《钱在哪儿》(Where the Money Was)翻译第144-145页

in #cn6 years ago

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(查各种字典和网站,还是有两个短语不知道什么意思。picking up numbers不知道是什么工作,tough monkey 不知道是什么坏人。)

第二天早上我在Monongahela俱乐部打电话给Bo Weinberg,并约他马上过来。我打电话给Bo,是因为在我受审期间,荷兰人给我讯息,他已经指示Bo给我任何我想要的东西。Bo有荷兰人给的1500美元,并且他告诉我,我拥有无限的信用。

从那儿我去到西部(west side)码头,发了口信要见Eagen的兄弟。其中一个过来了。“你究竟跟他在一起干什么?”这是他说的第一件事。“他是个酒鬼。我们为他做了一切可以做的事情。”他告诉我,他们给他安排了一项好工作(picking up numbers),但是,有一半时间他都没有出现,喝得烂醉如泥。所以他们把他带走,并且为他开了间地下酒吧。“这是个好地方,我们全力支持他。尽管如此,他大半时间没有出现在那里,不知道他在哪里酗酒作乐。那些为他工作的家伙把他骗了个精光(The guys he had working for him robbed him blind),他又搞砸了。

对这些酒鬼你毫无办法,他说。“离开他对你有好处,他会毁了你。他会毁坏他遇到的一切。”

在我看来,他并不像一个酒鬼。他是SingSing监狱最好的手球手,还是最好的棒球手和足球运动员。“每个人都会有变得聪明的时候,”我说。“不管怎样,我得给他一个机会。我欠他太多。”
他看着我说,“你这笨蛋。”然后他转身就走了。

我回到酒店,马上和Johnny Eagen进行了坦诚交谈。他承认他兄弟所说的都是事实。“我以前经常酗酒,”他说。“但是我向你保证。我再也不会碰它了。”第二天早上,我们搬到Eddie Wilson在Columbus Heights为我们租的公寓里,在Brooklyn的安静的地区里。现在,你可能认为呆在一起是愚蠢的,但是我不是这样看的。如果我们分开,就需要两套人马来保护我们,每次见面都不得不来回折腾。如果你有个好搭档,呆在一起更安全。他会和你一样警觉,你就有两双眼睛关注周边的一切事物。

另外,我想让Eagen在这儿尽可能的在我控制之下。

进入公寓后,我做的第一件事就是伪装我们自己。伊根的头发很浅,肤色很浅。当我给他的头发和脸染上颜色,做完伪装后,他自己的老妈都认不出来。我用过氧化氢漂染头发。我以前是个金发碧眼的人,看起来总是像从波兰来的船刚刚下来。

我告诉过Eagen,在他长出胡须前必须呆在公寓里。但是我不能一直监视他,我要去银行踩点。我们需要钱。在最开始的几周,他只是出去买些报纸。后来就出去几个小时,回来时嘴里有酒的味道。

我对酒鬼知道的很清楚,一旦喝了第一杯就停不下来。当我质问他的时候,他承认他已经去过纽约去看他West Side的一些朋友。谁?哦,是Owney Madden 和他的兄弟,Marty。当Owney在在社会底部为自己拼命奋斗的时候,Madden一家和Eagen一家在West Side已经发展的很好了。我也认识Oweny,所以我去找他,看看关于如何控制这个家伙他有什么建议。

"哦,对于他你必须做一些事情,"Owney告诉我。"如果你不做的话,我告诉你,你都不用再担心,因为他一定会被捕。"

这他妈的是什么意思。

意思是Joney在和一个惹不起的人的老婆在鬼混。这个人是专门抢劫卡车的(tough monkey)。"如果这个家伙听到这件事了,"Owney说,"他会用子弹将他打成筛子一样。"Owney所能给的建议就是我将他带离开这个城市一段时间,看看我能对他做些什么,看上去这是唯一的回答了。

但是,在没有在《时代周刊》个人版面上刊登广告启动我筹划和Louise见面的计划前,我不能离开。这比我预计的要早一些。可以肯定,但是-见鬼-正如我知道的那样,我确信,毫无疑问她正在被监视。

在广告登出的第二天早晨,Louise上了车,以一个外出购物妇女的样子,悠闲、不慌不忙地开车去城里。当她路过指定地点的时候,我站在门口看到她被盯梢了。我立即走到收费电话亭,拨通了Al Jantzen的办公室,Wilson在那儿等我的电话。在向他描述了警车的情况之后,Wilson走上自己的车,开向会合点。

The next morning I called Bo Weinberg at the Monongahela club and made an appointment to come right over. I had called Bo because the Dutchman had sent word to me, during my trial, that he had instructed Bo to give me anything I wanted. Bo had fifteen hundred dollars from the Dutchman, and he told me I had unlimited credit.

From there I went to the West Side docks and sent out word that I wanted to see Eagen’s brothers. One of them came right over. “What the hell did you come out with him for?” was the first thing he said. “He’s a lush. We did everything we possibly could for him.” They had put him in a good job picking up numbers on the docks, he told me, and half the time he’d be so drunk that he wouldn’t show up. So they had taken him off that and opened up a speakeasy for him. “It was a hell of a nice place, we went all out for him. So, anyway, he didn’t show up there half the time either. He was off somewhere on a bender. The guys he had working for him robbed him blind, and he blew that too.”

There was nothing you could do for these alcoholics, he said. “Do yourself a favor and get rid of him because he’ll destroy you. Everything he touches, he destroys.”

He didn’t seem to be a lush to me. He was the best handball player at Sing Sing, and one of the best baseball and football players, too. “There comes a time when everybody gets smart to themselves,” I said. “Anyway, I’ve got to give him a chance. I owe that much to him.”
He looked at me and he said, “You’re a fool.” Then he turned around and walked away.

I went back to the hotel and had it out with Johnny Eagen then and there. He admitted that everything his brother had said was true. “I used to hit the sauce up a lot,” he said. “But I’ll give you my word. I’m not going to touch the stuff.” The next morning we moved to an apartment Eddie Wilson had rented for us over in Columbus Heights, a quiet section of Brooklyn. Now, you may think it was stupid to stay together, but that wasn’t the way I saw it. If we had separated, there would have been two different sets of people to protect ourselves against and we’d have to be going in and out every time we wanted to see each other. If you have a good partner, it’s far safer to stay together. He’s going to be as alert as you are, and you have two sets of eyes watching everything.

Besides, I wanted to keep this here Eagen under as much control as I could.

The first thing I did after we entered the apartment was disguise ourselves. Eagen had very light hair and a light complexion. By the time I finished with him, dying his hair and staining his face, his own mother wouldn’t have recognized him. My own hair I dyed with peroxide. I’d been a blond before and I always looked as if I’d just got off the boat from Poland.

I had also told Eagen that he was going to have to stay in the apartment until he grew the semblance of a mustache. But I couldn’t sit guard on him, I was out casing banks. We were going to need money. For the first couple of weeks, he went out only to pick up a newspaper. And then he’d be gone for a few hours and come back with the smell of liquor on his breath.

Well, I had known enough alcoholics to know that the first drink was the one that killed them. When I put it to him, he admitted that he had been going over to New York to see some of his friends from the West Side. Who? Well, Owney Madden and his brother, Marty. The Maddens and the Eagens had grown up together on the West Side when Owney was fighting his way up from the bottom of the ladder. I knew Owney too, so I went over to see what he could suggest about keeping a rein on this guy.

“Well, there’s something has got to be done with him,” Owney told me.

“Because if you don’t, you’re not going to have to worry about his being arrested, I can tell you that.” What the hell was that supposed to mean? What it meant was that Johnny was screwing around with the wrong man’s wife. A very tough monkey whose specialty was hijacking trucks. “If this guy ever hears about it,” Owney said, “he’ll put so many slugs in him he’ll make him look like a sieve.” All Owney could suggest was that I take him out of town for a while and see what I could do with him. And that did seem to be the only answer.

I wasn’t going to leave, though, without putting the ad in the Times personal section that would activate the plan I had mapped out for meeting Louise. Somewhat earlier than I had intended to, to be sure, but—what the hell—as closely as I knew she was being watched, I was sure it was foolproof.

On the morning after the ad appeared, Louise got into her car and drove toward the city in the leisurely, unhurried manner of a woman who is out on a shopping trip. As she passed a designated spot along the way, I was standing in a doorway to catch a look at her tail. Immediately, I went to a pay phone and dialed Al Jantzen’s office, where Wilson was waiting for my call. After he had the description of the police cars, Wilson went down to his own car and headed for the point of rendezvous.

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