A Clockwork Orange - Burgess, Anthony [20]
“Thanks, son,” he said. “But we don’t go out much now. We daren’t go out much, the streets being what they are. Young hooligans and so on. Still, thanks. I’ll bring her home a bottle of something tomorrow.” And he scooped this ill-gotten pretty into his trouser carmans, mum being at the cheesting of the dishes in the kitchen. And I went out with loving smiles all round.
When I got to the bottom of the stairs of the flatblock I was somewhat surprised. I was more than that. I opened my rot like wide in the old stony gapes. They had come to meet me. They were waiting by the all scrawled-over municipal wall-painting of the nagoy dignity of labour, bare vecks and cheenas stern at the wheels of industry, like I said, with all this dirt pencilled from their rots by naughty malchicks. Dim had a big thick stick of black greasepaint and was tracing filthy slovos real big over our municipal painting and doing the old Dim guff - wuh huh huh - while he did it. But he turned round when Georgie and Pete gave me the well hello, showing their shining droogy zoobies, and he horned out: “He are here, he have arrived, hooray,” and did a clumsy turnitoe bit of dancing.
“We got worried,” said Georgie. “There we were awaiting and peeting away at the old knify moloko, and you might have been like offended by some veshch or other, so round we come to your abode. That’s right, Pete, right?”
“Oh, yes, right,” said Pete.
“Appy polly loggies,” I said careful. “I had something of a pain in the gulliver so had to sleep. I was not wakened when I gave orders for wakening. Still, here we all are, ready for what the old nochy offers, yes?” I seemed to have picked up that yes? from P. R. Deltoid, my Post-Corrective Adviser. Very strange.
“Sorry about the pain,” said Georgie, like very concerned. “Using the gulliver too much like, maybe. Giving orders and discipline and such, perhaps. Sure the pain is gone? Sure you’ll not be happier going back to the bed?” And they all had a bit of a malenky grin.
“Wait,” I said. “Let’s get things nice and sparkling clear. This sarcasm, if I may call it such, does not become you, O my little friends. Perhaps you have been having a bit of a quiet govoreet behind my back, making your own little jokes and such-like. As I am your droog and leader, surely I am entitled to know what goes on, eh? Now then, Dim, what does that great big horsy gape of a grin portend?” For Dim had his rot open in a sort of bezoomny soundless smeck. Georgie got in very skorry with:
“All right, no more picking on Dim, brother. That’s part of the new way.”
“New way?” I said. “What’s this about a new way? There’s been some very large talk behind my sleeping back and no error. Let me slooshy more.” And I sort of folded my rookers and leaned comfortable to listen against the broken banister-rail, me being still higher than them, droogs as they called themselves, on the third stair.
“No offence, Alex,” said Pete, “but we wanted to have things more democratic like. Not like you like saying what to do and what not all the time. But no offence.” George said: “Offence is neither here nor elsewhere. It’s the matter of who has ideas. What ideas has he had?” And he kept his very bold glazzies turned full on me. “It’s all the small stuff, malenky veshches like last night. We’re growing up, brothers.”
“More,” I said, not moving. “Let me slooshy more.”
“Well,” said Georgie, “if you must have it, have it then. We itty round, shop-crasting and the like, coming out with a pitiful rookerful of cutter each. And there’s Will the English in the Muscleman coffee mesto saying he can fence anything that any malchick cares to try to crast. The shiny stuff, the ice,” he said, still with these like cold glazzies on me. “The big big big money is available is what Will the English says.”
“So,” I said, very comfortable out but real razdraz within. “Since