Free Black Friday by David Goodis

prove it."
He saw her moving toward him. He felt her hand on his wrist, her fingers sliding across his knuckles and entwining with his fingers.
He heard her saying, "Come on, let's go upstairs."

7
He sat there at the kitchen table and heard her saying it again. He was telling himself to sit there and not move a muscle. Now she was pulling at his arm and he smiled dimly and let his arm go limp. She gave a hard pull but in that instant he stiffened it and she felt the resistance.
She let go and stepped back and said, "What's the matter?"
"Nothing."
"Look at me," she said.
He looked at her. She had her hands on her bulging hips, her big breasts heaved and quivered. She spoke thickly. "Didn't you hear what I said? I said I'm ready."
"I heard you," he murmured.
"Come on," she said. "Come on, come on."
He didn't move. He went on looking at her. There was no expression on his face.
She gave him a side-glance, a frown getting started and deepening. "You want me to put it in writing or something? I'm telling you I'm ready."
"But I'm not."
She took another backward step. She blinked several times. Her lips scarcely moved as she said, "I don't get this."
"Add it up," he said.
"Add what?" She was near shrieking. "What's there to add?"
He didn't reply.
She was trying to calm down. She managed to breathe slower, and her voice quieted as she said, "What is it? Tell me. Let's get this straightened out."
"I wish we could," he said. He made it sound very soft and sincere. "I really wish we could."
She moved toward the table, pulled a chair close to him and sat down. She leaned forward and took hold of his hands. "Tell me," she said. "What's bothering you?"
"The blues," he said. He arranged a sad smile on his face. "I got the blues."
Frieda frowned again. "What do you mean? What kind of blues?"
"The time element," he said. "Let's call it the Calendar Blues."
She waited for him to explain that.
He said, "It goes something like this. You want me to show you a good time. You want us to go upstairs and have ourselves some fun. Well, that's all right. There's nothing wrong with that. Except I'm just not up to it. I'm thinking in terms of the calendar and how many days I'll stay alive."
She winced slightly. She gave him a side-glance and said, "That's a happy thought."
"Can't help it. It's there."
"But why? What makes you think--?"
"It's the situation," he said. "I'm here in this house like merchandise sold on a time-trial. If I meet the requirements, I'm in. If not--" He shrugged.
Frieda's eyes narrowed just a little. "You worried you won't make the grade?"
He didn't answer. He knew it was time to let her do the talking.
She said, "I can't give you no guarantees, only way I can put it is I'm betting you'll be around a long time. When you first came here I wouldn't of given a dime for your chances. But then I watched your stock going up with Charley. For instance, that overcoat business. You said you stole the coat and Mattone called you a liar, so Charley phoned the store and sure enough the coat was hot. That was something. That put you on first base."
He shrugged again. "It's a long trip to home plate."
"I think you're getting there," she said.
He waited. He wondered if it would come now.
And then he heard her saying, "What really sent your stock way up was that deal with the wallet, when you came back and handed him the money. That made a big hit with Charley. Another thing. The thing with Paul. When you helped Charley to put him in the furnace. You did what Rizzio couldn't do, what Mattone couldn't do. I think that put you safe on third."
Now he could feel it coming and he had to restrain himself to keep from leaning forward expectantly.
"So what it amounts to," she said, "you're gradually proving you can meet the requirements. You're getting it across that you're really aprofessional."
And there it was. She'd given him the tip-off he'd been waiting for. She told him he would stay alive just as long as Charley had him checked and approved as a