John.'
That hesitant turn of the head; the full face revealed; he bit the inside of his cheek in a kind of sexual shock.
'Why are you shivering?' he asked. He experienced a brief memory of her ascending the cellar steps of the Boot Palace some years before, a sectional assumption in the weak wet light of the Carter's Snort dawn. He found one of her long hands, trapped it.
'There are times when' — she disengaged her hand, spread the fingers, pressed them flat against his chest — 'I know you.' She shook her head. Profound bruised areas about her eyes, mark of the eternal victim. 'No, you're not coming in — '
The hand moved away, leaving no bruises on his second-best hide, no marks of any kind.
' — unless you're staying this time.'
Ruth recognized the significance of moments. It was her only defense.
'I am this time,' he lied. The room had changed, but he found one of his hats in a cupboard.
'You did it up nicely. I thought you might have gone somewhere else.'
Later, placing one of his hands beneath her tiny breasts: 'Here.'
Ruth worked in the front office of Bayley, the wrecker's on Lead Alley; at night, she brought him amusing presents ripped off from Bayley's stock. He stayed in the room all day because he knew it would hurt her to come back and find him out. He slept a lot. He scratched at the frost patterns on the inside of the window; stared, mildly surprised to discover himself still free.
They quarreled, crammed into her narrow hot bed.
'Why did you go?' Abruptly moving her leg, watching him seriously. And: 'We ought to be able to talk about it now.'
''I don't really know. Come on.'
'No, wait a minute, we ought to be able to talk about things like that.'
He grunted at the ceiling, rolled onto his stomach. 'Oh well.' He got out of bed, scratching listlessly at the hair under his armpits. With nothing to do all day, he had become a glutton for sleep, perpetually dozy. He felt as if a layer of sponge separated him from objects, from the floor.
'I have to move. I have to meet new people. I like people.'
She followed him round the room, talking over his shoulder, picking things up and putting them down again.
'In the abstract, in the abstract. Liking everybody keeps individuals at a distance. If you can feel responsible for some smashed port loser you never met, why not me?'
'Oh, that's a bit simplif — '
'Right.' She pressed herself against him, all that amazing white flesh, tinted smoky blue in its declivities. 'You'll go again. Ill be hurt, but I'll still be here. This will always be here waiting for you.'
She snatched his hand, forced him to touch her right cheek, her belly and thighs.
He shrugged. 'I don't believe it's like that at all.' He picked his jacket up and began to go through the pockets.
Back on the bed, Ruth sniffled. 'I'm sorry.' She faced the wall. 'Stuff your bloody head with dope, then.'
Four days.
Nobody came.
Nobody arrested him (except Ruth: the longer he stayed, the more frightened she became of his eventual departure — it was an ascending spiral of dependence). He was at the window constantly, watching the snow turn to sleet and then rain. Out in wrecker territory the plasma torches hissed; whole plantations of steel were pruned and lopped; the dark-visored gnomes bobbed and grinned.
Caught between Ruth's inability to feel anything but pain and the uncertainty of his own position, Truck grew nervous and mean. He didn't understand how General Gaw and her police could have missed him. He needed information. He picked moody bones with Ruth when she came home from work — finally put on his jacket and left the house.
Tiny Skeffern couldn't tell him anything.
'Something is moving down there underneath it all,' he said, blowing on his fingers to warm them up. It was practice afternoon at the Boot Palace, but the rest of his band hadn't turned up. 'But nobody's mentioning your name.'
He was squatting on the dusty stage, up to his elbows in an amplifier. The Boot
That hesitant turn of the head; the full face revealed; he bit the inside of his cheek in a kind of sexual shock.
'Why are you shivering?' he asked. He experienced a brief memory of her ascending the cellar steps of the Boot Palace some years before, a sectional assumption in the weak wet light of the Carter's Snort dawn. He found one of her long hands, trapped it.
'There are times when' — she disengaged her hand, spread the fingers, pressed them flat against his chest — 'I know you.' She shook her head. Profound bruised areas about her eyes, mark of the eternal victim. 'No, you're not coming in — '
The hand moved away, leaving no bruises on his second-best hide, no marks of any kind.
' — unless you're staying this time.'
Ruth recognized the significance of moments. It was her only defense.
'I am this time,' he lied. The room had changed, but he found one of his hats in a cupboard.
'You did it up nicely. I thought you might have gone somewhere else.'
Later, placing one of his hands beneath her tiny breasts: 'Here.'
Ruth worked in the front office of Bayley, the wrecker's on Lead Alley; at night, she brought him amusing presents ripped off from Bayley's stock. He stayed in the room all day because he knew it would hurt her to come back and find him out. He slept a lot. He scratched at the frost patterns on the inside of the window; stared, mildly surprised to discover himself still free.
They quarreled, crammed into her narrow hot bed.
'Why did you go?' Abruptly moving her leg, watching him seriously. And: 'We ought to be able to talk about it now.'
''I don't really know. Come on.'
'No, wait a minute, we ought to be able to talk about things like that.'
He grunted at the ceiling, rolled onto his stomach. 'Oh well.' He got out of bed, scratching listlessly at the hair under his armpits. With nothing to do all day, he had become a glutton for sleep, perpetually dozy. He felt as if a layer of sponge separated him from objects, from the floor.
'I have to move. I have to meet new people. I like people.'
She followed him round the room, talking over his shoulder, picking things up and putting them down again.
'In the abstract, in the abstract. Liking everybody keeps individuals at a distance. If you can feel responsible for some smashed port loser you never met, why not me?'
'Oh, that's a bit simplif — '
'Right.' She pressed herself against him, all that amazing white flesh, tinted smoky blue in its declivities. 'You'll go again. Ill be hurt, but I'll still be here. This will always be here waiting for you.'
She snatched his hand, forced him to touch her right cheek, her belly and thighs.
He shrugged. 'I don't believe it's like that at all.' He picked his jacket up and began to go through the pockets.
Back on the bed, Ruth sniffled. 'I'm sorry.' She faced the wall. 'Stuff your bloody head with dope, then.'
Four days.
Nobody came.
Nobody arrested him (except Ruth: the longer he stayed, the more frightened she became of his eventual departure — it was an ascending spiral of dependence). He was at the window constantly, watching the snow turn to sleet and then rain. Out in wrecker territory the plasma torches hissed; whole plantations of steel were pruned and lopped; the dark-visored gnomes bobbed and grinned.
Caught between Ruth's inability to feel anything but pain and the uncertainty of his own position, Truck grew nervous and mean. He didn't understand how General Gaw and her police could have missed him. He needed information. He picked moody bones with Ruth when she came home from work — finally put on his jacket and left the house.
Tiny Skeffern couldn't tell him anything.
'Something is moving down there underneath it all,' he said, blowing on his fingers to warm them up. It was practice afternoon at the Boot Palace, but the rest of his band hadn't turned up. 'But nobody's mentioning your name.'
He was squatting on the dusty stage, up to his elbows in an amplifier. The Boot
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