Leisure Suit Larry was having another wild night on the town, well,
for him it was, doing his imitation of Dan McGrew  ("And back by the
bar in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew.").
He lost again and hit the red X, and opened Google, rereading the
quote for the day, when his cell phone rang, playing what had once
been "their song".  Embarrassed at how that dated him, he tried to hit
the answer button before he could get it out of his pocket, glancing
to see who had just come through the door.
...

On Mar 28, 4:34 pm, eiffel <roger.bro...@gmail.com> wrote:

He immediately spotted "Beautiful Diamond" - a sultry gangster's moll
wearing a suggestive red dress.

As Rod recalled later: "I could smell trouble a mile off...She came at
me in sections. More curves than a scenic railway...She was bad. She
was dangerous. I wouldn't trust her any farther than I could throw
her. But, she was my kind of woman."

(To be continued)

On Mar 29, 1:58 pm, myoarin <lawre...@fogelberg.de> wrote:

"Wha' ja say?"  he asked in his phone.
...

On Mar 30, 11:33 am, Probo <bryanclough...@googlemail.com> wrote:

On Mar 30, 7:31 am, myoarin <lawre...@fogelberg.de> wrote:

The pregnant pause in her conversation was enough to
kill a rabbit at ten feet, which was approximately
the distance B.D. had closed on him while he tried
to suss out whether this "help" would be a paying gig,
the kind where Larry got paid instead of the other
way around.

She turned towards him, first her head, and then  - taking a deep
breath -  her shoulders, and changed her course, greeting Rod with
more interest than Larry thought the little squirt merited, in her
warm voice exclaiming:
"Rod Riley!  How could I have overseen you?"

Larry replied to the complaining "Larry, are you there?" on the
phone:
"Hello Zarah," reverting to his nickname for her in better times:
"... Sorry, I had to finish my online poker game, lost.  How can I
help you?"

On Apr 4, 3:33 pm, mathtalk <hardm...@gmail.com> wrote:

On Apr 4, 10:44 am, myoarin <lawre...@fogelberg.de> wrote:

"Really?" said Larry, glad that someone knew what he was thinking
even if he'd forgotten.  Because truth be told LSL was leaning
back in his chair just a bit too far to be casual about it, peering
at the back of Rod Riley's head now amply blocking B.D.'s cleavage.

"Yes?" Rod turned, having misheard Larry's ejaculation as his name.
This happens a lot to Rod Riley.  Rod's eyes met Larry's, and it
brought tears to both, like fresh cut onions and hay fever will.

"Where should we meet?" Larry said to Zarah, hoping it wouldn't
be her place.  Zarah lived in a bedsit so small the mice had
claustrophobia.

"Not my place," Zarah disclaimed.  "Tell me where you are and
I'll be there in two shakes."

"Bryan's Broils and Briskets."
"Where?!"
"The triple B bar."
"Oh, you mean:  the *Booze, Broads and Billards'?"
"Yeah, I guess; I've heard it called that."
"I'll be there, but it will be about three shakes, then."
"Okay, but watch out; Rod Riley is here ... , uh-oh, and someone who
wants money from me.  You better have a good job for me, ... for us?"

Before Zarah could reply, the man Rod had pushed aside was nearing
LSL's table with an only superficial smile.  LSL clicked off the call
and rocked his chair back down onto four legs with a thump as he tried
to muster an unconcerned expression and greeted him:
"Oh, hi, Baby.  Good to see you."
"Baptisto to you.  Yeah, I've been looking for you, Larry.  How's
business?"

On Apr 30, 7:29 pm, mathtalk <hardm...@gmail.com> wrote:

Chapter Two

Zarah was already headed out her door as soon as
Leisure Suit Larry's sobriety appeared assured.
Temporarily, at any rate.  Which made the urgency
of getting to him quickly all the more immediate.

So by the time LSL abruptly clicked off her call,
Zarah was hailing a crosstown taxi.  "The Triple
B.  Step on it and no cracks."  The taxi driver,
who had a habit of asking passengers if they
objected to his raucus radio selection (and
ignoring their response, if any), felt absolved
from further pretense.  He cranked it up, having
inferred from Zarah's off the rack clothing that
chances of an unfathomably generous tip were nil
on this run.

Blocking out the unctuous sweet smell exuded by
no fewer than eight variously shaped deodorizers
in the cab, Zarah sought to use the few moments
remaining enroute to reflect on the strange
bequest recently left her by a distant uncle.

Especial thought needed to be given as to what
part of the bequest could be kept concealed
from Larry without rendering him completely
useless.

On May 2, 11:20 pm, mathtalk <hardm...@gmail.com> wrote:

Spotting the cabbie a tenner and exceeding his expectations,
Zarah stepped out of the passenger's side.  "Have a nice day,"
the cabbie sang out, which was odd because it was well into
the night.

Sizing up the crowd, which was smallish, Zarah made a bold
decision to step up into the action.  Though unremarkable
in stature, she had a steely presence that cut through a
crowd scene like an editor's pencil through a cub reporter's
rough draft.

"Thanks for hanging around, Larry," Zarah said to break the
ice.  This was a playful reference to how Larry was lifted
a good eight inches off the ground by a thugish but well
dressed gentleman that Zarah recognized.

Larry's friend Rod Riley was pacing and scowling at the
edge of the scene, while a statuesque woman cast a bemused
eye on him.  With an economy of movement she kept Riley at
bay while the gangster levitated Larry.

"I'll take it from here," Zarah said to Larry.  Then with
a nod to his assailant, "Larry probably hasn't mentioned
it yet, but I've retained him to find you, Mr. Baptisto."

"Retained?" Baptisto laughed at what he thought a was a
novel ploy on Zarah's part, but released Larry with
sudden effect, spilling him to his knees.  "Larry ran up
those gambling debts these past weeks just to find me?"

"He has his ways," Zarah said calmly and with what she
hoped sound like conviction.  Not the kind that Baptisto
hired teams of lawyers to avoid, but the kind that Larry
would need to carry her plans.  "Now please pay close
attention.  The former owners of your business incurred
a certain obligation sixty years ago.  Money is not
involved, at least not directly, but I'm calling it in."

With that Zarah produced a darkly yellowed envelope.  An
ornate diagram was underscored by a wax seal and the
name of what had once been a well connected casino in
the red light district.  She held it out to Baptisto,
and with only a momentary hesitation he took it.

"Very interesting," said Baptisto. "I've always known a
day like this would come, and tonight it did.  You will
give me a few hours to verify its authenticity?"

"Of course," Zelda cooed like a dove with a poisonous
beak.  "Let me have your phone number, and I'll
make arrangements tomorrow for the meeting."

Baptisto looked over Zarah's shoulder at Larry and
said, "This doesn't square things for you, though
I suppose you'll be good for what you owe."  He
snapped his fingers and strode away with Beautiful
Diamond, his moll, in tow.

The awkward silence that ensued was at last snapped
by Rod Riley's assessment: "See?  I knew he was a
man we could reason with."

While crowd moved back into the bar, the bartender closed in on him
with the look he saved for customers who tried to leave without
paying.  Zarah was already opening her purse, but Larry mut