Short Story from "The Sting"
The Shot Glass
Pairing: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker-“The Sting”
Rating: PG-13
Summary: This story comes from the scene in the movie where Hooker has run from Snyder and is cut and bleeding. He is forced to tell Henry and Billie about what happened with Snyder and why he is looking for him.
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters or the movie “The Sting”. It’s my favorite movie and I’m just playing with it!
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Hooker arrived at Billie’s with his clothing torn and the side of his temple still bleeding. He was gasping for breath from running away from Snyder, and when Billie opened the door he practically collapsed at her feet.
“Henry”! She yelled. “Come out here quickly”!
Henry came running out of the back, worried by the panic in Billie’s voice.
He stood still when he saw the condition Johnny was in. For a second he was planted to the floor, only seeing the blood on Hooker’s face, and the condition of his clothes. “What the hell happened to you”? He demanded.
“I ran into an old “acquaintance” that was less than happy to see me.” Hooker said wryly.
“I don’t think you should be joking about this”! Henry said, his voice practically screeching at Johnny.
“Alright, calm down!” Said Johnny in a startled voice.
“Don’t tell me to calm down. You come in here bleeding with torn clothes, practically fall on the floor and then you make jokes about what happened!
“Ok, I’ll tell you! Remember the guy who came in looking for me who said he was a detective? Well, he wasn’t looking for me because I was on the lam. He was looking for me because I had given him counterfeit money for a bribe. The guy’s as crooked as they come”. Hooker practically spit this out, remembering the night that Snyder had chased him down and beat him. All because he wanted a piece of the con they’d run on Lonnegan’s numbers runner. He didn’t have it because he had blown it all at the underground gambling “casino”. So he gave him the phony money and didn’t think any more about it until the night Billie came in and told Henry about the “Detective”.
As if on cue, Henry said “Why didn’t you tell me about Snyder before?”
He poured Johnny a drink while he said this and handed the glass to him.
“I thought I’d lost him” Hooker said, wincing as Billie applied disinfectant to his cut.
He said it again through gritted teeth “I thought I’d lost him”.
“Well you found him again, and we’re going to have to do something about it.
What else haven’t you been telling us”? He asked, suddenly suspicious.
“Nothing”. He sounded unconvincing even to himself.
Henry fixed him with a penetrating gaze that seemed to go right through him. He was too damn smart.
Henry started firing questions at him.”Why did you move out of your room”?
“Have you seen anything suspicious?” “Anyone hanging around too long in one place while you are there?” “Do you feel like you’re being followed”?
“For God’s sake, Henry shut up”! Johnny yelled. “Since when did you become a prosecutor and I become a suspect.”?
With effort, Henry let out a breath and unclenched his hands.
He placed them on Johnny’s shoulders. He didn’t say anything, just looked into his eyes until Johnny began to feel warm and decidedly uncomfortable.
“Do you know how easy it would be for one of Lonnegan’s men to get to you”?
His eyes looked at Johnny with concern and worry. Johnny found he couldn’t say anything intelligent in response. He was too busy staring into the depths of Henry’s eyes and wondering why he suddenly felt that they were the only ones in the room.
He took a sip of his drink instead.
“Look at me” Henry demanded his hands still on Johnny’s shoulders. Johnny looked up at him and brusquely said:”All I’m asking is a couple of days. That’s all. Please”.
Henry moved his hands from Hooker’s shoulders to his face. It was a decidedly tender gesture that was completely unexpected.
Johnny found it very hard not to lean his face against the warmth of Henry’s touch. He hadn’t realized until that moment how very tired he was. And how alone he’d felt since Luther's death.
He always had a partner; Hooker never liked to be alone.
Taking his hands from Johnny’s face, Henry sighed loudly. He took the glass from Johnny, and allowed their hands to touch for a few moments.
“His hands are as warm as his eyes” thought Johnny, and then berated himself for having such a thought.
Billie, who’d stopped applying the disinfectant to Johnny when Henry came over to him, looked back and forth between the two of them.
“What the hell”? She thought.
She suddenly felt the tension in the air, and it was a kind she usually felt between herself and another man. A sexual tension.
This was confusing.
She watched as Henry took the shot glass from Johnny and looked at him with what she could only say was-tenderness? Sensual tenderness?
Continuing to look at Johnny, Henry lifted the glass to his lips to drink from it.
Suddenly she began to feel very uncomfortable. Like she was intruding on something. She cleared her throat and said” You know, I have to start setting things up for tonight. I’m going in the back. You can finish up here, can’t you Henry”?
Henry slowly turned his eyes from Johnny’s and said “Yeah, thanks Billie”.
“Thanks Billie”. Johnny echoed.
Billie left the room bewildered. She’d never seen Henry pay any attention to other men, and since Johnny had been here he’d seemed more than interested in the “girls” upstairs. What was going on here? It unnerved her.
Henry poured another glass of whiskey and offered it to Johnny. He came around the side of the bar and picked up the disinfectant Billie had begun to apply. Johnny looked at him apprehensively. “You’re not really going to try and put that on me”? He asked in disbelief.
“Why not? You don’t have to be a doctor to apply disinfectant “!
Hooker remained unconvinced, until Henry placed the towel with the ointment on his temple. He put the other hand on Johnny’s shoulder to keep him from moving. Noticing that his shirt had torn Henry rubbed his hand over Johnny’s exposed shoulder. “You’re cut here, too” he said in a gruff voice.
Johnny involuntarily closed his eyes at Henry’s touch, and again silently berated himself for his reaction. He hoped Henry didn’t notice, but when he opened his eyes he saw Henry staring at him. “Let me fix this shoulder up” He said. Gently he started to undo the buttons on Johnny’s shirt and took it off. As he did so, he took his hands and started rubbing his shoulders. “You’re tense.” Henry observed. “No wonder, carrying all this on your shoulders without telling anyone. That’s what’s good about having a partner, kid. There’s someone there to shoulder the burden.” He said this softly, and Johnny thought that Henry was talking about more than just this job. And not just about being partners “in crime”.
He wasn’t sure what it was but he found his face getting flushed at the combination of Henry’s touch, his voice and his hands. He gently applied the medicine to his cut. He then began massaging his shoulders and his neck.
Hooker let out a sigh without meaning to, feeling Henry’s breath on his neck, and his fingers rubbing circles into him. He deepened the pressure and Johnny began to moan softly. He froze for a moment, letting out a stifled cry as he relaxed back onto Henry’s chest. Suddenly he shook himself and turned to Henry, very confused.
Henry stood inches away from him, and the two of them locked eyes. Johnny tried to speak but found once again that words failed him.
They were so close they could have kissed.
Johnny‘s eyes held a question, but Henry didn’t answer.
“Henry” Johnny still didn’t know what to say.
He decided it was best to return to the discussion of not folding up the con.
“I think we can nail Lonnegan and keep Snyder out of the way”.
Smiling, Henry picked up the signal and answered him.
“Christ, they’ll probably miss you and hit me” he said ruefully.
They laughed then and the tension lessened.
Henry picked up Johnny’s glass again and placed it to his lips; his eyes never leaving Hooker’s face.
Johnny watched as Henry placed his lips on the exact spot that he had been drinking from .
Without thinking he flicked his tongue over his lips. Henry smiled at him.
Johnny blushed; he felt perplexed and a little dizzy.
Henry looked at him with that smile that was both warm and sly and shook his head. "You think too much,kid" he said with a laugh.
Then he winked -and Johnny knew he had the answer to his question.