From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [205]
“How am I?” Was that all she had to say? He hunted desperately for an eternity through a mind that was suddenly completely blank. “I’m fine,” he said lamely. “How are you?”
“Well thats nice,” Lorene said, glancing down the hall. “Listen, dear, I can take care of you in—” she looked at her watch “—say half an hour? Thats the best I can do, honey.”
“Yeah?” Prew said, feeling his throat close up as if he had swallowed alum. “Say,” he said. He had to work hard to get it said. “Say, do you remember me?”
“Of course I remember you, silly,” she said, leaning back and looking down the hall. “Did you think I could forget you? Listen, I just cant talk now, dear. You could come back in an hour, why dont you try that?”
“Ah, forget it. To hell with it.” He stepped back, still blankly.
“I guess that wouldnt have worked anyway,” Lorene said. “There’ll probably be more than four waiting by then anyway.”
“Yeah. Mrs Kipfer told me you was popular. Just forget it, I dont want to put you out any.”
“I’ll tell you what,” she said. She looked down the hall. “I dont see any of them around. Maybe I can slip you in ahead, how would that be?”
“Dont do me no goddam favors.”
Lorene looked at him then, her eyes coming alive with an anxiety, alive for the first time, as if she was just now seeing something other than a regular customer. “Now dont be like that. What did you expect?”
“I dont know.”
“You picked a bad time to come is all. I work here, you know. After all.”
“Yeah?” he said. “I’m the guy that was here three days ago and stayed all night with you and promised you faithfully I’d be back tonight. To stay all night with you. Remember? I’m the guy that laid in bed with you and talked for about three hours.”
“Of course I remember.”
“Hell, you dont even remember my name.”
“Of course I do. You’re Prew. We talked about why I got into this racket. There. You see? I do remember.”
“Yeh,” he said.
“Listen, you go on in number nine and wait and I’ll be back in just a minute. You can get undressed while you’re waiting.”
“No thanks. I had rather wait till later, if you dont mind. I never did much go for mass production, somehow.”
She had started away again, for the third time, but now she came back and looked at him squarely. But her eyes kept slipping away, off his face. “That wont work either, Prew,” she said softly. “I’m already dated up for all night tonight.”
“What!” His mouth felt very dry, he noticed, and he worked his lips to moisten it. “You dint tell me that the other night. You told me . . . What is this, the run-around?”
“I didnt know it then,” Lorene explained, with great patience. “This is Payday. Remember? I can pick up more credits ahead—” she shook the white chip at him “—on this one day than in the whole last three weeks of the month together. Theres a bunch of the big brass coming down from Shafter for a party and they’ve engaged the whole place almost. They called Mrs Kipfer up this morning and they asked for me special.”
“But you’d already promised me,” he protested, “goddam it. Why dint you tell her that?” What’re you doing, begging now? he told himself. Dont you know when you’re not wanted? You’ve lost damn near everything else now, do you have to lose that too?
“Listen,” Lorene said exasperatedly, “cant you understand? When the brass comes around, Mrs Kipfer closes the whole place up for them. How do you think it would look for the EM to see them here?”
Yes, he thought, that bitch, that lousy bitch, she knew it all along. “I dont give a good goddam how it ‘would look.’ Not a single good goddam.” A big GI in civilians and fat enough to be a first cook pushed through between them elbowing by, and Prew watched him hopefully. “Watch what the hell you’re doin, Mack. You son of a bitch,” he said, but the big guy did not even turn around. Damn, he thought, cant even insult somebody, oh damn.
“You couldnt have even gotten in,” Lorene was saying, “even if I did turn the job down. I just would have lost the commission, thats all, and for nothing. When they come down from Shafter they pay big money. They s