Short Story from "The Sting" -"The Guardian Angel"
The Guardian Angel
Pairing: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker (implied)
Rating: PG-13 -For language
Disclaimer: I don’t own “The Sting” or the characters. This is a work of fiction, and I’m not making any money!
Summary: A possible missing scene from the movie, where Henry asks Joey (the bodyguard who does jobs for Henry) to look after Johnny. Joey is suspicious as to what Henry’s real motives are.
Joey is the name given to the unnamed gunman in the movie by “Giglet”, and this story is based on comments about different scenes for fics based on “The Sting”. Thank you, .Giglet!
***************************************************************************
Henry stood outside Joey’s apartment, and knocked impatiently. “What the hell was wrong with Joey”? He wondered to himself. Joey was expecting him, in fact it was Joey who asked that they meet at 5 pm. Henry had to hurry. Lonnegan was coming in tonight and he had to be back by then. It wouldn’t look right if the owner of the “club” wasn’t there.
“Damn, Joey! Answer the goddamn door, will ya?”
He knew Joey was in there. He just probably couldn’t hear him over the radio that was playing…classical music??? Henry had a nervous moment where he thought maybe someone had killed Joey and left the radio on to make it seem like he was still home. Because Joey would never have put on classical music himself, would he?
He was just about to pick the lock when Joey opened the door.
“Henry, what are you yelling about”? He asked, with a puzzled look on his face. And a gun in his hand.
“Jeez, Joey if you lowered that music you’d have heard me banging on the door for the last five minutes! Since when did you start listening to classical music? And would you please PUT THE FUCKING GUN AWAY!”
“Calm down Henry! I’m sorry I couldn’t hear you, but that’s no reason to insult me by insinuating that I couldn’t like classical music.” Joey looked almost hurt, but Henry could tell by looking at him that he was just teasing.
“What’s got you so nervous, anyway”? He asked curiously. Henry wasn’t an excellent card player/cheater at said card playing for no reason. The man never gave away any sign of nervousness, or any other emotion he wasn’t planning on showing. He could tell by the uneasy look in Henry’s eyes that whatever was bothering him was important to him. Something had him looking very skittish.
“I’m not so nervous, just a little nervous. And I don’t appreciate people opening the door to me with a gun in their hand. It’s a funny little quirk of mine”.
“Alright, I’ll put it away! I was just polishing them!” He showed Henry the cloth he was using.
“Them”? Henry asked. His eyes wandered to Joey’s dining table. On it were several guns of various sizes and killing/maiming capabilities. They each had their own boxes made up of various types of wood that gleamed in the light and had velvet linings to encase them.
Joey continued to polish the gun, focusing his attention on it and smiling.
“Joey, Joey! Please, will you please put the damn gun away! I don’t have much time. Lonnegan’s coming tonight, you know”
“Ok, boss. Tell me what’s got you looking like you’ve seen a ghost and how I can help”.
Henry sighed, realizing it would be futile to try and convince Joey
he didn't feel otherwise. He couldn’t really do that, because what Joey said was true. He was scared. Not for himself, though.
He was scared for Johnny.
Johnny. Damn that kid for making him worry, making him lose sleep worrying about him. Damn him for making him care.
He looked at Joey and tried to tone down the nervousness to what would be considered normal for this situation. This situation that was anything but normal.
“You know that kid that’s working with me on this Lonnegan con”? Henry asked. Joey nodded.
“He’s smart, really smart. But he’s never been in this spot before. He’s never played a big con. He’s not used to people like Lonnegan. He doesn’t understand the reach of a man like that. And he is reckless right now, running on emotion. You always get in trouble when you get emotional in a situation like this.”
“You mean, like you’re doing?’ Joey said in an innocent voice, keeping his eyes away from Henry.
“What’s that supposed to mean”? Henry asked sharply. He must be slipping, he thought, if Joey could see through him so easily.
“Nothing, nothing.” Joey replied, trying to hold back his laughter.”Go on, boss”.
“Like I said, he’s running on emotion right now. He’ll push aside any signal that he is in danger even if he does see it because he really wants revenge .”
“The kid is loyal” Joey said, approvingly. “I guess that’s one reason you like him so much” He added and smiled at Henry again.
Henry chose to ignore the teasing tone that had crept back into Joey’s voice, and continued.
“I ‘m worried about him, that’s all. Can you look after him for me”?
“What does ‘look after him’ mean exactly”?
“I mean I want you to tail him. Follow behind him, shadow him. If he goes somewhere, you take a room across the street and keep your eye on him. I want you to tell me if you see anything suspicious. And I want you to tell me where he goes, and who he sees”.
Joey raised his eyebrows at that and said “Why do you need to know who he sees, and where he goes”?
“Joey, do I have to remind you who is the boss, and who is the man getting paid an obscene amount of money to do what I ask”? Henry stressed the “obscene” amount of money in hopes that would shut Joey up. Nothing made Joey pay attention more than money.
“Hey, I’m not complaining. I just was curious as to why you would care about the comings and goings of the kid is all”.
“No, that’s not all. Now tell me what you’re not saying or shut up, ok”?
Joey smiled and said”I’ve known you for a long time.. I’ve never seen you get so worked up over anyone. You never told me to tell you where they go and who they see. I think there’s something about this one that’s getting to you.”
“Yeah, well like I said, he’s vulnerable. And that could lead to trouble. Which I don’t need.”
“Oh, so now you’re just worried about yourself, eh?” Joey chided Henry. Henry looked annoyed, so Joey just laughed and said”Ok, when do I start watching over Mr. Loyal and Vulnerable”?
“Tonight, when he leaves the club.” Henry said.” And make sure you come back and report to me as soon as he goes home”.
“What if he doesn’t go home”? Joey smirked at Henry when he said this.
“Then GET A ROOM ACROSS THE STREET! Sorry,- get a room across the street,and leave as soon as he does,ok”?
“Do you want names of his visitors, or the-ahem-people he visits? Descriptions?”
“Yes-no, Joey. I don’t need descriptions. Names yes. Descriptions no. Now stop busting my balls and let me get down to the club before the whole plan gets blown before we even get to finish it”. Henry said, sighing in an exaggerated fashion.
“Don’t worry about nothing, Henry. I’ll look after him for you” Joey said with a knowing smile. He put a hand on Henry’s arm. “Really, don’t worry. He’ll be alright”.
Henry looked at the familiar, reliable face and relaxed, just a little.
“Thanks Joey” He said in a soft voice.
“Don’t mention it boss “Joey said, giving a little salute before Henry left his apartment.