Bagmen (A Victor Carl Novel) by William Lashner

Author:William Lashner [Lashner, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2014-08-05T00:00:00+00:00

Rule Three: Hard liquor keeps the bile down.

“He stares me down and grumbles under his breath like a surly teen, and so I say to him, I say, ‘What’s that you say, fuckface?’ ”

“And what does the blubberer say to that?” says Stony.

“Not a thing, not a damn thing. But he sure as hell grabbed hold of the envelope before I could take anything more out of it.”

And they all burst out laughing, my new best friends, the Brotherhood of the Bag, barking their guffaws as Stony bangs on the tabletop. We are at Rosen’s, of course, and the table is full of empty glasses and empty hats and ashtrays piled with spent cigarettes.

“Which surprised the hell out of me,” I say, “because on the dumber-than-he-looks prop bet, I would have taken the over on Hanratty in a blink and lost my hat.”

More laughter, peals of it, and I join in, my face reddening with hilarity.

“That’s rich,” says Miles Schimmeck.

“Indeed,” says Hump.

“Aubrey,” I call out to the surly bartender. “Five more Sazeracs.”

And Maud just smiles like a proud mama, holding her cigarette in front of her, squinting as the smoke rises like a scar across her face. It’s her doing, the welcome wagon at Rosen’s, she is the one who has brought me into the club. I now bear the mark of her trust, and here on in I will be her responsibility.

Stony might be my new best friend, but Maud is the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi—the blue of her eyes and the gold of her hair are a blend of the western sky—and I am in love.

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