The Studs Lonigan Trilogy - James T. Farrell [281]
“And Steve O’Grady’s old man whetted his gullet with plenty, too, in his time,” O’Grady said.
“You know, it’s funny. Now, you take my old man. I’m pretty sure he was wild and sowed his wild oats in his day. But he must have changed a lot since then. He acted toward Martin there and me as if he didn’t want us to have what he had, and as if he didn’t even understand why a guy could want to go out, tip the bottle, raise some hell. Funny, isn’t it, the way people change,” Studs said.
“Wait till you are married and you make me the uncle of some squawking little Studs Lonigans,” Martin laughed.
“Going to march down the middle aisle with a flower in your buttonhole, huh, Studs? Well, congratulations,” O’Doul said.
“That reminds me. Pete Webb just took a run-out powder on his wife. She’s having a kid, and Pete, who never liked work anyway, didn’t have a job, so he just took the run-out powder,” Pat said.
“He was the skinny, dark-haired punk around the corner who was so chicken, wasn’t he?” Studs said.
“That’s Webb, Lonigan,” Bryan said.
“What’s his frau doing besides having a baby?” asked Schuber.
“Webb was crummy to pull a stunt like that,” O’Grady said.
“Fellows, you can’t always tell what a guy’s reasons are when he does a thing like that. He might be wanting to explore new fields for nooky, and you know, a john has got no conscience. And then, the broad a guy marries might not be just what he’s bargained for. There’s plenty of dames walking the streets, keen babies, too, and a fellow looks at them, gets hot in the pants, takes them out and throws a little necking party, and he begins to think, now, well, here’s the gal who’s got just what it takes, and is the answer to all my prayers, and she’s got everything plus. Well, what he wants really is a piece of tail, and she won’t put it out without the ring on her finger, so he puts the ring on her finger for a piece of tail, and after he gets tired of that, he finds out that she’s got everything minus, and a tongue and things like that. So he finds out that he hasn’t gotten any bargain after all. You can’t always tell a guy’s reasons when he takes a run-out powder,” Allison said.
“Still, it’s pretty low to breeze on a girl after you’ve married and knocked her up,” Studs said.
“You never could rely on Pete for anything,” Pat said.
“That’s the way I always doped him,” Studs said.
“Say, that’s the twelfth train I watched go by tonight. I counted ‘em,” O’Doul said, watching an eastbound train clatter out of the Bryn Mawr station.
“Jesus Christ!” O’Grady exclaimed in surprise. “That’s my idea of nothing to do. Counting trains. Hey, O’Doul, how many automobiles has passed here going to South Shore in the last nineteen minutes?”
“Huh?”
“You’re falling down on the job, boy,” said O’Grady, and they laughed.
“Well, now that the barbering has gone so far, let’s get a bottle,” Bryan said.
Studs was tempted, and thought of how he could get ‘em off on a rip-roaring drunk and show them what Studs Lonigan really was, and teach the kid brother a couple of tricks for good measure.
“Now, Bryan, you’re showing me you got some stuff on the ball,” Martin said.
“I’m game, Don. But since this is your bright idea, how about you shelling out for the bottle? Steve O’Grady will help you drink it,” O’Grady said.
“Who was your chump last year?”
“You.”
“Well, try hunting a new one this year,” Bryan said while they laughed.
“Oh, by the way, Pat, you know that keen broad, Louise Mahler? She’s getting to look more like hot stuff every day. Saw her at a dance at the Westgate last week,” Schuber said, O’Doul turning to look at them.
“Has she been introduced into the mysteries of life and love yet?” asked Bryan.
“Don, your mind is lousy. She’s a decent girl,” Pat said.
“And sure, so was I a decent boy once,” Bryan said.
“Say, Studs, how’s Phil Rolfe making out these days?” Pat asked.
“That boy just rakes in the dough,” Martin said.
“Phil Rolfe. Oh, that’s right, he’s your brother-in-law, isn’t he, Lonigan? Sure, I would say he’s cleaning up. I was over to his place a few weeks ago, played a buck on a nag, and she paid four to one, and was his joint crowded! Lots of women there old enough to be my mother, too, playing the ponies. With times kind of hard, everybody is trying to make a little extra, and a lot of