“I’ll see. I’ll ask her. But I think I’ll take her to the Lake. At least for a cocktail.” Nick was grinning widely to himself now.
“No cocktails for her. Nothing but a glass of wine for her. You hear me? Her father told me she didn’t drink any cocktails. And you watch your own drinking. Hear?” Old Pete said. Old Pete was thinking already that he had better call up Lou Duck right away and get the card game switched from the Lake to the Delaware House.
“All right, Dad,” Nick said. “Don’t worry.”
“That’s a boy,” Old Pete said. “When you talk like that you make me feel good. But I worry about you, son. I’ll always worry about you. Your mother. Your sister. You’re all I’ve got. ALL,” he said. And Nick knew he was about to start to cry.
“Good bye, Dad,” Nick said.
“Good bye, son,” Old Pete said plaintively. “Good-bye,” he added once more dramatically.
Nick hung up. The minute he hung up he knew for some reason which he could not quite discern that he would ply that girl with liquor and do everything in his power to make her. And he had a feeling he would. The strange thing was that it had nothing to do with the girl.
He never really intended taking her to the Lake Hotel. There would be no reason to take her there. First, he was quite sure that by now they would be making arrangements to have the card game transferred to some other hotel. In the second place, there was a chance Nora and her visiting girl friend from St. Mary’s, living only a few blocks away, might stop by the bar for a drink. He was really very pleased with himself thinking of all the inconvenience he must have caused everyone by merely saying he was going to the Lake to have a drink. Certainly it was going to take some arranging and under-the-table dealing to get another hotel suite this late in the day in these times. And they must have had a hell of a time locating all the call broads in the middle of the afternoon to inform them that they had changed the location of their social.
On this he went out into the kitchen and had himself a drink and no longer feeling sluggish went upstairs and put on his swim suit and very pleased with himself drove over to the Beach and joined Yvonne and Pat.
“Ellen just left,” Yvonne said as he joined them on their beach towel. “She invited us over to her house for a drink. All of us.”
“When?”
“Before dinner. Did you talk to Dad?” she asked him.
“Yes.”
“What are you so happy about?” Yvonne asked.
“You’re something,” he answered. “You’re suspicious if I’m happy. Suspicious if I’m sad. I just feel good. And I was thinking of asking Pat out to dinner,” he said looking over at her and then quickly deciding she had more breast than he had first thought she had, seeing the way she filled out her bathing suit.
Pat was aware of the way he was looking.
“My father said it would be all right if I went out with you,” Pat said expertly, casually hiding a sudden tingling excitation.
“Fine,” Nick said. “I wish you could come along, baby,” he said to Yvonne.
“Don’t lie to me, Nick.”
“I asked Dad if you could come. Ask him if I didn’t.”
“Sure,” Yvonne said. “How’s Nora?”
“I didn’t see Nora,” he said. “I was down looking at some coin-operated machines.”
Yvonne smiled knowingly, picking up a handful of sand and letting it sift through her fingers. The beach was fairly crowded and it was very warm, humid with a full bright sun and no clouds except far out over the lake. The lake was quite calm lapping softly upon the sand beach. Nick got up and, without asking the others, said he was going for a swim. Swimming he decided it wouldn’t be too good an idea going over to Ellen’s for a drink. God only knew anyhow what that rich-bitch threw into Pat by now. I’ll bet it was Yvonne’s idea getting the two of them together. I don’t know why, but I’ll bet it was. You know that little sister of yours has begun to act awful goddamn possessive lately. Honestly. She had really begun to act damn near as possessive and demanding as Old Pete. The water was very warm and he swam far out and dove down to where it was cooler and dove again until he felt refreshed and then swam in.
When they got home there was a message that Mary would be a little late. Nick told Pat to hurry and get dressed, hoping to get out of the house before his mother arrived home. Undoubtedly, he deduced, in the shower, Yvonne would give Pat enough of a lecture on how to conduct herself with him. And he had the feeling that if he saw his mother she would undoubtedly give him a lecture on the virtue of their house guest. It would have been too much. One lecture from Old Pete and those goddamn snide remarks by Yvonne were enough for one day. It had not occurred to him that he hadn’t seen his mother in over two weeks.
Actually while Nick was taking his shower and Pat was dressing Yvonne was lecturing to her. Of course Yvonne did not realize what an extreme pleasure she was realizing for herself by playing the mother protector and moralist and woman-of-the-world to the sheltered Pat. It really made Yvonne feel very wise, very mature. She was carried away by her own wisdom on the sanctity and virtue and chastity of womanhood and how, by God, when she went to a man she was going clean, a virgin. It wasn’t that she was a prig, she told Pat, but on the subject of marriage and sex there were certain old-fashioned ideas that modem women did not adhere to much to their later unhappiness.
What Yvonne did not realize was that though Pat seemed to be listening to her, she wasn’t listening at all. The fact of the matter was that Pat could not have possibly been listening as she was in that dream state, that crushing state of reverie and fantasy that accompanies first love. She nodded to Yvonne occasionally and occasionally said something to her in the way of polite reply but to her the whole scene of dressing to go out with him struck her with a visionary appeal, as if the entire scene of her and Yvonne there in the room were set upon a stage upon which the world viewed. Being in love was more, even, than she had experienced it in the poetry and novels she had read. She was experiencing it all, even the tragic. She had a premonition of impending tragedy. You did not love like this and have it exist on and on. She knew that. And it seemed acceptable to her. She would not reject the tragic consequences of love, she would not reject anything in order that this blissful dream-like state continued on. “‘Tis better to have loved and lost” she even quoted to herself dramatically.
She had a very difficult time getting dressed. She couldn’t find a proper slip and spilled her perfume and couldn’t find the earrings she wanted. Of course all this caused Yvonne to believe that her lecture was having a proper effect, and that even though she had instilled, obviously, the fear of God in this sheltered child that was about to go out alone with a lying, conniving, over-sexed (even if he was her brother. The war had ruined him and was there any hope for him?) it was better that she instill the fear of God in her, be honest with her regarding Nick. She didn’t want it on her conscience that this sheltered girl’s life was ruined right under her very eyes when she, Yvonne, had the intelligence and foresight and, by God, the courage to honestly prevent it. It wasn’t very easy. And, she told herself, if Nick had any sense of decency at all she wouldn’t be forced to resort to such drastic measures. God knew it wasn’t easy on her.
It was really quite a scene. Pat attempted to overly make herself up and Yvonne made her cleanse her face and begin all over. And also cagily talked her into using some of her own perfume which was not quite as endearing as Pat’s. By the time Pat was ready to leave she looked very sweet, very young and very innocent and Yvonne couldn’t help herself but to call Nick aside before they left and inform him once again that Pat was only seventeen and that he was twenty-three and that if he did anything to that sweet and innocent little girl it would constitute statutory rape in the state of Illinois. Yvonne was very nervous when they left and went upstairs and had herself another cry. It was the third time that day she had cried, each time for a different reason.
Looking down at Pat as they drove away Ni
ck sensed immediately her adoration. She could not hide it and it made him feel quite guilty thinking the way he had been thinking about her. She was really so sweet and young and innocent it would be almost criminal to make a pass at her, he thought. But just as he thought it she moved over on the seat so that she was snug close to him and put her hand on his arm. He was thrown slightly off balance. It was really kind of pitiful, he thought, and suggested they go right out to Los Caballeros and get themselves a drink. It wasn’t far, he told her, and they could decide from there where they would go.
Feeling very guilty over his thoughts about her, and thwarted for the second time this day, he decided when they got there that he would order a martini. Then, while Louis waited poised and patient and studying this new acquisition of Nick’s, Nick asked her, feeling a sudden flood of nobleness and gallantry winging through him, if she would like a little sherry, he understood she took a little wine. Instead of answering she asked him what he was going to have and he said a martini and she said she wanted one too. So he ordered two martinis, very dry, to be served in old fashioned glasses with ice, a new presentation of martinis that Louie himself had thought up and which was becoming quite a popular drink with steady clientele.
He could tell she didn’t like the martini but sipped on it looking up at him with that childish, school-girlish adoration that still made him feel guilty. He excused himself and went to call Nora. She wasn’t in and hadn’t been in, her answering service said, which made him slightly frustrated. Why was she so goddamn insistent upon my calling her when she wasn’t even going home?
Nick had three martinis while she had her one and they decided to go to the Sherman. Tommy Dorsey’s band was there and she was a great admirer of Tommy Dorsey, she said, in a slightly happy little way that made Nick realize that she had felt the lone martini. Christ, he said to himself, it’s probably the first hard liquor she’s ever had! He’d better feed her soon. He did not realize that the three martinis that he had drunk had had quite an effect on him. He just did not drink martinis well when he was frustrated or thwarted or had had too much sun and today he was frustrated and thwarted and had the sun, all three, so that the martinis had quite an effect (he hadn’t eaten a damn thing at lunch with Nora) and suddenly he wondered if, really, she was so sweet and young and innocent, she certainly didn’t act it the way she moved over to him in the car. You know you can’t hold them down, he said to himself. You hold them down and they get loose and they run amuck. That was natural.
They went out to the car and he kissed her long and tenderly, then long and hard. It was the first time she had ever been kissed, truly, but Nick would never have believed that. Then suddenly Nick thought about what Yvonne said about it being statutory rape to go to bed with a seventeen-year-old in Illinois. He started the car wondering how in the hell Yvonne would know that. They drove down to the Inn. They had another martini. She was really very gaily drunk from the other martini but the dinner sobered him considerably and he was concerned about whether or not she was innocent and sheltered like everyone said.
You just couldn’t tell about a woman. Take Nora for example. How could a man look at Nora and the rich way she looked today and possibly believe what she was like in bed? He excused himself and while in the men’s room called her again and was again frustrated when her answering service said she still hadn’t come in. Christ, it was almost eleven o’clock. Certainly she had to go home to change. What a hell of a day this had been. Two policemen had stopped him, and he had gotten one ticket, and it cost him twenty dollars for a lunch that only frustrated him, and now he was out with a child he didn’t know what to do with.
He danced with her and she wanted a Cuba Libra after dinner. She sat very close to him looking at him with a hazy but open admiration that frightened him in a way. He began to drink scotch like hell and put his hand on her leg under the booth table and pulled up her skirt and felt the young smooth-skinned thigh and she did not resist. He said they should go and she said that would be fine.
He began to drive north. He decided they would go by Los Caballeros for one more drink, then he figured he’d drive out to the Forest Preserve where he went with Ellen. It was one of those days all right, Near the Edgewater Beach the car stalled and the prowl car sent a tow wagon. They towed him into a station on Foster Avenue. The fuel line was clogged, they couldn’t find where. There wasn’t anything he could do but take a cab. It was almost twelve thirty and he knew his mother and Yvonne would be asleep and knew Old Pete wouldn’t be home until late, probably. He figured he could lock the front door and they could go in the library. Why not? What difference did it make where?
They took a cab. It was a very long ride in the cab. When they got home he took her into the study and they lay down on the couch. He tried everything that he knew and she would let him do everything but somehow she could not make herself go all the way as bad as she wanted to. He could feel how much she wanted to, and he plied her with one more drink and then he heard the front door bell ring and he sent her up the back stairs and went and let Old Pete in.
She was shaking all over when she got upstairs. She was so happy Yvonne was asleep. She was almost sure that after that last drink she would have been able to do it with him. She was not sure whether she was glad she hadn’t or sorry that she hadn’t let him. God knows she wanted him, and she thought what a wonderous thing it was to want to too. She had a very difficult time going to sleep. And the next morning she waited until she was sure that he had left the house before she came downstairs. In the bathroom, in the morning, she cried because she wasn’t going to the wedding with him and wondered what kind of woman it was that he was bringing.
CHAPTER XXIX
NICK was up early the next day. When he came down Old Pete and Mary were already in the breakfast nook having coffee. Mary got up and embraced Nick.
“Son, Nick, we’ve missed you so,” she said putting her arms around him. He embraced his mother. “Your father was just saying how much good he thought the trip did you.”
“Yeah,” Old Pete said from his sitting position. “I wish I could have made that trip. God knows I needed it.”
“You’ll make one together soon,” Mary said. “Real soon, won’t you, Nick?”
“Of course we will, Mother.”
“Well, did you have a nice time last night?” Old Pete asked.
“She’s a beautiful girl isn’t she, Nickie?” his mother questioned.
“Yes. Very pretty. We had a very nice time. But the car broke down,” Nick said sitting down and pouring himself some coffee while his mother told the maid to make his breakfast. “I had to take a cab all the way from Foster Avenue. Of course if I had been alone I would have taken a train. But, she being your friend’s daughter and you owing her father so many favors, I thought it would only be right if I took a cab,” Nick said pleasantly.
“I’m glad you did,” Old Pete said. “I know it must of cost like hell but I’m glad you did.”
“Yeah, in fact you owe me around fifty dollars,” Nick said. “Roughly, fifty dollars.”
“Fifty dollars!” Old Pete said. “Fifty dollars,” he practically shouted. “How could you possibly spend fifty dollars?”
“Well, dinner at the Sherman came to over thirty dollars alone,” Nick said soberly. “Then, of course, there was the tip. You said the girl only took a little wine. So I ordered champagne with the dinner. The champagne cost eleven or twelve dollars alone. I thought I should have ordered it. After all, this was the first time she’d ever been out on a date. I thought we’d make it as nice as possible for her.”
“I’m glad you did it,” Old Pete said. “Goddamn it, I’m glad you did it,” he said emphatically. “Fifty or no fifty.”
“You want to give it to me now?” Nick asked. “I’m short.”
“You got plenty of money in the bank,” Old Pete said. “How can you be short?”
“Short on cash. That’s all.”
“Give him the money as long as you p
romised,” Mary said.
“I’ll bring you a check tonight,” Old Pete said. “You kind of like that girl, uh?” Even Old Pete could not hide his apparent anxiety waiting for Nick’s answer.
“You couldn’t help but like a sweet young girl like Pat. No boy could,” Mary said.
“I was asking Nick, Mother,” Old Pete said, obviously bothered by Mary’s intrusion.
“I like her very much. She’s very intelligent. And pretty. It’s amazing how much she knows seeing she’s never been to school.”
“Yeah,” Old Pete said. “Well, you know why, don’t you, son? You know why, don’t you? The almighty dollar, that’s why. Her father bought her the best teachers there were. And, by God, if I’d had the money to spare I’d done the same for you and Yvonne. After I saw what tututers, or whatever you call them, did for that girl. That girl shows respect. She listens. Yeah, by God, if I’d had his kind of money that is what you and Yvonne would have had if that’s what it does for you. That girl’s going to make some man a hell of a wife, I tell you that. And Old John’s gotta go some day. He sure does. And whoever marries that girl is going to be set,” he said. Then, again, but this time pounding the table, said, “SET.”
“I sure wish I hadn’t made other arrangements for the wedding,” Nick said. “But after the wedding, I’ll be taking her out again.”
“I told you you should have waited until you met this girl,” Old Pete said, “before making arrangements for the wedding.” It was really very difficult for Old Pete to control himself thinking that Nick was taking someone else besides Pat to the wedding tomorrow. And a total stranger besides. It really put him in a very embarrassing position with her father. I wonder, Old Pete said to himself, if he tried some funny business with her and got away with it. The son-of-a-bitch, if I find out he did I’d hit him right in the head. I swear I’d hit him right in the head.
“What time did you leave the Inn?” Old Pete asked casually.
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