"Split Image" - читать интересную книгу автора (Parker Robert B.)

14

JESSE MADE his first drink of the day carefully. Tall glass, a lot of ice, not too much scotch, a lot of soda. If he got it right, it always resulted in a nice drink that made him feel fresh.

He took the glass to his living room and sat at the bar. He raised his glass toward the picture of Ozzie Smith.

"Howya doing, Wizard," he said, and took a swallow.

He'd done it right; it was dry and clean and cold.

The room was silent except for the soft sound of the air-conditioning, which somehow made everything seem more silent. He drank again, looking across his living room and through the French doors at the diminishing daylight that now had a faint blue tinge to it. He liked the silence, and the bluish light, and being alone. He might have liked being alone more if there was someone else in the house, or expected home.

"Maybe I should get a dog," Jesse said.

He drank.

"Except who takes care of it when I'm working. If I had a wife, she could take care of it. But if I had a wife, I wouldn't need the dog."

He drank.

"I'd want a dog anyway," Jesse said.

Ozzie Smith had no reaction. Jesse's glass was empty. He went to the kitchen and made another. He felt like getting drunk. Why was that? Often he was happy with a couple of drinks and supper. He took his drink back to the living room.

"Who's here to tell me no?" Jesse said.

What would Dix say? Jesse would say that if behavior changed, there was probably a reason for it. And he would say he had no way to know what that reason was. But Jesse knew Dix would think it was still about Jenn.

"The hell with Jenn," Jesse said.

So why today, and not, say, two days ago, or last Thursday. Why tonight did he feel pretty sure he wouldn't settle for two drinks?

He looked at Ozzie Smith again.

"I'da made the show, Oz," Jesse said. "Hadn't busted up my shoulder, I'd have made the show."

He took a swallow.

"I'm a good cop, too… sober."

How did it happen that two thugs like Galen and Moynihan ended up with two beautiful women who seemed devoted to them? And he had ended up with Jenn.

"Whoops," he said.

He put his drink down and sat back in is chair… That's why he wanted to get drunk.

He was jealous… No, jealous wasn't quite it… He had seen the marriage he wished he'd had, and he'd seen two of them in two days. It underscored the failure of his own marriage. They had gotten women who wanted to make their husbands happy. He'd gotten one who wanted to be famous. He was an honest cop. They were mobsters.

He went to the kitchen and made himself another drink.

Love is odd, all right… and unfair… and it sucks… Doesn't always suck, though. Working really well for Reggie and Knocko… Thought I was through worrying about it… Jenn's history… Thought I was past that… Guess I'm not… Maybe I can drink it into submission.

He drank some more.