“Have to,” Crunch said. His hand flew to his mouth, as if he were trying to force back the words he had just spoken.
“I thought so, Crunch,” Biff said. He was winning this man over. Biff felt a definite sympathy for Crunch. “Why do you work for him?”
Crunch was silent for a minute. When he finally spoke, there was a surprising bitterness in his voice.
“Crunch have brother. Little brother. He do bad thing one time. Have to leave Curaçao. He go to Martinique. Lots of Carib Indians still in Martinique.”
Crunch stopped speaking. This was the longest statement he had made. It seemed to pain him to talk so much.
“Go on, Crunch,” Biff said gently.
“In Martinique, brother work for boss Dietz. He tell boss Dietz what he do. He hope to come back to Curaçao. Boss Dietz say he help.” Crunch paused again.
“And he didn’t?”
“No. He come to Crunch. Say if Crunch don’t work for him, do everything he say, he tell police. If police catch little brother, him go way to jailhouse for long time.”
“So that’s why you work for Dietz?”