Two years earlier110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8svbwqxePk
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CiqWAGac4
Suicide's a funny business. In the end, I was almost glad I'd swapped shifts with Lyndon. Because that day, one nigger asked another for a light. And that's when I learned: when you light a cigarette, you always look up. The niggers learned that as well — but too late.
Some guy jumped from the fifth floor right onto them — his wife had been giving the neighbor a ride. So he did what you'd expect, he cut the neighbor's throat, and then had a breakdown. Why? Beats me. I don't remember what the Montagues and Capulets were fighting about. Some broad on a balcony? Madlen told me, I forgot. But that was ages ago. These days, he'd do a stint in the loony bin and be out, maybe even run for president. This one decided life and the neighbor didn't fit together, so he stepped off. The niggers probably didn't know nicotine kills. Now they do.
I pulled up about half an hour later. Flashed my badge at the patrolman, stepped inside the tape. I'm no novelist, I won't make it pretty, but those two were easier to paint over on the asphalt. The jumper was sitting nearby, holding his busted rib, making eyes at the girls. I offered him a cigarette. He said he didn't smoke. He took it anyway. Souvenir.
And then it got even better. Old broad on the ledge, slippers, curlers, a diamond bracelet on her wrist. I'm on the neighbor's balcony — best spot I could get. We chew the fat about nothing. In between, I call for a shrink. Down below — uniforms, fire trucks, looky-loos — the whole circus. One difference: when the circus packs up, you gotta write a mountain of fucking paperwork.
Anyway — the old broad was a piece of work. Loved casinos, horse tracks, always bet on Manchester United. I didn't know who the hell that was, but she said she'd pulled two hundred grand off them. Plus — stage four cancer, which didn't give a shit that she was holding a full house. The shrink was stuck in traffic, and the old broad and I had already gone through a couple of smokes each. I even threw it out there:110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwHZt0IKir
"Miss, how about a goodbye shot of Jack?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP9biVOM3V1
"Daniels?" — her eyes lit up. "You got some, kid?"
I slipped her neighbor a twenty and sent him to the store. The old broad sat for another five minutes, staring at nothing, then turned to me:110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2irIN1Dwa
"Can you lean over the railing? I want to hug you."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGSKbiNlqDm
She smiled and reached out. Hell, she had gorgeous white teeth — all her own. I slid my hands along her arms and held her tight. She held me back. Then, grunting, she stood up on the railing, gave me a sly smile:110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlBObtlXS4
"You're a pro." — and stepped off.
I blew her a kiss and left the balcony — the neighbor came back right on time with the whiskey.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1QgGOXSeh
That evening, I filed my report — four pages of bullshit about why I didn't haul her back over the railing — and was walking out of the precinct when someone called out:
"I’m Pshchedbrzdzhynski," he hit me with.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAb6UXrtVvw
"What?!" — I figured he'd caught it as a kid.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZk5NI2ksq
"Pshchedbrzdzhynski."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2C4K4PEe1W
"Whatever. Ask someone else to pronounce... You Russian or something?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBZdeeYDeJ
"Polish. In the past. Polish. Once. Now — insurance. Life insurance. Can we talk somewhere?"
"Somewhere" turned out to be a brick dead end with back doors from restaurants and a pile of dumpsters. He pressed the barrel between my eyebrows. From behind.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2HVMonryu
"I need two things I know you got on you..."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKOLgCaFzm
"Keep in mind — there's a hole in my left sock," — I love making jokes with a gun to my head.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBZ5YgN1A6
"I'll take it, you moron. Wash it and patch it up. You wanna keep running your mouth? Give me what you lifted off the old broad and your card."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ8vA6D9jd0
"Dumb request."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpeDIqtCJj
"What?" — he even stepped back.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCed1IPklh
"If I don't give you the first thing, the second you'll pull out of my pocket after I'm dead. Right?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhnVT7IMn3
"That's cheap — pawing a dead man."
I'll be damned — he was starting to grow on me. But there was no talking to him. You could tell by the pupils. A chance only opens up if they twitch even once.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyL7J1knRC
"Lower the gun," — I asked, real polite-like. "Eight times out of ten, the bullet comes from nerves, not from wanting to kill. The bracelet's in my right pocket. I'm going to reach for it real slow."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutp8zsy9ot
"A pleasure doing business with you. Put it," — he pointed at the nearest dumpster, — "on the lid. Then slowly put your card on top."
"Nothing about the fingerprints?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEu5D8etyRN
"I'll wipe them with expensive cologne."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0bhtaXzGY
"The one you'll swap on the bracelet?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7f4YDGz0L5
"Not before."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNL3K9xj14
I did what he said, then looked him in the eye, curious.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6heZ0ijNgJ
"I like you," Pshchedbrzdzhynski cracked something like a smile. "I wouldn't lose sleep over that bracelet — it's just a family heirloom. The cancer had nothing to do with it. Long story." He glanced at my card. "I want to know how to reach you. Got a feeling there'll be more work."
"Where the hell were you raised that you can't just memorize a number?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhj687vb4B
"I can, but like collecting cards."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2QqaCh15O
"Nuts. A numismatist." — The politest thing I could come up with.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRoJJl8ERT
And he walked off — with my bracelet and my card. I called Madlen. Told her I couldn't beat the rap for her brother anymore...
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDojxyf4Hjr
Why did I tell you all that? Because I lied — I do have a Simon. It's Pshchedbrzdzhynski. The cocky bastard never gave back the bracelet — no hard feelings — but he did lose the tip of his right index finger. Now he shoots about as well as a turd out of a gun, unless he braces his middle finger against the trigger. We got along. And if you're decent enough not to hold the lie against me — here's a bonus. I'll tell you his real name later. It's funnier than a penguin with the clap. I don't remember the name for it... But you get the idea.
And no — he's not busy with a hooker right now. He's on his way to Amsterdam to figure out what da Vinci's about, who Dorothy Bingles is, and where Little Pachèrito stands on all this.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSpeFeM1v6
You can't trust anyone — that's what my old man told the electric wire that day. Especially not two Jewish‑Italian sisters. If Pshchedbrzdzhynski digs up something dirty on Cesara in Holland, I'll marry her. Like all bad girls, she drives me crazy.
110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcHnURMSsy
Four months earlier...
"Erik Klieten. Born... Died..." For seven years, every Sunday, she'd stared at the inscription. It seemed, after all this time, it should have worn down, gone numb. Seven years without him...
And yeah — goddammit, yeah — it had worn down, gone numb. Why lie, especially to yourself? Henny wiped the letters with a rag and walked down the quiet path toward the exit, light‑hearted. Sure, Erik had been a hell of a guy — her theater friends had pushed for the epitaph "The Cheeriest Dead Man in the World"... But how long could she keep putting herself last? She was sixty‑five, after all — time to get something out of life.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3IamALbVz
Then she felt a pleasant sting in her chest, as if some tiny vessel had burst and the bad, black blood was finally leaking out. She felt lighter. It had been a long time since she'd felt a premonition — a good one.
When her phone rang in the cab, Henny knew it was all falling into place — the director was about to tell her she'd finally landed the role of Julia Lambert.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1VTD1F6az
"Hey, old hag!" — the usual opening, if he was in a mood. "Still alive?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8nibdw5bv
"You guessed it," — Henny, the picture of composure. "Just coming back from the cemetery."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlq7xx08qY2
"They refused to bury you?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxm8VfzlRW3
"Yeah — poked me with a fork, said there was no point anymore."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LmTqTZb86
"You'll save a fortune, lucky you! Listen up..."
Henny listened... Her face darkened. Her grip on the phone tightened. A couple of minutes later, she cursed and tossed the phone into her bag. The cabbie gave her a sympathetic look in the rearview mirror.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6Oqtg81Nh
"Not this time, Henny..." — she sighed and stared blankly out the window. Nothing annoyed her more than everything.
But the closer she got to home, the more her mood swung back. Screw the part. They gave it to that tramp Vanessa. Julia Lambert? She couldn't play a corpse in a B movie. I'll quit 'n' tell 'em all to go to hell. Better star in zombie porn.
That last thought cheered her up completely. Her imagination, on wings, carried her into the apartment — where something was off. A new energy filled the space. Henny kicked off her shoes and walked into the curtained living room... By the window, under a canvas cover, stood an easel that hadn't been there before. She approached cautiously, looked at it from all sides... Then she pulled back the curtains, flooding the room with light. She couldn't bring herself to get any closer to the easel — so she sank helplessly into the armchair opposite.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOmVsSW8yC
"Don't hold back!" — a pleasant female voice came from the doorway.
Henny flinched and turned — a young woman walked into the room with a feline step. The light blue bandana on her head and the steely gaze caught Henny's eye.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgEArytRZG8
"Who are you?" Henny asked quietly, catching herself feeling no danger. "And what's going on?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWLIghK9Xe
"Shalom," the stranger said. "I'm Bathsheba. I'm here to give you a role."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNj3LAK4J2U
"A role?" Henny drew out the word, surprised.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hDXUfukPe
"Yes. Open the easel. Don't be afraid."
Henny shrugged and pulled off the cloth. Something ancient and breathtakingly beautiful met her eyes.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3d9VTj7ATM
"Leonardo da Vinci," Bathsheba said, leaning back casually in the neighboring armchair. "Sixteenth century. The painting is called 'Susanna.'" She caught Henny's astonished look and nodded with a smile. "Yes, it's the original."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxDTIknogT
Henny froze, unable to tear her eyes from the canvas — from the portrait of a pale young girl who seemed about to speak.
"You know," she said, coming to herself, "you didn't scare me at all. Just some feeling... I don't know... Who are you?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbxb6nSdel
"I already told you."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflcKPB2hIj
"Right — sorry. And what's the role?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYbFUrsO3um
"The role of a rich American bitch in Amsterdam."
Henny smiled, lost in the past:110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sFs2n1wrL
"I already played one — before I met Erik forty years ago. Not a very rich one, though."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqGB6eyCJS
"That'll make it easier."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6vCKACfZB
"You said Amsterdam?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyoPx8mzDw
"Yes," Bathsheba nodded. "In a dump like that, peddling art is a tacky business."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAbuN2Z2jJ
"But I have a contract!"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpB6JLr3KHQ
Bathsheba handed her a sheet of paper. Henny looked it over, then tore it into tiny pieces and sighed:110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfN8j0VltD
"Fuck the contract! Half up front."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3n2UWNRcCt
"Done."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5tTB18MBBX
"What's my character's name?"110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNi7HwuaSJ
"Dorothy Bingles."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyktOp75Vz
"I'm listening..."110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkGRez1gHT
and then Add to home screen.