Oh! So it’s dirty cracks he’s after! I can dish out my share! I give him a demonstration real fast.
“When it comes to corpses, dear sir, let me tell you I’ve seen shitloads!… More than you’ll ever see in your lifetime!… Soldiers, brave men! Worthy, decorated! Not filthy pigs! Dung-covered jerks! Lousy rotten Clabens! So here’s to you! Remember who you’re talking to! Just save it!”
I put him back in his place.
I was getting riled, I was this close to whacking him, the guy was bugging me so bad! Relief with a wallop! Mr Expert Pimp!…
He sees I’m going through the roof!… Acknowledges the fact!… Sort of realizes… quite willing to admit I’ve got my reasons…
“Discuss without losing your temper… You’re not behind bars yet! But I’m telling you! Watch out! There’s that exhibit for the prosecusheeun!” Here we go again with the prosecusheeun!
“I told you! You deaf or what?… This isn’t the Épinettes here! You’re in London, get me? In London!”
My laid-back attitude was getting to him.
“In London! it’s the exhibit for the prosecusheeun! There, did you get it? No exhibit for the prosecusheeun no guilty verdict! You understand English: guilty! And so who’s ditching your exhibit for the prosecusheeun right now even as we speak! I’m not talking about John Bull’s exhibit! But yours! Your exhibit for the prosecusheeun! Not you, big talker! Not John Bull! Your pals, that’s who! Yeah, sweetheart, your pals! Not the Pope! Don’t you realize? Huh? Here’s how they say the word here: ree-ah-laeezzz!… Now that’s English! The real spoken stuff! Ree-ah-laeezzz!” Pig-headed on that point, saying I should have left with them, got personally involved, I must be feeling pretty damn ashamed now!
“You’re one lucky devil! Got to say it! You’re one lucky devil!…”
It turned his stomach.
Outside, it was thundering again, over the western part of the city. Through the window, the panes, you could see the bouquets of shrapnel bursting in the clouds… and even farther out towards Chelsea… plus the pencil beams of the searchlights scurrying after the flecks… like some kid’s game.
The ladies were dancing among themselves, whomping each other on the rump, a whack at each cannon burst… they let up a terrible howl, but nobody was really afraid. It was happening too far away.
Delphine was bellowing out on the embankment… giving her performance… she didn’t want to be disturbed…
“Knights! Knights!” she was calling… she wanted the knights to come running.
Inside, there was no intermission. Bottles were being popped faster and faster… Pop! Bang! Pop! The waltz of the corks! A flood of bubbly! The Scottish polka was the big dance of the moment, a titillating step, with sharp squeals…
I was watching Virginia dance with Little Sweetheart. I wasn’t too crazy about Little Sweetheart, crafty, syrupy, two-faced… but I wasn’t going to go into a snit! Cascade snaps out of his thinking mood. He too is watching the dancers…
“So tell me now,” he asks me, “she keeping it?”
“She keeping what?” I wasn’t following…
“The kid!”
“We’ll see…”
Wasn’t his business.
Another moment of silence, then he pops out just like that, point-blank: “What you scraping by on right now? You flat broke? Or are you holing up somewhere?…”
He fishes around, pulls out of his pocket a wad of pounds, big notes, fivers!
“Take it!” he goes… gives it to me.
Kind of sudden.
I’d rather not. But do.
“I’ll pay you back!” I act dignified…
“It’s OK.”
I’ll have to pay him pretty soon, I’m thinking… even with this supposed party of mine… champagne and the works… I don’t want to be in Prospero’s debt, I prefer borrowing from Cascade.
“I’ll pay you back!” I repeat…
“Whatever! But what about your Chink over there, he flat broke?”
He has to shout this right into my ear, the noise of the cannons is drowning out everything.
“Yeah, but you know what, he’s an inventor! An explorer! He comes from India!”
Sosthène’s a big shot, and I want Cascade to know about it, not get any wrong idea on the subject, a first-class fellow. I give him the details.
He laughs, doesn’t believe me.
He’s watching Virginia, the way she’s dancing, such a young slip, so perky and bright…
“So tell me, Little-Miss-Knocked-up over there, you going to put her to work when she’s big as a house, or what?… Since you’re making her keep it… she’s going to need to take it easy…”
That’s what was on his mind.
I glanced over, it was nice of him in a way…
“You want another girl?” he proposes. “While she’s taking a break?”
A kindhearted offer.
“How about a couple?”
He pointed over to the ladies. I just had to take my pick. They were writhing under the ceiling lamps. Right away his mind jumped to my emergency needs, he saw I was hard up, his first thought, hookers. Nothing nasty or brutal, he just wanted to lend a helping hand because he knew how life works, keeping the wolf from the door was serious business, and grub doesn’t fall from heaven…
“Whatever you decide, you know… You just say the word…”
It remained to be seen, of course… No need for me to be shy.
Cascade had a good ten or twelve just in his own Leicester stable… I could have taken one of them in as a member of the family… even two or three… so that Virginia could have a nice quiet rest, we’d be on easy street, and everything would all fall fantastically into place… Ah! I was tempted… I kept listening… It’d make my whole life simpler…
He could see I was in a bind.
And then wham! Matthew pops into my mind! Oh! Look out! Panic! Enough daydreaming! Short little memory of mine! I grab hold of myself! Ah! That thought slammed the door!
“Cut the snow job, pal, OK?… Quick, we’re out of here! Jeez, oh brother, where was my head at!”
He eyeballs me, I’m making him sore!
Boom! Bang! Bing! Over our heads the action’s heating up… raging in every corner of the sky! All hell’s breaking loose something terrible! Wapping! Ping! Bang! Whoosh! Explosions everywhere!
He asks me again, pig-headed…
“Don’t you want another girl? You sure?”
He hollers loud into my ear.
“No! No!” I shout back… “It’ll be OK!”
“You don’t want Little Sweetheart?”
“Ah! No way!”
He laughs, knows I can’t stomach her…
Broom!… Bra-boom!… Pots and pans!
There goes the Negro, the petty thief the cops dragged in, back to his dumb-ass tricks.
He bellyflops to the floor…
“Broom! Broom!” he apes… just like that on all fours… at every shell burst… he bounces up and down… rattling the whole joint, he’s strong, sends everything flying… the tables, the benches… the bottles… everything around him… he’s a hellcat… announces he wants to pray to God… so he starts bellowing… bawling God out… threatening… yelling even louder than Delphine… with raised arm, threatening God!… “God! God! You’re no good!” he shouts… He leaps, pounces on the ladies, grabs Carmen, then Fly-Swatter… he trips… all three go rolling… across the floor, tooth and nail… he pulls up Carmen’s dress… wants to plant her with a kiss…
“Mummy! Mummy!…” he calls her…
She screams rape. All the girls come running, can’t pass up this golden opportunity… they all yank up their dresses so he can see their cracks… Just like that, a mess of knickers… frills… flouncy silk lingerie… Ah! He’s in raptures… he does a Mohammed number… bends over… bows low, pops up like that, fast fast fast, all at once… arms in the air!… “Zou! Zou! Zou!” he shouts each time… Jeez, he’s one weird charact
er! We dump all the beer on top of him, empty our mugs, our bottles… our grogs… he downs everything, head tilted backwards… Glug! Glug! Glug!… And then the party’s off again wilder than ever! The farandole’s in full swing, they knock the Negro over, roll him around, trample him. He lets out a wail under their feet, can’t breathe… even so he hollers out his “cheers” to the pub keeper, the young ladies, the men! And the Good Lord! Goddamn it! All of a sudden he forgives him! “I forgive you!” he roars… Climbs back up on his knees. Meditates, collects his thoughts again… Mug dripping, eyes popping, he roars:
“I forgive you, Daddy God!…”
All is forgiven!
Got to take over from the musicians, they’re frazzled. Dédé’s a deadbeat. Leonie picks up the guitar – she’s Prospero’s maid, from Brittany, she learnt how to play in Rio. The girls are in ecstasies, tumbling on top of each other, it’s the absinth-champagne combo that’s got them squealing… They flaunt every stitch of their batistes and their big openings… Whoops-a-daisy! A hullabaloo of hysterical laughter… The shack’s coming apart at the seams, quaking from the echo, rumbling like a drum.
“Here’s to King George! To victory over the Krauts!”
They’re going as far as that! Cascade is toastmaster!
In the midst of the enthusiasm, the hurrays, the sailors in turn slip off their duds, start roughhousing as much as the cops. Stark naked you can see their tattoos. The biggest belly’s got the most tattoos. “Rule Victoria” etched in green letters, with the Queen Mother straddling a magnificent dolphin. The girls gawk in admiration, a break in the action, you don’t come across a tattoo of this calibre every day…
Right away it sparks a battle of one-upmanship. Hairy chests vs hairy asses. Opinion is split. Each shows his doodads. There are lots of tattoos, the women got as many as the men, especially on their tits. The contest is organized. The most popular tattoos are hearts pierced by daggers. But the finest is hands down the cop with his queen and dolphin… a genuine monument. The folds of fat around his belly fill in for waves, he gives us a demonstration. Everybody’s jealous. Cascade offers him some bubbly, he’s crowned champ. Little Renée passes the bottles around. She’s got the jitters, spills one. The cannon terrifies her…
“Is it all getting to you?” people ask.
“I… I… don’t know… I… I… don’t know…” she stammers…
She’s in a dither… the only one, plus the Negro… echoing the blasts, rolling his eyeballs, booming from his huge mouth. Boom!… Boom!… Boom!… Without let-up…
“Long live the Russians!… Long live Tibet!…”
Sosthène’s getting excited… He wants people to listen up.
“Long live Tibet!…”
Nobody asked him anything…
This air raid just won’t quit… another round’s starting… out towards Lambeth… the others still aren’t back… nothing’s working… Try my best to distract myself from my worries… I realize…
Maybe they drowned too?… It’d be best if they never came back… And what if they were all in cahoots?… That fires my suspicions again… My heart starts racing at the mere thought… I sit down.
“You think so, Virginia? Do you?…”
I ask her, she can’t understand me. Incapable of suspicion. Even so I’m sure as hell. It’s a trap, a scheme. That’s why he’s been fussing over me, Mr Swindler over there, turning my head with girls, etc.… goddamn pimp! I can see what you’re up to! My party and all that jazz! I know you like a book! Ah! It blows me away! You bet it’s one nice piece of work! Just think for a second about the coincidence, today of all days is my name-day party! They’re dead set on doing me in! That’s what’s behind all this! Big as life! I get the picture! The end of my rope! The others are never coming back! They’re out there ratting on me! A big act! And it’s the cops who’re going to come knocking! Not the locals either! But the others from the Yard, Matthew’s gang, the eager beaver’s on the job. I can see them stepping out of the darkness… No, it’s not them! Just some sailors… what an absolutely terrific haul… In you go, rabbits! Shut the trap! Jump! Into the fryer! Your ass is cooked! As sure as I’m sitting here I can see what’s coming!… Right on cue! Boom! Serve hot and crisp! Ah! Moron that I am! Ah! My party! Exactly what’s coming to me! Oh! Terrific con! In cahoots one and all!
I’m beating it! And this time for good! I grab Virginia! I tug her!
“Come on, we’re off! Let’s hit the road, missy!…”
One bound! Two! Halt! Cascade’s there! Barring the door! He was ready for us!
Back off! I sit down again. Everybody’s splitting their sides, I’m an absolute scream! What a sap! His party! My party! Oh, jeez! Just too rich! “Sing us another!” Don’t want to. They insult me. This one cop, the skinny guy, wants to sing, nobody’s entertained, they boo him off, he thinks they’re calling for an encore, takes another shot. This triggered such an uproar, an ugly stink, they squirt his head with the siphons. “Show some manners, please!” I step in. “Respect the law!” I’m booed, lambasted, hounded off. I huddle in a corner with Virginia, keep mum, collect my wits. I hold Virginia by the arm. I talk to myself. “Careful, kid! Take a powder!…” I’m determined!… Got to take advantage of the hubbub… On tiptoe… Beat it out of here! On the q.t.! Terrific!… Terrific!… Nobody’ll suspect! The coast isn’t clear just yet… There’s a cop over there with his eye on us… I can see him monitoring us while pretending to look the other way… Ah! I’ve got a bad feeling… Let’s wait just a little bit longer… But the others are going to show up… No doubt about it… Matthew’s bullies… proud as peacocks… birds of a feather, sons of bitches every one of ’em… Ah! If that investigation is really starting up again!… That’s all I need, jeez!… I won’t wiggle out of it this time around… it’s my ass!… It’ll make it into the Mirror… I can see my photo! The Greenwich affair back in the news!… Oh! Hell! My bright ideas! I thought the story was dead! Tough luck, chump! It was all in my dreams! Head in the clouds!… Ah! My heart’s racing again, thumping loud, faster and faster, a drum stuck in my throat, my belly’s throbbing, my guts… I’m sagging at the knees, caving in, what great shape I’m in!… My ears are whistling, drum-rolling, trumpeting so loud I can’t hear a thing outside. My whole world’s in a spin… I stretch out… afraid to move a muscle… It’ll be back in the news! I’m spluttering… sweating ha… hard… Back in the news!… One of those roundups!… Ah! Handcuffs… handcuffs everywhere!… On wrists… on ankles!… Got to get out of here!… That’s it, simple solution!… Hotfoot it!… Glued to the spot, quivering so bad, I’m really flying out of whack… Ah!… Brr… brr… brrr!… I’m shivering!… I can hear the ocarinas… roaring like organs… I don’t want to leave Virginia… I squeeze her against my heart… chatter away at her… very affectionately…
“Virginia, I don’t feel well…”
She can see for herself… I’m not just carrying on…
“Let’s step outside, OK? For a second?…”
“But that’s not allowed… the air raid!…”
“Yes, but I can’t take it any more, I’m suffocating…”
Sosthène’s not feeling well either… he’s waving to me frantically… he also would like a breath of fresh air… We’ll need some alibi…
Bingo! We have to go out and get Delphine! I shout real loud…
“Will everybody just listen how she’s yelling! That can’t go on like that outside! She’ll bring a mob of cops to our door! It’s got to stop! She absolutely has to come back inside! We’ve got to go get her!”
Such quick wits I have.
“Go fetch the bitch!” comes the answer.
So now we’re outside. Better already! Phew! We can breathe! The air’s nippy! The night swallows us up, pleasant feeling. It’s booming away over our heads, and how… ricocheting all over the gravel, the shrapnel of anti-aircraft fire… No big deal…
We sit down, do some thinking, size up our situation now that we’re
out of the ta-ra-ra-boom! not to mention the smoke, the reek of booze, but the worst part was the way they kept bellowing in your ears, pounding your brain to pulp, I prefer cannon fire. But this is no time to philosophize. I shake Sosthène. “We’ve got to make a dash for it!”
“Think so?”
He’s not so sure. He’d like to rest awhile… just like that, with his back against the shack… taking advantage of the pitch dark…
“OK, all right, but look, just for a minute! No more… You’re not going to have a snooze.”
That’d be a dumb move.
I sort of watch the to and fro… the water… continuing along… gliding through the darkness… there’re lanterns in every which direction… boat traffic… crisscrossing… disappearing… red… yellow… green… A siren’s echo… plus the heavy chuff of bellows real close… right on top of me, pfoo… pfoo!… From some machine… a freighter chugging along… grazing by… alongside us… we can see its huge side… shadow upon shadow… passing… Fires are blazing throughout the city… Enough bombs hit their mark despite everything… and I’m not talking small bonfires… but three… four separate ones… conflagrations… enormous things… flames licking the clouds… smoke streaming in plumes along the rooftops… wreaths so long so immense that they blanket all of London, the whole breadth and stretch, the entire northern edge… wafting as far as Big Ben, enveloping the Clock Tower, the Tower of London, the House of Commons, the Palace, you name it… Ah! What a spectacle! Gigantic! I’d never have believed anything could have been so beautiful!… You couldn’t see a thing from inside that dump! Ah! We did right to step outside…
“Come on, let’s move it! The fun and games are over! Forward march, gang! Let’s melt back into the city! Disappear into the streets again!…” Those are the orders… we’ve got to take advantage of the darkness while it lasts… keep an eye open along the towpath… the footpath for tramps and cops… avoid running into anybody via the little twist in the road and then the docks and then Millwall… Hop on a transport ferry… Once on the other side we’re home free… Poplar’s just a maze of small back streets… zigzagging up to the Tube… less than three hundred yards out in the open… The Tube’s our only chance… unless they’ve thought of everything… scattered cops around the station… but mustn’t let my imagination run away with me…
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