The Constellations

Dombey returned to

domBEy rETurnEd To the work site that morning. The look he exchanged with Roy said they would talk.At lunch he announced a run to the convenience store. Roy told Tiny he had an errand.Ten minutes later he met Dombey in the store’s parking lot. “We can’t stay long,” Dombey said as they went inside. “It’d look suspicious.” “To who?” Roy asked. Dombey led him around a candy rack to the freezers.“It’s possible someone’s watching. I don’t know for sure. I’ve got a feeling.” “Why did you call the fucking cops?” “It was a preemptive strike. The Judge’s son was going to visit the house.If he’d found the stuff gone who do you think the cops would’ve busted? This way, we look like good citizens. I’ve got a story.” “We need to sell the stuff,” Roy hissed. Dombey stiffened.An ugly expression replaced the friendly one. “It’s just a delay,” he said. “This asshole knows the pressure’s on us, and he thinks he can sweat us for less money.We wait him out, let him get an even bigger hard-on for the coins, and it’ll be fine.” “How long does that take?” “Do I look like a goddamn fortune-teller?” Roy felt the world spinning.“Can’t we put the coins back?” “Are you nuts? This isn’t first grade. There’s no take-backs. Put it back. Jesus, then they’d know for sure it was us.Who else could get in twice?”Dombey took a deep breath.“Prison’s full of people who lose their cool, Roy. And that can’t happen. One of us goes down, we all go, you understand?” “You take the stuff.” “Fuck that,” Dombey said.“You’re getting a third of ten grand because they won’t suspect you.” Kevin Cunningham 103 Roy wondered what had happened to the fifteen, maybe twenty grand. “You can have my share,” Roy said. “I don’t want your share. I want mine and I can’t get it without you.” Roy had often bent under the weight of his regrets, but none was so heavy as whatever series of circumstances had led him to put his life in Carl Dombey’s hands. “I want the stuff out of my house,” Roy whispered. “Just stay cool,” Dombey said, and a hint of camaraderie returned to his voice. “It’ll take a few extra days. That’s all. I guarantee you, this stalling tactic is harder on him than it is on us.” ...