Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara [48]
No, I don t think I did.
Lucky boy. Lucky boy, Luther. I always said you were a fine fellow. Are you having a good time?
Pretty good.
How about you, Mrs. Snyder? Have I the name right?
Yes, that s right, Mr. English. I m having a pretty good time.
Well, I m not. Or at least not till I came to this table. Are you married, Mrs. Snyder?
Yes, I m married.
She s Dutch Snyder s wife, said Lute. Oh. Oh, of course. Of course. Dutch Snyder. Well, I ll be God damned. What ever became of old Dutch? I haven t seen old Dutch in years.
He s dancing, said Frannie. Dancing, is he? He was always a great one for dancing, was our Dutch. So you married Dutch. How nice. How jolly. Do you think Dutch has any Scotch, Luther?
No, he only has rye, too, said Lute. What of it? Is that any my business who has rye or who has Scotch? Wellp. I think I have to leave you now, my friends. It s been a great little visit and I want to tell you I enjoyed every minute of it. You be nice to Mrs. Snyder, Luther. She is my ideal woman. But now I have to go. I see little old Al Grecco over there and I think if I play my cards right I could get a drink of Scotch out of him. I understand he knows a fellow that can get it for you.
So I hear, said Lute. Julian stood up. Mrs. Snyder a pleasure. A pleasure indeed. Luther I ll see you some other time. Luther and I work together, Mrs. Snyder. We re buddies. He s my buddy, and I m his buddy. He s my buddy, I m her Joe. Ju. If a buddy, meet a buddy, looking for the Scutch. If a buddy, meet a buddy, how s my old friend Dutch? Auf wiedersehen.
Auf wiedersehen, said Lute. Julian moved away, and they saw him sitting down at Al Grecco s table, in Helene Holman s chair. Helene was singing Love for Sale: Let the poets pipe of love in their childish way; we know every type of love better far than they ...
Don t get up, Al, don t get up, said Julian. Oh, that s all right, said Al Grecco. I wanted to see you on a business proposition, said Julian. Well, said Al, rising, I guess we can
Oh Julian put a hand on Al s shoulder. Sit down, sit down. We can talk here. I wanted to know if you knew anybody that could let me have some Scotch.
Why, sure, said Al. What s the matter? Don t Lebrix know you? He ought to. I ll fix it right away. Waiter! Eddie!
No, no, said Julian. I can get it here all right. They ll sell it to me. But I don t want to buy it. I simply don t want to buy drinks, Al. If there s anything I don t want to do it s buy a drink. I ll buy you a drink. I ll buy oh, that man over there, I ll buy him a drink. But I don t want to buy a drink. See what I mean?
No. I don t exactly see what you mean, Mr. English.
Just call me Mr. English, Al. You call me Mr. English and I ll call you Al. The hell with this formality. We ve known each other all our lives. You know, we Gibbsville people, we have to stick together in a place like this. If we don t you know what happens? Those Hazleton people gang us. What was I talking about just before you said that?
What?
Oh, yeah. About drinks. Uh, if I don t want to do anything it s buy a drink. You know why? You want to know why I feel that way?
Sure.
Well, it s like love, Al, said Julian. You know what I mean? Or don t you see what I mean? You buy a drink, and that s all it is, just a bought drink. Whereas, on the other hand, au contraire, au contraire, Al, uh, you uh, uh, somebody gives you a drink and that s like love. Why, say, who is this?
You got my chair, Mister, said Helene Holman, who had finished her song. Not at all, said Julian. Sit right down. Don t apologize. Just sit down. If this is your chair you needn t apologize. Just sit right down and Al will get another chair for us, won’t you, Al?
Al pulled a chair from another table. Shake hands with Mr. English, said Al. He s a friend of Ed s.
Are you a friend of Ed s? said Julian to Helene. Yes, I guess you d call it that, said Helene. Fine, said Julian. Ed who?
Ed Charney, said Al. Oh-h-h. Ed Charney, said Julian. Well, my God, why didn’t you say so? My God. Jesus Christ Almighty, why didn’t you say so? I didn