Her face jerked. She fastened her gaze on the wall, the red and purple bedspread, an ancient suitcase on top of it, a belt holding the suitcase together. “What you wanna do?” she said.
“Talk.”
She closed her eyes and opened them again, as though the room were swaying. “What you did wit’ Beaumont?”
“Are you a little obsessive?” he said. She didn’t answer. “He showed me a couple of historical buildings. He seems to know the Quarter.”
“That don’t sound like him. What kind of game you playing?”
“No game,” he said. “Sit down. Please.”
Her brow furrowed. She sat down slowly at a small breakfast table. He removed a shoebox from the dresser and sat down across from her. “How long have you been in the life, Sarah?”
“What you mean ‘the life’? I don’t know nothing about no life. I don’t like what’s going on here. You give Beaumont the seventy-five dol’ars?”
“You have a child? I suspect you do.”
She reached in her bag.
“It’s not a good time to do that,” he said.
“I’m calling Beaumont.”
“I told him you’re in good hands. The most important moment in your life is taking place right now. You need to be aware of that.”
“I ain’t up to this. Beaumont’s all right, ain’t he?”
“A man like that is never all right.”
Her gaze seemed to take apart his face, as though her fear had been replaced by curiosity. “You got freckles under your eyes.”
“You think that’s funny?”
“My li’l boy watches a cartoon about a friendly snake. It’s got freckles under its eyes, like yours.”
“Sarah, you may have depths that have never been plumbed.”
Her mouth formed a cone, but no words came out.
“Forget it,” he said. He removed the lid from the shoebox and emptied the box. Bundles of fifty-dollar bills fell on the table. The bills were crisp and stiff, as though fresh from the mint. He thumbed their edges like decks of cards. “There’s thirty thousand dollars here,” he said. “It’s yours. But you have to change your ways.”
“You’re setting me up for something,” she said. “Maybe a snuff film. I ain’t putting up wit’ it.”
“It’s not a trick.” He was smiling now.
“Why you wanna do this? You don’t know me.”
“Maybe I can come see you sometime. Maybe we can be friends. Maybe I can help you get a job or go to school.”
“If I take that money, I ain’t gonna be around here.”
“Send me a postcard.”
Her eyes swam with confusion.
“That’s a joke. Go wherever you want.”
She picked up one of the bundles, then set it down. “Beaumont’s gonna take over half of this.”