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a recuerdo,” said Lieberman, looking at the tottering Korean.
    “Hasta luego,” said Chuculo, and then to Kim, “You a lucky gook, you know that? El Viejo should let me cut your heart out.”
    With that Chuculo turned to Bess and Lisa and said, “Dispensa me, mujeres.”
    “He said ‘excuse me,’ ” Lieberman translated. Then to the men: “Gracias, hombres.”
    Chuculo and Piedras left. The blank look on the face of the hulking Piedras didn’t change. They closed the door behind them and the one-armed Kim stood wobbly and defiant in the living room.
    “Coffee?” Lieberman asked.
    Kim didn’t answer.
    “See what I mean?” said Lisa, looking at her mother, her voice raising. “This was my life. Murderers, drug dealers, gang members. In our own living room. I don’t want this for my children.”
    “You left them here, Lisa,” Bess reminded her. “Your father and I didn’t let anything happen to you. We won’t let anything happen to Barry and Melisa. I think it would be a good idea if you went up and said good night to your children. You can sleep with Melisa.”
    “What about the call to Marvin?” Lisa said, standing and looking at Kim, whose eyes glistened with hatred.
    “After Kim and I have a talk,” Lieberman said.
    Bess led a reluctant Lisa toward the stairs and up. The two women whispered, but there was an angry near whimper in Lisa’s voice.
    “Sit down,” Lieberman said, pointing to the chair Lisa had left.
    Kim shook his head no.
    “I’m not asking,” Lieberman said. “I’m telling you. Sit down or we walk outside and talk there. Believe me, it’ll be far more civilized in here. I am sorely displeased that you’ve come to my house again. It will be the last time. You know what those two wanted to do to you?”
    Kim reluctantly staggered to the chair and sank into it. It was clear that the two Tentaculos had not been tender in ushering the Korean into the house.
    “They wanted to take your other arm and then your life. You want a couple of Tylenol?” Lieberman asked.
    Kim shook his head again.
    “Suit yourself,” Lieberman said. “I’ve got some things to tell you and I want you to listen. You don’t listen, you’ve got problems. You don’t come near my house. I told you that once. This is twice. The next time …”
    “I can walk where I want,” Kim said through nearly clenched teeth.
    “No,” Lieberman said, “you can’t. You can’t come within two miles of where I live. No, let’s make boundaries. You can’t go south of Howard Street or north of Touhy. You can’t go west of California or east of McCormick. If you do, I’ll know and you’ll probably be lucky just to lose your other arm. Chuculo wanted to kill you. For him it’s easier that way. I think he’s right.”
    “I will kill you,” Kim said. “On the honor of my father, I will kill you.”
    “Your father’s dead,” Lieberman said. “He died cursing you for being a third-rate gangster. Your mother and sister want you to go away. Your gang is gone. Everyone needs a meaning in life. I don’t want to be yours. I didn’t shoot your arm off. That was a Korean girl in a cleaning store you were extorting from. I brought you in. What the hell’s wrong with your memory?”
    “You set me up,” said Kim.
    “That I did,” Lieberman replied. “It’s what I do for a living. Kim, I’ll give you my advice. You won’t listen but I’ll give it anyway. Move West. Santa Fe is supposed to be nice, or California. Not L.A. Someplace north. Santa Rosa maybe.”
    “I will kill you,” Kim said. “I have vowed. You destroyed my honor, turned me from my family, made my friends desert me, taken my self-respect.”
    “Wrong,” Lieberman said, reaching over for Lisa’s untouched cup of coffee. It was still warm. He drank. “You are a really incompetent criminal. My partner and I kept setting you up. Your own people, the ones you were preying on, turned you in. You could have made twice the money working in a