From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [79]
Prew stopped rubbing his hand on the slipperiness and looked up but he did not grin, and he did not speak.
“If you let me go with you and sweat them,” Sal said, “I’ll go for nothin. Save you money.”
“For Christ’s sake, shut up,” Andy said sullenly. “Cant you see he dont want you to go? You aint got no goddam pride a tall.”
“There wont be hardly nobody over there,” Maggio said. “Thats why. This late in the month there’ll only be the big winner’s poker table goin, and maybe one blackjack game for small fry.”
“We’re goin to the second show anyway,” Andy said. He walked back to Prew. “Loan me twenty cents, Prew, will you? So we can go to the show? I got twenty left, but Sal needs twenty.”
“Here,” Prew said bitterly, handing him the sixty cents he had. “Take it all. It wont do me no good.”
“Aw, I hate to do that,” Andy said, but he did not draw back his hand.
“Yeah, you hate it,” Prew said. “I know you hate it.”
“I do,” Andy said. “All I ask you for was twenty cents.” He looked at Prew, his eyes going out of focus because he knew he was lying, and he did not want to lie, but still wanted the money.
“Well you got it all, so shut up,” Prew said. “And for god sake when you talk to a man look him in the goddam eyes, will you? You give me the goddam willies.”
“Okay, Prew,” Andy said. “You want me to take it all?”
“You got it, aint you? Go spend it and shut up.”
“Okay,” Andy said. “Come on, Sal,” he said, walking over to the bench. “Lets play couple hands of casino, till its show time.”
Prew looked at him disgustedly and went back to the sink, feeling the need of a woman writhing in his belly.
“Hey, Prew,” Maggio called cautiously, jerking his head back at the door. “Come on out on the porch a minute.”
“What for?” Prew said, knowing he was being bastardly, but unable to stop it. “You got the money, go blow it.”
“Come on out here a minute, goddam it,” Maggio said.
“Okay,” he said, and left the sink. Andy did not look up as he passed, but Sal Clark looked up and grinned with his bashful fawn’s eyes at him.
“Take it easy, Friday,” Prew said gently.
Chapter 11
MAGGIO WAS STANDING on the porch, waiting for him, his bony shoulders in the undershirt hunched up against the chill, staring at the streams of water falling just outside the screen. The sound of water spattering on the walk below filled the whole porch, drowning the sounds of sleep from in the squadroom.
“You want to go to town with me? if I win?” he asked, turning as Prew came out.
Prew grunted irritably. “What’re you doin? invitin me because you feel sorry for me?”
“Ha,” Maggio said. “Dont flatter yourself. I just dont like to go to town by myself. I dont know anybody in town.”
“Well neither do I,” Prew said.
“A guy’s more lonesome in town by himself than he is right here,” Maggio said.
“Not if he’s got money. You better take what you got and go by yourself, while you still got it,” Prew said. “You go over to O’Hayer’s, you wont have it long,” he said bluntly.
“Listen,” Angelo said. “You dont want to let that Bloom character get your goat. Everybody knows he’s a prize prick.”
“You listen. He dont bother me; he fucks with me I’ll bust his goddam flat head for him. And that goes for all the rest of them. See?”
“It wouldnt do you any good,” Angelo said reasonably.
“Maybe not, but it would make me feel a hell of a lot better.”
“He was needling you with all that crap about being yellow,” Maggio said. “Nobody believes that.”
Prew had started back to the latrine, but now he stopped. “Listen, Angelo,” he said, turning back. “Lets drop this. I dont care whether they, or anybody, believe it or not,” he said seriously. “They can all of them go screw themselves, and I’ll be the first guy to walk across the street and watch it.”
“Okay,” Maggio said briefly. “I’m sorry I mentioned it. Wait’ll I get my shirt. I’m freezin to death. I thought them travel posters said they dint have no winter in Hawaii.”
He disappeared into the slowly, rhythmically bre