I knew something was up when Susan, the girlfriend of a local n'er do well beckoned me as I entered Willy's El Tenampa bar on 14th Street.
Sue, one of the few white girls who hung with the Mexes on skid row, was usually very discrete, almost demure. She had to be. In this neck of the monte all a girl had to do was get caught eyeing you and many borrachines took it as a come on. Especially a white girl. On 14th, that's almost a delicacy.
She had struck up with Roberto, a small timer and a street car washer, when she got to Browntown from Illinois where she had worked as a nursing assistant in a rest home. As time went on, she found out he was hooked on la piedra, as crack is called on the street. But by that time, it was too late. They were a couple.
I sidled up to her at the bar and leaned over.
"What's up, guera?," I asked. "Where's Robert."
She giggled in an almost conspiratorial way. She was in a good mood, which in her case was a bit disturbing.
"He's hiding," she said with a small laugh.
"From you?," I asked.
Sue and Robert were famous for their throw down, no-holds barred brawls. In fact, they had been ejected from just about every joint on the strip, and that's saying a lot because the occasional rumpus was just about expected in most every bar along the strip. It came with the territory. You never knew who was in a bad mood that day, or who you rubbed the wrong way, or who plain didn't like your looks, or just because they went to the bars to look for a fight.
That usually happened when he was high on crack and she had not taken her meds. I looked at her closely. The medication had taken effect nicely. She was safe to deal with.
"No," she giggled. "From Anita, the girl who's not all there who used to hang out at Johnny's 1, 2, 3 Lounge. You remember, she's kind of light skinned but she's a Mexican."
"Oh, her," I answered. "Yeah, she's a bit kooky. What about her? Did he rip her off for a rock, or what?"
"No, worse," Sue replied. "She gave him two blowjobs on credit cause he told her his check was coming at the first of the month. Thing is, he doesn't get a check. All he does is wash cars. Now she's going up and down the strip looking for him. I told her I hadn't seem him in two days."
"Oh, God, why can't I meet women like that?," I laughed. "All the ones I meet just want to borrow a couple of bucks and you know they'll never pay you back."
"Where's he hiding?," I asked her.
"I think he went downtown to the courthouse parking lot to wash lawyers' cars," she whispered. "He doesn't want anyone, especially Anita, to know."
"Well, she won't hear it from me," I assured her. "Good lord, blowjobs on credit. Que loco!"