The Studs Lonigan Trilogy - James T. Farrell [346]
He bought a slug, looked up her number, and phoned. Temporarily disconnected. Couldn’t afford to pay her bill, he guessed. Well, under the circumstances, he’d be a welcome and profitable visitor.
He hastened out of the store, bent his head, and trudged along in the pelting rain. This little hardship would make it all the nicer, and he could let his shoes and socks dry while he engaged in a real serious bout of love. Thinking of how she had looked stripped, he plunged his foot into a sidewalk puddle, cursed, proceeded at a more tiring pace.
Damp, his feet wet, he rang her door-bell and climbed the stairs. She stood in the doorway in a soiled apron.
“Hello, I thought I’d come around and see you again,” he said familiarly, wiping his feet.
“Come in a minute, please,” she said, startled, and he hopefully stepped in.
“On a bum and dreary day like this, a fellow needs someone like you to make him feel that he’s a man,” he said in a strained voice while she closed the door.
“But I never asked you to come back.”
“I thought it would be a surprise, particularly if you’ve been feeling as dopey this morning as I have.”
“You know, I’m not a chippy and my home is not a disorderly house. What do you mean by coming here like this?”
“I didn’t mean it in that way. I just liked you, and wanted to see you under more favorable conditions than the other day, so I thought, what the hell, nobody would be the loser if I came,” he said, trying to smile persuasively and break through her discomforting, unyielding glance.
“You’d better go see a chippy. I can’t do that. I’m not that kind. If you had any feeling, you’d have realized the kind of fix that forced me to do that the other day, and you wouldn’t have come back here like this, uninvited.”
Nice little greeting after his trip in the rain.
“But you don’t stand to lose anything, and it won’t hurt your husband if he doesn’t know about it. If you’ll play ball with me, I’ll give you five bucks. Come on,” he said, pulling out his wallet and drawing out a five-dollar bill.
“Please go.”
He felt like a clown and her voice seemed like a whip. He tried to win her by an intense and impassioned stare, and she returned it with a curling sneer.
“Come on, sister. you know the ropes and it’s not going to hurt you. It’ll mean five bucks extra for the ponies. I wouldn’t have walked all the way here in the rain if I didn’t think you were worth it.”
“I’m sorry to inform you that I cannot return your compliment.”
“I don’t see why you should treat me this way,” he said, knowing immediately that his words were a bull.
“Who are you that I should worry how I treat you? What do I owe you?”
“That’s not what I mean. It’s... aw, come on, sister, let’s get to knowing each other,” he said, reaching to grasp her hand.
“Don’t!” she said, stepping back. “Whenever I’m as hard up as you seem to be, I can certainly find myself a better specimen than you.”
“Listen,” he said, sore.
“I wish that you would please get the hell out of my house.”
“Say, what the hell’s the idea? One day you hustle like a bitch, and the next you try to pull a high-hat gag like this.”
“If you don’t leave I’ll call the police.”
“And then we’ll ride to jail together in the paddy wagon, and George’ll come down to bail you out. There’s a law against whores in this town.”
“Who’d take your word for mine? My husband’ll kill you, he’ll break you in two. Get out before I scream. Get out! Get out, you dirty little rat!”
“All right, girlie. Keep your pants up. I ain’t afraid of anybody getting tough, and you can send your husband around any old time.”
“Are you going?”
“You can bet your boots I’m going. Sorry I made the mistake.”
“If you ever come around again, I’ll have you arrested... Say, I remember how you acted yesterday, and I pity any woman who’d get the idea that you’re a good time. Say, you don’t even know how to jazz.”
“All I can say is I feel sorry for George, having a cheating bitch like you for a wife.”
“Get out before I scream!”
The door slammed behind him, and he hurried downstairs and out of the building.