Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) -- Fiction; El Paso (Tex.) -- Fiction; Prostitutes -- Fiction
"Honey, don't try to kid that guy--look here," said Evelyn, showing
Pearl the hundred-dollar bill Big Boy had given her.
"What's it for, Ev?"
"Well, he's nuts about you--and he wants to marry you. Of course, you
know that already, and what's more, it's none of my business, but for
your own good, don't try to string that guy along. He looks like a kid,
that's true. He is as easy to handle as a kid, but Pearl, he is a
killer. I know him, and I know what he will do. So, if you want to marry
him, and settle down, your nest will be feathered and in a big way, but
don't try to kid him if you ain't serious--be frank about it--tell him
the truth and then lay off him, or else be all for him. He gave me this
money to talk for him, and to tell you what a great guy he is, and try
to talk you into marrying him--I ain't telling you what to do and I
ain't telling you what not to do--but don't kid him, and don't promise
nothing you can't make good."
"Why, Ev, I haven't known you for hardly twenty-four hours. I didn't
even stop to think you had a serious side--you are a dear. Sure, I know
what you mean. Now I'll tell you how I feel towards him. I don't love
him, I never could. He's not my type, but when he gets around me, and
puts his arms around me, and pulls me close, I can't hold out on him--he
is the personification of satisfaction--Oh, Hell, Ev, you know what I
mean, don't you?"
"I admit you ain't left much to my imagination, but I get you."
"You see, Ev, I am in love--but I know it is a hopeless love--but love,
nevertheless--and it's Harry Hicks, the guy I went with when I left you
last night in the cafe--that kid sure got under my skin."
"Well, he better stay from under them things."
"You don't like Harry, do you, Ev?"
"Well,--I don't dislike him. I never thought of him as anything but a
big kid and I always treated him as one--Harry is a damn good guy as far
as I know, and I don't think that he has an enemy in the world, but
don't make the mistake that lots of the other girls have made with
Harry--he likes all the girls, and what's more, he couldn't be true to
any one for five minutes, not even himself--he's like millions of other
men; to him a woman is for one thing, and when he is through, he is
through--so the only way to impress him is to never--never let him know
that he means any more to you than the lowest Cholo."
"That seems to be the standard formula to make any man nuts for you."
"Oh--good--Heavens, Pearl, dear, we are forgetting Big Boy, and most of
all to me, we are forgetting breakfast, even if it is almost dinner
time," said Evelyn, as they hurried to the street.
"Have you been waiting long?" asked Pearl, as they sat down.
"Not long, but I had begun to be a little impatient."
"Did you order for us yet?" asked Evelyn.
"No, I thought I'd better wait, so I just had coffee, and decided to
read the paper until you showed up."
"Any news?" asked Pearl.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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