«A strange way to act,» said Monahan. «What’ll you have?» he asked, calling the waiter over. I ordered another whisky and looked at him blankly. I didn’t relish the idea of being left with a detective on my hands. Monahan however was in a different frame of mind; he seemed happy to have found some one to talk to. Observing the cane and the sloppy attire he at once came to the conclusion that I was an artist of some sort.
«You’re dressed like an artist» (meaning a painter) «but you’re not an artist. Your hands are too delicate.» He seized my hands and examined them quickly. «You’re not a musician either,» he added. «Well, there’s only one thing left—you’re a writer!»
I nodded, half amused, half irritated. He was the type of Irishman whose directness antagonizes me. I could foresee the inevitable challenging Why? Why not? How come? What do you mean? As always, I began by being bland and indulgent. I agreed with him. But he didn’t want me to agree with him—he wanted to argue.
I had hardly said a word and yet in the space of a few minutes he was insulting me and at the same time telling me how much he liked me.
«You’re just the sort of chap I wanted to meet,» he said, ordering more drinks. «You know more than I do, but you won’t talk. I’m not good enough for you, I’m a low-brow. That’s where you’re wrong! Maybe I know a lot of things you don’t suspect. Maybe I can tell you a few things. Why don’t you ask me something?»
What was I to say? There wasn’t anything I wanted to know—from him, at least. I wanted to get up and go—without offending him. I didn’t want to be jerked back into my seat by that long hairy arm and be slobbered over and grilled and argued with and insulted. Besides, I was feeling a little woozy. I was thinking of Florrie and how strangely she had behaved—and I could still feel her hand fumbling in my fly.
«You don’t seem to be all there,» he said. «I thought writers were quick on the trigger, always there with the bright repartee. What’s the matter— don’t you want to be sociable? Maybe you don’t like my mug? Listens—and he laid his heavy hand on my arm—«get this straight… I’m your friend, see! I want to have a talk with you. You’re going to tell me things… all the things I don’t know. You’re going to wise me up. Maybe I won’t get it all at once, but I’m going to listen. We’re not going to leave here until we get this settled, see what I mean?» With this he gave me one of those strange Irish smiles, a melange of warmth, sincerity, perplexity and violence. It meant that he was going to get what he wanted out of me or lay me out flat. For some inexplicable reason he was convinced that I had something which he sorely needed, some clue to the riddle of life, which, even if he couldn’t grasp it entirely, would serve him in good stead.
By this time I was almost in a panic. It was precisely the sort of situation that I am incapable of dealing with. I could have murdered the bastard in cold blood.
A mental uppercut, that’s what he wanted of me. He was tired of beating the piss out of the other fellow—he wanted some one to go to work on him.
I decided to go at it directly, to deflate him with one piercing lunge and then trust to my wits.
«You want me to talk frankly, is that it?» I gave him an ingenuous smile.
«Sure, sure,» he retorted. «Fire away! I can take it.»
«Well, to begin with,» says I, still offering the bland, reassuring smile, «you’re just a louse and you know it. You’re afraid of something, what it is I don’t know yet, but we’ll get to it. With me you pretend that you’re a low-brow, a nobody, but to yourself you pretend that you’re smart, a big shot, a tough guy. You’re not afraid of a thing, are you? That’s all shit and you know it. You’re full of fear. You say you can take it. Take what? A sock in the jaw? Of course you can, with a cement mug like yours. But can you stand the truth?»
He gave me a hard, glittery smile. His face, violently flushed, indicated that he was doing his-utmost to control himself. He wanted to say «Yes, go on!» but the words choked him. He just nodded and turned on the electric smile.
«You’ve beaten up many a rat with your bare hands, haven’t you? Somebody held the guy down and you went at him until he screamed blue murder. You wrung a confession out of him and then you dusted yourself off and poured a few drinks down your throat. He was a rat and he deserved what he got. But you’re a bigger rat, and that’s what’s eating you up. You like to hurt people. You probably pulled the wings off flies when you were a kid. Somebody hurt you once and you can’t forget it.» (I could feel him wince at this.) «You go to church regularly and you confess, but you don’t tell the truth. You tell half-truths. You never tell the Father what a lousy stinking son of a bitch you really are. You tell him about your little sins. You never tell him what pleasure you get beating up defenceless guys who never did you any harm. And of course you always put a generous donation in the box. Hush money! As if that could quiet your conscience! Everybody says what a swell guy you are—except the poor bastards whom you track down and beat the piss out of. You tell yourself that it’s your job, you have to be that way or else… It’s hard for you to figure out just what else you could do if you ever lost your job, isn’t that so? What assets have you? What do you know? What are you good for? Sure,. you might make a street-cleaner or a garbage collector, though I doubt that you have the guts for it. But you don’t know anything useful, do you? You don’t read, you don’t associate with any but your own kind. Your sole interest is politics. Very important, politics! Never know when you may need a friend. Might murder the wrong guy some day, and then what? Why, then you’d want somebody to lie for you, somebody who’d go to the bat for you—some low-down worm like yourself who hasn’t a shred of manhood or a spark or decency in him. And in return you’d do him a good turn some day—I mean you’d bump some one off some time, if he asked you to.»
I paused for just a second.
«If you really want to know what I think, I’d say you’ve murdered a dozen innocent guys already. I’d say that you’ve got a wad in your pocket that would choke a horse. I’d say that you’ve got something on your conscience—and you came here to drown it. I’d say that you know why those girls got up suddenly and ran across the street. I’d say that if we knew all about you you might be eligible for the electric chair…»
Completely out of breath, I stopped and mechanically rubbed my jaw, as if surprised to find it still intact. Monahan, unable to hold himself in any longer, burst out with an alarming guffaw.
«You’re crazy,» he said, «crazy as a bedbug, but I like you. Go on, talk some more. Say the worst you know—I want to hear it.» And with that he called the waiter over and ordered another round. «You’re right about one thing,» he added, «I have got a wad in my pocket. Want to see it?» He fished out a roll of greenbacks, flipped them under my nose, like a cardsharper. «Go on now, give it to me…!»
The sight of the money derailed me. My one thought was how to separate him from some of his ill-gained boodle.
«It was a bit crazy, all that stuff I just handed you,» I began, adopting another tone. «I’m surprised you didn’t haul off and crack me. My nerves are on edge, I guess…»
«Don’t have to tell me,» said Monahan.
I adopted a still more conciliatory tone. «Let me tell you something about myself,» I continued in an even voice, and in a few brief strokes I outlined my position in the Cosmodemonic skating rink, my relationship with O’Rourke, the company detective, my ambition to be a writer, my visits to the psychopathic ward, and so on. Just enough to let him know that I was not a dreamer. The mention of O’Rourke’s name impressed him. O’Rourke’s brother (as I well knew) was Monahan’s boss and he stood in awe of him.
«And you pal around with O’Rourke?»
«He’s a great friend
