Antonio's was a nifty spot for taking a break in, and they mixed good drinks too. Chongo knew the place moderately well. They had a jazz band, and jazz singers sometimes. Billie Holiday had sung there...he knew that.

They grabbed a small table in the corner with a view of the whole room. Standard routine. You don't want to ever turn your back to a room if you can help it. Apparently Laura knew that too, and it didn't escape Chongo's notice that she did. There was more to this babe than met the eye...and that was saying a lot in her case.

"Why did you stop and talk to me?" he asked, lighting up a Cuban and gazing at her watchfully over his paws. He was beginning to regain his aplomb, at least on the outside...but man, what a looker this doll was!

"I don't know," she said offhandedly. "Just a momentary impulse, I guess."

(That was a lie, thought Chongo. Okay...)

"Yeah," grinned Chongo. "I mean, who wouldn't want to talk to an unknown chimp whose car just blew up an' who's tryin' to conceal a tommy gun under his trenchcoat as soon as he finds out if it's still in workin' order? I understand. You're just the sympathetic kind, right?"

Laura laughed merrily. "You've got a good sense of humour for a gumshoe," she said, "and a great sense of humour for a gumshoe that's a chimp. Do you dance?"

"WHAT?!?," gasped Chongo. "You gotta be kidding...we can't...in here..."

"I just asked if you dance, that's all," said Laura, blowing a smoke ring and smiling in a way that was hard to read.

Chongo's brain whirled. First of all, no human female was gonna dance with no ape in no public place, or probably anywhere. There were unwritten rules about stuff like that. Second of all, she was a lot taller than he was, and he couldn't figure out the logistics that it would involve...although that didn't mean it was theoretically impossible...

Third of all, what the hell did she ask him that for? What was she up to? ("She's tryin' to throw me off balance," he thought...and succeeding at it too. Gotta get a grip on myself here.") "Sure I dance," he volunteered defiantly. "I know all the dances. How about you?"

"Yeah. I know a few steps..."   ("I bet you do," thought Chongo.)

"Matter of fact," continued Laura, "I do it professionally. Jazz dancer, modern dancer, singer and actress when the work is available. I'm rehearsing for a musical at the Alexandra."

That explained the look...partly...and Chongo was obscurely relieved. It had crossed his mind that she might be a high class hooker or a stripper or something like that. She had way too much
nerve for an uptown girl. Still, there had to be more to it than that.

"I didn't catch your last name, Laura," he said.

"I didn't toss it," she answered, resting her chin calmly on her crossed hands, and spreading her fingers like a lazy cat stretching in the sun.

Chongo couldn't help laughing and spluttered in his drink. Geez. This one loved to play the game, didn't she? He wiped his face clumsily with the napkin.

Just then the MC stepped up to the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, apes and apettes...we have a special treat for you tonight...all the way from Schenectady...the one...the only...the
legendary...Big Daddy Malone!!! On the saxophone!"

Chongo's gut clenched like a bear trap. His closeset little chimpanzee eyes locked on the stage like a hitman zeroing in on his next target...as the curtains parted to a burst of swing music from
the human jazz band...and out stepped none other than the Schenectady Orangutan himself, his huge paws wrapped around a gleaming saxophone that Chongo could see at a glance was the very best instrument you could get.

"What the...!" blurted Chongo.

"You know him?" asked Laura. "He's becoming quite the item around here. The Big Boss who plays with the bands. Just pray that he doesn't decide to sing for us..."

Chongo didn't know what she meant by that, but he kept one eye on her, the other on Big Daddy, who was blowing up a storm on the sax, and one hand on the thompson under his coat. This had to be a setup, and she had to be in on it. Well, they wouldn't find it easy to knock down Chongo Chimp, he thought grimly. Let 'em try.

"He's good isn't he?...the ugly bastard." said Laura.

Chongo didn't have the slightest idea. One thing he had never revealed to anyone was the fact that he was totally, absolutely tone deaf, and couldn't distinguish a good tune from a lousy one to save his life. It was all just a bunch of screechy and thumpy noises to Chongo. He had a good enough sense of rythm, could dance fine, and could vaguely tell the difference between low notes and high ones, but that was as far as it went. The rest, for Chongo, was an impenetrable mystery. What people saw or rather heard in it, he could not fathom. It was just noise.

"Yeah, he's not bad," he responded, faking it. "I seen better though."

"Can you excuse me for just a minute?" asked Laura. ("Here it comes," thought Chongo. The safety was off on the thompson.) She got up and walked across the dance floor toward the Master of Ceremonies. Just about then Chongo caught a glance from Big Daddy. The dirty banana-peeler knew he was there all right. He actually looked surprised for an instant...but kept playing. Odd.

Laura was coming back to the table. Not what Chongo had expected. If she had a gun it had to be in the handbag, and that was on her chair.

"I arranged for us to dance," she said. "It's okay. They know me here. You ready?"

Chongo looked at her in total disbelief, just as Big Daddy finished his solo, and the MC stepped up to the mike, resplenent in his tuxedo and tails.

"And now...Ladies and gentlemen, apes and apettes...a rare and special treat as Miss Laura M takes to the dance floor with Mr Chongo Chimp as a token of the good relations between the species at Antonio's and as a welcome to your friend and mine...Big Daddy Malone!"

There was a sprinkling of polite applause, mixed with curious looks. Chongo froze in his seat. He could not take the tommy gun out on that dance floor.

"I am not goin' out there!" he grated, glowering at Laura.

"Oh?" she said. "Well, I am disappointed." They locked eyes for a long moment. Then she shrugged. "I didn't take you for a weak sister," she said, calmly stubbing out her cigarette.

Chongo went completely rigid. A slow burn started inside him and rose straight up to his ears. Every muscle in his body was aquiver with suppressed anger. He though he would explode.

"Let's dance," he said savagely, and he swept the trenchcoat and most of his firepower under the table. Nothing left now but the .357 under his vest.

Laura didn't even blink. She extended her hand and Chongo took it like he was picking up a live puff adder. As if in a dream they walked out onto the dance floor.

Big Daddy was staring at the two of them with an indecipherable gaze that seemed to hint of combined surprise, suspicion, hatred, and contempt all rolled into one twisted ball of emotion. And the band began to play.

They danced one dance. It couldn't have lasted more than three minutes, but it seemed like three hours to Chongo, beset by a tornado of conflicting emotions. He expected to die at any instant. He was ready to die in fact, and considered himself to be the biggest fool that had ever walked the streets of Chicago. He was also stunned, positively transfixed by the fact that he actually was dancing with this lithe and mysterious woman. In her own strange way she was the culmination of a thousand unspoken dreams and imaginings that Chongo had held in the back of his mind for all these years. She was his muse. His unknown. His untouchable...that he was now touching, if
only in a formal manner. She had perfume that smelled like crushed flowers and patchouli. She was not simian in the least, she was totally human. And Chongo had never experienced anything like it. He felt like a god awaiting sacrifice on some altar where even the gods must die.

It finally ended, with a last flourish from Big Daddy's sax, and a burst of applause from the audience, particularly the few apes in the place, who were galvanized, although a bit nervous. And then they were walking back to their table... ("I'm still alive...")

On the way they caught a lot of jocular comment from various well-dressed and seemingly well-meaning humans who seemed to know Laura well. They were being overly solicitous and laughing way too loudly for Chongo's liking. Right in his face. "Pretty fancy stepper!" this one asshole with a gigolo's haircut kept saying.

Chongo felt humiliated...like he was some kind of performing circus bear for the entertainment and amusement of these bums. But it wasn't a hot anger anymore, it was a cold, slow anger that sat deep in his gut and behind his eyes.

Laura could feel it too, and she suddenly realized exactly what he was going through, like a sharp pain in her chest. But that wasn't all she could feel. Big Daddy was leaving the state. In a hurry.
Two Gorillas were heading backstage as well.

"Go to the lady's room now," she said quietly, pretending to check her makeup in a pocket mirror. "The human Lady's Room, and not the Men's. There's a small window. Go out that window immediately, whether you ever see me again or not and move! Don't think about it. Go now!"

Chongo glared back at her, thought "What the hell!", gathered up his stuff and headed for the restrooms at a steady walk. He saw nothing unusual. "What if there's a human dame in there?" The thought made him hesitate for an instant. "Aww...shit!" He pushed open the door. It was empty, looked much more ordinary than he'd expected, and there was the window, just like she said. Tricky for a human, but no problem for a chimp at all. He hesitated for just a moment, then cut the screen and...

"Man, you are one lucky ape-bastard..." Chongo froze. "...but your luck just ran out. Turn around. I want you to see it coming."

Chongo could have made a desperate leap for the window, but something told him not to this time. He turned around.

It was a man, standing in the open door. A typical young Eye-tie hood with a little mustache and a pinstripe suit. His .38 was trained right on Chongo, and he looked like he knew how to use it.

"Smart ape," said the guy. "Too smart. I figured you'd do the unpredictable. Say hello to the Big Sleep, sucker..."

The skinny gunsel froze himself as he felt a cold muzzle pressed to the back of his own neck.

Laura. She had come after all, and in the nick of time. Jesus. She signaled "move in and brain him" with her free hand.

"Drop it," said Chongo. The .38 hit the floor. Chongo stepped forward, picked it up and smacked the skinny guy one on the jaw that laid him out cold.

"You didn't wanta have him hear ya, right?" he said to Laura. She nodded, and slipped her own gun back in her handbag.

"Laura...I know I gotta go fast, but..." he spoke hoarsely..."don't NEVER do nothin' like that to me again! Don't ever do it again."

"I'm sorry, Chongo," she said, not looking away, and looking very sad. "Truly I am."

He would have turned to go then, but she handed him a card. "Listen. You ever want to talk, you can always reach me here. If you don't want to talk, I'll understand."         

He took the card wordlessly, pocketed it, and was out the window and gone.

* * * * *