32
PARTISAN REVIEW
He said you think it's not serious?
I said to you serious is to the world ridiculous. Sure an enemy
wouldn ' t laugh . He doesn't care so he can care . You have no sense of
proportion . I rubbed my foot:.
The other man said virus .
Jack said nobody told him not to talk .
I said maybe you would like to sing .
He began to sing. Ya ya ya.
The man said virus .
Me too. Ya ya ya.
All of a sudden the virus pushes his blankets on the floor and gets
out of bed. His gown was pinched in his behind . His legs were bones,
his face green. Like a tomato . I thought he was a tomato not a virus. He
walked out of the room .
We stopped singing.
I said he went to the toilet .
Jack said there is a toilet behind the door over there. He didn ' t go
to the toilet.
I said how do you know? Maybe he doesn't like that toilet.
Jack said he didn't go to the toilet .
I said he 'll be back in a minute . He went to another toilet because
he didn ' t want us to hear him make a tinkle .
Jack said he didn't go to any toilet.
I said all right. Then he recovered . Why should he pay another
penny? He recovered . Stop the clock. A motel is cheaper. I noticed
I had a headache .
Jack gave me a face like Genghis Khan . A rock with eye slits . I
could see the tomato was my fault . I could see it in the rock .
I said I know how it isJack. You come in with trouble and they put
you with a virus. Look at my foot . Is that sweatJack? It's sweat believe
me .Jack's wife hated him. A small skinny from night school. Hair and
pimples.
She wasn ' t his type but she used to read to him from Goethe. He
couldn ' t understand a word so they got married. When Jack had a
hardon she would vomit . He called her The Stomach . He used to say
I'm going home now to The Stomach. I knew plenty . I said what do
you say about my foot?
He said he phoned me so I would walk on my rotten foot . Then he
