U.S.A_ - John Dos Passos [354]
Charley Anderson lay in his bunk in a glary red buzz. Oh. Titine, damn that tune last night. He lay flat with his eyes hot; the tongue in his mouth was thick warm sour felt. He dragged his feet out from under the blanket and hung them over the edge of the bunk, big white feet with pink knobs on the toes; he let them drop to the red carpet and hauled himself shakily to the porthole. He stuck his head out.
Instead of the dock, fog, little greygreen waves slap-ping against the steamer's scaling side. At anchor. A gul screamed above him hidden in the fog. He shivered and pul ed his head in.
At the basin he splashed cold water on his face and neck. Where the cold water hit him his skin flushed pink. He began to feel cold and sick and got back into his bunk and pul ed the stil warm covers up to his chin. Home. Damn that tune.
He jumped up. His head and stomach throbbed in time now. He pul ed out the chamberpot and leaned over it. He gagged; a little green bile came. No, I don't want to puke. He got into his underclothes and the whipcord pants of his uniform and lathered his face to shave. Shaving made him feel blue. What I need's a . . . He rang for the steward.
"Bonjour, m'sieur.""Say, Bil y, let's have a dou-ble cognac tootsuite." He buttoned his shirt careful y and put on his tunic; looking at himself in the glass, his eyes had red rims and his face looked green under the sunburn. Suddenly he began to feel sick again; a sour gagging was wel ing up from his stomach to his throat. God, these French boats stink. A knock, the steward's frog smile and "Voilá, m'sieur," the white plate slopped with a thin amber spil --3-ing out of the glass. "When do we dock?" The steward shrugged and growled, "La brume."
Green spots were stil dancing in front of his eyes as he went up the linoleumsmel ing companionway. Up on deck the wet fog squeezed wet against his face. He stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned into it. Nobody on deck, a few trunks, steamerchairs folded and stacked. To wind-ward everything was wet. Drops trickled down the brassrimmed windows of the smokingroom. Nothing in any di-rection but fog. Next time around he met Joe Askew. Joe looked fine. His little mustache spread neat under his thin nose. His eyes were clear.
"Isn't this the damnedest note, Charley? Fog."
"Rotten."
"Got a head?"
"You look topnotch, Joe."
"Sure, why not? I got the fidgets, been up since six o'clock. Damn this fog, we may be here al day."
"It's fog al right."
They took a couple of turns round the deck.
"Notice how the boat stinks, Joe?"
"It's being at anchor, and the fog stimulates your smel -ers, I guess. How about breakfast?" Charley didn't say anything for a moment, then he took a deep breath and said, "Al right, let's try it."
The diningsaloon smelt of onions and brasspolish. The Johnsons were already at the table. Mrs. Johnson looked pale and cool. She had on a little grey hat Charley hadn't seen before, al ready to land. Paul gave Charley a sickly kind of smile when he said hel o. Charley noticed how Paul's hand was shaking when he lifted the glass of orangejuice. His lips were white.
"Anybody seen Ol ie Taylor?" asked Charley.
"The major's feelin' pretty bad, I bet," said Paul, gig-gling.
-4-"And how are you, Charley?" Mrs. Johnson intoned sweetly.
"Oh, I'm . . . I'm in the pink."
"Liar," said Joe Askew.
"Oh, I can't imagine," Mrs. Johnson was saying, "what kept you boys up so late last night."
"We did some singing," said Joe Askew.
"Somebody I know," said Mrs. Johnson, "went to bed in his clothes." Her eye caught Charley's.
Paul was changing the subject: "Wel , we're back in God's country."
"Oh, I can't imagine," cried Mrs. Johnson, "what America's going to be like." Charley was bolting his wuffs avec du bakin and the coffee that tasted of bilge.
"What I'm looking forward to," Joe Askew was say-ing, "is a real American breakfast."
"Grapefruit," said Mrs. Johnson.
"Cornflakes and cream," said Joe.
"Hot cornmuffins," said Mrs. Johnson.
"Fresh eggs and real Virginia ham," said Joe.
"Wheatcakes and country sausage," said Mrs. Johnson.