AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She left the office without saying another word, her face as white as a sheet.
Excellent.
100
Fifteen minutes later, Benjy came into my office, spoiling to fight. “Ali said you were really mean to her, Lou! You made her cry!”
Huh. She’s weaker than I thought.
“It’s all part of the plan, my boy,” I said, and poured out two tumblers of my second-best scotch.
“What plan?” Benjy snapped.
I gave him one, and clinked my glass against his. “To get you to be her boyfriend.”
He stared at me slack-jawed as I drained my drink. “…w…what?”
I pulled out a handful of baggies and tucked them into his denim jacket pocket. “You’re going to leave here and go out for an hour again. When you get back to the Ridgeway, you’re going to give her this medicine. She’s going to ask where you got it, and you’re going to tell her John, and then – ”
“Barney – ”
“What?”
“I told her I got it from Barney.”
“Fine, Barney, whatever. She’s going to ask how you paid for it, and you’re going to tell her not to worry about it, that you’re gonna take care of her.”
Benjy’s brow was wrinkled as a shar-pei’s. “I am?”
“Yes, you are. And when she says no, I want you to tell her this exactly – are you listening?”
“Yeah.”
“I want you to tell her that you love her, and you know that she doesn’t feel the same, but that’s alright – you know that, and you love her anyway. You’ve always loved her, and you’re going to make sure she’s okay. Can you remember that?”
He was blushing bright red. “You want me to say that?!”
“Yeah – it’s true, ain’t it?”
“Well… I thought… maybe I got a shot with her…”
“If you do what I say, kid, then you will, and real soon. Now – repeat what I just told you.”
It took about five minutes of coaching, but he finally got it.
101
She didn’t fuck him the first night, or the second, or even the third. But I knew it was coming.
Benjy kept dropping by for more blow, and every time I increased the amount I gave him. And every time I coached him on what to say: You’re the nicest, prettiest girl I ever met. Someday I wanna marry a girl like you. I know a girl like you could never love me, but that don’t change how I feel about you. I’ll always love you.
Yadda yadda yadda. Fuckin’ Disney bullshit.
At first he was reluctant, but as the shit started gettin’ results he got more and more excited, even if he wasn’t even making it to first base yet.
“She started cryin’ last night, Lou. She said I was the sweetest guy she ever met… she said I was too good for her.” He lowered his voice like he was telling me a secret. “I even got to hug her while she cried. She smelled real pretty.”
I’ll bet she did, kid. Bet she smelled like desperation.
