Chapter 39. Greasing-up for Thermopylae

If it can be called a living room, I slept on its floor. The rug needed a vacuum job and shampoo. Every allergy imagined had been living in its fibers for years and I inhaled them all that night. We’d been at the card table ‘til after midnight planning tactics. Anna knew the turf and Ralph had the connections from his drug dealing days to acquire guns and he had transportation. Anna’s plans required little more from me than muscle but I threw in some detail here and there that she had missed. Field expediency was what I was best at. Just tell me where to go and I’ll figure out how to get there. We had but one common goal and that was to take out Smerdyakov. I was with Anna 100% on that. It was do and die for us but for Ralph, neither of us wanted him to be a sacrificial lamb.

I fell asleep to the sounds of moaning coming from the bedroom. It was nice to know the fervor of youth had time for both action and pleasure.

 Ralph was gone when I awoke to the fragrance of bacon frying. Anna was at the range stretching to reach items from the cupboards and bending for the fridge wearing nothing under a long tee shirt. I would be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that it was one of the most erotic visions I ever awoke to. I watched her for a good ten minutes before she noted my presence, “Good morning sleeping beauty. Ralph is out running errands”

I sneezed, “What time is it?”

“Bless you. Eleven… ish. I don’t have a watch. Ralph has no clocks.” She read my frown, “He’s out getting time pieces and gear for the ops. Make-up kit for me and, hopefully something in the lines of weapons for us.”

“I said it last night and I mean it. Weapons aren’t a setback.” Sneezing again, I got up and pulled on the jeans Ralph laid out for me.

"Bless you again," Anna’s eyes were on my crotch. She laughed, “Nice woody. I can’t help but compare.”

“Yeah, I heard. It ain’t the meat, it’s the motion.”

She giggled, “But, if the meat matches the motion it ruins it for any other man.”

“His rep precedes him, Anna, dammit, I feel real uncomfortable talking genital size with a girl that could be my daughter.”

“Sorry, I just had to have a good look at where I came from, you know.” She went back to cooking. “Get a shower and shave, Dad, I’ll have breakfast for us by the time you’re done.”

The table was set with paper plates and plastic utensils but I was so famished, it might as well have been brunch at the Biltmore. By the time I was done with my douche, Ralph was seated and wolfing down a stack of pancakes. Pieces of which fell from his mouth to the plate as he said, “I gots Anna a make-up kit and two wigs to choose from, a tack knife… old Marine K-bar… and an old 1911 Colt .45… serial numbers filed off…  but I couldn’t get all of us something.”

“Weapons and Tactics. I already said it last night. Anna is a weapon and tactic… a .45’s too much for her. I don’t need it either. Guess that’s for you, Ralph, on the perimeter… Too loud except for last minute shit.”

“Agreed. We hadn’t discussed weapons last night but I just need a small blade and guitar string. Ralph, you have that?” She sat with us. The scene was so domestic, like a typical family getting ready to set out for the day to their jobs and classes.

Ralph, scooping up the droppings soaked in syrup that had fallen on his plate from his mouth, slurped, “Yuh, sure. But don’t take a new one. I gots old ones in that drawer.”

Spoken like a true musician… gotta have good strings.

After Ralph mopped up his plate with toast he leaned back on the chair, “Say, I can’t figure. I mean, there’s just this one Smurdy-Smurfy Russian guy. Then there’s your buddy… that Cop and Dog guy. Why can’t they just let us in? Or, why can’t they take care of this turd without us?”

I let Anna explain because, if the truth was known to me, I didn’t know either. She started out saying, “Smerdyakov, he’s coming to the Mansion to make a deal with Baker.”

“You mean that Dog guy.”

“Yes, and that deal is for Smerdyakov to get out of the country. He has been a CIA asset for years. He will get a free pass. I know. Baker is our friend if he can be a friend to anyone but, so far, he’s used us to whittle down Smerdyakov’s forces. There’s no telling how much he’ll help us if the Russian’s still an asset.”

“And the cop?”

“Look, Baker has an army and so does Smerdyakov. The deal is being made. Ryan wasn’t in on it but he’s there as part of a criminal investigation; i.e., evidence precedes action. Baker was either going to get Smerdyakov with my help… or it might be the other way around. He might just as well protect him against me. But either way, our action requires no more evidence… proven or not.”

‘How can I tell who to shoot and who not to shoot?”

“Good question Ralphie,” I said, “That’s why you’re outside covering us and I’m going in with Anna to cover her. She’s the motherfucker in this operation. Right, Anna?”

She smiled. “You guys clean up and I’ll get myself looking pretty for Thermopylae." 
   I wanted to kiss her. I could see she was ready for action and we knew where and what we were about to do.

“Therma-what?” However, Ralph was clueless.

“It’s a Greek thing. Grease-up and get ready for battle.”

Anna shouted from the bathroom, “Try going to the real Library now and then, Ralphy. The one with books, not the bar.”

Ralph drew a hit from his bong and coughed, “I’ll… uh, wait for the movie.”