No matter how sick you get, long as your arm isn't in a sling, you can draw a gun. That's what I found out. Half the patients drew a bead on my head. One dame, every time she coughed, laser sight flashed into my eyes.
Shoulda known better than to rush in without taking a look around. I got greedy and stupid. I put Joan down, real slow, like my life depended on it. Showed my fake badge and PI license, explained I followed a bad lead, that I wasn't gonna hurt anyone.
They dropped their pieces, except the cougher. She kept giving me the evil eye, kept that barrel aimed right between my eyes. Patted her little girl's head, said the bad man wasn't gonna hurt them.
I walked to the counter. Slob couldn'ta been more bored. He'd been thumbing through a Playboy the whole time. Asked if he could help me without staring up from the mag. I tore the mag from his sweaty hands, told him that I would leave soon as he gave me what I needed.
He licked his lips. Tongue had a bar through it, and the slob kept clicking it against his teeth, so it sounded like he was grinding them. Told me to wait in line, STDs weren't more important than anyone else. Whole room clapped and cheered.
I told him I needed info on a woman came in a few days ago. He tossed a condom at me, told me not to go spreading my STDs around the city. More cheering.
Probably good Joan was still on the ground, else I woulda drawn her. I told him it was important. Slob told me it was a private record, and even if he wanted to give it to me, he couldn't.
I reached over the counter and yanked him outta his seat. Any second, I expected to feel my back explode when the woman shot me. Told him if he didn't help me, I'd rip the bar from his tongue, jam it someplace else. He was never gonna give me respect, so I had to make him fear me. Slob moved a lot quicker, found the record and made me a copy. I backed out, still watching the woman. When I picked up Joan, thought for sure she was gonna blow a hole through my head.
Outside, I asked Jimmy who took the woman. Jimmy said he helped Joan here cause she got a little scraped up when she got kicked out the car. She promised she'd be there in the morning, but when he went back, clinic said she was gone.
We went back to the metro. Told him I had a lead, but when we got off at his home stop, he asked if that meant Joan was coming back.
Figured it was time to break the news. I told him the truth, it wasn't his ex-wife, just some random dame. Told him he did a good thing, helping her when he did, but this was where he had to go.
I coulda blocked his punch, avoided the black eye and the bruised ribs and all the kicking. Coulda jabbed him in the face, followed with a gut punch, put him down. Instead, I just gritted my teeth, let him have a few hits, then balled up on the ground. I could feel the Bubble rise around me, but I had to force myself not to fight back. He went full-on dame, but I couldn't understand what he was yelling about.
Metro cops came over, pulled him off me. They wanted to take him in, but I talked them out of it, told them it was a big misunderstanding. Smiled at them real fake, told them it didn't hurt. They kicked Jimmy out of the station. I snuck some bourbon to swish the blood out of my mouth.
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