Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Neal saw that, and began frowning and thinking and trying to straighten
himself out, and finally I broached the idea of leaving once and for
all. “So much ahead of us man it won’t make any difference.” “That’s
right!” cried Neal glassy eyed and turned to his Venezuelan. She had
finally passed out and lay on a wooden bench with her white legs
protruding from the silk. The gallery in the window took advantage of
the show; behind them red shadows were beginning to creep, and somewhere
I heard a baby wail in a sudden lull, remembering I was in Mexico after
all and not in a sweet and orgiastic final dream. We staggered out; we
had forgotten Frank; we ran back in to get him, like the boys run to get
Ollie the seaman in Long Voyage Home, and found him charmingly bowing
to the new evening whores that had just come in for the night shift. He
wanted to start all over again. When he is drunk he lumbers like a man
ten feet tall and when he is drunk he can’t be dragged away from women.
Moreover women cling to him like ivy. He insisted on staying and trying
some of the newer, stranger, more proficient senoritas. Neal and I
pounded him on the back and dragged him out. He waved profuse goodbyes
to everybody, the girls, the cops, the crowds, the children in the
street outside, he blew kisses in all directions of Victoria and
staggered proudly among the gangs and tried to speak to them and
communicate his joy and love of everything this fine afternoon of life.
Everybody laughed; some slapped him on the back. Neal rushed over and
paid the policemen the four pesos and shook hands and grinned with them.
Then he jumped in the car, and the girls we had known, even Venezuela
who was wakened for the farewell gathered around the car huddling in
their flimsy duds and chattered goodbyes and kissed us and Venezuela
even began to weep---tho not for us, we knew, not altogether for us, yet
enough and good enough. My dusky darling love had disappeared in the
shadows inside. It was all over. We pulled out and left joys and
celebrations over hundreds of pesos behind us and it didn’t seem like a
bad day’s work. The haunting mambo followed us a few blocks. It was all
over. “Goodbye Victoria!” cried Neal blowing it a kiss. Gregor was proud
of us and proud of himself. “Now you like bath?” he asked. Yes, we all
wanted
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