Canto for a Gypsy by Smith Martin Cruz

Author:Smith, Martin Cruz [Smith, Martin Cruz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, thriller, Crime
ISBN: 9781476795911
Goodreads: 29432770
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Published: 1972-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

11

Vera Pulneshti’s fortune-telling ofisa was on Canal Street where it divided Chinatown and Little Italy. She came to the door wearing a dragon robe and eating a pizza.

“Romano, what are you doing here? It’s two o’clock. I have four welfare offices to go to in the morning.”

Her “tea room” was decorated with the appropriate symbols of yin and yang and Sicilian Evil Eye charms. In a back room, Dany could see children watching a color television. They also seemed to be listening to a radio and a record player.

“It’s very important that he gets his fortune told tonight,” Roman said.

“I have to get these kids to bed sometime, Romano. Your friend is getting married in the morning or what? Why is he in such a hurry?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be able to tell me that?” Reggel asked.

Vera fixed him with a black glare. She set the slice of pizza down and wiped her mouth and hands, then she pulled a pin from her bun of hair and let it cascade down her back. The Chinese robe turned from housecoat to royal gown.

She slapped up the front of a rolltop desk. The pigeon-holes inside were stuffed with tools of her trade.

“Tarot, Gypsy tarot, I Ching, throwing sticks, palm, sun chart, tea leaves. Name it.”

“I brought my own cards,” Reggel said.

Vera nodded with the hauteur of a queen accused of spitting in a public place. Expertly, she separated the aces and face cards from Reggel’s deck and gave the rest back. As she shuffled the cards she kept standing up without once taking her eyes from his.

“Take four and put them in a row on the table.”

Reggel did as she told him.

“Turn over the one on the far left.”

It was the ace of spades, upside down.

“A violent end,” Vera intoned. More casually, she added, “You can forget about the other cards.”

Reggel shook his head with disappointment.

“I hoped for a little more, you understand. How much do I owe you for this?”

Vera looked down her hooked nose at him. The nostrils flared.

“Nothing,” she dismissed him.

Reggel shrugged and put his wallet away. Roman and Dany waited by the door. Vera picked up her pizza.

“On the other hand . . .” she began in an offhand way.

“. . . There is a charm I can buy,” Reggel finished for her in Romany.

Vera scowled and her eyes jumped from Reggel to Roman.

“Who is this man? Romano, I want to talk to you.”

“Not now, Vera.”

She advanced on the door, waving her slice of pizza.

“You want some cards read? I’ll show you some cards read.”

Roman pulled Dany and Reggel out. When they reached the bottom of the stairs they looked back up. Peering down over the railing with Vera were five children of varying ages, all hurling curses and one or two throwing food.

“I think she liked you,” Roman told Reggel when the three of them had escaped outside.

There were even fewer cars on Canal Street then and most of them headed for the Manhattan Bridge. One or

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