Part 8 (2/2)
Of the three hosts that gave the party, two had pa.s.sed to the realm of unconsciousness, while the third sat stark nude on the dresser, with his toupee in one hand, and a bottle of whiskey in the other, wasting no time in trying to join his friends in the happy state of unconsciousness.
”Looks like good pickings to me,” said Mickey. ”Everybody is undressed--it won't be no trouble to go through their pockets.”
”Good G.o.d, the bathroom is the place we are looking for. That is where all the drinks are. Come, come, my dear, let us not waste time,” said Evelyn, as she stepped over the sprawled bodies on the floor.
”Jees, this takes the prize--I been on lots of parties, but never on one like this,” said Pearl, as she followed Evelyn, who by this time was opening a fresh, cold bottle of whiskey.
”Why, the h.e.l.l--will they put whiskey on ice.”
”Well, you couldn't expect anybody in this condition to know any different, could you, Ev?”
”You couldn't expect people who get in this condition to give a d.a.m.n in the first place,” said Evelyn, as she took a long swig of the freshly opened bottle, ”Even I don't care after the first ten drinks.”
”Quick--give me a slug of that stuff--if I ever get sober on a thing like this, and actually realize what it's all about, I'd do a nose dive out of my hotel window some morning,” said Pearl, as Evelyn handed her the bottle. ”Come to think of it--I ain't seen hide nor hair of Harry, and he said he would be here.”
”Well, Pearl, dear, when you see a pile of wh.o.r.es about ten deep, dig to the bottom of them and you will find Harry--at least, that's where he usually is.”
”Oh--Jees--that's lousy whiskey--open another bottle--that tastes like tobacco juice.”
”There's going to be trouble here this night as sure as the world stands--” said Evelyn under her breath. ”I just saw Juan Moros pa.s.s the door--and that's a bad sign, as sure as you're born.”
”Who is Juan Moros?”
”He's the boy friend of Negro Noche, and he has been on the trail of Irene, the blonde girl that came in with the crowd we saw come in just ahead of us. You know Irene, the tall blonde--he is crazy about her.”
”Well, what's that got to do with us?” asked Pearl.
”Plenty--and in more ways than one--Negro Noche is the one woman in the town to be afraid of. She has been pulled in by the government officials several times for smuggling dope over the border into the United States--but they have never been able to convict her. She was arrested not long ago for smuggling Chinese across, and several attempts have been made to frame her, but no one has ever been able to pin it on her, and now she has threatened to kill any woman that she catches the boy friend with, and what's more, Irene is crazy about him. Now, ain't that cause for trouble?”
”Well, I can't see what that has got to do with this party. He is here and so is Irene, but that is no cause for trouble--surely she wouldn't come up here and start trouble,” reasoned Pearl.
”Which proves conclusively that you don't know Negro Noche.”
”You might add that I don't want to.”
”Well--well, h.e.l.lo, Henry, you devil--I thought you went home to your wife every night,” said Evelyn, as a bartender she knew came into the bathroom.
”Well,” laughed Henry, ”She can't say nothing if I don't get through work in time, and get locked on this side of the river, can she?”
”Not unless you pull that gag once too often--here, have a drink,” as she offered him the bottle.
”Well, Pearl, what do you think of the party?” asked Henry, as he turned to Pearl, who was looking out into the other room, trying to see Harry.
”Henry, my darling, since you inquire, I think it is the most charming affair--in fact, I've never been on a party where so little self-consciousness was present--in plain English, it is the d.a.m.ndest thing I've ever seen--let's drink to it,” as she raised her bottle and clinked it against his.
The phonograph in the adjoining room had stopped, but everyone was singing instead. Everybody had joined the first couple in the rhumba, making the scene more hilarious by not having any clothes on at all.
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