TRUSTED LIKE THE FOX

chapter 6

I pushed open the door and glanced in.

Perry was pacing up and down, his hands in his pockets, a dead cigar clamped between his teeth. He looked up and scowled at me.

"Where the heck did you go! I can't find Delphina anywhere. Where could she be?"

"I don't know, but don't work yourself out. Women get like that. They blow off. It doesn't mean a thing."

He rubbed his jaw, shaked his head, and frowned.

"You think so, bro? I've never heard her speak like that before. Do you think I should go look for her, soothe her or something? I still need her around until the inheritance is in my grasp."

"I'd leave her alone. Women are funny animals, she will come back, don't stress."

He put his arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah, I think you are right, come on, let's eat."

At ten-fifteen, a car pulled up outside, and Delphina got out.

She went straight in, and we heard her enter the bedroom and locked the door.

Perry shook his head.

"Maybe I'd better talk to her."

"I'd leave it," I said. "She'll be okay tomorrow."

"Well, okay. Maybe you're right." He still looked worried. "She locked the door. I guess I will be sleeping alone tonight."

"Everything's fine," I said. "Goodnight, Perry."

"Goodnight, brother."

  I came out onto the veranda of the guest house I was in and sat down in one of the basket chairs.

I was feeling scared, worried sick and tired. Then a thought came to me, which made everything clear; Delphina planned everything, the whole thing of being angry at Perry has been an act.

She was making sure she would sleep alone this night, so when he was asleep, she could come out and talk to me, men she was damn smart.

I lit a cigarette and sat down to wait. I knew she wouldn't come out here for quite some time. I had a long wait ahead of me.

I imagined her in her dark bedroom, waiting for Perry to go to sleep. I wondered what she was thinking about and what she was planning. So I sat in the darkness, watching the house and waiting for her to come.

 The hands of my wristwatch showed eleven-fifty. For the past half-hour, I had been sweating it out waiting for her.

Then suddenly I saw her come out of the house. She moved languidly. She was wearing a white shirt and a full, light colored skirt. Tight at the waist and flowing out over her hips. She was certainly dressed for the occasion.

I was sitting in the basket chair in the shadows, and I watched her come, my heart thumping. I had a cigarette between my lips so she could tell where I was, I drew on the cigarette, making a little red spark in the darkness.

She came slowly up the steps and sat down in a basket chair near mine. "Give me a cigarette," she said.

I handed her my pack and my lighter. I couldn't bring myself to light her cigarette. I wasn't going to be that much of a slave to her. She lit her cigarette, then returned me the pack and the lighter. Her fingers brushed mine. They felt hot and dry.

"You puzzled me," she said. "I was sure you were a phony, but I didn't guess you were the escaped safe robber. You're quite a celebrity."

"What's it to you who I am so long you do the job am paying u to do? Why should you care."