Rat Catchers

Everybody Loves My Baby

Mister Changretta, it turned out, was impossibly particular. Perhaps he was nervous, perhaps he was impatient; but no matter which is was, it made him very bad company.

The dress fit Rose perfectly. Someone had gone to the trouble of polishing her boots. There were white stockings still in the packet even.

Rose looked like she was about to make her first communion, something her father had not bothered with, but Mister Changretta was not impressed.

"She looks like a fucking raccoon died on her head," he snapped as soon as he took a look at her. "Someone get me a fucking brush...what the fuck's this supposed to be?" One of the guys had produced a comb from his breast pocket. "You see this kid? She's got enough hair to weave a fucking carpet with. What's this shit gonna do? Bisognio una minchia spazzola!"

From somewhere, someone finally brought a hairbrush. Mister Changretta pulled Rose between his knees, turned her around and started brushing her hair. She could feel clumps of it coming out, but she didn't feel any pain.

It was like she was watching from somewhere by the window.

"Find me a woman," Mister Changretta snapped at the guys.

"What for?" one of them asked.

"To plait this mess."

"I can do that," Mimo said quietly.

"What are you, some kind of finocchio?" asked another guy.

"No, asshole, I got daughters."

Mimo took Rose's arm and led her over to the sofa, where he proceeded to braid her hair into a surprisingly fancy arrangement that made Rose think of show ponies.

"Alright, let's go." Mister Changretta was clicking his fingers and working his toothpick furiously.

He took Rose's hand in his. Rose looked towards the end of her arm and could see her hand in his, admired his very nice fingernails, much nicer than her own, but again she couldn't really feel it. Her feet were the same, she was walking and when she looked down she could see her shiny boots stepping, but she couldn't feel the floor.

"You look beautiful, Miss Shelby," said Mister Changretta.

"Thank you..."

They walked out of the suite, down the corridor and into the waiting elevator. Mimo was with them and a bunch of guys, all of them dressed to the nines, as if they were all going to church together.

They crossed the lobby. Mister Changretta kept hold of her hand. People were looking over at them, smiling at them. They probably took them for father and daughter, Rose figured, off to somewhere special. She caught one lady's eye and smiled back at her.

The ocean waves inside her ears grew louder.

They walked down the grand stairs out the front. Two cars were waiting. Rose made to climb in but Mister Changretta's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Let me," he said and lifted her up and into the back as if she weighed nothing at all. "You don't wanna get that dress dirty so close to the finish line."

Rose sat between Mister Changretta and one of the guys, one who wasn't Mimo, and watched the city drift by outside. The sun was out.

She thought about asking where they were going, but it didn't seem to really matter.

She leaned forward to get a better view past the guy next to her. There was a gang of children sprinting along the street, weaving in between the people walking around. James would be impressed when he heard she'd been shot and killed, maybe he'd feel a little bad, too. Rose hoped he wouldn't.