Chapter 34

“I assure you,” he said, smiling at the drug dealer, “George is as averse to this sort of friction as anyone living. And I also assure you that tonight has registered. Right, Keith?”

I nodded, trying not to look scared but sure I was failing.

“You see?” Zvika said, still smiling. “And, given that, and given that George really is a good customer, and that he has friends who are interested in doing business with you as you know, I would suggest it’s in your interest to just let things be, knowing you havemade your point.”

The two men faced each other, unmoving, for what seemed like a long time.

“The other alternative,” Zvika continued, putting out his cigarette in the ashtray he still held and then tapping its glass surface with a fingernail several times, “is that you lose a good customer—for I assure you that George has certain—standards of gentility. You understand. One of his quirks.”

“That’s true,” Snake agreed, nodding.