U.S.A_ - John Dos Passos [440]
"They're a clever little people," said Charley.
"Everything's lovely, Charley, except this light hurts my eyes." When he switched off the lights the window was bright-blue. The lights and shadows of the taxis moving up and down the snowy street and the glare from the stores oppo-site made shifting orange oblongs on the ceiling. "Oh, it's wonderful here," said Doris. "Look how oldtimy the street looks with al the ruts in the snow."
Charley kept refil ing the oldfashioneds with whiskey. He got her to take her dress off.
"You know you told me about how dresses cost money.""Oh, you big sil y. . . . Charley, do you like me a little bit?""What's the use of talking . . . I'm absolutely cuckoo about you . . . you
-226-know I want us to be always together. I want us to get mar --""Don't spoil everything, this is so lovely, I never thought anything could be like this. . . . Charley, you're taking precautions, aren't you?""Sure thing," said Char-ley through clenched, teeth and went to his bureau for a condom.
At seven o'clock she got dressed in a hurry, said she had a dinner engagement and would be horribly late. Charley took her down and put her in a taxi. "Now, darling," he said, "we won't talk about what I said. We'l just do it." Walking back up the steep creaky stairs he could taste her mouth, her hair, his head was bursting with the perfume she used. A chil y bitter feeling was getting hold of him, like the feeling of seasickness. "Oh, Christ," he said aloud and threw himself face down on the windowseat. The apartment and Taki and the bootlegger and the
payments on his car and the flowers he sent Doris every day al ran into more money than he expected every
month. As soon as he made a deposit in the bank he drew it out again. He owned a lot of stock but it wasn't paying dividends. At Christmas he had to borrow five hundred bucks from Joe Askew to buy Doris a present. She'd told him he mustn't give her jewelry, so he asked Taki what he thought would be a suitable present for a very rich and beautiful young lady and Taki had said a silk kimono was very suitable, so Charley went out and bought her a man-darincoat. Doris made a funny face when she saw it, but she kissed him with a little quick peck in the corner of the mouth, because they were at her mother's, and said in a singsongy tone, "Oh, what a sweet boy."
Mrs. Humphries had asked him for Christmas dinner.
The house smelt of tinsel and greens, there was a lot of tissuepaper and litter on the chairs. The cocktails were weak and everybody stood around, Nat and Sal y Benton, and some nephews and nieces of Mrs. Humphries', and her sister Eliza who was very deaf, and George Duquesne
-227-who would talk of nothing but wintersports, waiting for the midafternoon dinner to be announced. People seemed sour and embarrassed, except Ol ie Taylor who was just home from Italy ful of the Christmas spirit. He spent most of the time out in the pantry with his coat off manu-facturing what he cal ed an oldtime Christmas punch. He was so busy at it that it was hard to get him to the table for dinner. Charley had to spend al his time taking care of him and never got a word with Doris al day. After dinner and the Christmas punch he had to take Ol ie back to his club. Ol ie was absolutely blotto and huddled fat and whitefaced in the taxi, bubbling "Damn good Christ-mas" over and over again. When he'd put Ol ie in the hands of the doorman Char-ley couldn't decide whether to go back to the Humphries'
where he'd be sure to find Doris and George with their heads together over some damnfool game or other or to go up to the Askews' as he'd promised to. Bil Cermak had asked him out to take a look at the bohunks in Jamaica but he guessed it wouldn't be the thing, he'd said. Charley said sure he'd come, anyplace to get away from the stuffedshirts. From the Penn station he sent a wire wishing the Askews a Merry Christmas. Sure the Askews would