Chapter 22 Part Two-10

Or maybe around.' "That was a good time to be living, Biff agreed. Blount shuffled his feet self-consciously. His face was rough and unhappy. He was ready to leave. Biff was alert to detain him. Tell me—why did you ever come to this town anyway? a politic one and he was disappointed with himself. Yet it was queer how the man could land up in a place like this. Its the Gods truth I dont know.' They stood quietly for a moment, both leaning on the counter. The game of dice in the corner was finished. The first dinner order, a Long Island duck special, had been served to the fellow who managed the A. and P. store. The radio was turned halfway between a church sermon and a swing band .

Blount leaned over suddenly and smelled Biffs face. Perfume?' Shaving lotion, Biff said composedly. He could not keep Blount longer. The fellow was ready to go. He would come in with Singer later. It was always like this. He wanted to draw Blount out completely so that he could understand certain questions concerning him. But Blount would never really talk—only to the mute. It was a most peculiar thing. "Thanks for the cigar, Blount said. See you later." So long.' Biff watched Blount walk to the door with his rolling, sailor-like gait. Then he took up the duties before him. He looked over the display in the window. The days menu had been pasted on the glass and a special dinner with all the trimmings was laid out to attract customers. It looked bad. Right nasty.

The gravy from the duck had run into the cranberry sauce and a fly, was stuck in the dessert. Hey, Louis! he called. Take this stuff out of the window. And bring me that red pottery bowl and some fruit.' He arranged the fruits with an eye for color and design. At last the decoration pleased him. He visited the kitchen and had a talk with the cook. He lifted the lids of the pots and sniffed the food inside, but without heart for the matter .Alice always had done this part. He disliked it. His nose sharpened when he saw the greasy sink with its scum of food bits at the bottom. He wrote down the menus and the orders for the next day. He was glad to leave the kitchen and take his stand by the cash register again.

Lucile and Baby came for Sunday dinner. The little Md was not so good now. The bandage was still on her head and the doctor said it could not come off until next month. The binding of gauze in place of the yellow curls made her head look naked. Say hello to Uncle Biff, Hon, Lucile prompted. Baby bridled fretfully. Hello to Unca Biff Hon, she gassed. She put up a struggle when Lucile tried to take off her Sunday coat. Now you just behave yourself, Lucile kept saying. "You got to take it off or you'll catch pneumonia when we go out again.. Now you just behave yourself." Biff took the situation in charge. He soothed Baby with a ball of candy gum and eased the coat from her shoulders. Her dress had lost its set in the struggle with Lucile. He straightened it so that the yoke was in line across her chest He retired her sash and crushed the bow to just the right shape with his fingers. Then he patted Baby on her little behind. We got some strawberry ice cream today, he said.

Bartholomew, you'd make a mighty good mother.' Thanks, Biff said. That's a compliment' We just been to Sunday School and church. Baby, say the verse from the Bible you learned for your Uncle Biff.' The kid hung back and pouted. Jesus wept, she said finally. The scorn that she put in the two words made it sound like a terrible thing. Want to see Louis? Biff asked. He's back in the kitchen.' I wanna see Willie. I wanna hear WMe play the harp.' "Now, Baby, you're just trying yourself, Lucile said im-patiently. You know good and well that Willies not here.

Willie was sent off to the penitentiary.' But Louis, Biff said. He can play the harp, too. Go tell him to get the ice cream ready and play you a tune.' Baby went toward the kitchen, dragging one heel on the floor. Lucile laid her hat on the counter. There were tears in her eyes. You know I always said this: If a child is kept clean and well cared for and pretty then that child will usually be sweet and smart. ugly then you cant expect anything much. What Im trying to get at is that Baby is so shamed over losing her hair and that bandage on her head that it just seems like it makes her cut the buck all the time. She wont practice her elocution —she wont do a thing. She feels so bad I just cant manage her.'

If youd quit picking with her so much shed be all right.' At last he settled them in a booth by the window. Lucile had a special and there was a breast of chicken cut up fine, cream of wheat, and carrots for Baby. She played with her food and spilled milk on her little frock. He sat with them until the rush started. Then he had to be on his feet to keep things going smoothly. People eating. The wide-open mouths with the food pushed in. What was it? The line he had read not long ago. Life was only a matter of intake and alimentation and reproduction. The place was crowded. There was a swing band on the radio.

Then the two he was waiting for came in. Singer entered the door first, very straight and swank in his tailored Sunday suit. Blount followed along just behind his elbow. There was something about the way they walked that struck him. They sat at their table, and Blount talked and ate with gusto while Singer watched politely. a few minutes. Then as they went out he noticed again there was something about their walking together that made him pause and question himself. What could it be? The suddenness with which the memory opened up deep down in his mind was a shock. The big deaf-mute moron whom Singer used to walk with sometimes on the way to work. The sloppy Greek who made candy for Charles Parker .The Greek always walked ahead and Singer followed. He had never noticed them much because they never came into the place. But why had he not remembered this? Of all times he had wondered about the mute to neglect such an angle. See everything in the landscape except the three waltzing

elephants. But did it matter after all? Biff narrowed his eyes. How Singer had been before was not important. The thing that mattered was the way Blount and Mick made of him a sort of home-made God. Owing to the fact he was a mute they were able to give him all the qualities they wanted him to have. Yes. But how could such a strange thing come about? And why? A one-armed man came hi and Biff treated him to a whiskey on the house. But he did not feel like talking to anyone. Sunday dinner was a family meal. Men who drank beer by themselves on weeknights brought their wives and little kids with them on Sunday. The highchair they kept in the back was often needed. It was two-thirty and though many tables were occupied the meal was almost over. Biff had been on his feet for the past four hours and was tired. He used to stand for fourteen or sixteen hours and not notice any effects at all. But now he had aged. Considerably. .

Or maybe matured was the word. Not aged—certainly not—yet. The waves of sound in the room swelled and subsided against his ears. Matured. His eyes smarted and it was as though some fever in him made everything too bright and sharp. He called to one of the waitresses: Take over for me will you, please? Im going out.' The street was empty because of Sunday. The sun shone bright and clear, without warmth. Biff held the collar of his coat close to his neck. Alone in the street he felt out of pocket. The wind blew cold from the river. He should turn back and stay in the restaurant where he belonged. He had no business going to the place where he was headed. For the past four Sundays he had done this. where he might see Mick. And there was something about it that was—not quite right. Yes. Wrong. He walked slowly down the sidewalk opposite the house where she lived. Last Sunday she had been reading the funny papers on the front steps. But this time as he glanced swiftly toward the house he saw she was not there. But tilted the brim of his felt hat down over his eyes. Perhaps she would come

into the place later. Often on Sunday after supper she came for a hot cocoa and stopped for a while at the table where Singer was sitting. On Sunday she wore a different outfit from the blue skirt and sweater she wore on other days. Her Sunday dress was wine-colored silk with a dingy lace collar. Once she had had on stockings—with runs in them. Always he wanted to set her up to something, to give to her. And not only a sundae or some sweet to eat— but something real. That was all he wanted for himself—to give to her. Biffs mouth hardened. He had done nothing wrong but in him he felt a strange guilt. Why? The dark guilt in all men, unreck-oned and without a name. On the way home Biff found a penny lying half concealed by rubbish in the gutter. Thriftily he picked it up, cleaned the coin with his handkerchief, and dropped it into the black pocket purse, he carried. It was four oclock when he reached the restaurant. Business was stagnant. There was not a single customer in the place. Business picked up around five. The boy he had recently hired to work part time showed up early. The boys name was Harry Minowitz. He lived in the same neighborhood with Mick and Baby. Eleven applicants had answered the ad in the paper, but Harry seemed to be best bet. He was well developed for his age, and neat. Biff had noticed the boys teeth while talking to him during the interview. Teeth were always a good indication. , but that would not matter in the work. His mother made ten dollars a week sewing for a tailor down the street, and Harry was an only child. Well, Biff said. You've been with me a week, Harry. Think you're going to like it? Sure, sir. Sure I like it.' Biff turned the ring on his finger. Lets see. What time do you get off from school? "Three oclock, sir. Well, that gives you a couple of hours for study and recreation. Then here from six to ten. Does that leave you enough time for plenty of sleep?' Plenty. I don't need near that much.' You need about nine and a half hours at your age, son. Pure, wholesome sleep.' He felt suddenly embarrassed. Maybe Harry would think it was none of his business. Which it wasn't anyway. He started to turn aside and then thought of something. ?You go to Vocational?' Harry nodded and rubbed his glasses on his shirtsleeve. Lets see. I know a lot of girls and boys there. Alva Richards—I know his father. And Maggie Henry. And akid named Mick Kelly------ He felt as though his earshad caught afire. He knew himself to be a fool. He wanted to turn and walk away and yet he only stood there, smiling and mashing his nose with his thumb. You know her? Sure, I live right next door to her. But in school Im a senior while shes a freshman.' Biff stored this meager information neatly in his mind to be thought over later when he was alone. Business will be quiet here for a while, he said hurriedly. Til leave it with you. By now you know how to handle things. Just watch any customers drinking beer and remember how many theyve drunk so you wont have to ask them and depend on what they say. Take your time making change and keep track of what goes on.' Biff shut himself in his room downstairs. This was the place where he kept his files. The room had only one small window and looked out on the side alley, and the air was musty and cold. Huge stacks of newspapers rose up to the ceiling . A home-made filing case covered one wall. Near the door there was an old-fashioned rocking-chair and a small table laid with a pair of shears, a dictionary, and a mandolin. Because of the piles of newspaper it was impossible. to take more than two steps in any direction. Biff rocked himself in the chair and languidly plucked the strings of the mandolin. His eyes closed and he began to sing in a doleful voice: II went to the animal fair. The birds and the beasts were there, and the old baboon by the light of the moon Was combing his auburn hair. He finished with a chord from the strings and the last sounds shivered to silence in the cold air. To adopt a couple of little children. A boy and a girl. About three or four years old so they would always feel like he was their own father. Their Dad. Our Father. The little girl like Mick (or Baby?) at that age. Round cheeks and gray eyes and flaxen hair. And the clothes he would make for her—pink crgpe de Chine frocks with dainty smocking at the yoke and sleeves. Silk socks and white buckskin shoes. And a little red-velvet coat and cap and muff for winter. The boy was dark and black-haired. The little boy walked behind him and copied the things he did. In the summer the three of them would go to a cottage on the Gulf and he would dress the children in their sun suits and guide them carefully into the green, shallow waves. And then they would bloom as he grew old. Our Father. Why not? Biff took up his mandolin again. Tum-ti-tim-ti-tee, ti-tee, the wedd-ing of the painted doll The mandolin mocked the refrain. He sang through all the verses and wagged his foot to the time. he played KKK-Katie, and Loves Old Sweet Song. These pieces were like the Agua Florida in the way they made him remember. Everything. Through the first year when he was happy and when she seemed happy even too. down with them twice in three months. And he didnt know that all the time her brain was busy with how she could save a nickle or squeeze out an extra dime. And then him with Rio and the girls at her place. Gyp and Madeline and Lou. And then later when suddenly he lost it. When he could lie with a woman no longer. Mothero-eod! So that at first it seemed everything was gone. Lucile always understood the whole set-up. She knew the kind of woman Alice was. Maybe she knew about him, too. Lucile would urge them to get a divorce. Biff winced suddenly. He jerked his hands from the strings of the mandolin so that a phrase of music was chopped off. He sat tense in his chair. Then suddenly he laughed quietly to himself. What had made him come across this? Ah, Lordy Lordy Lord! It was the day of his twenty-ninth birthday, and Lucile had asked him to drop by her apartment when he finished with an appointment at the dentists. He expected from this some little remembrance—a plate of cherry tarts or a good shirt. She met him at the door and blindfolded his eyes before he entered. Then she said she would be back in a second. In the silent room he listened to her footsteps and when she had reached the kitchen he broke wind. the room with his eyes blindfolded and pooted. Then all at once he knew with horror he was not alone. There was a titter and soon great rolling whoops of laughter deafened him. At that minute Lucile came back and undid his eyes. caramel cake on a platter. The room was full of peo ple. Leroy and that bunch and Alice, of course. He wanted to crawl up the wall. He stood there with his bare face hanging out, burning hot all over. They kidded him and the next hour was almost as bad as the death of his mother—the way he took it. Later that night he drank a quart of whiskey. And for weeks after---Motherogod! Biff chuckled coldly. He plucked a few chords on his mandolin and started a rollicking cowboy song. His voice was a mellow tenor and he closed his eyes as he sang. The room was almost dark. The damp chill penetrated to his bones so that his legs ached with rheumatism. . At last he put away his mandolin and rocked slowly in ? the darkness. Death. Sometimes he could almost feel it in the room with him. He rocked to and fro in the chair. Nowhere. What did he want? To know. What? Broken pictures lay like a scattered jigsaw puzzle in his head. Alice soaping in the bathtub. Mussolinis mug. Mick pulling the baby in a wagon. A roast turkey on display. Blounts mouth. The face of Singer. fing. The room was completely dark. From the kitchen he could hear Louis singing. Biff stood up and touched the arm of his chair to still its rocking. When he opened the door the hall outside was very warm and bright. He remembered that perhaps Mick would come. He straightened his clothes and smoothed back his hair. A warmth and liveliness returned to him. The restaurant was in a hubbub. Beer rounds and Sunday supper had begun. He smiled genially to young Harry and settled himself behind the cash register. He took in the room with a glance like a lasso. The place was crowded and humming with noise. The bowl of fruit in the window was a genteel, artistic display. He watched the door and continued to examine the room with a practiced eye. with his silver pencil that he wanted only soup and whiskey as he had a cold. But Mick did not come. i HE never even had a nickel to herself any more. They were that poor. Money was the main thing. All the time it was money, money, money. They had to pay through the nose for Baby Wilsons private room and private nurse. But even that was just one bill. By the time one thing was paid for something else always would crop up. They owed around two hundred dollars that had to be paid right away. They lost the house. Their Dad got a hundred dollars out of the deal and let the bank take over the mortgage. Then he borrowed another fifty dollars and Mister Singer went on the note with him. Afterward they had to worry about rent every month instead of taxes. They were mighty near as poor as factory folks. Only nobody could look down on them. Bill had a job in a bottling plant and made ten dollars a week. Hazel worked as a helper in a beauty parlor for eight dollars. Etta sold tickets at a movie for five dollars. Each of them paid half of what they earned for their keep. Then the house had six boarders at five dollars a head. And Mister Singer, who paid   his rent very prompt. With what their Dad picked up it all came to about two hundred dollars a month—and out of that they had to feed the six boarders pretty good and feed the family and pay rent for the whole house and keep up the payments on the furniture. George and her didnt get any lunch money now. She had to stop the music lessons. Portia saved the leftovers from the dinner for her and George to eat after school. All the time they had their meals in the kitchen. Whether Bill and Hazel and Etta sat with the boarders or ate in the kitchen depended on how much food there was. In the kitchen they had grits and grease and side meat and coffee for breakfast. For supper they had the same thing along with whatever could be spared from the dining -room. The big kids griped whenever they had to eat in the kitchen. And sometimes she and George were downright hungry for two or three days. But this was in the outside room. It had nothing to do with music and foreign countries and the plans she made. The winter was cold. Frost was on the windowpanes. At night the fire in the living-room crackled very warm. family sat by the fire with the boarders, so she had the middle bedroom to herself. She wore two sweaters and a pair of Bills outgrown corduroy pants. Excitement kept her warm. the floor to work. In the big box there were the pictures she had painted at the government free art class. She had taken them out of Bills room. Also in the box she kept three mystery books her Dad had given her, a compact, a box of watch parts , a rhinestone necklace, a hammer, and some notebooks. One notebook was marked on the top with red crayon— PRIVATE. KEEP OUT. PRIVATE—and tied with a string. She had worked on music in this notebook all the winter. She quit studying school lessons at night so she could have more time to spend on music. Mostly she had written just little tunes—songs without any words and without even any bass notes to them . They were very short. But even if the tunes were only half a page long she gave them names and drew her initials underneath them. Nothing in this book was a real piece or a composition. They were just songs in her mind she wanted to remember. She named them how they reminded her—Africa and A Big Fighf and The Snowstorm.' She couldn't write the music just like it sounded in her mind. She had to thin it down to only a few notes; otherwise she got too mixed up to go further. There was so much she didnt know about how to write music. But maybe after she learned how to write these simple tunes fairly quick she could begin to put down the whole music in her mind. In January she began a certain very wonderful piece called This Thing I Want, I Know Not What It was a beautiful and marvelous song—very slow and soft. At first she had started to write a poem along with it, but she couldn't think of it ideas to fit the music. Also it was hard to get a word for the third line to rhyme with what. This new song made her feel sad and excited and happy all at once. Music beautiful as this was hard to work on. Any song was hard to write. Something she could hum in two minutes meant a whole weeks work before it was down in the notebook—after she had figured up the scale and the time and every note. She had to concentrate hard and sing it many times. Her voice was always hoarse. Her Dad said this was because she had bawled so much when she was a baby. Her Dad would have to get up and walk with her every night when she was Ralphs age. The only thing would hush her, he always said, was for him to beat the coal scuttle with a poker and sing Dixie.' She lay on her stomach on the cold floor and thought. Later on—when she was twenty—she would be a great world-famous composer. She would have a whole symphony orchestra and conduct all of her music herself. the platform in front of the big crowds of people. To conduct the orchestra she would wear either a real mans evening suit or else a red dress spangled with rhine-stones. The curtains of the stage would be red velvet and MK would be printed on them in gold. Mister Singer would be there, and afterward they would go out and eat fried chicken. He would admire her and count her as his very best friend. George would bring up big wreaths of flowers to the stage. It would be in New York City or else in a foreign country. Famous people would point at her—CARSON McCULLBRSCarole Lombard and Arturo Toscanini and Admiral Byrd .