Solomon's Vineyard Quotes

“I like big men,” she said.
Her voice was raspy, like she had a cold. She came up to me and grabbed my arm. Her fingers hurt the muscles. I could smell her perfume. She came close to me. I thought I knew what she wanted. I tried to kiss her. She jerked away.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
She slapped me. She was strong, my cheek stung. She moved in, swinging both arms. Now she had her fists closed. She hit my arms and my chest. I tried to hold her.
“Hit me!” she said.
It was goddam queer. I held her arms, but she got loose.
She struck my chest.
She said: “Hit me.”
I hit her easy on the ribs.
“That’s right! That’s right!” She hit me a couple of hard blows. Her eyes were wild. She hit me a hard punch on the neck. I hit her in the belly. I heard the breath go out: ouf! It didn’t stop her. She kept coming in, punching hard.
I gave her one over the kidneys. She grunted and clinched with me. She bit my arm until the blood came. I slapped her. She put her knee in my groin. It hurt. I lost my balance, grabbed for her, and we both went down. We rolled around on the dirty floor of the shack, both panting. She was hard to hold, and every time she got loose she’d hit or kick or bite me. I got over her, holding her down on the floor. She looked beautiful and wild. She bit my arm again and I slugged her in the ribs. She moaned, and then struggled free. My hand caught in the scarlet shirt. The silk tore to her navel.
“Yes,” she said.
I got the idea. I ripped the shirt off her, she fighting all the time and liking it. I ripped at her clothes, not caring how much I hurt her. She squirmed on the dirty floor, panting. There was blood on her mouth. I don’t know if it was mine or hers. It tasted sweet. Suddenly she stopped moving.
“Now,” she said. “Now, goddam you. Now!”
Later we lay on the floor.
“I don’t understand you,” I said.
“It’s fun, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Then what do you care?”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“From the way her buttocks looked under the black silk dress, I knew she'd be good in bed. The silk was tight and under it the muscles worked slow and easy. I saw weight there, and control, and, brother, those are things I like in a woman.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“McGee’s old touring car had once been green. It had also been painted black, but this had worn thin and you could see the original green coming through on the hood. The fenders were still black. The speedometer said 53,562 miles, but the motor was smooth. McGee drove as though he had a horse in front, saying ‘Giddap’ when he wanted to start and ‘Whoa’ when he was stopping. I was scared he would forget the horse wasn’t there sometime and try to stop by pulling back on the steering-wheel. He didn’t, though.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“She said: “I’m so sick of this joint.”
“Why?”
“No freedom. I can’t go out. I can’t get drunk or gamble or wear swell clothes…”
“They look swell to me.”
“Shut up, honey. I’m trying to tell you something. I like to dance. I like good restaurants and night clubs, and movies. Here all I’m supposed to do is think about God. It’s getting me down.”
“You don’t like God?”
“I can take him or leave him.”
I laughed.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“I don’t want any money.”
I put the wallet away.
She said: “What are you going to do about last night?”
“What should I do?”
“Kill that son of a bitch.”
“And fry?”
“You’re too smart to fry.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But, lady, I’ve been drawing the line at murder lately.”
She lay against the pillow, watching me. Her skin was dead white and it made the black eyes look big. She wasn’t young, but she was still good-looking. Her shoulders were round and firm. As far as I could tell she was naked under the sheet. I sat down on a rocking-chair. It creaked under my weight.
“But you want to get him, don’t you?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t mind.”
“Neither would I,” she said.
“He’s pretty tough for a gal to tackle.”
“He knocked out my teeth.”
The way she said it, it sounded like a good reason for bumping off a man. Maybe it was, at that. A girl likes to hold on to her teeth.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“That gun of yours tickles me where I don't like to be tickled," she said.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“Listen Charles, if blondes were poison, I'd have died thirty years ago.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“I was glad to get in that stall. It was a funny feeling, being naked and fighting a man with a gun. I didn’t like it. I felt the bullets would hurt more, naked.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“Pug said: “I’m trying to think of the best way of knocking you off.”
“The Chinese do it with rats,” I said. “They let ‘em eat the victim.”
“Where am I going to get the rats?”
“Well,” I said, “there’re three in the car now.”
I don’t know which one hit me; Pug or the guy with the garlic breath. It was the barrel of a pistol and it cooled me for a couple of minutes. When I came to we had stopped by a small shack. I was alone with the guy on my left.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“What are they trying to do?” Davison asked. “I never heard of anything like this.”
I took my eyes off Ginger’s legs. “Gangsters,” I said.
“But they’ve gone out of style,” Davison said. “They don’t have gangsters any more.”
“Suppose you go out and tell them that,” I said.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“Blood always excites me.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard

“It all came back to something I’d figured out once about the detective business. There were two ways to go along: underground or on top. I never found out which was best. Underground you had the element of surprise on your side, but it was harder to move around. On top you went everywhere, taking cracks at everybody, and everybody taking cracks at you. You had to be tough to play it that way. Well, I was tough.”
― Jonathan Latimer, Solomon's Vineyard