The Stooper

Episode 27

Larry pointed the pistol at Vic's head, and for the first time in his life – in control of the situation – commanded, "Shut up, Prick!" Then to Maddie who was equally dumbfounded, he asked gently, "Are you alright, Maddie?"

Maddie nodded, her face revealing a hint of pride for her rescuer.

Angry now, Vic demanded of Larry, "You know this bitch?"

"I said, shut up, fucker!"

Still pointing the pistol at Vic, Larry put the Mercedes into reverse, and stepped hard on the accelerator. Unfortunately for the suffering Ray, he was lying motionless on the pavement behind the car, gagging occasionally until Larry backed over his head, crushing it like a walnut. No one in the car was the wiser – a tribute to the acoustic excellence of Vic's luxury vehicle.

Larry slammed the car into drive and hit the road. Vic calmly addressed Maddie, with an eye on Larry. As he believed he would eventually turn the tables on Larry, Vic showed no pique at being Shanghaied in his own car by a lowly stooper.

"Maddie, have you been bonin' Mr. Ajax here? Mr. Dirty Fuckin' Stooper? Have you?"

Maddie looked at Larry quizzically. "What?"

Larry intervened, "Shut the fuck up," but Vic pressed on. "You mean you never told her what you do for a livin', Ajax? Crawlin' on the floor like a cockroach, pickin' up worthless tickets at OTB... all that shit? Not one word?"

Maddie repeated herself, "What?"

Larry responded forcefully, "That's history, Prick."

Maddie finally accepted reality, asking plaintively, "You're Ajax, Larry?"

For perhaps the first time in years, Larry answered unapologetically, focusing on the forthright and not excuses, "Not anymore. I'm starting over, Maddie. With you, if you'll have me." Before she could respond, Larry reiterated the sentiment to Vic in case he missed it, "Maddie and I are starting over together, Prick."

With perfect, matter-of-fact aplomb, Vic said, "Yeah, right. No way is this fine piece of ass gonna hook up with a lowlife scumbag like you. You don't even have enough coin to keep her in tampons, you worthless bastard."

With confidence befitting the situation, Larry stated, "I have 45 million dollars."

"Like hell you do," replied Vic.

Maddie jumped in. "What are you talking about Larry?"

"We won the Lotto, Maddie. Forty-five million. Vic here tried to steal the ticket from me, but he's gonna give it back. Right, Vic?"

No longer in the mood to suffer Larry's provocations, Vic yelled loudly, "Pull the goddamn car over right fuckin' now, Ajax, or I'll rip you another asshole."

Maddie blanched, then cried out, "Oh my god, Vic! It was you who did that to him?"

"Shut up, Maddie. Stop the car, Ajax."

"Right after you hand the Lotto ticket to Maddie, nice and slow."

With a derisive chuckle, Vic answered, "Ain't happenin', pal."

With a potent rush of adrenaline, Larry shouted in a borderline shrill, "Hand over the ticket!"

"You're not getting the ticket, so quit while you still have a chance of going on living with manageable pain. Stop the fucking car!"

With authority, Larry stated flatly, "I'm through taking orders from you. I'm calling the shots now."

Turning up the opprobrium, Vic sneered, "You'll always do what I say because I'm better than you. I own you, motherfucker."

Deciding on another approach, Larry appealed to a softer side of Vic that he should have known does not exist. "Stop being a prick just once, Vic. Give me back my ticket and let Maddie and me move on in peace. How about it? You have enough, right?"

Ignoring the question about his financial stability, Vic asked, "What makes you think she even wants to be with you, asshole? Right, Maddie? Why would you go for this fuck-up when you could be with me?" Vic held up the winning Lotto ticket. "This 45 mil could buy a lot of happiness, babe. You know Ajax here would just waste it."

Larry interjected, "Give Maddie the ticket or I'll blow a hole in your knee." Larry aimed the pistol at Vic's knee. "For starters."

Perhaps used to idle threats from phony braggarts, Vic chuckled, "You ain't gonna shoot nothin', pussy. C'mon Maddie, dump this loser and come back to me. Tell Ajax here you admire his perseverance but you're goin' with me. Go on, tell him."

Maddie glared at Vic, then turned a loving smile toward Larry. "I admire your perseverance, Larry. I'm going with you."

Caught up in the tenderness of the moment, Larry momentarily dropped his guard giving Vic permission to lunge for the pistol. The sudden attack caused Larry to lose control of the vehicle. The two men wrestled for the pistol as Larry swerved in and out of oncoming traffic. Maddie tried to grab Vic's arm but was buffeted against the doors of the careening Mercedes. Committed to Maddie, Larry instinctively valued her life over acquiring the ticket, and therefore concentrated his efforts on safely navigating the car rather than fighting Vic. In this moment, Vic took possession of the pistol, and as he leveled the barrel at Larry's head, Maddie leapt forward and gouged Vic's face deeply with her fingernails. He howled in agony in much the same manner as he had when she nearly cut off his thumb. Of course, the gun fired, blowing out the windshield. Larry shielded his face with both hands that a moment earlier had held a firm grip on the steering wheel. Out of control, the Mercedes crashed into an abutment at full speed. Dead stop. Airbags deployed. Engine idling in a quiet purr. Steam hissing from the creased radiator. The impact was so violent that the trunk popped open.

The occupants of the vehicle lay still, each enshrouded in the white nylon of the deflated airbags. The scene was oddly serene. Eventually, Larry opened his eyes, brushed pieces of glass from his face, and looked over at a scratched up, bloodied, unconscious Vic. He scanned the backseat where to his relief he made contact with the face of a dazed but conscious Maddie.

"Are you OK, Maddie? Can you move?"

"I think so."

Larry examined his face in the cracked mirror, discovering several small lacerations. In all the excitement he had failed to fasten his seat belt. Content that he had mostly survived the collision, Larry reached over and snatched the Lotto ticket from the floor between Vic's feet. Larry noted the pistol that remained tightly in the grip of Vic's right hand – no doubt covered in gunpowder residue from the shot he fired moments earlier.

Larry called to Maddie, "Let's get out of here. Fast." Maddie stumbled out of the right side of the car, as did Larry from the left, and the two embraced behind the Mercedes. After a loving kiss, the couple peered simultaneously into the open trunk to view Freddie's dead body lying sprawled out. There was a bullet hole where his eye used to be.

"Jesus God!" cried out a stricken Maddie, who pressed her face into Larry's shoulder. Larry pulled Maddie close. "Oh, Shit. Poor Freddie."

"You know him?"

"Yeah, I do. I mean, I did. Another victim of that bastard."

Larry and Maddie slowly ambled up an embankment and hid beneath some trees along a highway overpass. Maddie made a call just as several police cars and ambulances arrived at the crash site. From the secluded vantage point, Larry marveled at the efficiency of the first responders, and wondered what the authorities would make of finding a known gangster in his car accompanied by a dead guy in the trunk. A dead guy shot in the eye with the same pistol the gangster held in his hand. That might be hard situation for Vic to wriggle out of.

Forty-five minutes later, Lisa arrived in a beat-up Volvo and spirited the couple to her West side apartment where Maddie and Larry convalesced for just short of a month. Lisa would be compensated handsomely for her hospitality in the weeks to come.