Free Dreadful Summit by Stanley Ellin Page B

thought of shooting, but when I got it in my hand, I knew I couldn’t take a chance. Everybody in the bar would hear the noise.
    The butt of the pistol hit him right in the side of the head over the ear, and it sounded like a melon hitting the sidewalk. It evened us up all right, because he got the kind of surprised look I must have got when he hit me. Then he started to put his hand up there, but before he could do it he went down in a pile right at my feet.
    I grabbed hold of him by the collar. First I was going to stick him in one of the booths so it would look like he was there on business, but I was afraid it would take too long. I dragged him over to the window, and managed to hoist him through so he hit the alley with a bump. Then I slammed the window down.
    After that I saw I was doing everything with the gun still in my hand, and I put it back in my pocket quick. Then I opened the door and went up to the bar as fast as I could.
    Dr Cooper was there. He was in the same place, talking to a couple of guys with their heads all together and laughing. But no matter how I looked Al Judge was nowhere around.

Chapter Ten
    W HEN I was a little kid I used to go to church parties at St Theresa, and they had a game called blindman’s buff. One kid would have a handkerchief around his eyes so he couldn’t see, and the other kids would run around and yell and make noise, and the kid who couldn’t see would have to catch one. I didn’t like it because my feet were big, and I couldn’t get out of the way so good, so I was ‘it’ more than anybody. And then in my head I could see how I must look, bumping around trying to catch somebody, and maybe all the time he was right in back of me. It made me feel dumb.
    And when I saw Al Judge was really gone that’s how I felt all over again. All I could think was Al Judge knew all the time what I was out for and he was making it into a game and I hated him for it. If he came back through the door then I would have given it to him one, two, three, and not even worried about the trouble it would get me into. I was in plenty of trouble anyhow, what with this guy laying out in the alley, maybe hurt bad, and Dr Cooper knowing too much about what I was figuring to do.
    All I wanted to do was get Al Judge in the right place and let him know what the score was and then kill him, but everything kept getting mixed up with it, like this Peckinpaugh and Dr Cooper. It was all because of that extra ticket too, because if I didn’t have the extra ticket I couldn’t sell it to Dr Cooper and get Peckingpaugh started. But the extra ticket was my father’s, so it was his fault for not being along with me. And the only reason he wasn’t along was because of what Al Judge did, so no matter how you looked at it, it all came back to Al Judge.
    What I had to do was get started after Al Judge again and not hang around in Tuffy’s to figure it out, because somebody might find Peckinpaugh any minute. I went over to where Dr Cooper was talking and laughing with the two men, but before I could say anything he saw me and started waving his hand back and forth in front of my face.
    â€˜I know everything, George. Everything. You got him in there. Aha, you rat; this one is for the working class. Bango! One punch and it’s all over. How about it, George? Can we take a look at the remains now? One punch, hey, George?’
    The way he talked I knew he was pretty drunk, and I was scared he wouldn’t even know what I was talking about. I said, ‘He got away. Now I have to find him again. Where do you think he went?
    The two others guys were a little drunk but not as much as Dr Cooper, and they were listening and looking at me. One of them was a big blond guy, bigger than me even, with sort of loose skin over his face and pockmarks all over it. He said, ‘Who is this guy?’ and Dr Cooper said, very serious, ‘Oh, excuse me. Excuse me. This is George