Nathanael West - The Day of the Locust [51]
“But that’ll only get rid of the Mexican,” Tod said. “You’ll have to throw Earle out yourself.”
“Maybe he’ll go with his friend?”
Tod knew that Homer was begging him to agree so that he could go on hoping, but he refused.
“Not a chance. You’ll have to throw him out”
Homer accepted this with his brave, sweet smile. “Maybe…”
“Tell Faye to do it,” Tod said.
“Oh, I can’t”
“Why the hell not? It’s your house.”
“Don’t be mad at me, Toddle.”
“All right, Homie, I’m not mad at you.”
Faye’s voice came through the open window.
“And when your throat gets dry, You know you’re high, If you’re a viper.”
The others harmonized on the last word, repeating it. “Vi-paah…”
“Toddle,” Homer began, “if…”
“Stop calling me Toddle, for Christ’s sake!”
Homer didn’t understand. He took Tod’s hand.
“I didn’t mean nothing. Back home we call…”
Tod couldn’t stand his trembling signals of affection. He tore free with a jerk.
“Oh, but, Toddle, I…”
“She’s a whore!”
He heard Homer grunt, then heard his knees creak as he struggled to his feet.
Faye’s voice came pouring through the window, a reedy wail that broke in the middle with a husky catch.
“High, high, high, high, when you’re high, Everything is dandy, Truck on down to the candy store, Bust your conk on peppermint candy! Then you know your body’s sent, Don’t care if you don’t pay rent, Sky is high and so am I, If you’re a viper—a vi-paah.”
23
When Tod went back into the house, he found Earle, Abe Kusich and Claude standing together in a tight group, watching Faye dance with Miguel. She and the Mexican were doing a slow tango to music from the phonograph. He held her very tight, one of his legs thrust between hers, and they swayed together in long spirals that broke rhythmically at the top of each curve into a dip. All the buttons on her lounging pajamas were open and the arm he had around her waist was inside her clothes.
Tod stood watching the dancers from the doorway for a moment, then went to a little table on which the whiskey bottle was. He poured himself a quarter of a tumblerful, tossed it off, then poured another drink. Carrying the glass, he went over to Claude and the others. They paid no attention to him; their heads moved only to follow the dancers, like the gallery at a tennis match.
“Did you see Homer?” Tod asked, touching Claude’s arm. Claude didn’t turn, but the dwarf did. He spoke as though hypnotized.
“What a quiff! What a quiff!”
Tod left them and went to look for Homer. He wasn’t in the kitchen, so he tried the bedrooms. One of them was locked. He knocked lightly, waited, then repeated the knock. There was no answer, but he thought he heard someone move. He looked through the keyhole. The room was pitch dark.
“Homer,” he called softly.
He heard the bed creak, then Homer replied.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me—Toddie.”
He used the diminutive with perfect seriousness. “Go away, please,” Homer said.
“Let me in for a minute. I want to explain something.”
“No,” Homer said, “go away, please.”
Tod went back to the living room. The phonograph record had been changed to a fox-trot and Earle was now dancing with Faye. He had both his arms around her in a bear hug and they were stumbling all over the room, bumping into the walls and furniture. Faye, her head thrown back, was laughing wildly. Earle had both eyes shut tight.
Miguel and Claude were also laughing, but not the dwarf. He stood with his fists clenched and his chin stuck out. When he couldn’t stand any more of it, he ran after the dancers to cut in. He caught Earle by the seat of his trousers.
“Le’me dance,” he barked.
Earle turned his head, looking down at the dwarf from over his shoulder.
“Git! G’wan, git!”
Faye and Earle had come to a halt with their arms around each other. When the dwarf lowered his head like a goat and tried to push between them, she reached down and tweaked his nose.
“Le’me dance,” he bellowed.
They tried to start again, but Abe wouldn’t let them. He had his hands between them and was trying frantically to pull them apart. When that wouldn’t work, he kicked Earle sharply in the shins. Earle kicked back and his boot landed in the little man