Chapter One
You know how it is there early in the morning in Havana with the bums still asleep against the walls of the buildings; before even the ice wagons come by with ice for the bars? Well, we came across the square from the dock to the Pearl of San Francisco CafƩ to get coffee and there was only one beggar awake in the square and he was getting a drink out of the fountain. But when we got inside the cafƩ and sat down, there were the three of them waiting for us.
We sat down and one of them came over. āWell,ā he said.
āI canāt do it,ā I told him. āIād like to do it as a favor. But I told you last night I couldnāt.ā
āYou can name your own price.ā
āIt isnāt that. I canāt do it. Thatās all.ā
The two others had come over and they stood there looking sad. They were nice-looking fellows all right and I would have liked to have done them the favor.
āA thousand apiece,ā said the one who spoke good English.
āDonāt make me feel bad,ā I told him. āI tell you true I canāt do it.ā
āAfterwards, when things are changed, it would mean a good deal to you.ā
āI know it. Iām all for you. But I canāt do it.ā
āWhy not?ā
āI make my living with the boat. If I lose her I lose my living.ā
āWith the money you buy another boat.ā
āNot in jail.ā
They must have thought I just needed to be argued into it because the one kept on.
āYou would have three thousand dollars and it could mean a great deal to you later. All this will not last, you know.ā
āListen,ā I said. āI donāt care who is President here. But I donāt carry anything to the States that can talk.ā
āYou mean we would talk?ā one of them who hadnāt spoke said. He was angry.
āI said anything that can talk.ā
āDo you think we are lenguas largas?ā
āNo.ā
āDo you know what a lengua larga is?ā
āYes. One with a long tongue.ā
āDo you know what we do with them?ā
āDonāt be tough with me,ā I said. āYou propositioned me. I didnāt offer you anything.ā
āShut up, Pancho,ā the one who had done the talking before said to the angry one.
āHe said we would talk,ā Pancho said.
āListen,ā I said. āI told you I didnāt carry anything that can talk. Sacked liquor canāt talk. Demijohns canāt talk. Thereās other things that canāt talk. Men can talk.ā
āCan Chinamen talk?ā Pancho said, pretty nasty.
āThey can talk but I canāt understand them,ā I told him.
āSo you wonāt?ā
āItās just like I told you last night. I canāt.ā
āBut you wonāt talk?ā Pancho said.
The one thing that he hadnāt understood right had made him nasty. I guess it was disappointment, too. I didnāt even answer him.
āYouāre not a lengua larga, are you?ā he asked, still nasty.
āI donāt think so.ā
āWhatās that? A threat?ā
āListen,ā I told him. āDonāt be so tough so early in the morning. Iām sure youāve cut plenty peopleās throats. I havenāt even had my coffee yet.ā
āSo youāre sure Iāve cut peopleās throats?ā
āNo,ā I said. āAnd I donāt give a damn. Canāt you do business without getting angry?ā
āI am angry now,ā he said. āI would like to kill you.ā
āOh, hell,ā I told him. āDonāt talk so much.ā
āCome on, Pancho,ā the first one said. Then, to me, āI am very sorry. I wish you would take us.ā
āIām sorry, too. But I canāt.ā
The three of them started for the door, and I watched them go. They were good-looking young fellows, wore good clothes; none of them wore hats, and they looked like they had plenty of money. They talked plenty of money, anyway, and they spoke the kind of English Cubans with money speak.
Two of them looked like brothers and the other one, Pancho, was a little taller but the same sort of looking kid. You know, slim, good clothes, and shiny hair. I didnāt figure he was as mean as he talked. I figured he was plenty nervous.
As they turned out of the door to the right, I saw a closed car come across the square toward them. The first thing a pane of glass went and the bullet smashed into the row of bottles on the showcase wall to the right. I heard the gun going and, bop, bop, bop, there were bottles smashing all along the wall.
I jumped behind the bar on the left side and could see looking over the edge. The car was stopped and there were two fellows crouched down by it. One had a Thompson gun and the other had a sawed-off automatic shotgun. The one with the Thompson gun was a nigger. The other had a chauffeurās white duster on.
One of the boys was spread out on the sidewalk, face down, just outside the big window that was smashed. The other two were behind one of the Tropical beer ice wagons that was stopped in front of the Cunard bar next door. One of the ice-wagon horses was down in the harness, kicking, and the other was plunging his head off.
One of the boys shot from the rear corner of the wagon and it ricocheted off the sidewalk. The nigger with the Tommy gun got his face almost into the street and gave the back of the wagon a burst from underneath and sure enough one came down, falling toward the sidewalk with his head above the curb. He flopped there, putting his hands over his head, and the chauffeur shot at him with the shotgun while the nigger put in a fresh pan; but it was a long shot. You could see the buckshot marks all over the sidewalk like silver splatters. The other fellow pulled the one who was hit back by the legs to behind the wagon, and I saw the nigger getting his face down on the paving to give them another burst. Then I saw old Pancho come around the corner of the wagon and step into the lee of the horse that was still up. He stepped clear of the horse, his face white as a dirty sheet, and got the chauffeur with the big Luger he had; holding it in both hands to keep it steady. He shot twice over the niggerās head, coming on, and once low.
He hit a tire on the car because I saw dust blowing in a spurt on the street as the air came out, and at ten feet the nigger shot him in the belly with the Tommy gun, with what must have been the last shot in it because I saw him throw it down, and old Pancho sat down hard and went over forwards. He was trying to come up, still holding onto the Luger, only he couldnāt get his head up, when the nigger took the shotgun that was lying against the wheel of the car by the chauffeur and blew the side of his head off. Some nigger.
I took a quick one out of the first bottle I saw open and I couldnāt tell you yet what it was. The whole thing made me feel pretty bad. I sli...
