Waiting for Rusty

by William Cole

On the run from the law, a gangster's girl and two hoods stop to wait for the bossIn a forgotten cafe somewhere in the middle of the country, a blonde in a raincoat bursts through the door. She's got a pistol in her hand and two killers at her back, and she wants a bottle of rye. Dotty and her friends aren't going anywhere. They'll be here until Rusty shows up. Rusty the killer. Rusty the thief. Rusty the love of Dotty's young life. They'll be here until Rusty steps through the door, but Rusty might not be on his way.In this tight, explosive short story, a gun moll transforms into the heroine of a hard-boiled Greek tragedy. One of the most popular pieces of short fiction ever to appear in the pages of "Black Mask" magazine, "Waiting for Rusty" remains a remarkable work, as powerful and surprising as a sucker punch to the back of the skull.

Genres: Short Stories

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

William Rossa Cole (1919-2000) was best known as an editor and anthologist. He was editor or author (or co-editor or co-author) of about 75 books, 50 of them anthologies. Three of his books were honored by the ALA: I Went to the Animal Fair in 1958, Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls in 1964, and The Birds and Beast Were There in 1965. He was an editor for Simon & Schuster and Viking, and a columnist for the Saturday Review. He died in summer 2000, at the age of 80.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooh, this was one of the very best stories I have yet to listen to from Blackstone Audio’s Theater of the Ear productions of work from Black Mask magazine, one I later learned was one of the most popular story to ever appear in the magazine, the shortest, at 1,400 words, and the only one published there by William Cole. It’s amazingly tight and concise, and in that short space turns a gun moll into a sympathetic, tragic heroine. In some midwestern bar Dottie, a woman with a pistol, bursts in, followed by two guys. The bartender knew her in high school, and she looks to him pretty much the same, except some kind of desperation/despair deep in her eyes.

We hear on the radio that a heist has just taken place and the cops are hot in pursuit. She demands a bottle of rye; her accomplices demand getting out of town asap. Dotty says nope, they are waiting for Rusty, their boss and and her lover who took a different escape route from the crime scene. She tells them, while they wait, of another time she was waiting for him, to bring her some flowers.

But soon after hearing this tale they learn from the radio that Rusty has been caught, accompanied by “a pretty, unidentified black-haired girl.” At that news, the guys and the bartender very silently watch Dottie, knowing what this means. And the cops seem to be closing in on them at this very bar. What will she do? She sends the two guys out the back to allow them to escape, cocks the trigger, and waits at the door for the cops to burst in. I thought it was terrific, especially as she suddenly recalls, as she continues to wait, how those flowers Rusty had once given her wouldn’t quite stay put in her hair, were never quite as perfect a gift as she had once thought, in retrospect. Then the cops arrive and something happens. Okay, it’s a little melodramatic, but hey, it’s noir, in a pulpy mag, and it’s really good at what it’s supposed to do.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

(1939) This would have made a good Twilight Zone episode. Bank robbers are holed up in a cafe waiting for their boss. No hard boiled P.I.s, just some crooks on the run from the cops. The best I've read in this series.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this short story. I think it is perfect. If I wrote this myself, I'd be so happy!

[Jay Bay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short story so there isn't much for me to review other than if I just sum it all up and say it in four words. "They should've just left."

Happy Reading,
JMay Out!