Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20A | 20B | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25-26 | 27 | 28-29
PART I
SPEAKING IN TONGUES
30
“WHAT’S EATING YOU?” Gio murmured a week after that as he pulled up a chair to Trey’s table. It was a quiet Saturday morning, just the two of them. Trey hadn’t needed sleep since his cat naps in between rounds with Marina the evening before. Trey had caught his tail out, acknowledged him with a small salute, and headed up to “his” room at the Muehlebach, which was not the same room as last time, which Marina didn’t seem to notice.
Trey lightly tapped the edge of his glass on the table, unwilling to confess yet unable to keep it to himself.
“I can’t do this,” Trey muttered.
“Of course not. Your time’s up. Boss Tom is going to know if you’re trying to extend the deadline and cheat.”
“Don’t you remember? Getting her pregnant was an order. Two months was the bet. Last night was my deadline, but I can’t fuck her again until we find out if she’s pregnant. If she’s not, back to the grindstone. Except I ain’t gonna do it.”
Gio took a deep breath. “I was wondering if you’d turn on Boss Tom like that,” he murmured.
That was not the reaction Trey expected.
“What happened last night?”
“Same as last week. Gio, I’m … ” He stopped, unable to articulate what he was feeling in his gut. “Gio, she’s— I don’t know how to explain it. She’s her. But not her. When we’re out, she is exactly the same as she has always been. A little bashful. Very proper. Then she … It’s like I’m fuckin’ a different girl. An’ you know what? I don’t like that girl.”
“The one you fucked.”
“Right.”
“’Cuz you don’t like thinking about nice girls and sex. It’s why you drop a girl the second she says yes.”
Trey nodded morosely. This was gonna wreck his fondness for Marina and that was the last thing he wanted.
“What’s your end game, going out with nice girls?” Gio asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“Practice being respectable,” Trey said testily. “You know that.”
“What do you want to do with that respectability?”
Be a federal prosecuting attorney, maybe even a judge like his granddaddy, but he wasn’t going to say that.
“You go with respectable girls to become respectable, but you work to make them not respectable, which is a shit thing to do. Why do you do that?”
“Because—”
Gio waited for him to answer.
Trey didn’t have an answer.
“Dunham, do you or do you not want to get married at any time in the future?”
“Eventually,” he answered vaguely. He’d have to be, to be taken seriously.
“And what do you think is going to happen the night after you say ‘I do’ to a nice girl?”
Trey sucked his teeth. “Hadn’t thought much about it, tell the truth. You know I ain’t no tomcat, controlled by my dick.”
“So if she wants a baby, you do it however many times it takes and then what? You find a flapper?”
“That’s how it’s done, ain’t it?” Trey protested.
“I don’t believe you can do that,” Gio said flatly. “Cats come in here all the time with their mistresses or go upstairs with one of the girls. I see how you look at them, like they’re scum.”
That set Trey back on his heels. “You ain’t makin’ any sense.”
“I am too. You don’t think it’s proper to fuck your wife for fun, but you don’t think it’s proper for a man to step out on his wife, either. He can’t win with you.”
“He ain’t gotta win with me!”
“But if you want to get married to a nice girl—and I know you’d never marry a flapper—you have to figure out what you’re going to do. You can’t be that uninterested if you can go three times in two hours.”
Trey grimaced.
“You like Marina. You like fucking Marina. You don’t like that she likes fucking you. And it’s not going to make a difference who you marry. That’s just how you think.”
Put like that, it did sound like a difficult path to navigate. “Don’t tell me you think about Dot that way,” he grumbled. “You been whorin’ too long.”
“God, yes, I do! The girl’s happy and feisty and sweet and hard-working and smart and respectable and on top of all that, she’s virtuous. I’d enjoy the hell out of teaching her how to be that in bed. Mine, Trey. All mine. And I’m all hers. I want one girl I can talk to, laugh with, and have fun fucking because I will never have to get back on that merry-go-round.”
Trey scowled. “Virtuous girls don’t do that unless they wanna have a baby.”
Gio gaped at him. “See! You just said it, straight up!”
“What’s wrong about it?” Trey demanded.
“Virtue, for a married woman, means not stepping out on her man. There is nothing a wife of mine could do in bed with me that would make her not virtuous.” He shook his head. “God, Trey, I know priests less prudish than you.”
“I am not a prude!” Trey protested. “I run a whorehouse, for God’s sake! I made that fucking bet, which, by any definition, was a rotten thing to do.”
“And now you think less of her because you were able to seduce her, like it’s her fault. You got the yes, but this time you had a reason to follow through. You did. Now you can’t stand it anymore, so you’re going to tell Boss Tom to go to hell because you don’t like fucking nice girls. Now what?”
“A’ight, look,” Trey snapped. “Here’s my sticky wicket: This Marina, the one I fucked. This is a good-time girl. She knew what to do the first time and she’s only upped her game since then. I know she was a virgin, but— Gio, I’ve looked at this upside, downside, inside, outside, and I just don’t know what the hell’s wrong with her.”
That made Gio sit back in confusion.
“Had to ease her into a coupla details at the beginning, but then she went fucking wild. I might feel different if I’d had to coach her and lead her all the way through, gettin’ her over her shyness, the way I’ve done every other nice girl. But it wa’n’t like that.”
“So … Dot was right about her being off?”
Trey nodded emphatically. “She’s started it twice now, takin’ me by surprise, like somethin’s flippin’ her switch an’ I can’t figure it out. There is no rhyme, reason, or pattern that I can see. That ain’t Marina, is what I’m sayin’. I didn’t have to work for it at all! But the next day, that sweet face looks at me like I’m hangin’ the moon an’ she’s the same as she’s always been an’ all of a sudden, it’s like the night before didn’t happen but I feel absolutely filthy.”
“That’s … queer.”
“That’s what’s got me by the short’n’curlies.”
“Huh.” There was a long silence while Gio and Trey brooded.
“I just can’t do it,” Trey finally muttered. “Ain’t just because she’s strange about it. It’s the next day when I can’t look at her knowin’ I defiled this sweet girl.”
“What’d you think was going to happen?” Gio sneered.
“I didn’t, goddammit!” he roared, pounding his fist on the table. Gio was unimpressed. “I was thinkin’ about the goddamned speak that I’m about to give up and have to take whatever Boss Tom’s gonna do to me when I tell him I ain’t doin’ it, so maybe you should get off your high horse ’cuz you want it as bad as I do an’ now I’m takin’ it away from you for the same reason you’re sittin’ there passin’ judgment on me. I do not regret one fucking thing I’ve done as a matter of morality. Stupidity, yes. Morality no. But she gives me that innocent smile and all of a sudden I got a conscience.
“I spend every spare minute with her because I like her and she makes me feel respectable and smart. Havin’ all these innocent little outings. Hide-and-go-seek, for God’s sake. Croquet. Monarchs. Skeet shootin’ with her daddy, who’s entertainin’ in his own corrupt way. Mama ain’t come around yet, but she ain’t gonna. An’ here’s daddy, startin’ to press me for a weddin’ date. Subtly. He’s a conman, not a very good one, but he gets the low-hangin’ fruit so he don’t know he’s my mark. But he wants her out of the house pronto, an’ sees me as his ticket, so if he does know it’s a con, he’s just goin’ along, thinkin’ he’s gonna get what he wants out of it.”
Gio dropped his chin to his chest. “I really, really want to stay here, Trey,” he mumbled into his shirt. “God only knows what’s going to happen to us if she’s not pregnant.”
It wasn’t likely.
Trey looked around 1520 and began his goodbyes, seeing his employees’ and tenants’ faces, and all his goals circle the drain. Once he finished his goodbyes, he could start cooking up alternative schemes. He’d end up doing his own bootlegging again and hammering foundering speakeasies into shape. It was a step down, but now he had money so he wouldn’t be starving on the streets gathering seed money. If Trey got cut loose, Charlie Carrollo or Solly Weissman or both would try to settle their grudges, but in that circumstance, killing them could be chalked up to an accident, just something that happens to cats who pop up out of the darkness at you.
“You can’t just … ?”
“Just what? I can’t marry her because that would void the bet. I can’t keep seeing her with no wedding on the horizon. And I can’t fuck her anymore if I’m not gonna to marry her. Whether she’s runnin’ a con on me or not, the fact is, when I’m not in bed with her, I’m takin’ advantage of a nice girl. I wouldn’t marry the one who goes to bed with me at the drop of a hat.” Trey paused, then realized what Gio really wanted. “Oh,” he said low. “No more Dot.”
“Yeah.”
Trey sighed.
Gio sighed. “Are we still on for taking the girls on a picnic this afternoon?”
“I ’spose. Gotta keep up appearances before I—we—cut our losses.”
Gio’s head dropped forward and hit the table. “When are you going to tell Boss Tom?” he asked, his voice muffled. “And everybody else?”
“I don’t know,” Trey muttered. “I gotta let it settle first. I’m tryin’ not to do impulsive things anymore. I might change my mind next week or somethin’ stupid like that.”
Gio straightened, reached for the whisky bottle, splashed some into his glass and some in Trey’s. Then he raised his.
“See you in hell. Or prison.”
“Is there a difference?”
30
If you don’t want to wait 2 years to get to the end, you can buy it here.
And hey, it’s my barfday.
Trey hadn’t needed sleep since his cat naps in between rounds with Marina the evening before.
It’s a good life.
which was not the same room as last time, which Marina didn’t seem to notice.
Hmm…..
Yeah, that was a wut.
Gio took a deep breath. “I was wondering if you’d turn on Boss Tom like that,” he murmured.
That was not the reaction Trey expected.
I know Trey wants his own place, but that I didn’t expect either.
“Gio, she’s— I don’t know how to explain it. She’s her. But not her. When we’re out, she is exactly the same as she has always been. A little bashful. Very proper. Then she … It’s like I’m fuckin’ a different girl. An’ you know what? I don’t like that girl.”
“Darling, a true lady takes off her dignity with her clothes and does her whorish best. At other times you can be as modest and dignified as your persona requires.” – Robert Heinlein.
Trey, embrace it.
An’ here’s daddy, startin’ to press me for a weddin’ date. Subtly. He’s a conman, not a very good one, but he gets the low-hangin’ fruit so he don’t know he’s my mark.
I wonder if Trey made a mistake in judging the Reverand.
“See you in hell. Or prison.”
“Is there a difference?”
Heh.
Another good installment.
Trey’s a bitch. There, I said it.
LOL
😉
The trouble with wanting respectability when you have no idea how to be respectable.
Mo happy b-day and thank you for your writing contributions to the site.
Just made this with some nice chicken legs and roasted butternut squash. I love the sharing of ideas.
I heard Gaia doesn’t like rice farts or some shit.
Be ungovernable
Thanks, OBE!
I’m just glad y’all put up with me.
I’ve never understood the Madonna/Whore complex that some men have.
https://archive.is/hBmFg/e3c2f64a9c919c6ad7d4f7d3f6992c5ad8d162b0.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.is/FTiZz/448867ab88a91dddc2fe0bcf7610aa62e20d496b.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.is/03ghN/06d9202d9d3961a57294ff59a672bae48e90fdbf.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.is/ba9kn/5984a813e74aef50011982064a6a7d41e3fe8adc.jpg
NSFW.
https://i.imgur.com/jSueLMt.gif
NSFW.
Finally, you understand me.
I’m sure other people don’t understand your complexes.
√-1
If that ass was so nice you wouldn’t need to prop it up
That were Robert De Niro? Reallu?
nobody will believe me I swear to god It was robert de niro
How’s ABQ?
AWFUL HOW’S Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS5WLkb_CxkI ONLY HAVE SO MANY Qs
q turns my head around, makes me think I’m not q material
Q is HATEFUL I d HATE can’ HATE q is Q plea Q don MAK HATE ugh HATE HATE HATE
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2b/1c/d9/2b1cd9a39cfafabeff5f7b57a1ac432e.png
ABQ is how they cooked meat before BBQ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjecYugTbIQ A routine malaise
Just like yesterday, I told you I was
Would you always, maybe sometimes, make it easy?
Just like yesterday, I told you I would stay
Would you always, maybe sometimes, make it easy? Take your time…
Do it right
Like Tundra, I am excited for playoff hockey.
My team is kicking ass. Two 5:1 in succession.
“Madonna/Whore complex”
Somewhere in my long go memory
Something like “A wife like a nun but a whore in the bedroom”
Trey is turning out to be not the stud he thought he was. Gio needs to dump Trey. Trey is the albatross.
Thanks Moj and a Happy Birthday, hope you had a nice evening out, someplace swanky, romantic.
The fans of Marvel, Star Wars and Star Trek who refuse to admit that placing a priority on wokeness aka diversity and female empowerment is killing their favorite franchises makes me laugh.
It’s ludicrous and baseless to blame wokeness for the stupidity even though in permeates every aspect of the productions from the writers to the crews to the cast. Instead of writers with experience, you are getting woke 20 somethings with who have ironically lived privileged and dull lives without talent who would normally write for the CW being put in charge of the biggest blockbusters in Hollywood because they check identity boxes.
It’s OK though because Mario is here to start the next childish trend. Hollywood will learn all the wrong lessons and just think movie adaptations are the next big thing.
They already think that.
They live in denial because they agree with the politics and can’t admit what shit everything it produces is, but have to stick their heads in the sand to ignore it when the people making this shit literally fucking tell you they care more about their message than the product or bottom line.
The drinker explains Why Modern Movies Suck
Specifically: They’re Written By Children
Rewatching Rebecca for the second time in a week. Effing awesome. Don’t care.
Don’t know it.
😱
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_(1940_film)
Hitchcock’s American debut.
I was just watching some Voyager on Pluto. I know everyone hates it but I like it and FFS it’s better than everything that came after it.
The Youtube crowd is rather higher on Picard season 3 as Kurtzman stepped back and let an old Star Trek writer take over as showrunner. I am not a fan of Trek and don’t really watch much of this franchise crap. I’m more just interested in the politics/culture war involved in it all.
Series ends with everyone under 25 being assimilated with a mind virus. Kind of based.
The Trek “reboot” movie really soured me on the whole enterprise. Refuse to watch anything after that abortion.
soured me on the whole enterprise
🧐
😏
LOL They fix the Borg virus with a (Oh Surprise Jean-Luc Son, we love you, you shouldn’t do this, please come baaaaack!) moment and a line about the transporters. And somehow the Enterprise can fly inside the superstructure of a Borg Cube because Everything Is Star Wars Even Star Trek.
The season is an incoherent plot dunked in a swimming pool of nostalgia.
Red Letter Media will have a field day.
I thought Star Trek: Enterprise was somewhat better. The rest of it should be forgotten.
Some of it was OK but I’m not into prequels or shitty theme music.
I think, unfortunately, that it’s not even wokeness. Obviously the fucking prosletyzing doesn’t help, but 20 somethings with who have ironically lived privileged and dull lives is a big factor. They have nothing to draw on, no personal depth of relationships, and their idea of ‘conflict’ is having to return something at macy’s. And also none of these boring people actually are educated in story or the classics or read a novel that’s not Harry Potter, so most of them are only capable of barfing out some version of whatever they grew up on. It’s a serpent eating its own tail of pop culture, getting shallower and more meaningless each iteration.
*snortlaughsnort*
pop culture
I read that as poop culture.
The Bud Light VP responsible for the tranny campaign is out. Or, at least officially, on a leave of absence.
Meanwhile, Youtube is hitting Youtubers who covered the Dylan Mulvaney disaster with policy strikes including The Quartering and Tim Poole. You can’t even say his name anymore. There also throttling them in search results and recommendations to lower their views.
His Name Is Robert Paulsen.
Bully!
Jackie Coakley.
Hi Mojo. If Old man is corrrect happy birthday. I’m tired npw so fall asllep. Hope you’rem well
lol a lot of sloppy drunks tonite
Thanks, Pengie!
Oh!~ Happy Birthday! *looks at clock* Phew just under the wire! 😀
Happy Birthday 🎂. Really cutting it close.
Thank you!
I missed it was your birthday Mojeaux. I hope it was a great day.
Same here. Happy Birthday
In honor of your now-digested tapas:
🎵 Cumpleaños feliz
Te deseamos á ti
Cumpleaños querida Mojeaux
Cumpleaños feliz
Good morning, reprobates!
Mornin’ all
Howdy Glibs, Im headed back to the sun
https://youtu.be/HF1tyjvH9is
Way to open a morning, well dressed young men with lyrics that I can understand. Good stuff, Rat
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/04/the-week-in-pictures-the-unbearable-bud-lightness-of-being.php
Mornin!
😀 🌄
suh’ fam
whats goody yo
TALL CANS!
/after I take Tres Ver 2.0 to breakfast
Stay away from those evil carbs.