“With an orchestra.”
“Where?”
“At Tony's. He's going to open up next week.”
“How much will he pay you?” I asked.
“Wouldn't you like to know,” she said.
She had a husky voice and I thought she'd probably sing well.
We went off the cement road on to a gravel road. We passed n small lake and turned into a big parking lot. There were half a dozen cars there. I saw a big farmhouse with a neon sign on it: Tony's. We went up wooden stairs to the entrance and came into an old-fashioned bar with a big mirror, two bartenders in shirtsleeves, and pyramids of glasses. One of the bartenders said “Hello, Ginger,” and then looked at me. He seemed surprised to see me.
“Where's Pug?” he asked Ginger.
“How do I know?” Ginger said.
The bartender glanced at me. I looked dumb.
We had a drink at the bar. I said I wanted to order dinner and the bartender got a waiter. We ordered steaks and green salad. I ordered a bottle of champagne. That made both Ginger and the bartender look at me. After a while we went out to a veranda overlooking the lake. There was a breeze off the water. The waiter showed us our table.
“This is swell,” I said.
“Yeah,” Ginger said. “But where's our champagne?”
The waiter brought it in an ice bucket. I had him bring a bottle of cognac, too. I poured some of the cognac in the champagne glasses and the waiter put champagne on top. There is nothing that gives you a rear like champagne laced with good cognac. Try it some time. We drank slowly.
“Who's Pug?” I asked Ginger. I wanted to hear what she would say.
“A friend.”
“Anybody to worry me?”
“No'.”
“I'm glad,” I said. “I'm steaming up for you.”
“He's a louse,” Ginger said.
There were people at three tables. One party was large; three men and five women. At the other tables were couples. The big party was noisy and two of the women were climbing all over a red-faced fat man. I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn't see him very well. The cuddling was strictly fun on the surface but the women were really trying for the fat man. He was giving the party.
“Do you think you could go for me, beautiful?” I asked Ginger.
“Not tonight,” she said.
“Tomorrow?”
“Let's dance.”
I stuck a nickel in the jive box and we danced Some or the other people danced, too. I noticed one of the women had cot the fat man on the floor. Suddenly I recognized him. It was the chief of police. Piper. He was pretty drunk. Ginger danced away from me.
“Don't be so distant,” I said.
“That gun of yours tickles me where I don't like to be tickled,” she said.
I pushed the holster further under my arm. She danced closer, putting her head on my shoulder. Her body was firm.
“That's better,” I said.
“Don't talk,” she said. “Dance.”
We danced until the record stopped, and then we went back to the table. I noticed one of the bartenders and the waiter watching us. When they saw me look at them, the bartender ducked into the other room and the waiter came over and poured us more brandy and champagne. Then he got our dinner.. The steaks were good; burned a little on top, but red inside. I was having a good time. There were only three things I really liked in the world; food, fighting and... women. Oh yes, and maybe liquor. And I was having at least two of them.
“How about another bottle of champagne?” I asked.
“Why spoil good brandy?” Ginger said.
We drank about half the bottle of brandy. The big party at the table near the bar-room door kept getting noisier. The liquor didn't seem to affect Ginger, but she got a little more sociable. She told me she'd worked in the chorus at Harry's New York Bar in Chicago, and then had sung at a Chinese joint on the North Side. She'd also done a little radio singing. Her face wasn't sullen when she was talking about her work. She was really interested in singing.
“Ever think of the movies?” I asked.
“Don't pull that,” she said. “I used to work in Hollywood,” I said. “When do you want me to start taking my clothes off?” she asked.
“The hell with it,” I said. “I was just making conversation.”
