U.S.A_ - John Dos Passos [398]
"Why, look at the loungelizard," kidded Joe from the easychair where he was reading the evening paper with his legs stretched out towards the gaslogs. "Daddy, what's a loungelizard?" intoned Jean. "Grace, would you mind?" Charley went up to Mrs. Askew blushing, with the two ends of his black tie hanging from his col ar.
"Wel , it's certainly devotion," Grace said, getting up out of her chair --to tie the bow she had to stick the tip of her tongue out of the corner of her mouth --"on a night like this.""I'd cal it dementia if you asked me," said Joe.
"Daddy, what's dementia?" echoed Jean, but Charley was already putting on his overcoat as he waited for the ele-vator in the fakemarble hal ful of sample whiffs of al the dinners in al the apartments on the floor.
He pul ed on his wool y gloves as he got into the car. In the park the snow hissed under his wheels. Turning out of the driveway at Fiftyninth he went into a skid, out of it, into it again. His wheels gripped the pavement just be-side a cop who stood at the corner again. His wheels gripped the pavement just be-side a cop who stood at the corner beating his arms against his chest. The cop glared. Charley brought his hand up to his forehead in a snappy salute. The cop laughed.
-203-"Naughty naughty," he said and went on thrashing his arms. When the door of the Humphries' apartment opened
Charley's feet sank right away into the deep nap of a Beluchistan rug. Doris came out to meet him. "Oh, you were a darling to come in this dreadful weather," she cooed. He kissed her. He wished she didn't have so much greasy lipstick on. He hugged her to him so slender in the palegreen eveninggown. "You're the darling," he whis-pered. From the drawingroom he could hear voices, foreign
accents, and the clink of ice in a shaker. "I wish we were goin' to be alone," he said huskily. "Oh, I know, Charley, but they were some people I just had to have. Maybe they'l go home early." She straightened his necktie and patted down his hair and pushed him before her into the drawingroom.
When the last of Doris's dinnerguests had gone the
two of them stood in the hal facing each other. Charley drew a deep breath. He had drunk a lot of cocktails and champagne. He was crazy for her. "Jesus, Doris, they were pretty hard to take.""It was sweet of you to come, Charley." Charley felt bitter smoldering anger swel ing inside him. "Look here, Doris, let's have a talk . . .""Oh, now we're going to be serious." She made a face as she let herself drop on the settee. "Now look here, Doris . . . I'm crazy about you, you know that. . . ."
"Oh, but, Charley, we've had such fun together . . . we don't want to spoil it yet. . . . You know marriage isn't always so funny. . . . Most of my friends who've gotten married have had a horrid time."
"If it's a question of jack, don't worry. The concern's goin' to go big. . . . I wouldn't lie to you. Ask Nat Ben-ton. Just this after' he was explainin' to me how I could start gettin' in the money right away."
Doris got up and went over to him and kissed him.
-204-"Yes, he was a poor old sil y. . . . You must think I'm a horrid mercenary little bitch. I don't see why you'd want to marry me if you thought I was like that. Honestly, Charley, what I'd love more than anything in the world would be to get out and make my own living. I hate this plushhorse existence." He grabbed her to him. She pushed him away. "It's my dress, darling, yes, that costs money, not me. . . . Now you go home and go to bed like a good boy. You look al tired out."
When he got down to the street, he found the snow
had drifted in over the seat of the car. The motor would barely turn over. No way of getting her to start. He cal ed his garage to send somebody to start the car. Since he was in the phonebooth he might as wel cal up Mrs. Darling.
"What a dreadful night, dearie. Wel , since it's Mr. Char-ley, maybe we can fix something up but it's dreadful y short notice and the end of the week too. Wel . . . in about an hour." Charley walked up and down in the snow in front of the apartmenthouse waiting for them to come round from the garage. The black angry bile was stil rising in him. When they final y came and got her started he let the mechanic take her back to the garage. Then he walked around to a speak he knew.