‘Not Henry. He wouldn’t know how.’
‘He’s probably having it off with Judy.’
Eva shook her head. ‘He was just drunk, that’s all. He’s never done anything like that before.’
‘How would you know?’
‘Well he is my husband.’
‘Husband hell. He just uses you to wash the dishes and cook and clean up for him. What does he give you? Just tell me that’
Eva struggled with her thoughts inarticulately. Henry didn’t give her anything very much. Not anything she could put into words. ‘He needs me,’ she said finally.
‘So he needs you. Who needs needing? That’s the rhetoric of female feudalism. So you save someone’s life, you’ve got to be grateful to them for letting you? Forget Henry. He’s a jerk.’
Eva bristled. Henry might not be very much but she didn’t like him insulted.
‘Gaskell’s nothing much to write home about,’ she said and went into the kitchen. Behind her Sally lay back on the bunk and opened the centre spread of Playboy. ‘Gaskells got bread,’ she said.
‘Bread?’
‘Money, honey. Greenstuff. ‘The stuff that makes the world go round Cabaretwise. You think I married him for his looks? Oh no. I can smell a cool million when it comes by me and I do mean buy me.’
‘I could never marry a man for his money,’ said Eva primly. ‘I’d have to be in love with him. I really would.’
‘So you’ve seen too many movies. Do you really think Gaskell was in love with me?’
‘I don’t know. I suppose he must have been.’
Sally laughed. ‘Eva baby you are naive. Let me tell you about G. G’s a plastic freak. He’d fuck a goddam chimpanzee if you dressed it up in plastic’
‘Oh honestly. He wouldn’t’ said Eva. ‘I don’t believe it.’
‘You think I put you on the Pill for nothing? You go around in that bikini and Gaskell’s drooling over you all the time if I wasn’t here he’d have raped you’
‘He’d have a hard time.’ said Eva, ‘I took Judo classes.’
‘Well he’d try. Anything in plastic drives him crazy. Why do you think he had that doll?’
‘I wondered about that.’
‘Right. You can stop wondering’ said Sally.
‘I still don’t see what that has to do with you marrying him,’ said Eva.
‘Then let me tell you a little secret. Gaskell was referred to me…’
‘Referred?’
‘By Dr Freeborn. Gaskell had this little problem and he consulted Dr Freeborn and Dr Freeborn sent him to me.’
Eva looked puzzled. ‘But what were you supposed to do?’
‘I was a surrogate,’ said Sally.
‘A surrogate?’
‘Like a sex counsellor’ said Sally. ‘Dr Freeborn used to send me clients and I would help them.’
‘I wouldn’t like that sort of job,’ said Eva, ‘I couldn’t bear to talk to men about sex. Weren’t you embarrassed?’
‘You get used to it and there are worse ways of earning a living. So G comes along with his little problem and I straightened him out but literally and we got married. A business arrangement. Cash on the tail.’
