The Studs Lonigan Trilogy - James T. Farrell [394]
“I saw your ad in this morning’s paper,” he began with attempted casualness.
“What’s your name?” she interrupted.
“Lonigan,” he answered, feeling as if the hostile eyes of those on the bench were boring into his back.
“Well, Mr. Lonergan, will you sit down and wait? Mr. Peters will see you just as soon as he gets through seeing those ahead of you.”
“Thanks,” he said, not bothering to correct her mispronunciation of his name.
He sat down at the edge of the stiff bench. He was wet and chilled. His trouser legs were soggy, and the rain had soaked through his shoes. He watched the girl at the desk chew gum as she typed rapidly. Hard and tough-looking baby, all right, the kind who knew what it was all about, he guessed.
“Nasty day,” the fellow beside him said.
“Damn rotten, and I’m soaked,” Studs replied, surprised.
He watched the stranger squeeze slimy bubbles of ooze from his shoes by pressing continually on the balls of his feet. Noticing the rip on the instep of the right shoe, he guessed that here was a guy who was plenty hard up, and he seemed at least forty, his face thin, wrinkles under the eyes, the cheeks sunken.
“Hell to be looking for something to do on a day like this,” the fellow said, revealing discolored teeth when the spoke.
“Damn right,” Studs said, telling himself that the fellow’s teeth gave him the willies, they looked so ugly.
“But then, these are hard times. I’ve been through other depressions, but none of them can match this one.”
“Yeah, times are tough,” Studs said, holding back the impulse to talk about his own troubles.
“Me, maybe I don’t look it, but I once was up in the class. I’m a college graduate. Michigan, and I’ve been up in the class. Maybe I don’t look it, but I was a ten-thousand-dollar-a-year man, and I had my money tucked neatly in the bank. And the bank failed. So here I am, holding the sack. But I’ll come back.”
Studs nodded agreement. The other went on, “Stranger, these are tough times. And don’t I know it! It’s quite a come-down from being a ten-thousand-dollar-a-year man to this, but I’ll come back.”
Studs saw clearly that this fellow was full of bull, but the guy had a good line anyway, ought to make a good sales-man.
“You know it’s these rich louses who ruined the country. They want to take everything for themselves and leave nothing for anybody else. So all of us, even those like myself, who’ve been in the class, we’re just underdogs to them. But they can’t keep a man like myself down. I’m a college graduate, Missouri University, and I’ll get back in the class.”
“Well, I was getting along. I studied to be a traffic manager, but things are bad and I had a set-back. I’ve got to get something for a little while to get back on my feet.”
“You and I, well, just to take a look at us, anybody could tell we’re not the underdog or working-stiff type. And when we got to go out looking for something to do, and the breaks have gone against us, well, it only goes to show how hard times are.”
Studs nodded. He saw that the heavy fellow next to this guy was giving the two of them a fishy eye, and he wished this fellow would stop shovelling out so much crap.
“I’ll tell you, stranger, it’s a dirty shame when you and I and our type have to take it on the chin. Take myself now, I get pretty damn sore when I think of what I had. A swell apartment out on Wilson Avenue, gals, all the wine, women, and song my little heart desired, and a nice wad socked away. Nothing in the world to disturb my peace of mind, or my night’s rest. And then, the firm goes bust, the bank closes its doors, so here I am. But I ain’t through, not by a damn sight. I was in the class once, and that’s where I’ll be again.”
Studs turned away, not wanting to see any more of the fellow’s teeth, hoping the others on the bench or the girl typing wouldn’t take him to be the same type of crap artist.
The girl walked out of the office, wriggling with each step. The way they all gave her the once-over reminded Studs how the boys used to line up in front of the Fifty-eighth Street poolroom and undress every girl who passed. And this dame, he could see that she was a teasing bitch who liked to be looked at. Well, let her flaunt herself. He wasn