Joey Cheaps was a monetary black hole. When he entered a bank, the share price dropped ten percent. When he walked down the street, parking meters flashed red one after the other. Every time I so much as said his name I lost money. Joey Cheaps. There went five dollars. See? He was a client and he owed me money and that was the only reason I took his call, so I could tell him he owed me money. He knew he owed me money, he didn’t need me to tell him he owed me money, and yet still I couldn’t help myself. It was that sore tooth thing all over again.

“Joey,” I said. “You owe me money.”

“Yeah, I knows. I’m working on it. It was genius, what you pulled in court. I owe you.”

“Yes, you do. You owe me thirty-five hundred dollars.”

“Well, you know, Victor, some things you can’t put a price on.”

“But I can put a price on what I did for you, Joey. And you know what the price is? Thirty-five hundred dollars.”

“Hey, you know me, Victor. I’m good for it.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I know you.”

“Listen, Victor. I got something going on what’s going to make me flush, going to take care of everything. But before I does anything I got a question, a legal question.”

“Then you should find a lawyer.”

“That’s why I called you. Just do me the favor, all right, Victor? I’m asking as a friend.”

“I’m not your friend.”

“We’re not no friends?”

“I was your lawyer, you were my client. And now you owe me money. That makes me your creditor.”

“Victor, the way my life is now, the only friends I got is my creditors. Everyone else I owes too much money. But I’m thinking of coming clean. I’m thinking of paying what I owes and starting new. Right after this thing. And I got reason to. I found someone.”

“Joey.”

“Shut up.”

“Joey in love. Who is she?”

“Shut up, it don’t matter. But first we needs to talk, I needs to talk. To someone.”

A line of desperation like an ominous riff of bass, rose from beneath the rough melody of his voice. I thought about it. I wanted to say no. My accountant, had he been in my office, would have insisted I say no. But there was that line of desperation in his voice that to a lawyer is as seductive as a purr. “What’s it about, Joey?”