Absence of the Hero Read Online Free PDF

when they were supposed to.
    I poured a goodly portion and she snatched it up off of the dresser.
    â€œI really got to clean the rooms,” she said.
    Then I had a spot. “Aldington knew Lawrence,” I said. “D.H. Lawrence. Now there was a guy. That son of a bitch could really spin it!”
    â€œYes,” Baldy said, “Lawrence.”
    â€œOut of the coal mines,” I said. “Married Richthofen’s daughter. You know, the guy who shot down 80 airplanes. Or maybe this guy was her brother. Though Lawrence wasn’t exactly out of the coal mines. It was his father.”
    â€œDo you have another spot of that stuff, honey?” the housecleaner asked.
    I poured her a little refresher.
    â€œWhat kind of stuff is this? It tastes so different.”
    â€œPort.”
    â€œPort, eh?”
    â€œYes,” I said. “ I used to drink muscatel but it dried me up. They put too much sulphur in it.”
    She knocked off her glass. “Ya know, you’re nice boys. I don’t mind drinking with you boys. You’re different.”
    Well, that made me feel pretty good, so I poured a big one for myself and a big one for Baldy and a big one for Helen, to sort of celebrate.
    â€œThis Lawrence and this Aldington buddied around together,” I continued.
    At that moment there was a thunderous knock on the door. Like a Beethoven climax. “Hank! Hank!”
    â€œCome in, Lou.”
    It was the ex-con and ex-hard-rock miner. He had a bottle with him. Port. Good for the stomach.
    â€œSit down, Lou. We were just talking about a guy whose relative shot down 80 planes.”
    â€œSee you got company, Hank.”
    â€œYeah, Lou.”
    â€œHere, have some of my stuff folks.”
    â€œPour away, Lou!”
    â€œI really should clean the rooms, but you boys are so nice.”
    â€œWhere’s your husband, dearie?”
    â€œOh, he sailed away in the Merchant Marine and when he came back he wasn’t worth a damn. He’d gotten all these women and he was never satisfied anymore.”
    â€œBut you still got me, Helen,” Lou said, putting his hand on her knee. “What’s say you and I—” He leaned over and finished the sentence in her ear. He might as well, of course, have spoken it aloud.
    â€œYou bastard you, why can’t you be nice like these other boys? They’re not that way! Why can’t you be nice ?”
    â€œBut I am nice, baby! Wait ‘til you get to know me! Wait ’til you see what I got !”
    â€œFor Christ’s Sake, Lou!” I screamed. “Keep your pants buttoned!” (I was sensitive in those days). “This is a literary discussion!”
    Everybody settled back for a moment then and I rose and went about replenishing their glasses.
    â€œOne time this Lawrence wanted to form a colony, a colony just of his friends. You know: start a new world somewhere. I thought it was a pretty good idea, myself. If I hadda been there I would have shoved off with him right away and considered it a great honor. But all these people turned him down. He asked them one at a time: ‘Are you coming with me to this island or not?’ And everybody backed down. Except Aldington. No, maybe it was Huxley. Anyhow, Lawrence got disgusted and he got drunk and sick and the whole thing fell through.”
    â€œWhere was this island?” the ex-con asked. “Maybe there was nothing to eat there. And maybe they couldn’t take women. You can’t tell. There might have been something fishy about this Lawrence guy.”
    â€œNo, no,” I said, “it was straight. They were to colonize, to make a new world.”
    â€œHow about the grub? How about the broads?”
    â€œEverything was set,” I said. “Everything was worked out beforehand.”
    â€œAnd they still wouldn’t go?”
    â€œNo.”
    The ex-con turned to the scrubwoman, hand on knee. “Helen, would you go to an