entertainment places or an old crummy poorly lit place, fortunately it was somewhere in the middle. The hall had three tournament quality tables all with good overhead lighting. It also had some tables for card players and a couple of dartboards, along one wall there was an old fashioned bar with nice red leather stools. There appeared to be a small kitchen behind the bar and he saw people in the hall sipping both hard and soft drinks and a few people snacking on sandwiches and chips. The two tables at the back of the hall were already occupied; he could tell the game at the far table was a friendly one between a mixed foursome, probably a double date. The middle table seemed to be more serious and he noticed that one of the players had a "custom" cue, one of those mass produced cues that they charged guys a lot of money for but that weren't worth much more than the run of the mill ones hanging in the racks.
He guided Anita to one of the bar stools near the center table. He put his cue case down on the bar and then placed his hands along her sides and easily picked her up and placed her on the bar stool, saying, "Here baby, you'll have a good view of the action from here".
Anita crossed her legs and adjusted her skirt, then pulled Lennie to her by his shirt collar and whispered to him. Lennie looked down and then leaned in to whisper in her ear. They exchanged grins.
In the surveillance van Ed and the AV techs Ann Scott and Alfie Kiefer were checking out how the microphones and cameras were working.
"Wonder what that exchange was about?" Ed asked.
"Van Buren asked him to check and see if her gun was showing and he said he didn't see anything but gorgeous legs," Alfie responded.
"How do you know that?" Ed asked.
"I read lips," Kiefer replied.
"Wow, even if we don't hear it, you can tell what's going down?"
"Yeah, as long as I can see their lips, the camera placements won't always allow that, but she's pretty much front and center," Kiefer replied.
Lennie ordered a club soda for himself and a diet coke with a twist of lime for Anita. She gave him a look because it was something she really liked but couldn't ever remember telling him about. Then she realized that if someone paid close attention to her at a social gathering they might pick up on it and over the past 12 years she supposed there'd been a few dozen such social events. It made her feel good to think he paid attention and bothered to remember.
Lennie sauntered over to the central table, "So would the winner of this game be up for a little match?" he asked.
"Yeah I guess so, Pops, but we play for money you know," the fellow with the custom cue said.
"Not a problem, just name your stakes," Lennie countered.
"Ten bucks a ball for every ball you pocket plus thirty for the eight ball," Custom Cue stated.
"OK, I'll be right over there with my lady when you two are done," Lennie said.
"A c note a game, this ought to be fun," Lennie told Anita.
When 'Custom Cue', as Lennie had started thinking of the young man, won the game he called out, "Hey Pops, I'm ready for you, now."
Lennie grimaced at the nickname but took off his leather jacket and hung it over the back of the bar stool Anita was sitting on, then he opened his cue case and removed the butt and shaft of his cue and quickly screwed them together at the joint. As he did so the loser of the previous game racked the balls.
"The name's Lennie, you got a name or should I call you Kid?" Lennie asked.
"Eric," Custom Cue replied, "go ahead and break."
"Any unusual house rules I should be aware of?" Lennie asked as he approached the table.
"Nothing weird, clean eight, no jump shots and we alternate breaks, those are the only things I can think of," Eric answered.
Lennie placed the cue ball on the head spot and with a smooth stroke that belied its power, sent the cue ball smashing through the racked balls just off dead center. Several balls found their ways to the corner pockets at the foot of the table and the cue ball fetched up in an easily accessible place.
Lennie walked around the side of the table and down to the table's foot, studying the layout of the object balls in relationship to the cue ball. Lennie wasn't your average pool player who thought about the best shot on the table at the moment, he wasn't even the above average player who thought about where he should try to leave the cue ball so he could set himself up for the next shot, Lennie was a great pool player, he thought about what he could do off the break to run the table. Lennie was the sort of player who got angry with himself when he didn't perfectly execute the plan he made off the break. But he wasn't to be angry with himself this time because about eight minutes after he broke, he called and pocketed the eight ball and with it a hundred dollars of Eric's money.
People in the pool hall who were casual players were impressed, but the really good players like Eric were astounded because they appreciated how easy Lennie made the difficult shots seem. Lennie offered Eric several more games winning them all. After Lennie had beat him five straight games Lennie asked him if he was still up for another game, Eric agreed even though he knew he'd be soundly beaten and he was getting down to the end of his cash roll. He simply wanted to watch a master at work. As the balls were being racked Eric called to his friend Joe and told him they should call Steve to come down and play Lennie. The guys agreed that Steve was a guy who might be able to give Lennie a run for his money. Lennie told Eric to go ahead and break and he went over to get a refill on his club soda and check on Anita.
"Well, the guppies have called for the minnow, hopefully the minnow will bring us the big fish," Lennie whispered to Anita as he headed back toward the table.
"What did he say to her?" Ed asked Alfie.
"I'm not sure, I think he said 'the guppies have called for the minnow hopefully the minnow will bring us the big fish', you know what he means?" Alfie asked.
"You ever hear of a pool shark?" Ed asked and Alfie nodded "Lennie's our shark, the hit man is the big fish, these guys he's playing are calling in better players and that will get the word out about Lennie."
"Unfortunately unless he steps it up in the romance department, the story may not include that he's got a black girlfriend, and that was suppose to be an important part of the plan wasn't it." Ann observed.
"What do you mean?" Ed asked.
"Other than the first little interplay when they went in there, there's been very little between them. See that guy?" Ann pointed at a guy leaning at the end of the bar.
"Yeah?" Ed said.
"I think he's working up to hitting on her. He probably figures she's just a friend of Lennie's, or that Lennie's using her as a beard," Ann said.
"Whoa, I definitely will not let it get out of this van that you suggested that or you'll get laughed from here to Hoboken," Ed said by way of defending his partner. "But I definitely think I better go talk to my big sister's trick and get him to pay a bit more attention to her," Ed said and started putting on his jacket.
By the time Ed reached the pool hall Eric had made the break and had pocketed a few balls but then missed a shot. He had commented to Lennie that he was sorry to hook him, implying he'd left Lennie without a shot, but Lennie put a lot of English on the ball and made it curve around his opponent's ball and strike one of his, sinking the ball and setting him up to run the table.
"Hey Lennie, " Ed said as he came close to the table, "can I talk to you for a second".
"Uh, Eric, you mind if I take a little break to talk to my man here?" Lennie asked.
"No problem, Lennie."Lennie moved a way from the table to an area where he could speak a bit more freely.
"So what's up, info from Skoda? What?" Lennie asked.
"No, an observation, you're doing real good on selling the being a pool shark bit, but don't know that people are gonna buy that you're Anita's man. I think you better get over what ever it is between you and her and start acting like she's your woman," Ed said.
"Yeah, OK, I hear you," Lennie said a little miffed. "Look, we need to put on a little show here as a cover story. I'm gonna give you some money, you start to leave and then I'm gonna make you come back. I think you'll know what to do then," Lennie said, then peeled off a couple hundred dollars for Ed. Ed started to leave the pool hall.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing? You can't come in here, bum money off me and then run off and not even say hello to your sister," Lennie yelled at Ed, but he smiled at him so the crowd in the hall would know he wasn't really mad at Ed.
"Oh, yeah, " Ed said shyly and then went over to Anita. He whispered in her ear about what he'd told Lennie and she looked a bit upset, then said she understood and Ed left.
In that short time, Lennie had finished off another game and said he wanted to take a short break, but would play this guy Steve when he got here.
Lennie walked over to Anita and found he was incredibly nervous. He wanted to 'romance' Anita, but not because he would be putting on a show for someone. He wanted to kiss her, but he wanted to know that she wanted that too. He just wasn't sure what to do.
He stood very close to her, his right side next to her left. He used his right hand to cup the back of her head and he pulled her face to his for a kiss. The kiss was gentle and he didn't put any pressure on her to open her mouth to him, but she did. He gently probed her mouth with his tongue and she responded to him. Soon their tongues were doing an age-old dance. Lennie was startled but thrilled that she seemed to want him as much as he wanted her and then surprised to realize they were both trembling. He pulled out of the kiss and put small kisses on her face, and then he whispered in her ear.
"What did he say to her," Ann asked Alfie just as Ed returned to the van.
"Uh, it doesn't have anything to do with the operation," Alfie said evasively.
"What did he say to her?" Ed asked more forcefully.
Alfie looked up at Ed with an expression that said he really didn't want to say, but he finally gave in.
"He said he'd wanted to kiss her for a long time," Alfie finally related.
"Yeah, that had to figure," Ed said and then sat down to think.
They looked back at the screen and could see that Lennie and Anita were kissing again, and then they heard someone in the hall yell 'Hello Steve'.
"I think the minnow has arrived," Lennie told Anita as he continued to place kisses on her face.
"You'll need to go back to work?" she asked, trying not to sound disappointed.
"Yes, but remember I have two jobs tonight and you are a big part of one of them," Lennie said.
When he saw her expression change, he could tell she was taking what he'd just said the wrong way.
"Hey, I said it was a part of my job, I didn't say I thought it was work," he said and kissed her again. The kiss went on and on and the couple began to forget where they were and what they were supposed to be doing.
"Hey Lennie, you gonna shoot stick or love up your woman?" Eric yelled.
Lennie eased out of the kiss he was sharing with Anita and then walked back to the table he'd been playing at all night.
"Well, hopefully both, but for right now I'll play some more 8 ball if you can find anyone to give me a match," he responded.
Eric introduced Steve a handsome young man with dark eyes and a flashing smile. He and Lennie agreed to play a match of 8 ball for a thousand dollars. They agreed to lag for the first break with Lennie winning. He ran the table on every game he broke on and when Steve broke he won the game as soon as Steve missed a shot. People in the hall had long since quit playing at the other tables or other games and were watching the match. A couple of guys were placing side bets on things like whether Lennie'd run the table again on his break or whether he'd make a difficult combo. After game six, Alfie saw some men talking at a table. He worked hard on picking up their conversation and told Ed they'd hit pay dirt. The guys were talking about how Lennie fit what the boss wanted exactly for his European guest, a pool shark with a black girlfriend. In about an hour and a half Lennie had won the requisite 9 games and Steve handed over the thousand dollars. Lennie watched Steve's face to see if the younger man was angry.
"You're wondering if I'm mad aren't you?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, well the thought crossed my mind," Lennie said.
"Nah, I'm not sore, it was almost like attending a clinic. I think I actually learned a few of your moves. Though I doubt I'll ever be able to size up a table the way you do after a break. You be back tomorrow night?" Steve asked.
Lennie looked back at Anita, noticing that she was talking to a young woman, "Maybe, it depends."
"On what? Whether your woman will let you out of the house?" Eric teased.
Lennie laughed, "No, on whether there'll be anyone here wants to play me. I mean there's only one thing I'm good at that I do for free."
Steve laughed and said, "I promise you Lennie we'll find somebody to play you even if Pete's got to pony up the stake, right Pete?"
The man behind the bar smiled and waved a bar towel at them.
"Speaking of Pete," Lennie said and walked back over to Anita. He handed her the money he'd earned that night and she put it in her evening bag, then broke his stick down and put it away in his case. He picked up his leather jacket and put it on and then helped Anita down off the bar stool, letting her slide down his body when he did so, just to enjoy the feel of her body against his. He turned to Pete, the hall owner, and asked him, "What do I owe you for the use of the table?"
"Nothing, nothing! It was a joy to watch a man who really knows how to shoot stick, you come in anytime you want to play, Lennie, no charge!" Pete said enthusiastically.
With that he turned to gather Anita to him and found she was saying goodnight to the young woman who had been sitting next to her during his match with Steve. He waited for her to finish and then they left with him saying goodbye to people in the hall like some sort of rock star trying to leave a venue. Once they were out of the pool hall he asked Anita, "Who was that young woman you were talking to?"
"Steve's girlfriend. Boy am I glad we talked about a back-story, I needed it all to keep the conversation flowing with her," Anita answered.
Lennie unlocked the car doors but he didn't open the door for Anita and she looked at him as he walked around the car trying to figure out what was wrong with him all of a sudden. Lennie opened his door and threw his cue case in the back seat of the car. He got in and started the engine and when the CD player came back on he reached out and turned it off quickly. He began the drive back to his apartment, traveling well above the recommended speed limit, and remained quiet as Anita talked a little bit about the operation. It had been agreed that the two of them should be careful about contacting people involved in the operations in case they were being followed by operatives of the Russian Syndicate, but she said knowing George Michaels he'd probably try to contact one of them for a progress report.
Lennie was confused by his own sudden change of attitude. All he knew was when he looked at the car he suddenly had a premonition. He'd get into that car with her and at some point she'd tell him they had to talk, then she'd start going on about how they couldn't have a relationship because it was against department regulations and he didn't want to face that. He couldn't stand to think that he and Anita couldn't be together because of some stupid regulation; it wasn't fair. His fear of that confrontation was turning sideways into anger. He pushed the speed of the car up a little more as he thought about it.
"Lennie, please slow down! " Anita said becoming alarmed at his speeding through the streets of Manhattan. Lennie sighed and tamped on the brakes lightly, bringing the car back down to a more reasonable speed.
"Lennie, why are you angry at me? Have I done something wrong?" Anita asked confused and hurt.
"What? No, I'm not angry at you and you haven't done anything wrong, it's just-"
"What? Lennie what's bothering you?" Anita asked her concern for him clear in her voice.
Just then they reached Lennie's apartment building and he pulled into the first available space he could find in the building's parking lot. He turned the car's engine off and turned in his seat to face Anita more directly.
"I just had this sense that when we were alone you'd say we had to talk, and I don't think I want to have that conversation, that's all," Lennie said and then looked down at his hands not wanting to meet her gaze.
Anita sighed, "Well, we do have to talk whether you want to or not."
"Yeah, I know, "Lennie said and he sighed too. As he thought about it, if he had to have this conversation with her he wanted to try and have all the advantages so he'd ask her to talk up in his apartment, on his turf so to speak, and he'd made up his mind that if they were gonna fight about this he wasn't gonna fight fair. All was fair in love and war and he loved her.
"Come on, let's talk about this up in my apartment," Lennie said as he got out of the car and grabbed his cue case. He walked around to her side of the car and opened the door to help her out.
Anita realized what he was doing by suggesting that they have 'the conversation' in his apartment but she decided she'd let him have his way. She knew this conversation was going to be a painful one and she didn't want to hurt him any more than she had to, actually she didn't want to hurt him at all. She wasn't looking forward to this conversation any more than he was.
"OK, let's go and talk this out," she said as she put her hand in his.