"Charles Coleman Finlay - An Eye for an Eye" - читать интересную книгу автора (Finley Charles Coleman)

But what I mentioned in my e-mail. I was engaged to be married and it turned out
badly, now I want to get my jewels back.тАЭ
тАЬJewels?тАЭ I ask. Perking up some.
He shifts in his seat. The animated parrots on his Hawaiian shirt flutter
nervously to new branches. тАЬYeah.тАЭ
Because IтАЩm impatient and want to know what IтАЩm going after, I say, тАЬLike
your grandmotherтАЩs diamonds? What?тАЭ
тАЬNo,тАЭ he says. тАЬTheyтАЩre my family jewels.тАЭ
I must stare at him like IтАЩm stupid or something, because he tilts his head back
and holds up his chunky hands in open supplication, and finally I say, тАЬWhat?тАЭ
With a look of exasperation, he leans forward and whispers. тАЬMy testicles.
SheтАЩs got my testicles.тАЭ
тАЬDude,тАЭ I say, reaching down to check my own package and make sure itтАЩs
intact. тАЬWhoa.тАЭ
Tilting his chair back, with a glance at the girl who made our drinks, he says,
тАЬI gave them to her for an engagement present. She said she wanted them because
she wanted kids and all that. You know, I was in love, I thought, hey, kids, cool. But
after we broke it off she wouldnтАЩt give them back.тАЭ
And I know if heтАЩs telling the truth, IтАЩm in. IтАЩm thinking, if heтАЩs telling the truth
IтАЩm crazy if IтАЩm not in.
Of course, heтАЩs not telling the whole truth. No one ever does. But is he telling
enough truth to make it worth my while to get involved? ThatтАЩs what I need to find
out.
****
 You have to understand that I got into burglary the way some women get into
prostitution. First I did it for fun, then I did it for some friends, now I do it for
money.
ThatтАЩs what I tell myself anyways. ItтАЩs my way up.
Maybe I should tell you about it, so you can understand why I do what I do.
When I do it later.
It started out a few years ago. I had a roommate who had a drug habit. He
was a Have, like the guy I was meeting here in the Starbucks, and I wasтАФamтАФa
Have-not. I was born a borderline Have, my mom being a corporate lawyer and all,
but when she divorced my dad for her trophy husband, Corwin, about the time I
started middle school, Dad and I plummeted pretty quickly into Have-not territory.
IтАЩve been trying to climb my way out ever since.
So my roommate, like I said, turns out he was a gasm addict, a dryhead,
hooked on moneyshots, those inhalers that make a guy have orgasms. I tried that
stuff once, but letтАЩs face it, it doesnтАЩt compare to the real thing, not least because
where I live you can get the real thing cheaper.
Anyway, I found out roomie had a habit when he started pawning my stuff to
make his dealer rich. I gave him one day to move out, which he did. When I came
home from work, he had moved out all rightтАФand taken all my stuff with him.
I couldnтАЩt afford the rates the contract cops charge these days. Oh, sure, I
couldтАЩve taken him to small claims court for nothing, but then I didnтАЩt really want to
wait until we were scheduled for our TV slot to get satisfaction. That can take
months. Instead I found out where he moved, broke in, and stole my stuff back.
Since heтАЩd already sold some of it, I had to visit him several more times, over six
months and a couple addresses, until the checkbook balanced out.
The last time I robbed him, it was just for the thrill. The freak had gone