Miss Lonelyhearts Read Online Free PDF Page B

dog."
    The defeat in his voice made it easy
for her to ignore his request and her mind sagged with his. "I've had a
tough time," she said. "From the beginning, I've had a tough time.
When I was a child, I saw my mother die. She had cancer of the breast and the
pain was terrible. She died leaning over a table."
    "Sleep with me," he said.
    "No, let's dance."
    "I don't want to. Tell me about
your mother."
    "She died leaning over a table.
The pain was so terrible that she climbed out of bed to die."
    Mary leaned over to show how her
mother had died and he made another attempt to see the medal. He saw that there
was a runner on it, but was unable to read the inscription.
    "My father was very cruel to
her," she continued. "He was a portrait painter, a man of genius,
but..."
    He stopped listening and tried to
bring his great understanding heart into action again. Parents are also part of
the business of dreams. My. father was a Russian
prince, my father was a Piute Indian chief, my father was an Australian sheep
baron, my father lost all his money in Wall Street, my father was a portrait
painter. People like Mary were unable to do without such tales. They told them
because they wanted to talk about something besides clothing or business or the
movies, because they wanted to talk about something poetic.
    When she had finished her story, he
said, "You poor kid," and leaned over for another look at the medal.
She bent to help him and pulled out the neck of her dress with her fingers.
This time he was able to read the inscription: "Awarded by the Boston
Latin School for first place in the 100 yd. dash."
    It was a small victory, yet it
greatly increased his fatigue and he was glad when she suggested leaving. In
the cab, he again begged her to sleep with him. She refused. He kneaded her
body like a sculptor grown angry with his clay, but there was too much method
in his caresses and they both remained cold.
    At the door of her apartment, she
turned for a kiss and pressed against him. A spark flared up in his groin. He
refused to let go and tried to work this spark into a flame. She pushed his
mouth away from a long wet kiss.
    "Listen to me," she said.
"We can't stop talking. We must talk. Willie probably heard the elevator
and is listening behind the door. You don't know him. If he doesn't hear us
talk, he'll know you're kissing me and open the door. It's an old trick of
his."
    He held her close and tried
desperately to keep the spark alive.
    "Don't kiss my lips," she
begged. "I must talk."
    He kissed her throat, then opened
her dress and kissed her breasts. She was afraid to resist or to stop talking.
    "My mother died of cancer of
the breast," she said in a brave voice, like a little girl reciting at a
party. "She died leaning over a table. My father was a portrait painter.
He led a very gay life. He mistreated my mother. She had cancer of the breast.
She..." He tore at her clothes and she began to mumble and repeat herself.
Her dress fell to her feet and he tore away her underwear until she was naked
under her fur coat. He tried to drag her to the floor.
    "Please, please," she
begged, "he'll come out and find us."
    He stopped her mouth with a long
kiss.
    "Let me go, honey," she
pleaded, "maybe he's not home. If he isn't, I'll let you in."
    He released her. She opened the door
and tiptoed in, carrying her rolled up clothes under her coat. He heard her
switch on the light in the foyer and knew that Shrike had not been behind the
door. Then he heard footsteps and limped behind a projection of the elevator
shaft. The door opened and Shrike looked into the corridor. He had on only the
top of his pajamas.

 
MISS LONELYHEARTS ON A FIELD TRIP
     
    It was cold and damp in the city
room the next day, and Miss Lonelyhearts sat at his
desk with his hands in his pockets and his legs pressed together. A desert, he
was thinking, not of sand, but of rust and body dirt, surrounded by a back-yard
fence on which are posters describing the events of the