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Chapter 8 Trapped
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There was the knocking at the door. Sammy, lying on his bed in pajamas1 and a bathrobe, called"Who?"When West Indian Archie answered, Sammy slid the round, two-sided shaving mirror under the bed,with what little of the cocaine2 powder-or crystals, actually-was left, and I opened the door.

  "Red-I want my money!"A .32-20 is a funny kind of gun. It's bigger than a .32. But it's not as big as a .38. I had faced down somedangerous Negroes. But no one who wasn't ready to die messed with West Indian Archie.

  I couldn't believe it. He truly scared me. I was so incredulous at what was happening that it was hardto form words with my brain and my mouth.

  "Man-what's the beef?"West Indian Archie said he'd thought I was trying something when I'd told him I'd hit, but he'd paidme the three hundred dollars until he could double-check his written betting slips; and, as he'dthought, I hadn't combinated the number I'd claimed, but another.

  "Man, you're crazy!" I talked fast; I'd seen out of the corner of my eye Sammy's hand easing under hispillow where he kept his Army .45. "Archie, smart a man as you're supposed to be, you'd paysomebody who hadn't hit?"The .32-20 moved, and Sammy froze. West Indian Archie told him, "I ought to shoot you through theear." And he looked back at me. "You don't have my money?"I must have shaken my head. "I'll give you until twelve o'clock tomorrow." And he put his handbehind him and pulled open the door. He backed out, and slammed it.

   It was a classic hustler-code impasse3. The money wasn't the problem. I still had about two hundreddollars of it. Had money been the issue, Sammy could have made up the difference; if it wasn't in hispocket, his women could quickly have raised it. West Indian Archie himself, for that matter, wouldhave loaned me three hundred dollars if I'd ever asked him, as many thousands of dollars of mine ashe'd gotten ten percent of. Once, in fact, when he'd heard I was broke, he had looked me up andhanded me some money and grunted4, "Stick this in your pocket." The issue was the position which his action had put us both into. For a hustler in our sidewalk jungleworld, "face" and "honor" were important. No hustler could have it known that he'd been "hyped,"meaning outsmarted or made a fool of. And worse, a hustler could never afford to have itdemonstrated that he could be bluffed5, that he could be frightened by a threat, that he lacked nerve.

  West Indian Archie knew that some young hustlers rose in stature6 in our world when they somehowhoodwinked older hustlers, then put it on the wire for everyone to hear. He believed I was trying that.

  In turn, I knew he would be protecting his stature by broadcasting all over the wire his threat to me.

  Because of this code, in my time in Harlem I'd personally known a dozen hustlers who, threatened,left town, disgraced.

  Once the wire had it, any retreat by either of us was unthinkable. The wire would be awaiting thereport of the showdown.

  I'd also known of at least another dozen showdowns in which one took the Dead On Arrival ride tothe morgue, and the other went to prison for manslaughter or the electric chair for murder.

  Sammy let me hold his .32. My guns were at my apartment. I put the .32 in my pocket, with my handon it, and walked out.

  I couldn't stay out of sight. I had to show up at all of my usual haunts. I was glad that Reginald wasout of town. He might have tried protecting me, and I didn't want him shot in the head by WestIndian Archie.

  I stood awhile on the corner, with my mind confused-the muddled7 thinking that's characteristic of theaddict. Was West Indian Archie, I began to wonder, bluffing8 a hype on me? To make fun of me? Someold hustlers did love to hype younger ones. I knew he wouldn't do it as some would, just to pick upthree hundred dollars. But everyone was so slick. In this Harlem jungle people would hype theirbrothers. Numbers runners often had hyped addicts9 who had hit, who were so drugged that, whenchallenged, they really couldn't be sure if they had played a certain number.

  I began to wonder whether West Indian Archie might not be right. Had I really gotten mycombination confused? I certainly knew the two numbers I'd played; I knew I'd told him to com-binateonly one of them. Had I gotten mixed up about which number?

  Have you ever been so sure you did something that you never would have thought of it again-unlessit was brought up again? Then you start trying to mentally confirm-and you're only about half-sure?

  It was just about tune10 for me to go and pick up Jean Parks, to go downtown to see Billie at the OnyxClub. So much was swirling11 in my head. I thought about telephoning her and calling it off, makingsome excuse. But I knew that running now was the worst thing I could do. So I went on and picked up Jean at her place. We took a taxi on down to 52nd Street. "_Billie Holiday_" and those big photo blowups of her were under the lights outside. Inside, the tables were jammed against the wall, tables aboutbig enough to get two drinks and four elbows on; the Onyx was one of those very little places.

  Billie, at the microphone, had just finished a number when she saw Jean and me. Her white gownglittered under the spotlight12, her face had that coppery, Indianish look, and her hair was in thattrademark ponytail. For her next number she did the one she knew I always liked so: "You Don'tKnow What Love Is"-"until you face each dawn with sleepless13 eyes . . . until you've lost a love youhate to lose-"When her set was done, Billie came over to our table. She and Jean, who hadn't seen each other in along time, hugged each other. Billie sensed something wrong with me. She knew that I was alwayshigh, but she knew me well enough to see that something else was wrong, and asked in her customaryprofane language what was the matter with me. And in my own foul14 vocabulary of those days, Ipretended to be without a care, so she let it drop.

  We had a picture taken by the club photographer that night. The three of us were sitting closetogether. That was the last time I ever saw Lady Day. She's dead; dope and heartbreak stopped thatheart as big as a barn and that sound and style that no one successfully copies. Lady Day sang withthe _soul_ of Negroes from the centuries of sorrow and oppression. What a shame that proud, fine,black woman never lived where the true greatness of the black race was appreciated!

  In the Onyx Club men's room, I sniffed15 the little packet of cocaine I had gotten from Sammy. Jean andI, riding back up to Harlem in a cab, decided16 to have another drink. She had no idea what washappening when she suggested one of my main hangouts, the bar of the La Marr-Cheri on the cornerof 147th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. I had my gun, and the cocaine courage, and I said okay. Andby the time we'd had the drink, I was so high that I asked Jean to take a cab on home, and she did. Inever have seen Jean again, either.

  Like a fool, I didn't leave the bar. I stayed there, sitting, like a bigger fool, with my back to the door,thinking about West Indian Archie. Since that day, I have never sat with my back to a door-and Inever will again. But it's a good thing I was then. I'm positive if I'd seen West Indian Archie come in,I'd have shot to kill.

  The next thing I knew West Indian Archie was standing17 before me, cursing me, loud, his gun on me.

  He was really making his public point, floor-showing for the people. He called me foul names,threatened me.

  Everyone, bartenders and customers, sat or stood as though carved, drinks in mid-air. The jukebox, inthe rear, was going. I had never seen West Indian Archie high before. Not a whisky high, I could tell itwas something else. I knew the hustlers' characteristic of keying up on dope to do a job.

  I was thinking, "I'm going to kill Archie . . . I'm just going to wait until he turns around-to get the drop on him." I could feel my own .32 resting against my ribs18 where it was tucked under my belt, beneathmy coat.

  West Indian Archie, seeming to read my mind, quit cursing. And his words jarred me.

  "You're thinking you're going to kill me first, Red. But I'm going to give you something to think about.

  I'm sixty. I'm an old man. I've been to Sing Sing. My life is over. You're a young man. Kill me, you'relost anyway. All you can do is go to prison."I've since thought that West Indian Archie may have been trying to scare me into running, to saveboth his face and his life. It may be that's why he was high. No one knew that I hadn't killed anyone,but no one who knew me, including myself, would doubt that I'd kill.

  I can't guess what might have happened. But under the code, if West Indian Archie had gone out ofthe door, after having humiliated19 me as he had, I'd have had to follow him out. We'd have shot it outin the street.

  But some friends of West Indian Archie moved up alongside him, quietly calling his name, "Archie . . .

  Archie."And he let them put their hands on him-and they drew him aside. I watched them move him pastwhere I was sitting, glaring at me. They were working him back toward the rear.

  Then, taking my time, I got down off the stool. I dropped a bill on the bar for the bartender. Withoutlooking back, I went out.

  I stood outside, in full view of the bar, with my hand in my pocket, for perhaps five minutes. WhenWest Indian Archie didn't come out, I left.

   It must have been five in the morning when, downtown, I woke up a white actor I knew who lived inthe Howard Hotel on 45th Street, off Sixth Avenue.

  I knew I had to stay high.

  The amount of dope I put into myself within the next several hours sounds inconceivable. I got someopium from that fellow. I took a cab back up to my apartment and I smoked it. My gun was ready if Iheard a mosquito cough.

  My telephone rang. It was the white Lesbian who lived downtown. She wanted me to bring her andher girl friend fifty dollars worth of reefers.

   I felt that if I had always done it, I had to do it now. Opium20 had me drowsy21. I had a bottle ofbenzedrine tablets in my bathroom; I swallowed some of them to perk22 up. The two drugs working inme had my head going in opposite directions at the same time.

  I knocked at the apartment right behind mine. The dealer23 let me have loose marijuana on credit. Hesaw I was so high that he even helped me roll it-a hundred sticks. And while we were rolling it, weboth smoked some.

  Now opium, benzedrine, reefers.

  I stopped by Sammy's on the way downtown. His flashing-eyed Spanish Negro woman opened thedoor. Sammy had gotten weak for that woman. He had never let any other of his women hang aroundso much; now she was even answering his doorbell. Sammy was by this time very badly addicted24. Heseemed hardly to recognize me. Lying in bed, he reached under and again brought out that inevitableshaving mirror on which, for some reason, he always kept his cocaine crystals. He motioned for me tosniff some. I didn't refuse.

  Going downtown to deliver the reefers, I felt sensations I cannot describe, in all those differentgrooves at the same time. The only word to describe it was a _timelessness_. A day might haveseemed to me five minutes. Or a half-hour might have seemed a week.

  I can't imagine how I looked when I got to the hotel. When the Lesbian and her girl friend saw me,they helped me to a bed; I fell across it and passed out.

  That night, when they woke me up, it was half a day beyond West Indian Archie's deadline. Late, Iwent back uptown. It was on the wire. I could see people who knew me finding business elsewhere. Iknew nobody wanted to be caught in a crossfire25.

  But nothing happened. The next day, either. I just stayed high.

  Some raw kid hustler in a bar, I had to bust26 in his mouth. He came back, pulling a blade; I would haveshot him, but somebody grabbed him. They put him out, cursing that he was going to kill me.

  Intuition told me to get rid of my gun. I gave a hustler the eye across the bar. I'd no more than slippedhim the gun from my belt when a cop I'd seen about came in the other door. He had his hand on hisgun butt27. He knew what was all over the wire; he was certain I'd be armed. He came slowly overtoward me, and I knew if I sneezed, he'd blast me down.

  He said, "Take your hand out of your pocket, Red-_real_ carefully."I did. Once he saw me empty handed, we both could relax a little. He motioned for me to walk outside, ahead of him, and I did. His partner was waiting on the sidewalk, opposite their patrol car,double-parked with its radio going. With people stopping, looking, they patted me down there on thesidewalk.

  "What are you looking for?" I asked them when they didn't find anything.

  "Red, there's a report you're carrying a gun.""I had one," I said. "But I threw it in the river."The one who had come into the bar said, "I think I'd leave town if I were you, Red."I went back into the bar. Saying that I had thrown my gun away had kept them from taking me to myapartment. Things I had there could have gotten me more time than ten guns, and could have gottenthem a promotion28.

  Everything was building up, closing in on me. I was trapped in so many cross turns. West IndianArchie gunning for me. The Italians who thought I'd stuck up their crap game after me. The scared kidhustler I'd hit. The cops.

  For four years, up to that point, I'd been lucky enough, or slick enough, to escape jail, or even gettingarrested. Or any _serious_ trouble. But I knew that any minute now something had to give.

   Sammy had done something that I've often wished I could have thanked him for.

  When I heard the car's horn, I was walking on St. Nicholas Avenue. But my ears were hearing a gun. Ididn't dream the horn could possibly be for me.

  "_Homeboy!_"I jerked around; I came close to shooting.

  _Shorty_-from Boston!

  I'd scared him nearly to death.

  "_Daddy-o!_"I couldn't have been happier.

  Inside the car, he told me Sammy had telephoned about how I was jammed up tight and told him he'd better come and get me. And Shorty did his band's date, then borrowed his piano man's car, andburned up the miles to New York.

  I didn't put up any objections to leaving. Shorty stood watch outside my apartment. I brought out andstuffed into the car's trunk what little stuff I cared to hang on to. Then we hit the highway. Shorty hadbeen without sleep for about thirty-six hours. He told me afterward29 that through just about the wholeride back, I talked out of my head.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 pajamas XmvzDN     
n.睡衣裤
参考例句:
  • At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时,我脱去衣服,换上睡衣。
  • He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。
2 cocaine VbYy4     
n.可卡因,古柯碱(用作局部麻醉剂)
参考例句:
  • That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
  • Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。
3 impasse xcJz1     
n.僵局;死路
参考例句:
  • The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
  • Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。
4 grunted f18a3a8ced1d857427f2252db2abbeaf     
(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说
参考例句:
  • She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声,继续看书,不屑抬起头来看一眼。
  • She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。
5 bluffed e13556db04b5705946ac7be798a90a52     
以假象欺骗,吹牛( bluff的过去式和过去分词 ); 以虚张声势找出或达成
参考例句:
  • Hung-chien bluffed, "You know perfectly well yourself without my telling you." 鸿渐摆空城计道:“你心里明白,不用我说。”
  • In each case the hijackers bluffed the crew using fake grenades. 每一个案例中,劫机者都用了假手榴弹吓唬机组人员。
6 stature ruLw8     
n.(高度)水平,(高度)境界,身高,身材
参考例句:
  • He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
  • The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。
7 muddled cb3d0169d47a84e95c0dfa5c4d744221     
adj.混乱的;糊涂的;头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱,弄糟( muddle的过去式);使糊涂;对付,混日子
参考例句:
  • He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
  • I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 bluffing bluffing     
n. 威吓,唬人 动词bluff的现在分词形式
参考例句:
  • I don't think he'll shoot—I think he's just bluffing. 我认为他不会开枪—我想他不过是在吓唬人。
  • He says he'll win the race, but he's only bluffing. 他说他会赢得这场比赛,事实上只是在吹牛。
9 addicts abaa34ffd5d9e0d57b7acefcb3539d0c     
有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 ); 入迷的人
参考例句:
  • a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
  • There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册
10 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
11 swirling Ngazzr     
v.旋转,打旋( swirl的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着,旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句
12 spotlight 6hBzmk     
n.公众注意的中心,聚光灯,探照灯,视听,注意,醒目
参考例句:
  • This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
  • The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。
13 sleepless oiBzGN     
adj.不睡眠的,睡不著的,不休息的
参考例句:
  • The situation gave her many sleepless nights.这种情况害她一连好多天睡不好觉。
  • One evening I heard a tale that rendered me sleepless for nights.一天晚上,我听说了一个传闻,把我搞得一连几夜都不能入睡。
14 foul Sfnzy     
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规
参考例句:
  • Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
  • What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气!
15 sniffed ccb6bd83c4e9592715e6230a90f76b72     
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说
参考例句:
  • When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣,吸了吸鼻子,擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
17 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
18 ribs 24fc137444401001077773555802b280     
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹
参考例句:
  • He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
  • Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。
19 humiliated 97211aab9c3dcd4f7c74e1101d555362     
感到羞愧的
参考例句:
  • Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当,父母也失体面。
  • He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻,丢尽了面子。
20 opium c40zw     
n.鸦片;adj.鸦片的
参考例句:
  • That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
  • Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
21 drowsy DkYz3     
adj.昏昏欲睡的,令人发困的
参考例句:
  • Exhaust fumes made him drowsy and brought on a headache.废气把他熏得昏昏沉沉,还引起了头疼。
  • I feel drowsy after lunch every day.每天午饭后我就想睡觉。
22 perk zuSyi     
n.额外津贴;赏钱;小费;
参考例句:
  • His perks include a car provided by the firm.他的额外津贴包括公司提供的一辆汽车。
  • And the money is,of course,a perk.当然钱是额外津贴。
23 dealer GyNxT     
n.商人,贩子
参考例句:
  • The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
  • The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。
24 addicted dzizmY     
adj.沉溺于....的,对...上瘾的
参考例句:
  • He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
  • She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。
25 crossfire 6vSzBL     
n.被卷进争端
参考例句:
  • They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
  • When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下,小公司遭受池鱼之殃。
26 bust WszzB     
vt.打破;vi.爆裂;n.半身像;胸部
参考例句:
  • I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
  • She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。
27 butt uSjyM     
n.笑柄;烟蒂;枪托;臀部;v.用头撞或顶
参考例句:
  • The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
  • He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。
28 promotion eRLxn     
n.提升,晋级;促销,宣传
参考例句:
  • The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
  • The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级,加了薪。
29 afterward fK6y3     
adv.后来;以后
参考例句:
  • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
  • Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。


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