376
SUSAN SONTAG
"Take her," said Mr. Obscenity with a genial wave of
his
hand.
Then he jotted something on the clipboard.
"Well, I dunno," said Honest Abe. He rubbed the fringe
beard
which decorated his chin, musing.
Miss Flatface wondered. Was this big black Honest Abe
afraid
of slim Mr. Obscenity? Or did he find her undesirable?
"Ain't much of a face...."
That settled it! Tears got ready behind Miss Flatface's eyes.
"And white women ain't good for my blood. That's what the
Prophet says."
"Abe!" said Mr. Obscenity, menacingly.
"Yes, Mr. Obscenity. I mean yeah, boss. I mean yes, sir."
Honest Abe hoisted his great bulk wearily from the table,
dropping his napkin. A heap of breadcrumbs tumbled from his lap
to the floor. "Well, little woman, let's see what you and me can
do. Can't do you no more harm than it does me." He chuckled.
Miss Flatface rose eagerly. She felt the faint tingling in
hel
stomach. The spirits of James Fenimore Cooper and Betsy Ross
whispered in her ears, beckoning and forbidding. "It's my
duty,
isn't it?" she asked Mr. Obscenity, wishing to quell the last shreds
of doubt that soiled her perfect resolution. "The national will,
I
mean. The national purpose. And the national presence."
"You must do what you have to do," said Mr. Obscenity cold–
ly. "This, after all, is the American dilemma." He made a notation
on his clipboard, then turned back to his guests.
Honest Abe carefully removed his maroon vdvet jacket and
hung
it
on the back of his chair, then unstrapped the transistor radio
which nestled in his armpit.
So that's where the music wa coming from, thought
M.js,
Flatface.
Their union took place in a bathtub, whose hard white enamd
surface had been draped with gaily-colored bath towels, blue
and
purple and brown and yellow, like the tent of a sheik. Over the
upper portion of the towels someone had considerately, perhaps even
reverently, laid the Stars and Stripes. They do smell different,
M.js,
Flatface had the presence of mind to observe. But it's a nice strong
smell. I wonder why I was so afraid of them when I went into that
candy store late one night to buy a pack of Luckies, or in the movie
