Chili leaned into the table saying, "You might not remember, but we met one time before."

He gave the movie star time to look over.

"In Brooklyn, when you were makingThe Cyclone, that movie." that movie."

Michael said, "You know, I had a feeling we'd met. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, the occasion. Chil, is it?"

"Chili Palmer. We met, it was at a club on 86th Street, Bensonhurst. You dropped by, you wanted to talk to some of the guys."

"Sure, I remember it very well," Michael said, turning his chair around to the table.

"You were, I guess you were seeing what it was like to be one of us," Chili said, locking his eyes on the movie star's the way he looked at a slow pay, a guy a week or two behind.

"Yeah, to listen more than anything else."

"Is that right?"

"Pick up your rhythms of speech."

"We talk different?"

"Well, different in that the way you speak is based on an att.i.tude," the movie star said, leaning in with an elbow on the table and running his hand through his hair. Chili could see him doing it on the screen, acting natural. "It's like ya tone a voice," the movie star said, putting on an accent, "says weah ya comin' from." Then back to his normal voice, that had a touch of New York in it anyway, saying, "I don't mean where you're from geographically, I'm referring to att.i.tude. Your tone, your speech patterns demonstrate a certain confidence in yourselves, in your opinions, your indifference to conventional views."

"Like we don't give a s.h.i.t."

"More than that. It's a laid-back att.i.tude, but with an intimidating edge. Cut-and-dried, no bulls.h.i.t. Your way is the only way it's going to be."

"Well, you had it down cold," Chili said. "Watching you in the movie, if I didn't know better I'd have to believe you were a made guy and not acting. I mean you becamethat f.u.c.kin guy. Even the fink part," Chili said, laying it on now. "I never met a fink and I hope to G.o.d I never do, but how you did it must be the way finks act."

The movie star liked that, starting to nod, saying, "It was a beautiful part. All I had to do was find the character's center, the stem I'd use to wind him up and he'd play, man, he'd play." The movie star nodding with Nicki's beat now, eyes half closed, like he was showing how to change into somebody else, saying, "Once I have the authentic sounds of speech, the rhythms, man, the patois, I can actually begin to think the way those guys do, get inside their heads."

Like telling how he studied this tribe of natives in the jungles of Brooklyn. That's how it sounded to Chili.

He said, "Okay, I'm one of those guys you mention. What am I thinking?"

The movie star put on an innocent look first, surprised. What? Did I say something? The look gradually becoming a nice-guy smile. He ran both hands through his hair this time.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying an actual metamorphosis takes place, I become one of you. That wouldn't be acting. I had the opportunity one time, years ago, to ask Dame Edith Evans how she approached her parts and she said, 'I pretend, dear boy, I pretend.' Well, I'll get involved in a certain life, observe all I can, because I want that feeling of realism, verisimilitude. But ultimately what I do is practice my craft, I act, I pretend to be someone else."

"So you don't know what I'm thinking," Chili said, staying with it.

It got another smile, a tired one. "No, I don't. Though I have to say, I'm curious."

"So, you want to know?"

"If you'd like to tell me, yeah."

"I'm thinking about a movie."

"One of mine?"

"One we're producing and we want you to be in," Chili said, seeing the movie star's eyebrows go up, and one of the arms in the worn-out leather jacket, raising his hand as Chili tried to tell him, "It's one you already know about, you read."

But Michael wasn't listening, he was saying, "Wait. Time out, okay?" before lowering his arm and settling back. "I don't want to come off sounding rude, because I appreciate your interest and I'm flattered, really, that you'd think of me for a part. But, and here's the problem. My agent won't let me go anywhere near an independently financed production, I'm sorry."

Chili got to say, "It isn't that kind-" and the hand shot up again.

"My manager along with my agent, the business heads, they've made it our policy. Otherwise, I'm sure you can understand, I'd have pitches coming at me from independents day and night." The movie star shrugged, helpless, his gaze moving off to the band.

"You think I'm talking about wiseguy money," Chili said. "No way. This one's gonna be made at a studio."

It brought the movie star partway back.

"I'm not connected to those people anymore. Not since I walked out of a loan-shark operation in Miami."

That brought the movie star all the way back with questions in his eyes, sitting up, interested in the real stuff.

"What happened? The pressure got to you?"

"Pressure? I'm the one applied the pressure."

"That's what I mean, the effect that must've had on you. What you had to do sometimes to collect."

"Like have some a.s.shole's legs broken?"

"That, yeah, or some form of intimidation?"

"Whatever it takes," Chili said. "You're an actor, you like to pretend. Imagine you're the shylock. A guy owes you fifteen grand and he skips, leaves town."

"Yeah?"

"What do you do?"

Chili watched the movie star hunch over, narrowing his shoulders. For a few moments he held his hands together in front of him, getting a shifty look in his eyes. Then gave it up, shaking his head.

"I'm doing Shylock instead ofa shylock. Okay, what's my motivation? The acquisition of money. To collect. Inflict pain if I have to." Michael half-closed his eyes. "My father used to beat me for no reason ... Take the money I earned on my paper route, that I kept in a cigar box ..." shylock. Okay, what's my motivation? The acquisition of money. To collect. Inflict pain if I have to." Michael half-closed his eyes. "My father used to beat me for no reason ... Take the money I earned on my paper route, that I kept in a cigar box ..."

"Hold it," Chili said. "I was a shylock-what do I look like?"

"That's right, yeah," Michael said, staring at Chili, his expression gradually becoming deadpan, sleepy.

"You the shylock now?"

"Guy owes me fifteen large and takes off, I go after him," the movie star said. "The f.u.c.k you think I do?"

"Try it again," Chili said. "Look at me."

"I'm looking at you."

"No, I want you to look at me the way I'm looking at you. Put it in your eyes, 'You're mine, a.s.shole,' without saying it."

"Like this?"

"What're you telling me, you're tired? You wanta go to bed?"

"Wait. How about this?"

"You're squinting, like you're trying to look mean or you need gla.s.ses. Look at me. I'm thinking, You're mine, I f.u.c.kin own you. What I'mnot doing is feeling anything about it one way or the other. You understand? You're not a person to me, you're a name in my collection book, a guy owes me money, that's all." doing is feeling anything about it one way or the other. You understand? You're not a person to me, you're a name in my collection book, a guy owes me money, that's all."

"The idea then," the movie star said, "I show complete indifference, until I'm crossed."

"Not even then. It's nothing personal, it's business. The guy misses, he knows what's gonna happen."

"How about this?" the movie star said, giving Chili a nice dead-eyed look.

"That's not bad."

"This's what I think of you, a.s.shole. Nothing."

"I believe it," Chili said.

"I turn it on when I confront the guy."

"Yeah, but you haven't found him yet."

Chili watched the movie star wondering what he was supposed to do next, giving him a strange look, Chili wondering himself exactly what he was doing, except he could see it right there in his mind so he kept going.

"The guy took off for Las Vegas."

"How do I know that?" The movie star picking up on it.

"The guy's wife tells you."

Chili paused, the movie star waiting.

"Yeah?"

"The wife wants to go with you on account of her husband skipped with all her money ... three hundred grand," Chili said, starting to roll and not seeing anywhere to stop, "they conned off an airline after this jet crashed the guy was supposed to be on but wasn't and everybody was killed."

The movie star was looking at him funny again.

"If the guy wasn't on the plane ..."

"He was, but he got off just before it left and blew up. So his bag's on the plane, his name's on the pa.s.senger list ..."

"The wife sues the airline," the movie star said, nodding. "This is a gutsy babe."

"Good looking too."

"The husband takes off with the money, plus he still owes me the fifteen large," Michael the shylock said, "and the wife and I take off after him. Go on. When do I meet up with the guy and give him the look?"

Chili had to think about it. Tell Michael what actually happened or what he thought would sound better?

"It's not that simple," Chili said. "You have to be careful. Leo, the husband, isn't much to worry about, outside of he could try and nail you from behind if you get close. But there's another guy that comes along, a hard-on you happen to owe money to. A mob guy. He knows about the three hundred grand and would like to take you out anyway, on account of a past situation."

This time when Chili paused, wondering how to get back to where this thing had started, the movie star said, "This actually happened, didn't it? It's a true story."

"Basically," Chili said.

"You're the shylock."

"I was at one time."

"So, did you find the guy? What's his name, Leo?"

"I found him," Chili said, "yeah."

That was a fact. But now he didn't know what else to say, or how he actually got this far into it.

"You understand, you're pretending you're a shylock."

"Yeah? Go on."

"I mean that's all we're doing. You wanted to see if you can think like a shylock, get in his head. So I gave you a situation, that's all."

"You're not going to tell me the rest?"

"At this point, basically, that has to be it."

Michael was giving him a strange look again: not so confused this time, more like he was figuring something out. He said, "Well, if you won't, you won't," and started to grin. "I don't know how long you've been in the business, but that was the most ingenious pitch I've ever had thrown at me, and I mean in my entire career. You got me playing the guy, the shylock, before I even realized it was a pitch. So now I have to read the script to find out what happens. Beautiful. Really, that was artfully done."

Chili said, "Well, actually ..." The movie star had his head turned and was watching Nicki and her group wailing away. "Actually, what I started to mention, the movie we want you to be in isMr. Lovejoy. We understand you read the script and like it ... a lot." We understand you read the script and like it ... a lot."

Now he had to wait for this to make sense, give the movie star time to think about it. Michael said,"Lovejoy," looking over again. "That's the one, the florist sees his boy run over?" looking over again. "That's the one, the florist sees his boy run over?"

"And goes after the guy, to catch him driving his car."

"What production company was that?"

"ZigZag, Harry Zimm."

"That's right, the slime-people guy. I read for Harry when I first started working in features. I didn't get the part."

Chili said, "He turned you down? Come on."

"I wasn't Michael Weir then," Michael said.

He wasn't kidding either. It sounded strange.