From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [315]
“Okay!” Prew said irritably, “I’ll do what I can. How do I know I can do it or not? What makes you so sure I can do it? when you cant do it yourself?”
“Because I know how you work,” Angelo said defiantly. “I aint never seen you fight in the ring, but I have heard about that also. You’re a good soljer,” he admitted grudgingly unwillingly, “just like The Malloy’s a good soljer,” he said. “Ordinarily, I aint got no use for good soljers; but it takes a crack soljer with plenty control, to beat another good soljer like Fatso who’s holding the reins and got all the cards,” he said angrily, “and you mights well admit it.”
“Balls!” Prew said, embarrassedly because Angelo had touched him on his soft spot, derisively because he felt a sunburst of pride, pride that he knew he had no right to in front of any man who had earned this face from behind which Angelo Maggio of Atlantic Avenue looked out at him so devotedly.
“You ask me!” Angelo said argumentively. “I tole you!”
“Awright, awright,” Prew growled. “Now what else?”
“Theres just one other thing,” Angelo said. “And thats the Hole. You got to know how to act, in the Hole.”
“The Hole? I thought you were all by yourself in the Hole.”
“Thats just it, you are. Thats what makes it bad. The Malloy says you can beat that too, if you just go at it the right way, but I never been able to do it. And neither has anybody else I know of, except The Malloy.
“The main thing,” Angelo said, “is to remember to make yourself relax. You got two, maybe three days, maybe more, to do in there. Theres no way to get out of it, and no way to cut it short. You mights well accept it and get use to it, and relax.”
“Thats logical,” Prew said. “Whats hard about that?”
“Well,” Angelo said “you aint never been in there.”
“Course I aint never been in there. Thats why you’re briefing me, aint it?”
“Well, I dont want to scare you off nor nothing.”
“You wont scare me off,” Prew said quickly. “Lets have it. Lay it out.”
“I’ve been in there five times myself you know. I dont look no differnt, do I?”
“Well,” Prew said, “not much differnt. Come on, lay it out.”
“Okay, I’ll see can I explain it to you. But it aint really near as hard as it sound, when you tell it. You got to remember,” he said sheepishly, “that it aint near so hard as it sound.”
He went on swinging his hammer, carefully, punctuating his sentences with the hammerblows, carefully, so the guard would not notice and interrupt, as he talked.
“The first half hour,” Angelo Maggio said, “after they throw you in, that aint so bad. They’ve probly work you over a little bit and the relief of gettin free from that carries you a while. You just lay there and relax for a while.”
“Yes,” Prew said.
“Ony, that begins to wear off after a half hour or so,” Angelo Maggio said. “Thats when your mind starts to workin again. The Malloy says thats what causes it: Theres nothin to do but sit, and of course there aint no light, and you aint got no outlet for your thinking, see?”
“Yes,” Prew said.
“Well,” Angelo said. “I dont know what causes it myself,” he said apologetically, “but after the first half hour or so you awys get to imaginin, somehow or other, that the walls is on wheels like, see?”
“Yes,” Prew said.
“Well, you think they’re closin in on you, like, on them wheels,” Angelo Maggio said, “and thats when you first get so you cant breathe. Now I know it sounds silly as hell,” he said.
“Yes,” Prew said.
“You see, there aint enough room to stand up in there without bending over, and if there was you’d ony be able to take three steps from front to back. Course, theres no room to walk sideways at all. So you cant walk it off, you have to just sit, or lay, on the bunk, and do all your relaxin in your mind. I know it sounds stupid,” he said.
“Yes,” Prew said. “Come on,” he said.
Angelo took a deep breath like a man about to dive from a board too high for his ability but that he cant back down from now that he is up ther