U.S.A_ - John Dos Passos [451]
"The type for a smal infanta by Velasquez." He had a definite foreign accent when he spoke earnestly. "Wel , I was married to a Spaniard once. . . . That was enough of Spanish grandees and al that kind of thing to last me a lifetime.""Wait, wait," said Sam Margolies, walking al round her. "I see it, first in streetclothes and then . . ." He ran out of the room and came back with a black lace shawl. "An infanta in the court of old Spain."
-332-"You don't know what it's like to be married to one," said Margo. "And to live in a house ful of noble spick relatives."
While Sam Margolies was posing her in her street-clothes Mr. A was walking up and down fidgeting with his cigar. It must have been getting cloudy out because the overhead skylight grew darker and darker. When Sam Margolies turned the floodlights on her the skylight went blue, like on the stage. Then when he got to posing her in the Spanish shawl and made her take her things off and let her undies down so that she had nothing on but the shawl above the waist, she noticed that Mr. A had let his cigar go out and was watching intently. The reflection from the floodlight made his eyes glint. After the photographer was through, when they were
walking down the gritty wooden stairs from the studio, Mr. A said, "I don't like that guy . . . makes me think of a pimp."
"Oh, no, it's just that he's very artistic," said Margo.
"How much did he say the photographs were?"
"Plenty," said Mr. A.
In the unlighted hal that smelt of cabbage cooking somewhere, he grabbed her to him and kissed her.
Through the glass front door she could see a flutter of snow in the street that was empty under the lamps. "Aw, to hel with him," he said, stretching his fingers out across the smal of her back. "You're a great little girl, do you know it? Gosh. I like this house. It makes me think of the old days."
Margo shook her head and blinked. "Too bad about our drive," she said. "It's snowing.""Drive hel ," said Mr. A. "Let's you and me act like we was fond of each other for tonight at least. . . . First we'l go to the Meadowbrook and have a little bite to drink. . .
. Jesus, I wish I'd met you before I got in on the dough, when I war livin' in bedbug al ey and al that sort of thing."
-333-She let her head drop on his chest for a moment. "Char-ley, you're number one," she whispered. That night he got Margo to say that when Agnes took Frank out to his sister's house in New Jersey like she was planning, to try if a little country air wouldn't do him good, she'd go and live with him. "If you knew how I was sick of this hel raisin' kind of life," he told her. She looked straight up in his boiled blue eyes. "Do you think I like it, Mr. A?" She was fond of Charley Anderson that night. After that Sunday Sam Margolies cal ed up Margo
about every day, at the apartment and at Piquot's, and sent her photographs of herself al framed for hanging but she would never see him. She had enough to think of, what with being alone in the apartment now, because Agnes had final y got Frank away to the country with the help of a practitioner and a great deal of reading of Science and Health, and al the bil s to pay and daily letters from Tony who'd found out her address saying he was sick and begging for money and to be al owed to come around to see her. Then one Monday morning she got down to Piquot's
late and found the door locked and a crowd of girls mil -ing shril y around in front of it. Poor Piquot had been found dead in his bathtub from a dose of cyanide of potas-sium and there was nobody to pay their back wages. Piquot's being dead gave Margo the creeps so that she didn't dare go home. She went down to Altman's and did some shopping and at noon cal ed up Mr. A's office to tel him about Piquot and to see if he wouldn't have lunch with her. With poor old Piquot dead and her job gone, there was nothing to do but to strike Mr. A for a lump sum. About two grand would fix her up, and she could get her solitaire diamond Tad had given her out of hock. Maybe if she teased him he would put her up to something good on the market. When she cal ed up they said Mr. Anderson wouldn't be in his office until three. She went to