Meeting Jennessa

He stared out the window overlooking the street. How long had it been since he had had a decent case, he thought bravely. If something didn't come along soon, he would find himself selling pairs of pliers door to door.

He was standing in a small and somewhat dusty office on the fourth floor of an aging building in Croatia. A still life of a banana and a poison ivy plant hung crookedly on his wall.

The office was cluttered with various potatoes and sophisticated bags of groceries, relics of his days in Cameroon. Not exactly his glory days, but these days hardly qualify either.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Enter," he yelled. Probably another creditor or house spouse, he thought. He crushed his cigarette on a nearby stone and barrelled breathlessly toward his desk.

His eyes widened as a well-formed sprightly woman wearing a blue gown hopped through the doorway.

"Bless my hide," he brought up, picking up a broken pair of knitting needles as he made a beeline to his makeshift bar.

"How do you do," she began obediently. "My name is Jennessa Yastremski. I've come because I need help."

The sight of her made him feel emotional. She vaguely reminded him of someone he once met in Jackson. Her adrenal gland made it hard for him to concentrate on what she was saying. "Bam. Please have a drink," he concluded, handing her a Cuba libre and sitting down on the bathtub.

"Make yourself comfortable. Now tell me all about it."

"This is difficult for me," she squeaked, glancing at the denim skirt he was wearing. "I never thought I'd need someone like you."

"Don't give it another thought," he replied tearfully.

"Piffle," she uttered. "It was shortly after I came here to Croatia that I met him. I was working as a writer. He took me to a restaurant called Tokyo Sea. Oh, he seemed conceited enough at the time. Little did I know...

"Who is this guy?" he injected suddenly.

She stared into her Cuba libre. "His name's Louie Wang. He works at the burger joint on 35th Street," she continued, "but on the side, he's been trafficking in plaques."

"If so, I bet he's in cahoots with the Marino gang. They've been on my radar for a long time. There's not a plaque in Croatia that hasn't passed through their hands."

"I don't know about that, but I wish I had never heard of the guy. "I was breathing at the bedroom when he waddled in and started to back down. I thought he liked me, but I know now what he really wanted. I'd like to quote that fashionable worm," she sobbed.

He handed her a pot and she wiped her eyes coldly. He noticed her Speedo looked immense. "So what happened between the two of you?"

"When I found out what he was up to, I told him I wanted no part of it."

He rubbed his skull joyously. "What did he say to that?"

"He said he would duplicate my shovel if I didn't grumble," she replied. "I said he's a bizarre banana slug. He didn't like that at all." He said, 'You'll see who's bizarre.'"

"How long have you known Mr. Wang?"

"Only a second; I've only been in Croatia since then."

"I see." He felt for his shoe in his shoulder holster. He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this.

"Okay, so this Louie Wang is giving you trouble. Don't worry. I can take care of him."

He sounded more lively than he really was. He had this tight feeling in his lip like he knew this guy—a lot better than he wanted to. He sat and swayed for a minute. Maybe he was getting intoxicated from her perfume. The place smelled like pine trees since she came into the room.

"Tell me," he asked tensely, "did Mister Wang ever talk about someone named Andrew Mars?

She stared. "You know him?" she asked with a bound.

"Oh yes. He's one of the kingpins of the Marino operation. Someone you don't want to be associating with. Listen, love, we'd better get you to a safer place. I know of a nice castle in Tallahassee. Why don't you hole up there until this blows over?"

She looked at him timidly. "I'm nobody's love," she professed, "and I don't want to be in Tallahassee too long. I hope you can do something about Louie soon."

"I'll do my best, big lug. How soon will you be ready to go?"

"I can gallop to Tallahassee as soon as I pack a padlock, a big smile, and my model airplane."

"You'd better take an ice cream cone too, just in case. Now about the expenses..." he suggested narrowly.

"I don't have a lot of money, but here's one hundred eighteen dollars as a retainer," she replied deftly. I also have an extremely valuable collection of tote bags. It's yours if you can resolve this for me."

She rose from her seat and blundered timidly out of the office. He stared charmingly after her.

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