From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [212]
“I dont know.”
“You picked a bad time to come is all. I work here, you know. After all.”
“Yeah?” he said. “I’m the guy that was here three days ago and stayed all night with you and promised you faithfully I’d be back tonight. To stay all night with you. Remember? I’m the guy that laid in bed with you and talked for about three hours.”
“Of course I remember.”
“Hell, you dont even remember my name.”
“Of course I do. You’re Prew. We talked about why I got into this racket. There. You see? I do remember.”
“Yeh,” he said.
“Listen, you go on in number nine and wait and I’ll be back in just a minute. You can get undressed while you’re waiting.”
“No thanks. I had rather wait till later, if you dont mind. I never did much go for mass production, somehow.”
She had started away again, for the third time, but now she came back and looked at him squarely. But her eyes kept slipping away, off his face. “That wont work either, Prew,” she said softly. “I’m already dated up for all night tonight.”
“What!” His mouth felt very dry, he noticed, and he worked his lips to moisten it. “You dint tell me that the other night. You told me . . . What is this, the run-around?”
“I didnt know it then,” Lorene explained, with great patience. “This is Payday. Remember? I can pick up more credits ahead—” she shook the white chip at him “—on this one day than in the whole last three weeks of the month together. Theres a bunch of the big brass coming down from Shafter for a party and they’ve engaged the whole place almost. They called Mrs Kipfer up this morning and they asked for me special.”
“But you’d already promised me,” he protested, “goddam it. Why dint you tell her that?” What’re you doing, begging now? he told himself. Dont you know when you’re not wanted? You’ve lost damn near everything else now, do you have to lose that too?
“Listen,” Lorene said exasperatedly, “cant you understand? When the brass comes around, Mrs Kipfer closes the whole place up for them. How do you think it would look for the EM to see them here?”
Yes, he thought, that bitch, that lousy bitch, she knew it all along. “I dont give a good goddam how it ‘would look.’ Not a single good goddam.” A big GI in civilians and fat enough to be a first cook pushed through between them elbowing by, and Prew watched him hopefully. “Watch what the hell you’re doin, Mack. You son of a bitch,” he said, but the big guy did not even turn around. Damn, he thought, cant even insult somebody, oh damn.
“You couldnt have even gotten in,” Lorene was saying, “even if I did turn the job down. I just would have lost the commission, thats all, and for nothing. When they come down from Shafter they pay big money. They scatter it around like leaves of lettuce. What is fifteen bucks to them? The girls make more off of one of those nights than they do in a whole ordinary week. I’m sorry, Prew, but what else could I do?”
“You’re sorry? How the hell you think I feel? She’s sorry,” he said. “She’s very sorry. I only been counting on this like a goddam kid counts on Christmas.” Why dont you shut up, Prewitt? Aint you got any pride left at all?
“I am sorry. But you havent got any claims on me, mister. You’re not my husband, you know.”
“Yeh I know. I sure as hell aint, am I? Jesus Christ, Lorene,” he said.
“Listen, every minute we talk here is costing me four bits . . .”
“And thats a lot of money, aint it?”
“. . . and theres nothing I can do about the other. Do you want me to slip you in ahead, or don’t you? I’m going out of my way to do that as it is.”
Thats right, he thought. Women were so practical.
“Well,” she said, “what do you say?”
He looked at her, at the very wide mouth across the thin child’s face that was compressed into a harried impatience, now, wanting to tell her what to do with it, to take it all of it and stick it, and walk out of this ratrace. Instead, he heard himself saying, “Okay,” and hated himself for saying it.
“All right then,” Lorene said. “In number nine. And get undressed.