From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [246]
Angelo Maggio, flanked by two MP guards with riot guns and sidearms, was sitting in the anteroom to the police lieutenant’s office, as the mob trooped in.
“My god,” Maggio cheered. “This here looks like a regular G Company roll call, or else convention. Who’s got the beer?”
One of the big MPs jerked his head. “Shut up,” he said.
“Okay, Brownie,” Maggio grinned cheerfully. “Whatever you say. I wouldnt want you should shoot me with that buckshot cannon.”
The MP looked discomfited and his eyes narrowed at Maggio, and Maggio’s eyes narrowed back, above his grin.
“Hey, Angelo. Hello, Angelo. Hi, Angelo. Theres Angelo. Look at Angelo. Hows it goin, Angelo.” Men who had liked him in the Company, men who had not liked him in the Company, men who had hardly known he was in the Company, even Bloom who would have liked him out of the Company, they all crowded around to say hello to Angelo.
“I aint allowed to talk,” grinned the celebrity. “I’m under orders. I’m a prisoner, I mean internee. And prisoners aint allowed to talk. They allowed to breath though, if they good that is.”
He seemed to be the same old Angelo. He wanted to know how the Dodgers were making out with their first games.
“I aint had time to keep up on the sports sections lately,” he grinned.
And at first glance, a month in hock did not appear to have changed him any. But a closer look saw that he had lost a lot of weight, and the hollows under his scrawny cheekbones were even deeper, the narrow bony shoulders if that were possible were more narrow and more bony, there were deep crescents of purple doeskin underneath his eyes. He looked harder, both physically and mentally, and when he laughed there was a metallic glitter in it now.
Prew got himself a seat next to him when the detail was told to sit and wait. They talked, low and fast. The two Schofield MPs were obviously at a disadvantage here in public to control their charge.
“They cant do nothing to me here,” Angelo grinned complacently. “They on their good behavior. They got to make a good impression on this gook lieutenant. Orders from headquarters.”
“Wait’ll you get home,” the MP called Brownie said emphatically. “You’ll find yourself wishin you could learn to keep your big mouth shut, when you get home.”
“You’re telling me,” Angelo grinned. “He’s telling me,” he said to Prew. “Thats only been to me the biggest trouble all my life, and he’s tellin me.”
“You think its been trouble?” the MP called Brownie said, “you just think its been trouble, Wop.”
Angelo grinned narrowly. “What can you do to me? thats worse than what I’m doin? Throw me in the Hole maybe for a couple days, is all. You can kill me, but you cant eat me, Brownie.”
He went on talking, leaving the MP looking discomfited again at the unfair advantage that was being taken of him.
“Maybe you better take it easy,” Prew suggested.
“Hell,” Angelo grinned, “I dont get to do this very often. I’m in bad anyway now. I might as well get the good out of it.”
“How is it up there?” Prew said.
“Not so bad. Look at the muscles I’m gettin. And,” he added, “I’m gettin so I like Duke’s Mixture bettern tailormades now. Save me a lot of money when I get out.”
“They treat you all right then,” Prew said. “No rough stuff.”
“Well, it aint exactly a school for young ladies. But at least you know they got your best interests at heart. Aint that right, Brownie?” he grinned.
The MP called Brownie did not answer. He was still discomfited. He stared straight ahead of him.
“He aint use to bein treated like that,” Angelo explained to Prew. “Come to think of it, I aint use to treatin him that way neither.”
“I came up to visit you with a couple cartons of tailormades,” Prew said apologetically. “But they wouldnt let me in.”
“Yeah, I heard about it,” Angelo