He followed me in and sat on the edge of the bed.
“What’s the excitement?” I asked, pulling on my shirt.
“I gotta job—” He broke off and gaped at me. “Hi!” he exclaimed, his eyes popping, “what the hell’s the matter with your face?”
I shrugged. “Got into a little scrap last night,” I said carelessly. Tell Ackie that a dame had done this? Not a chance! The boys would rib me to death.
Ackie still stared. “Huh,” he said, “gettin’ tough, eh?”
“You should have seen the other guys,” I said, knotting my tie carefully in the mirror. “Three great hoodlums set on me—”
“I know… I know….” Ackie grinned. “And you beat hell out of ’em all. Yeah! You don’t have to tell me.”
“I ain’t goin’ to waste time tellin’ you anythin’ if you ain’t goin’ to believe it,” I said.
“Okay, then don’t, ’cos I won’t.”
I shoved my legs into my trousers. “Gettin’ back to the point. What’s the excitement?”