"He"s gonna meet me there."
27.
Catlett had put on Marvin Gaye to pick him up, Marvin Gaye"s voice filling the house now with "I"ll Be Doggone." No sun yet: barely starting to get light out on the deck.
This tape he was playing had all of Catlett"s favorites on it gathered from other tapes and records. It had "The Star-Spangled Banner" on it, Marvin Gaye doing our national anthem, and had "Ain"t No Mountain High Enough" he did with Tammi Terrell, deceased. Both of them now. Marvin Gaye, the Prince of Motown, shot dead by his own father in the hot moment of an argument, a pitiful waste ... Catlett thinking, And you can"t shoot a manneeds to be done? to be done?
If it was the man, Chili Palmer, on the stairs and not the woman. Trying to decide which was what had thrown him off at the time and then the scream coming to finish the job, a scream like he hadn"t heard sinceSlime Creatures, Karen Flores doing her famous scream, which meant it must have been Chili Palmer on the stairs and maybe he did hit him and the job was done, "cause Chili Palmer had gone down, shot ... Or had dropped down to get out of the way. All that had been in his head coming home, thinking Karen Flores would call the cops when she quit screaming. That was the reason he wiped the gun clean and almost chucked it in some weeds going up Laurel Canyon; but didn"t. Karen Flores doing her famous scream, which meant it must have been Chili Palmer on the stairs and maybe he did hit him and the job was done, "cause Chili Palmer had gone down, shot ... Or had dropped down to get out of the way. All that had been in his head coming home, thinking Karen Flores would call the cops when she quit screaming. That was the reason he wiped the gun clean and almost chucked it in some weeds going up Laurel Canyon; but didn"t.
Came home, put his car in the garage part of the house, ran inside and changed from his black race-car-driver coveralls to his white silk dressing gown, barefoot. Mussed up the bed, mussed up his hair and then combed it again, Marvin Gaye doing his "s.e.xual Healing" now when he heard the car outside the front and thought of cops. He knew they couldn"t have a court-signed search warrant this soon, so didn"t worry about the gun; he went to the front window with a sleepy innocent expression ready. But it wasn"t even a car. The headlights aimed at the house close went off and it was a van parked in the drive: the Bear getting out now, coming to the door with a suitcase.
Catlett let him in saying, "You know what time it is?" What anybody would say.
"I want to get rid of this," the Bear said, holding the Black Watch plaid suitcase Yayo had brought. "I came by last night after you called me, but you weren"t home, so I came in to leave this stuff," the Bear said, talking all at once, "but then I thought no, I better deliver it in person and you check what"s in here. Less what Ronnie took out for Palm Desert."
Catlett said, "Wait now. You came in my house last night?"
"I just told you I did," the Bear said.
This stove-up muscle-bound stuntman sounding arrogant. Catlett took it as strange. He said, "Bear, why you talking to me like that? I thought you and I got along pretty good, never argued too much. I always considered you my friend, Bear."
"I"m the one falls down the G.o.dd.a.m.n stairs," the Bear said. "But you take a fall, that other kind, and I go with you, huh? Well, I don"t need a friend that bad."
"What?" Catlett frowned at him. "What I said on the phone to you? Man, I was putting you on is all. How"m I gonna scare you? I said, "cause I was a mean motherf.u.c.ker, right? When do I ever talk like that?"
"It"s what you are, whether you say it or not," the Bear said. "I"ll tell you right now, I don"t f.u.c.king trust you. I want you to look in this suitcase and see what"s in it, so you don"t say later on I took any."
Catlett watched the Bear lay the bag on the floor and get down on his knees to zip it open.
"Eight keys," the Bear said, "right?"
"Right. You want a receipt?"
He watched the Bear zip the bag closed and said to him on the floor, "Listen to Marvin Gaye doing "Ain"t That Peculiar," Bear. Ain"t it, though. You coming by this time of day, can"t wait? How come you haven"t asked me anything?"
Catlett watched the Bear get to his feet, the size of him rising up in that shirt full of flowers.
"You haven"t asked did I get in the woman"s house without you helping me. Did I do what I went in there for."
"You didn"t," the Bear said, "or you"d have told me soon as I walked in. Then you"d give me some s.h.i.t about keeping my mouth shut, saying I"m in it too."
Look at that, Catlett thought, surprised, but not taking it as strange anymore, seeing how the Bear"s mind was working.
"I told you I quit and I meant it."
Telling him more than that.
"What"s wrong with me?" Catlett said. "You talked to Chili Palmer, didn"t you? Since you quit. When was it, last night? ... This morning?"
The Bear didn"t answer, or have to, Catlett seeing the dumba.s.s half-a-grin on the Bear"s face, trying to look wise, the Bear here because Chili Palmer was coming.
Catlett said, "Bear, I"m glad you stopped by," and left him, went in the bedroom and got the big .45 out of the bureau where he"d put it, slipped it in the pocket of his dressing gown and had to keep hold of it on account of the gun"s weight and size. He heard two sounds then, as if timed to come one right after the other: Heard a car drive up to the front.
And heard Marvin Gaye begin his "Star-Spangled Banner," recorded at the Forum before an NBA All-Star game: Marvin"s soul version accompanied by a lone set of drums. Listen to it. A way to start this show by dawn"s early light. Marvin"s soul inspiring Catlett, setting his mood, telling him to be cool.
Chili found the house looking for a van parked in front, a little stucco Spanish ranch house, half two-car garage, it looked like, till he was inside and saw how the house was built out into s.p.a.ce. Across the living room the doors to the deck were wide open. All he could see out there was sky starting to show light. He wanted to have a look and must have surprised Catlett and the Bear when he walked past them saying, "So this"s one of those houses you see way up hanging over the cliff." Meaning from Laurel Canyon Drive. It didn"t get any kind of comment.
He half turned in the doorway, light behind him now, to see the Hawaiian Bear standing by a suitcase on the floor, Mr. Catlett in his bathrobe, hands shoved in the pockets, soul music coming from somewhere in the white living room. Hardly any color showing at five-thirty in the morning. White carpeting, white sectional pieces forming a square, white artwork on the walls that might have spots of color. Green plants showed dark, the suitcase on the floor, dark, Catlett"s face dark, his bare feet in the white carpeting dark. He would say he hadn"t been out of the house. It didn"t matter. Chili knew where to begin and was about to when he realized, Jesus Christ, it was the national anthem playing, some guy doing it as blues.
Chili got his mind back on Catlett and started over saying, "I"ve been shot at before-once by accident, twice on purpose. I"m still here and I"m gonna be here as long as I want. That means you"re gonna have to be somewhere else, not anywhere near me or Harry. If you understand what I"m saying I won"t have to pick you up and throw you off that f.u.c.kin balcony."
"My turn," Catlett said, feeling Marvin Gaye behind him and the big .45 in his right hand, inside the silky pocket.
He moved toward Chili Palmer saying, "You mean out there,that balcony? That"s my sun deck, man. You gonna try your rough stuff I want to move us off my seventy-bucks-a-yard carpeting, so it don"t get messed up." balcony? That"s my sun deck, man. You gonna try your rough stuff I want to move us off my seventy-bucks-a-yard carpeting, so it don"t get messed up."
The way Chili Palmer stood looking at him Catlett thought he"d have to show the gun; but the man moved, walked out on the deck looking across to where the canyon road cut through to climb over into the Valley. Catlett glanced aside, motioning to the Bear to go out there too.
"Say you been shot at before," Catlett said, following them out. "I can believe it. What I can"t understand is you"re not dead."
"I been lucky," Chili said, "but I"m not gonna press it. Okay, what can I do, go to the cops and complain? I read in the paper a guy was knocked off and dumped out"n the desert "cause he was trying to ace this woman out of a movie deal and she had him killed. I was surprised-you know, it"s only a movie. But it"s high stakes, so I guess it can happen. I look at me and you in maybe the same kind of situation. I get shot at over it and I think, you bet your a.s.s it can happen. But I"m in and you"re out. You understand? That"s the way it"s gonna be."
"It cost forty million and some to make that movie," Catlett said, "the one the guy was killed over. But you know what? The movie bombed, man, and everybody lost money. It"s high stakes and it"s high risk too. What I"m saying, I"m not gonna let you be in my way."
He heard Marvin Gaye coming to "home of the brave," the end of the anthem, and felt a need to hurry, get this done. Time to bring out the Hardballer and he did, putting it on Chili Palmer standing in the middle of the deck.
"You broke in my house and I have a witness to it," Catlett said, glancing at the Bear. "Witness or accessory, I"ll go either way." He said to Chili Palmer, standing there looking stupid in a purple Lakers T-shirt and suit pants, "Only no sound effects this time, huh? John Wayne and Dean Martin shooting bad guys inEl Dorado. " "
"It wasRio Bravo, " Chili said. " Chili said.
"Robert Mitchum was the drunk inEl Dorado, Dean Martin in Dean Martin inRio Bravo, practically the same part. John Wayne, he also did the same thing in both. He played John Wayne." practically the same part. John Wayne, he also did the same thing in both. He played John Wayne."
Chili couldn"t tell if Catlett believed him or not, but it was true. He had won five bucks off Tommy Carlo one time betting which movie Dean Martin was in. He could mention it though he doubted it would interest Catlett much. So he got down to what this was all about and said to him, "Okay, you win. I go back to Miami and you become the mogul, how"s that? I"m not gonna argue with anybody holding a gun on me." The biggest f.u.c.kin automatic he"d ever seen in his life. "I"ll leave today. You want, you can see me get on the plane." Catlett kept pointing the gun, but with a fairly calm look on his face. Chili had a feeling the guy was going to say okay, go. And then maybe threaten that if he ever saw him again ...
But it was the Bear, for Christ sake, who got into it then, the Bear saying, "I"m a witness, Cat. Go ahead, do it." And Chili saw the gun barrel come up an inch or so to point right at his chest.
"You don"t have to," Chili said, "I"m telling you. It"s not worth it, man."
That f.u.c.kin Bear, now what was he doing? Taking Catlett by the arm, telling him, "You got to set it up, have a story for when they ask you how it happened. If I"m in it, I won"t do it any other way. It"s like I used to ch.o.r.eograph fight scenes," the Bear said. "You"re over there and he"s coming at you. You don"t want to shoot him and he knows it. So you keep backing away till the last second and you don"t have any choice."
"Like I say, "I warned him, Officer," " Catlett said, getting into it, " "but he kept coming at. me ..." Hey, but he should have a weapon, a knife or something."
"We"ll get it later," the Bear said. "He"s here ..." The Bear took Chili"s shoulders in both hands and moved him two steps back, toward the door, then motioned to Catlett. "You"re around on that side. Yeah, right there. Okay, now you start backing away. Go ahead."
Catlett said, "You worked this in a movie, huh?"
"Now you go toward him," the Bear said to Chili.
Chili didn"t move. He said, "You"re out of your f.u.c.kin mind," and tried to turn, get out of there, but the Bear got behind him to grab hold of his shoulders again.
"This"s okay where he is," the Bear said to Catlett. "You understand why we"re doing this. You see it happen, you"re able to remember each step when you tell it."
Chili watched Catlett, about five feet from the railing, the view of Laurel Canyon behind him, give the Bear a nod. "Don"t worry, man."
"Okay, when I say go," the Bear said, "I duck out of the way. Give it two beats and move to the railing, quick, you"re desperate now. Grab it with your hand, turn and press your back against it for support as you aim the piece with both hands. You ready?"
Catlett nodded, half turned, ready.
"Go!"
Chili wanted to turn, make a dive for the living room, but the Bear was still behind him, his big arms going around him tight and he couldn"t twist free, couldn"t move because the Bear hadn"t moved, the Bear not even trying to get out of the way.
That"s why Chili was looking right at Catlett as Catlett looking back took two quick barefoot steps to the railing, got his left hand on it, the gun pointing out of his other hand, and kept going, screaming as the railing fell away behind him and Catlett, it seemed for a moment, hung there grabbing at s.p.a.ce.
The guy who had sung the national anthem was doing "Ain"t No Mountain High Enough." Which wasn"t exactly true, Chili thought, standing at the edge of the deck looking down. He could see Catlett, the white silk robe, lying in weeds and scraggly bushes, more than a hundred feet from here, not moving. The Bear came up to stand next to him and Chili said, "Jesus, how"d that happen?"
The Bear started taking bolts and nuts, old used ones, out of his pants pockets. Wiping each one on his shirt before dropping it over the side, he said, "Beats the s.h.i.t out of me."
Looking at sky, Catlett knew everything he should have known while he was still up there looking at Chili Palmer instead of the Bear, the Bear too dumb to have the idea himself, s.h.i.t, he hadgiven the Bear the idea and the Bear had come in his house last night, even the Bear the idea and the Bear had come in his house last night, eventold him he did, but he kept seeing Chili Palmer instead of the Bear. Even knowing he was going to do them both he had listened to the Bear "cause it sounded like movies and he said yeah, not taking even half a minute to look at it good ... But, s.h.i.t, even if he him he did, but he kept seeing Chili Palmer instead of the Bear. Even knowing he was going to do them both he had listened to the Bear "cause it sounded like movies and he said yeah, not taking even half a minute to look at it good ... But, s.h.i.t, even if hehad taken the half a minute and said forget it and then did them both, he wouldn"t know what the Bear had done to his deck, no, he"d walk out there some night hearing bossa nova or the nice sound of that girl laughing, look over the rail at the lit-up swimming pool down there in the dark, movie people having some fun, knowing how to live. He believed he was almost in their yard, but couldn"t turn his head to look, couldn"t move, couldn"t feel nothing ... taken the half a minute and said forget it and then did them both, he wouldn"t know what the Bear had done to his deck, no, he"d walk out there some night hearing bossa nova or the nice sound of that girl laughing, look over the rail at the lit-up swimming pool down there in the dark, movie people having some fun, knowing how to live. He believed he was almost in their yard, but couldn"t turn his head to look, couldn"t move, couldn"t feel nothing ...
28.
The way Chili told it when he got back to Karen"s and they were in the kitchen: "He fell off his sun deck and was killed."
She said, "He fell off his sun deck."
"The railing gave way on him for some reason. When he leaned on it."
She said, "The railing gave way ..."
"Yeah, and he fell. I"d say about a hunnerd feet."
"You went down, looked at him?"
"The Bear did. I never would"ve made it, it"s steep."
"It was an accident?" Karen said. "I mean you didn"t hit him or push him and he happened to fall?"
"I"ll take a polygraph neither one of us touched him."
"But you didn"t call the police."
"Not with a suitcase full of cocaine in the house. Also he had that gun in his hand. He still wanted to shoot me."
Karen poured their coffee. She sat across from him at the kitchen table and watched him put two spoons of sugar in his and stir it slowly, carefully, smoking a cigarette. He looked up at her. She thought he was going to ask if she was still watching him, but he didn"t. He smiled, stirring his coffee. He said after a moment, not smiling now, "You think I might"ve done it. I say I didn"t, but you still think I might"ve. What can I tell you?"
Karen didn"t say anything. He was a cool guy. Or seemed cool because she didn"t know him and maybe never would. She thought, All right, the guy fell off his sun deck. She said to Chili, "Were you scared?"
"You bet I was scared."
"You don"t act like it."
"I was scared then, not now. How long you want me to be scared?"
There was a silence. She heard him blow on his coffee and take a sip.
"The meeting"s at two-thirty," Karen said. "Harry wants to pick us up."
They sat around the coffee table in the living room part of Elaine"s office at Tower waiting for Michael to get off the phone. Chili listened to Harry saying that as soon as this guy told him the story he knew they had a picture. Elaine saying that from what she"d heard so far it did sound off-trail, a shylock not your usual good guy. Harry saying that was the beauty of it, a hard-on type metamorphosized by his love of a woman. Elaine saying she hoped he didn"t soften up too much, become limp. Chili thinking, Jesus Christ. Michael came over from Elaine"s desk and took a seat next to Karen on the hard sofa. Chili, in his dark-blue suit, looked at Michael in his beat-up flight jacket thinking, What if it"s that same f.u.c.kin jacket was at Vesuvio"s?
They waited while Michael put his hand on Karen"s leg, told her she looked great, then started explaining to everybody why he was leaving his agent who-they wouldn"t believe this-couldnot acquire a property Michael wanted, could acquire a property Michael wanted, couldnot make a deal with the writer, and if an agent couldn"t make a deal with a writer, for Christ sake ... Until Chili said, "You want to talk about that one or this one?" It got a surprised look from Michael and Harry, deadpan reactions from Karen and Elaine, and the meeting started. make a deal with the writer, and if an agent couldn"t make a deal with a writer, for Christ sake ... Until Chili said, "You want to talk about that one or this one?" It got a surprised look from Michael and Harry, deadpan reactions from Karen and Elaine, and the meeting started.
Elaine: "Mr. Palmer?"