Endangered Species Read Online Free

conversation take place at?”
    â€œLefty’s.”
    I wrote Lefty’s under Chapman and circled the name. Lefty’s is a dive mostly frequented by heavy drinkers and those who liked to place bets on a variety of sporting events. I shifted around in my seat “What were you doing there?”
    Manuel replied instead of Eli. “Hey, Robin, it’s the only place down in Armory Square you can get a beer for a buck.”
    â€œNot to mention the fact they don’t check ID’s too carefully,” I couldn’t resist commenting. Manuel opened his mouth to reply, but I stopped him. “Let’s just get back to the topic at hand, if you don’t mind.”
    Manuel threw up his hands in a gesture of disgust. “I’m just trying to hurry things along, but, hey, no offense taken.”
    I turned back to Eli. “Where did this guy say he was going to send you?”
    â€œCuba.”
    â€œCuba, hunh?” I repeated as I added the name to my list. I began to see where things were heading. “How were you going to get there?”
    â€œThrough Mexico. Chapman told me he’s got this regular operation going with college kids. He sends them over to Cuba and they come back with cigars and he pays them. It sounded perfect” Eli looked at me imploringly. “I mean, Robin, if I did that four times a year it would mean I’d only have to work part-time if I went to someplace like SUNY Albany. How could I say no?”
    â€œYeah,” Manuel interjected. “It wasn’t like he was smuggling drugs or anything.”
    I shushed him and motioned for Eli to continue. “So, what happened next?”
    â€œI gave him my phone number and Chapman told me he’d get in touch with me when he’d made all the arrangements.”
    â€œThe original conversation took place ... ?”
    â€œIn September.”
    â€œAnd he called you up?”
    â€œThe end of December. He told me he’d booked me on a January fifth flight.”
    I jotted down the date. “How much was he paying you?”
    â€œThree thousand dollars upon delivery. Plus, he’d pick up my plane ticket and pay for my hotel. It was so cool.” Eli’s eyes lit up at the memory. “It was warm. I got to swim in this enormous pool. The rum and Cokes were great. Everyone was really nice. I didn’t have trouble in Customs. They waved me right through.”
    â€œBut ...”
    Embarrassed, Eli put his hand over his mouth and studied the tiles on the floor. Manuel took over the conversation.
    â€œSee, I told him.” Manuel jabbed himself in the chest with his finger. “I said, Eli don’t tell nobody what you’re doing. The less people in your business the better, but he didn’t listen. Cause he never listens to me, cause I’m just some uneducated, illiterate street punk who don’t know nuthin’ till he gets that wide brown ass of his in trouble and then all of a sudden it’s: Manuel, good buddy, what am I gonna do? But, hey.” Manuel threw up his hands and spread his fingers. “I don’t hold no resentments. I just tell myself, Manuel you got to remember, like your momma always say, family is family, blood is blood ...”
    â€œGet to the point, Manuel,” I ordered. “I’m not in the mood to hear a dissertation on family unity at the moment.”
    â€œFine.” Manuel leaned on the counter. “The point is that my cousin told his good-for-nothing roommate, Nestor, a person I might add I had told him not to converse with, much less share an abode with. But I’ll let that go by.” Manuel nodded graciously, magnanimous in victory. “He and his girlfriend done disappeared with the suitcase.”
    â€œDisappeared?” I asked, interrupting Manuel’s rant.
    â€œAs in gone. Vanished. Desaparecido. ”
    â€œHow long ago was this?”
    â€œFour days,” Eli said. “We’ve