Cross-Over Murders by Frank F. Atanacio Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning Nick Barnum made the early rise to North and Madison at exactly 5 am. Janet would have been proud of his efforts. Who was he kidding, anyone would have been proud of his efforts. In fact, he was even proud of himself. It was a feat he never thought he’d accomplish.
The main waiting area was located directly across from the North Avenue jail. There were many young Latino, and Polish men waiting around, looking for work. It was like preparing for a different job, each morning. It must have been a ritual for them, something that they had to develop.
They saw Nick Barnum standing around, and at first thought he was a law official, but that changed quickly when he started to ask people if the contractors came by yet. Nick Barnum was walking toward the center of the group, and there had been a hint of disappointment. They knew that the size of the new comer was an advantage they did not have, and he was surely to make much more money.
“Good morning,” Nick said as he stood next to two dark skin Mexican men. They were thin and frail looking, but Nick knew that they would perform their job to the best of their abilities.” Nice day for work.”
One of the Mexican men walked away displaying a certain degree of frustration since he had not had a job in almost two weeks. If there was one thing that he disliked, was the making of new friends. He considered it competition he couldn’t compete with. It was something he wanted no part of. Instead of fighting his way onto a contractor’s truck, he decided just to ignore Nick Barnum, and walk away. Perhaps it was one of the smartest things to do. He knew deep down inside that he was no match for Nick in that department as well.
“That guy is not so friendly,” Nick said to the other. “Looks like he was afraid that I was going to take his lunch money away.”
The other man laughed.
Nick smiled.
“Pablo likes his work, when he can get it.”
“Everybody does,” Nick added.
“He don’t work for a long time. It bothers him very much,” said the Mexican man with a strong Spanish accent. “He wait too long for work.”
Nick nodded.
“I’m Carlito,” said the Mexican man as he stuck his hand out for shaking. “Carlito Arroyo.”
“I’m Nick,” the private eye replied as he shook his hand. “Nick Barnum.”
“You are not Polish, right?”
“No, just broke.”
Carlito smiled exposing bright yellow teeth.
Nick’s gaze surveyed the crowded sidewalk as he tried to pick out an odd laborer. He tried to, for the most part, endeavor to stay low key. It was difficult because of his height and demeanor. He was a tall, very noticeable man.
“You a painter, Nick?” Carlito asked.
“I am.”
“Are you a good painter?”
“Of course,” Nick lied. “The best.”
“I believe..” Carlito started in a careful, measured tone, “that you will be picked first. If that does happen, my friend. Can you tell the contractor that we work as a team. I really can use the extra money.”
“Sure I can,” Nick smiled. “Anything to get this work force running smooth.”
Carlito looked confused.
“Yeah, I will,” Nick added.
Carlito smiled evenly.
“Isn’t it amazing?” Nick murmured, as he looked around to see the many eager beavers. “One street corner can hold so many men that want to work. So many hard workers, and yet they have no job.”
“It’s a dog world,” said Carlito.
“Dog is right,” Nick agreed.
“If we were whores, we’d be fighting over this turf,” Carlito cleverly added. “But we respect the others wanting to work. We all come here because we need the money. Sometimes it bothers us that we don’t find a job, but we are at it every morning. We have bills to pay, not habits to support.”
“I guess, whores,” Nick started with a slight hesitation “Should come by here and see how this works. Make them realize that it’s one happy street corner that’s being shared by the same men who have the same needs. To make money. They can do this without even fighting.”
Carlito laughed softly.
“Hey Carlito, let me ask you something,” Nick said in a slightly lower voice, deliberately changing the subject. “Aren’t you guys afraid of that crazy killer. You know what I’m talking about right?”
“We heard there was only three people killed,” he replied. “I don’t think it has something to do with us. I guess they just pissed someone off. I don’t plan on pissing anyone off, so I don’t think I got nothing to worry about.”
Nick knew that Carlito didn’t believe that for one minute. He was afraid, but desperate times causes desperate actions. They had to work and it was as simple as that.
Some of the other laborers stared out at Nick Barnum and, focusing on his size, they even uttered profanities in Spanish at him. He knew what they were saying, but he wasn’t there to start a fight. He had a job to do, and was going to allow jealousy to dictate.
Several vans pulled up and they were picking and choosing. Nick turned to face them, and he copied down some license plates numbers. He tried to do it without drawing attention. Nick didn’t want them to get jumpy an drive away without offering work to the laborers.
“Hey, you paint?” someone called.
Nick looked up and saw a red truck parked directly in front of him.
“Well, you speak English?”
Nick nodded.
“Do you paint?”
“Yeah I do.”
Carlito stood next to Nick.
“I need a painter just for this morning, hop in.”
“Can my teacher join us?”
“What?”
“The guy who taught me how to paint?”
The driver looked at Carlito for a moment. “Yeah, get him in too.”
Nick smiled.
Carlito smiled.
The driver was probably too old to be the murderer.
Damn! Crossed Nick Barnum’s mind.
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