54
PARTISAN REVIEW
tionary naiads toppled off the frieze and cracked into pieces. The
glass door to the hairdresser's shattered with a loud bang. Flakes of
ash and the vile trash of this public resort flew into the salon itself.
Filthy smocks clung to the extremely enticing bodies of the 24 fright–
ful tarts.
A second or two later and there was only the barren waste of
catastrophe before our eyes: crimson flashes of sheet lightning,
palms bowed over by the wind's iron broom, a bloated sea with our
naval fleet clumsily sliding down into its gluttonous mouth-had that
poor fellow Pushinkin not served on one of those triremes?-and the
torso of the naiad flung onto the street. Remember at least this, if all
else is forgotten, remember at least this!
A group of youths walked past, guffawing and singing the song
"Love Machine." In the process of stepping over the naiad, one of
them propped his leg on her in order to lace his shoes. All's normal;
life flows past, empty of memories; the organizations responsible
cope with the ravages of natural disasters; the prognosis is good;
Rome stands firm, unshaken.
Suddenly, all at once seven closely shaven and neatly cut citi–
zens came out of the beauty salon.
"N
ext! " boomed the voice of the chief hairdresser on the loud–
speaker. The PA system, it turned out, was still working there.
The redheaded giant fell onto a chair, right into a woman's
eager hands. How can they condone such filth when their guild's
service is public beauty? Fingers with broken nails and chipped pol–
ish darted nimbly across the redheaded client's chest, belly, and
groin. A gigantic and eager mouth, smeared with lipstick, laughed
above him. Tits were falling out of the unbridled polyester blouse.
The wet hem of a skirt stuck to the protruding lower abdomen, and
everything below brought to mind that deep-water Agave known for
its passion for lurking, sucking in, and swallowing innocent fish. So,
that's who's got the redheaded giant: Svetka, the disgrace of the city,
the widow of the two painters.
"So, that's who's got me!" the obscene mouth laughed. "The
redheaded one, red one, saucy one, shameless one! Let's get out of
here, Red, let's get the hell out of here! I'll give you a shave on the
beach! Take all this stuff! I'll do it to you 'deluxe' style on the
beach!"
