Inside I’m cursing myself. De Palo and his apes too. But mainly myself.
Fuckin’ useless…
Overblown stomach…
Can’t move fast enough…
Bear’s stopped barking. Even Scruffy’s fallen quiet. Claws still scratch at the door, but it’s a half-hearted sound compared to his battering-ram attempts of earlier. Angling to see out and across the hall, there’s a shadow against the slit of light at the base of the kitchen door, but despite the scraping sounds, it barely moves.
Simply waiting?
He’s given up?
Then I look again…
… and quickly look away.
Toni grins at me from an armchair, nursing a whiskey. It seems I’ve drawn his attention. My waistline, it appears, is not a deterrent for him. The other two, Dante and Carlo, lounge in chairs, also working their way through the decanter contents.
De
