The Studs Lonigan Trilogy - James T. Farrell [377]
“The time certainly does pass here, doesn’t it?”
He shook his head and looked sidewise at her. She leaned forward, watching, her dimpled chin resting in her left hand. She looked cute, pretty, and he wished he could keep her in that pose, just that way. And she looked no different either, from what she had before she’d been made. He guessed he liked her.
“They make me feel kind of sorry for them, some of them look so tired. And that poor partner of Squirmy Stevens, poor girl, having to hold him up when he’s in such a dead sleep.”
“Well, that’s their racket and they get dough for it. Look at all the dough that was thrown into them. And then after that little play, they came through the stands here selling their pictures. It’s tough, but they’re getting something.”
“You’re heartless. I bet you would feel a lot different if you were going through what they are down there.”
“I know that.”
“But I wouldn’t let you, Bill, not if it was for a ten-thousand dollar prize. The things they go through! Look at that poor Greek boy falling all over that girl.”
“It’s a dumb stunt in one way, because they got to go so much, but they must be making a lot of dough. Still, your health is worth more to you than all the dough in the world.”
“You bet it is.”
“And say, they get a crowd. People are still coming in.”
“Shall we leave, Bill?”
“All right.”
“The air gets so bad and there’s so much cigarette smoke. I bet this dance does no good for their lungs.”
“Me, too.”
The contestants silently circled the floor, marched around and around almost in slow motion.
“Shall we just wait until the next rest period and see if anything else happens?”
“All right,” Studs said.
“Katy Jones is a brave girl. And that partner of hers, Honks Oliver, he’s the deadest old thing. He’s always asleep, falling all over her. And Katy, she’s such a brave girl.”
“Yes, look at her. She’s having a time with him, isn’t she?” Studs watched Katy Jones shift the strain her partner placed on her, his arms flung around her, his head lodged against her stomach, her large breasts wobbling. She shook his head and talked to him.
“If I was Katy, I’d give him a good kick in his ask-me-no-questions,” the woman below them said.
“Say, the Romans were more humane. They fed their people to the lions and didn’t leave them suffer,” a fellow above them said.
“Yes, it makes me ill to look at them,” a girl answered the fellow.
“They look worse than a chain gang walking around the floor,” the fellow said.
Studs saw Katy hold her partner under the arms, again speaking. She locked his hands in hack of her neck and dragged him, lightly slapping his face.
“That Jones dame is a tough gal. She’s always fighting with Honks Oliver,” a fellow to Studs’ right said.
“He’s an old no-good, always sleeping, and the poor girl has to carry him around,” the woman below said, flashing an angry glance at the fellow.
“My, some of the people who come here take it awfully seriously,” Catherine said very low, and Studs smiled, watching Katy Jones.
“Ouch,” Honks Oliver yelled as Katy suddenly bit his ear.
“Good for you! Bite him again, Katy!” the woman below them shouted, standing up and waving her purse.
“Looks like a nice row. I’m glad we stayed,” Studs said, while all over the hall people were shouting, laughing, talking with rising excitement.
“Well, I ain’t a bed or a pillow,” Katy said loudly while the referee and the contestants clustered around her and Honks Oliver.
“If I was Oliver, I’d sock that broad in her kisser. Hell, she sleeps on him, too,” the fellow beside Studs said.
“Wake up, Katy,” a woman cried shrilly from the stands. The siren sounded. Katy and Oliver walked off the floor, followed by others, and a male attendant assisted Squirmy, whose face was besotted with sleep.
“We’ll wait until their rest is over and see what happens.”
“All right,” Studs yawned.
VI
A cheer broke over the hall when Katy Jones and Honks Oliver smiled at each other and joined the dragging parade.
A half dollar landed at Honks’ feet. He picked it up and handed it to Katy,