Blue Belle - Andrew Vachss [8]
"Come on," said Immaculata, reaching out her hand. I followed them down the hall to Lily's office.
7
LILY WAS seated at the screen of her so–called computer, playing some electronic game with the keyboard, a baby on her lap, balanced between her elbows. She was wearing a painter's smock over pink jeans; her hair was tied back. Her scrubbed face looked like a teenager's, animated with attention as she bounced the baby on her lap in time with a man running through a maze on the screen. Michelle sat on the desk, her flashy legs crossed, smoking a cigarette in a red lacquer holder. Her outfit was all black–and–white triangles. Even her nail polish was black. On a straight lady, it would have looked whorish. On Michelle, it was fashion.
"Mom!" Terry yelled, charging over to her.
Michelle pulled him close, hugging him, looking over his shoulder. "You spend a few minutes with Burke and you leave your manners in the street?"
Terry gave her a kiss, smiling, knowing she wasn't mad at him. "I greeted Immaculata," he said.
"And…"
The kid turned to Lily. "Hello, Lily."
"Hi, Terry!"
"Hello, baby," he said to the infant on her lap.
"Baby has a name," Immaculata reminded him gently.
"Hello, Flower," the kid said, taking her tiny hand and kissing it.
Immaculata clapped. "See! He learns his good manners from Burke."
Michelle laughed. "He'd be the first."
"Can I hold Flower?" Terry asked Mac.
"As I showed you," she warned him. Every female eye in the room was riveted on the kid, but he tucked the baby into the crook of his arm, sat down next to Michelle, and started cooing to Flower like he'd been doing it all his life. Like nobody ever did to him.
I gave Michelle the high sign. She tousled Terry's hair and slid off the desk. We left them in the office and walked down the hall, looking for an empty room.
8
WE DUCKED into a cubicle a few doors down. I didn't have much time.
"The Mole and I just did some work. He said for you to hold his share."
I handed her the cash. She snapped open her purse, divided the money into two piles, stowed it away.
"A little closer to Denmark, baby—to the real me," she said, blowing a soft kiss at the cash. Michelle had been talking about the operation ever since I'd known her. She'd been through the full–body electrolysis, the hormone injections, even the silicone implants in her breasts. But she had balked at the psychological counseling American hospitals required before they'd do a full sex–change operation.
"You'll take Terry back to the Mole?"
I nodded, checking my watch. "You go get him," I told her.
I dialed a number while I was waiting for her. The lawyer with the limo answered on the first ring.
"It's done," I told him. He started to babble. I cut him off. "You know Vesey Street, where it runs past the World Trade Center? Take it all the way west, right to the river. I'll meet you there in forty–five minutes." I hung up on him.
Michelle came down the hall, holding Terry's hand, calling good–bye to Lily and Immaculata over her shoulder.
9
TERRY SAT between us on the front seat. I lit a cigarette. "Want one?" I asked him.
"Michelle doesn't want me to smoke," the kid said, his angelic face giving nothing away. Michelle gave him a kiss. The Mole was teaching him science; I was teaching him art.
"I got to meet a guy, Terry," I told him. "You'll have to ride the trunk, okay?"
"Sure!"
"And when I'm finished, I'll take you back to the Mole."
"I can't go right back," he said.
I looked over at Michelle. "Why not?" I asked him, watching her eyes.
"Mole says he has work to do. Someplace else. He says for you not to bring me back until after six."
"How about if I bring you back to Lily's? I'll roll by in a few hours."
"Why can't I hang out with you?"
Michelle patted him. "Burke has work to do, baby."
The kid was hurt. "I do work too. I help Mole. Lots of times."
"I know you do, baby," she said. I shot the kid a warning glance. If Michelle wanted to think the kid helped