That did it. Tananda spun on her heel and headed for the door.
“If it takes Chumley’s say-so, then forget it. Okay? I’ll do this my way, without help, even if it kills someone.”
“Hey, don’t go away mad,” Weasel called after her. “Tell you what I’ll do. When the police ask what happened here, I’ll keep your name out of it, okay? I’ll just play dumb and collect from the insurance. It’ll kill my rates, but …”
“Don’t ruin your new record on my account. Total up the damages and I’ll cover the cost personally.”
With that she slammed out into the street, cutting off any further conversation.
“Is she kidding?” Weasel said. “It’s gonna cost a bundle to fix this place up again.”
“I really don’t know, old boy. She’s really mad, but by the same token, she’s mad enough that I wouldn’t cross her. If I were you, I’d start totaling up the damages. Eh, what?”
“I hear that,” he nodded. “Well, you’d better get after her before she gets into trouble. Sorry to be such a hard case, but …”
“Tut, tut,” I waved. “You’ve been more than generous, all things considered. Well, cheerio.”
I had expected to have to repeat my earlier performance of catching up with little sister, but instead I found her sitting on the curb just outside the bar. Now, she’s not one to cry, either from anger or frustration, but seeing her there with her shoulders hunched and her chin in her hands, I realized that this might be one of those rare times.
“I say, you’re really taking this quite hard, aren’t you?” I said, as gently as I could.