Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara [78]
The woman closed the door in his face and in a few minutes she came back and handed him a check and a five-dollar bill. The cash is for you. A tip, said the woman. Stick it Al began. Don t you say that to me, you dago wop, said the old woman. I got two boys would teach you how to talk. If you don t want the money, give it here.
The hell I will, said Al. Aw, my goodness. Where you going, beautiful lady? You going somewhere? said Foxie Lebrix. Can that stuff, said Helene Holman. Will you phone down to Taqua and get me a taxi? I ll pay you for the call.
Aw, but I hate to see you leave. I t out you and I
I know you thought, but we ain t, see? If you don t want to get me a taxi, say so and I ll walk it, said Helene. Wit all dose bags?
You’re damn right. The quicker I get out of this place the better I like it. Well, what about the taxi?
Wall, I would not see you walking in the snow. Maybe we see each other in New York some day, and you get me a taxi when I leave your place, eh? Sure I get you a taxi.
CHAPTER 8
MARY KLEIN had gone home to lunch and Julian was alone in the office, with a small array of sheets of paper on which were rows of figures, names, technical words: Number of cars sold in 1930; our cut on new cars sold; gas and oil profit 1930; tires and accessories profit 1930; profit on resale of cars taken in trade; other profit; insurance on building; ins. on equipment; ins. on rolling stock; interest on bldg.; taxes; advertising; graft; expenses; light; other elec. outlay; heat; tool replacement; licenses; office stuff, incl. stationery; workmen s compensation; protective association; telephones; bad debts; stamps; trade-in losses; lawyer & accountant fees; building repairs; losses not covered by ins.; plumber; depreciation on bldg.; deprec. on equipment; depr. on trade-in jobs; depr. on new cars not moved; contributions to charity; cash advance to self; notes due at bank; cash needed for payroll. ... As a result of his figuring Julian announced to the empty room: I have to have five thousand dollars.
He stood up. I said, I have to have five thousand dollars, and I don t know where I can get it. & Yes, I do. Nowhere. He knew he was lying to himself; that he did not need five thousand dollars. He needed money, and he needed it soon, but not five thousand dollars. Two thousand would be enough, and with any break in the beginning of the year, after the auto shows in New York and Philadelphia (which are attended by a surprising number of Gibbsville automobile enthusiasts), he would be able to get back on his feet. But he reasoned that it was just as hard to get two thousand as five, five thousand as two. It was easier to get five, he told himself; and as he had argued less than a year ago, when he had gone to Harry Reilly for a loan, he might as well go for a neat, convenient-sounding sum. The question seemed to be: Where to get it. Tempers are better in summer than in winter, in Gibbsville; Julian s summer life had included a good deal of Harry Reilly last summer, and it was easy enough to get away from him. If you didn’t want to play golf with Harry, you said you had promised Caroline to play a match for blood with her, which did away with the necessity of asking Harry to play along. On the other hand, it was not bad to drink with Harry in a party of undershirted convivials in the locker-room, and Harry was a fair tenor and even knew songs about the roll of Delta Kappa Epsilon, Lafayette was Lafayette when Lehigh was a pup, the Lord Jeff of Amherst, and a lot of other college songs. Of course Harry got the words wrong sometimes, but Julian