Девять рассказов
Pretty Mouth and Green my Eyes
"Inthefirstplace,"hesaid,intothephone,"forahelluvanintelligentguy,you’reaboutastactlessasit’shumanlypossibletobe."Hestraightenedhisbacksothatthegirlcouldreachbehindhimforthecigarettes."Imeanthat.Itshowsupinyourprivatelife,itshowsupinyour—"
"Brains.Oh,God,thatkillsme!ChristalmightylDidyoueverhearherdescribeanybody—someman,Imean?Sometimewhenyouhaven’tanythingtodo,domeafavorandgethertodescribesomemanforyou.Shedescribeseverymansheseesas`terriblyattractive.’Itcanbetheoldest,crummiest,greasiest—
"Allright,Arthur,"thegray-hairedmansaidsharply."Thisisgettingusnowhere.Butnowhere."Hetookalightedcigarettefromthegirl.Shehadlittwo."Justincidentally,"hesaid,exhalingsmokethroughhisnostrils,"how’dyoumakeouttoday?"
"What?"
"How’dyoumakeouttoday?"thegray-hairedmanrepeated."How’dthecasego?"
"Oh,Christ!Idon’tknow.Lousy.AbouttwominutesbeforeI’mallsettostartmysummation,theattorneyfortheplaintiff,Lissberg,trotsinthiscrazychambermaidwithabunchofbedsheetsasevidence—bedbugstainsalloverthem.Christ!"
"Sowhathappened?Youlose?"askedthegrayhairedman,takinganotherdragonhiscigarette.
"Youknowwhowasonthebench?MotherVittorio.Whatthehellthatguyhasagainstme,I’llneverknow.Ican’tevenopenmymouthandhejumpsalloverme.Youcan’treasonwithaguylikethat.It’simpossible."
Thegray-hairedmanturnedhisheadtoseewhatthegirlwasdoing.
