Authors: John Nicholas Iannuzzi
What’s Happening? (33 page)
“Come on, kid ⦠take it easy. You're doing fine.” Laura assured her, lifting her to her feet. She started to run a comb through Rita's hair.
“I'll take it,” said Rita, smiling weakly. She took the comb and started to pull it through her tresses. “Good thing I kept some of my old clothes. This way they won't start in right away when I get home,” she said with a hint of a smile on her face. “Jesus Christ.” She tossed the comb to the floor and started to sob again, sagging down toward the chair. “Does everything have to be fucked up ⦠everything ⦠everything ⦠the whole world?”
Laura supported her and helped her into the chair. She picked up the comb and started to straighten Rita's hair again.
“It'll be different next time, Laura.”
“Of course it will. It's different now.”
“Next time, it'll be good, it'll be clean, and fine, and wonderful, and it won't stop, ⦠because next time ⦔ She sobbed and a rattling came out of her throat, and her mouth was suspended open. “⦠next time I'm going to be smart. Next time I'll know what I'm doing. I needed me first, then somebody else. But I've got me now, and it's not a place I need anymore. I'll always be with myselfâeverywhere, anywhere.”
Laura finished combing Rita's hair. Rita, trying to control herself, stood up, pressing her lips together so that she wouldn't cry again.
“What a life,” she said, shaking her head sadly. “I know now, ⦠but it's too late. Next time ⦠soon.” She put some powder on her face to cover the signs of her crying. Her eyes were swollen.
“I'll take your bags down,” Johnny suggested.
“Yeah, okay,” Rita said wearily, almost inaudibly.
Rita walked to the door. Johnny followed her out. She turned and watched Laura snap the light off. She stared silently, pensively, into the darkened room as Laura emerged out of the darkness.
“All set?” Laura asked.
“Yeah, ⦠all set.” Rita watched the inside of the apartment until the door joined the frame. The metal tipped steps raised a cacophony of tinny sounds as they descended.
It was quiet on the street. The three shadows, their footsteps resounding, walked slowly toward the well-lit area at Sheridan Square.
“Well, take it easy, honey,” said Rita.
“You too. Don't let it throw you.”
“Maybe it wasn't so bad anyway. At least it taught me enough to leave.”
“That's right,” Laura said, trying to be light and happy. “Look at the bright side.”
They smiled at each other pathetically. Laura felt tears welling up in her eyes. Johnny walked silently beside them. They reached the corner and crossed the street to where the subway entrance was. Johnny put down the valises. Rita bent down and grasped their handles. They pulled against her arms as she straightened up.
“Take it easy now. Maybe we'll get together soon,” Rita suggested, looking tenderly, yet sadly, into Laura's eyes. Hot little balls of water escaped her eyes and rolled down her face. Laura bit her lips hard to stop her own tears.
Josh Minot had been sitting alone in Jim Atkins'. He saw the trio by the subway entrance and walked out of the eat shop and toward them.
“Hey, baby, what's happening?” he called.
Rita turned and looked at him silently, blankly. “Nothing! You know God damn well nothing is happening or is going to happen.” She turned and descended the stairs.
Josh, openmouthed, Laura, and Johnny watched her disappear around the corner of the staircase. Soon the footsteps that shuffled under the weight of the valises stopped. Then they heard the heavy twang as the turnstile twisted around.
“Well what the hell is wrong with her?” asked Josh.
“Nothing really ⦠not now.⦔ Laura took Johnny's arm and they turned and started walking downtown on Seventh Avenue.
GLOSSARY
Ball | âA good time. |
Bit | âAn act, a scheme, a bit of chicanery, a scene calculated to bring about a desired result. |
Bread | âMoney. |
Bug | âBother, vex, harass, annoy. |
Bugged | âSomeone who is bothered, vexed, harassed, or annoyed. |
Butch | âA Lesbian who assumes a male role. |
Cat | âAn individual, a person, a being. |
Chow | âFood. |
Cool | âSomething is admired, approved, if it is cool. |
Cool it | âDesist, stop from a course of action. |
Come on | âAppear, do in a certain way. |
Couk | âSomeone who is bugged; an emotionally disturbed person. |
Crazy | âAn expression of approval; also bizarre and therefore good. |
Cut, cut out | âLeave, quit; also desist, stop. |
Dig | âUnderstand, appreciate, enjoy exceedingly. |
Drag | âSomething boring and tedious. |
End | âThe ultimate perfection; something very good. |
Far out | âAnother word for closeness to perfection; close to the end. |
Fern | âA Lesbian who assumes a female role. |
Flick | âThe cinema. |
Flyers | âHomosexuals. |
Flying | âSomeone who has been relieved temporarily of his earthly bounds by alcohol or drugs; in high spirits. |
Gay boys | âHomosexuals (male). |
Hip | âTo be “hip” is to understand, to be among the “knowing.” |
Like | âA ubiquitous, universal word used to punctuate the conversation of hip people. It can be used anywhere and means nothing. |
Loot | âMoney. |
Mad | âVery bizarre; very pleasing. |
Man | âA form of address to either sex; also used ubiquitously for punctuation. |
Nails | âCigarettes. |
Pad | âAn apartment. |
Pot | âMarijuana. Used more broadly to refer vaguely to any narcotic. |
Put down | âDisapprove of or avoid someone. |
Sack | âA bed; to go to bed. |
Scratch | âMoney. |
Sick | âEmotionally unbalancedâcouk is sick. |
Split | âLeave, quit, desist, cut out. |
Square | âNot hip, as someone who must refer to the foregoing to understand hip talk. |
Books by John Nicholas Iannuzzi
Fiction
Condemned
J.T.
Courthouse
Sicilian Defense
Part 35
What's Happening?
Non-Fiction
Handbook of Trial Strategies
Handbook of Cross Examination
Trial: Strategy and Psychology
Cross Examination: The Mosaic Art
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1963 by John Nicholas Iannuzzi
Cover image,
New York Cityscape
, by Kurt Schumann
Cover design by Neil Heacox
Distributed by Open Road Distribution
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
