Cinderella

Read Cinderella for Free Online

Book: Read Cinderella for Free Online
Authors: Ed McBain
mean?"
        "Ah," he said, and spread his arms wide to the greaseball.
        "Which sister?" Alice said. "I got two. One's in Orlando, the other's in L.A."
        Ernesto smacked her again.
        "Here," he said, "Miami. Never mine nowheres else."
        "I got no sister here in Miami," she said.
        This time the greaseball smacked her. They were taking turns smacking her.
        "Listen," she said, "stop hitting me, okay? Who the fuck are you? What right do you have…?"
        One of them smacked her again, she didn't know which one.
        "Listen," Ernesto said. "You unnerstan' English?"
        What a fuckin' question, she thought. Coming from him.
        She just looked at him.
        "Okay," he said. "You got a sister, she's a blonde, she's here in Miami, and we want to know where, okay, 'cause we got to find her, okay? So-you want your teeth knocked out, or you want to tell us?"
        She was beginning to understand him. All at once, it sounded as if he was talking almost perfect English. Even "seest' " sounded like "sister."
        "Oh, you mean Jenny" she said.
        Ernesto looked at the fucking greaseball. "Domingo?" he said. "Se llama Jenny?"
        The greaseball shrugged. Domingo. A fuckin' dance team, she had here. Ernesto and Domingo.
        "We're talking about a girl named Jody," Ernesto said, "we know she's your sister, so where is she?"
        "That's a name she uses," Alice said.
        "What name?"
        "Jody. But Jenny's her real name. But you won't find her under Jenny, either, 'cause she uses a lot of different names."
        The two men looked at her.
        Ernesto nodded at Domingo.
        Domingo took a switchblade knife from his pocket and snapped it open.
        "So what's that supposed to be?" Alice asked, but all at once she was scared.
        "Jenny what?" Ernesto said.
        "That depends. You want her square handle or the hundred other names she's been using? Her last name ain't the same as mine, you know, she's my step-"
        Ernesto smacked her.
         "For favor" he said patiently and pleasantly. "No bullshit." „ "She's my fuckin' step sister! Listen, you smack me one more time-"
        He smacked her one more time. Her lip split open. Blood spilled onto her blouse. She thought, Boy.
        "Listen," he said. "You want to get cut?"
        "No," she said. Like a little girl. Looking at the knife in Domingo's fuckin' fist. Eyes wide. "No," she said again.
        "Okay." Pause. "Jenny, Jody, whoever." Pause. "Your sister."
        "Yes." Eyes still wide, entire face attentive.
        "Her last name is not Carmody?"
        "She was born Santoro," Alice said quickly, "that was my stepfather's name, Santoro, Dominick Santoro, he was a big contractor here in Miami, ask anybody. The Santoro Brothers? That was my stepfather."
        " Es Latino?" Ernesto said. "Santoro? Es un nombre Latino? He's Spanish, your stepfather?"
        "No, Italian," Alice said. "My mother's Italian, maybe that's why she married him when my father died, who knows? My father was Irish," she said proudly. And immediately thought, My father would kill me if he knew I was doing drugs. But her father was dead.
        "Jenny Santoro," Ernesto said, trying the name for size. Even though she could understand his English now, it still came out "Henny," as if he was clearing his throat to spit.
        "Yes," Alice said, nodding, eager to please. "That's what she was when she came to us. That was her father's name, a wop, and he married my mother, but me and my sister didn't take the name, we kept our own names. So that's the story. I'm Alice Carmody, and my sister is Kate Carmody, and Jenny is Jenny Santoro, but sometimes she calls herself Jody Carmody. So now you got what you want, right?"
        "Where is she?" Ernesto said.
        "Jenny? She's in L.A.," Alice said. "I told you."
        "No," he said.
        "I'm telling you

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