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NTA6
When she turned to his body, upon his return from a voyage, it
was
first to see
if
he had any new tattooes. That was a game between
them. Arthur's forearms and biceps were already printed with color–
ful designs; now he made sure to get them in less likely places.
He
would fall on the bed squealing-he was ticklish, too; another one
Ii
his charms- as Miss Flatface examined
his
armpits, his navel,
the
folds of his groin, and all the secret zones of his body. "Just wait
till
I get hold of you," he would mutter with mock fierceness, between
his squeals and giggles. Miss Flatface would insist on continuing
to look carefully for the tattooes. This game was a lovely part
of
their joy. In her joy with Arthur Miss Flatface began to forget her
former lives.
She had a reminder, though, after one particular evening while
he was in port, and out with some of his seamen buddies. On such
evenings Miss Flatface knew better than to ask to come along, but
she allowed herself to question Arthur when he came home about
what he did. "Aw, you know," he said this evening. "A lot of
booze.
And chasin' after girls-not that I'm interested in any other
girl
when I got my baby here at home waitin' for me. And talkin' to a
couple of funny fellows at the Blue Star."
"What fellows?"
"Oh, just some guys." He laughed, and slapped his chest. "Fact
is, they were the funniest two fellows you ever laid eyes on, honey.
One had a monocle and some kind of crazy outfit, like he was
English or something. Like one of them polo players. Real stuck up.
But the other guy, the guy he was with, he was real friendly. Got
me to talking about myself. I told them all about you, what a great
little wife I got." He smacked his lips appreciatively, then planted
them on her neck.
"Arthur," Miss Flatface cried shrilly. "You just stay away from
those two men. Don't ask me to explain. Just stay away from them.
Promise me! You hear?"
"Okay, okay, okay." Arthur's spirits drooped, for he was not
accustomed to being yelled at by his wife. A mean thought, one
of
the few ever to cross his mind, came without ado to his lips. "I
guess I understand. I know you got a pretty wild past-"
"Arthur !"
