Free Bone in the Throat by Anthony Bourdain Page B

restaurant business. We understand that. We know how it is."
    "So you know what it's like," said Harvey.
    "It's hard. It's a hard business. We know that. So if we were to make it three points, we would expect you to make your interest payments on time. No knockdown. No excuses. You'll have to put our agreement first. What you do with the other guys we don't care so much, as long as it doesn't interfere with our business together."
    "I can do three points. I can do that," said Harvey.
    "When does Sally get his money?" asked the big man. "Tuesday?"
    "Fridays," said Harvey.
    "With us it'll be Tuesday, alright?" said the smaller man.
    "No problem," said Harvey.
    "Okay. We have a deal then," said the smaller man.
    "Done," said Harvey. "How about a drink? I get you gentlemen a cognac? How about a nice cognac? I've got some Louis Treize'll knock your socks off. I'll buzz the girl, she'll bring it."
    Harvey pressed the intercom button and shouted into the phone, "Barry, pick up! Pick up!"
    Barry picked up the extension at the bar.
    "Barry, send Cheryl in with three Louis Treizes. Use the big snifters. Is she here? She's here, isn't she? Tell her to hurry up, I wanna smell hair burn."
    Harvey put the phone down and rubbed his hands together. Immediately there was a knock on the door.
    "That was fast," said the big man.
    The door opened quickly. It was the chef.
    "Do you have a minute?" he asked.
    "Michael, I'm busy with these people right now," said Harvey. "What is it?"
    "It's about my knife," said the chef.
    "Michael, I told you before about that. If you can't fix it I'll buy you another one."
    "It's custom made," said the chef. "It takes weeks."
    "We'll order you another knife. You can use the house knives until then, can't you?"
    The chef rolled his eyes and looked pained.
    "I'm sorry about the knife. I don't know what or who. But, I don't know what I can be expected to do about it right now. Especially now. I'm busy. We'll get you another, that's all I can do."
    "Somebody deliberately fucked it up," said the chef. "Look at that," he said, holding up a piece of mangled steel. "Somebody did that deliberately."
    "Michael, you can see I'm busy here. We'll talk about it later," said Harvey.
    The chef turned on his heels and stalked off to the kitchen. Harvey smiled at the two men. "He takes his job very seriously."
    Cheryl came through the door holding a tray with three brandy snifters.
    "You can put that right here on the desk," said Harvey. "Thanks, sweetheart."
    Cheryl gave a fake curtsy and left the room. The three men raised their glasses.
    "Cheers," said Harvey.
    "Salud," said the smaller man.
    "Here's looking up your assets," said the big man.

Thirteen
    S ALLY PUSHED his way through the Bleecker Street foot traffic. It was hot and he was sweating under his wig. A chubby kid in a Megadeth T-shirt, wrangling over the price of a studded wristband with a Pakistani merchant in the middle of the sidewalk, blocked his way. Sally stomped on the kid's foot with his heel, and the kid moved off, yelping like an injured dog. He found Danny Testa sitting at a small cafe table at a souvlaki place near Thompson Street. Danny was reading the sports pages of the Daily News and sipping an iced cappuccino. Sally sat down across from him.
    "Sally, how are you?" asked Danny, looking up from his paper.
    "I'm good, Danny. How are you?"
    "You know, same old same old," said Danny.
    "Did you talk to him?"
    "Yeah," said Danny. "I was just over there."
    "So?" asked Sally, expectantly.
    "He's grateful. He's happy." He pushed a folded copy of New York magazine across the table. There was an envelope tucked inside the pages. "There's somethin' for you in there. And somethin' extra for your nephew. I heard from Skin."
    "For Tommy?" asked Sally, startled for a second. He picked up the magazine and put it inside his jacket.
    "Yeah. He should get somethin', don't you think? Fair's fair, he likes the kid. He made a point to mention it," said Danny.
    "So what did