“Take a walk,” Bella snapped. “I told you a week ago you’re off my list.”
He sat down beside her on the doorstep. “I still don’t know what you’re sore about.”
Bella stared straight ahead. “You got a short memory, mister.”
Somehow tonight he found her presence invigorating and her nearness gave him a feeling of comfort and pleasure.
He said, “I think it was something about a blonde.”
She scowled. “Can’t you remember which one? Maybe you got so many on the string, you forget their names.”
“Was it Vera?”
“No, it wasn’t Vera. And while we’re at it, who the hell is Vera?”
Kerrigan shrugged. “She’s a waitress. When I’m in a diner I gotta talk to the waitress. I gotta tell her what I wanta eat.”
Bella didn’t reply. Kerrigan offered her a cigarette and she grudgingly accepted. He pulled a book of matches from his trousers pocket and lit it. For a while they sat there just smoking.