Free Family Honor - Robert B Parker by Parker Page A

had assumed at the bottom,
her nose pointed straight up at Millicent, her squat body motionless. She
looked like a small black-and-white pyramid.
    "Isn't she cute?" I said.
    "Who?"
    "Rosie."
    Millicent shrugged.
    "What good is she?"
    "I love her," I said. "She gives me something to care
about."
    Millicent stared at me for a while.
    "That doesn't make any sense," she said, "loving something
that doesn't do anything for you."
    "It certainly doesn't," I said. "What size are you? Four?"
"I guess so. My mother always bought all my clothes."
    "Well, I think some of my stuff will fit you. Go take
a shower and then we'll pick out something."
    "Why have I got to shower?" she said.
    "Clean is good," I said. "Especially if you're going to
be wearing my clothes."
    "I don't want to take a shower."
    I nodded.
    "Of course you don't," I said. "And up to a point I care
about what you want. But we're past the point. Either take a shower or
I'll drag you in there and hold you under."
    She stared at me. I stared back. Finally she shrugged
and got up and walked into the bathroom.
    "Shampoo your hair," I said.
    The door closed. I cleaned up her coffee cup and the coffeemaker
and gave Rosie a dog biscuit. Then I went and laid out several pairs of
jeans and several tee shirts on my bed, so Millicent would feel like she
had a choice. She came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around
her. Her hair was straight and glistening. Her nails were clean. She didn't
look anywhere near fifteen. I gestured at the clothes.
    "Pick something," I said.
    She took the first pair of jeans on the bed and the nearest
tee shirt.
    "You have any underwear?" I said.
    "No."
    "Of course not," I said. "Why would you."
    "I won't wear yours," she said.
    "That's right," I said. "We'll get you some next time
we're out."
 
    CHAPTER 17
We came back from the Chestnut Hill Mall with clothes for
Millicent. Rosie was in the backseat looking out the window and gargling
at other dogs when she saw them. Millicent was up front with me.
    "So where you get the money to buy these clothes?" Millicent
said. "Alimony?"
    "I don't get alimony."
    "How come?"
    "I don't want it. There's no reason he should support
me the rest of my life."
    "So how come you can afford to buy me clothes."
    "I do detective work," I said. "People pay me. Like your
parents did."
    "My mother says a woman alone's got no chance."
    "No more than a fish does," I said. "Without a bicycle."
    "Huh?"
    "Just me amusing myself," I said.
    "Well, I'd take the alimony," Millicent said.
    "Alimony destroys any kind of relationship people might
have," I said.
    "Well, you're divorced, aren't you?"
    "It doesn't mean we hate each other," I said. "If there
were alimony, eventually we would."
    "So how come you got a divorce if you don't hate each
other?"
    "We're still working on that one," I said.
    When we pulled up in front of my loft we found a long
silver Mercedes Benz parked on the curb. Junior and Ty-Bop were outside,
Junior leaning on the fender, Ty-Bop fidgeting on the sidewalk by my front
door.
    "Who are those colored guys?" Millicent said.
    "The big one's name is junior," I said. "The little one
is TyBop. The man in the car will be Tony Marcus."
    "Who's he?"
    "Runs the prostitution around here," I said. "He used
to be your boss."
    "What do they want?"
    Millicent was very much less bellicose than she had been.
She seemed to be getting smaller as she looked at junior and Ty-Bop. Her
shoulders hunched.
    "I don't know," I said.
    "They want me?"
    "Tony helped me find you," I said.
    "Let's drive away."
    "Tony wants to talk, he'll talk," I said. "Now or later.
May as well be now."
    "I don't want to talk."
    "You don't have to," I said. "You stay here with Rosie.
I'll see what he wants."
    "I don't want you to go." Millicent said. I smiled at
her.
    "I'll talk with Tony. We don't want junior to come over
and bite one of the doors off."
    I got out and closed the door and walked over to the Mercedes.
The back door opened and Tony Marcus