Fritz Leiber - The Girl with the Hungry Eyes

Fritz Leiber - The Girl with the Hungry Eyes
He was smart about the way he planned it. He got me to drop some information which told him when
she came to work, and then one morning he came pounding up the stairs a few minutes before.
“I’ve got to see her, Dave,” he told me.
I argued with him, I kidded him. I explained he didn’t know just how serious she was about her crazy
ideas. I pointed out he was cutting both our throats. I even amazed myself by bawling him out.
He didn’t take any of it in his usual way. He just kept repeating, “But, Dave, I’ve got to see her.”
The street door slammed.
“That’s her,” I said, lowering my voice. “You’ve got to get out.”
He wouldn’t, so I shoved him in the darkroom. “And keep quiet,” I whispered. “I’ll tell her I can’t work
today.”
I knew he’d try to look at her and probably come busting in, but there wasn’t anything else I could do.
The footsteps came to the fourth floor. But she never showed at the door. I got uneasy.
“Get that bum out of there!” she yelled suddenly from beyond the door. Not very loud, but in her
commonest voice.
“I’m going up to the next landing,” she said, “And if that fat-bellied bum doesn’t march straight down to
the street, he’ll never get another pix of me except spitting in his lousy beer.”
Papa Munsch came out of the darkroom. He was white. He didn’t look at me as he went out. He never
looked at her pictures in front of me again.
That was Papa Munsch. Now it’s me I’m telling about. I talked about the subject with her, I hinted,
eventually I made my pass.
She lifted my hand off her as if it were a damp rag.
“Nix, baby,” she said. “This is working time.”
“But afterward…”I pressed.
“The rules still hold.” And I got what I think was the fifth smile.
file:///J|/sci-fi/Nieuwe%20map/Leiber,%20Fritz%20-%...ot%20Enough]%20-%20The%20Girl%20with%20the%20H.html (11 of 15)16-2-2006 15:43:21