I've seen them slip
wedding rings off their fingers to make their racket stand up.
"Then after they've got along and think they've got you biting they begin
to get fresh. They tell you you shouldn't ought to work in a barber shop,
a girl as beautiful as you. The surroundings ain't what they should be.
And they'd like to fix you up. Yes, they begin handing out their castles
in Rome or Spain or whatever it is. Cheap! Say, they are so cheap they
wouldn't go on the 5- and 10-cent store counter.
"Sometimes you can shame them into making good in a small way. But it's
too much work. Oh, yes, they give tips. Fifty cents is the usual tip.
Sometimes they make it $2.00. They think they're buying you, though, for
that.
* * * * *
"As I was saying, the patent-leather hair boys are the worst. They're the
ones who call themselves loop hounds. They know everybody by their first
name and sometimes they've got all of $6.50 in their pocket at one time.
And if you're out some evening with a friend--a regular fella, they pop in
the next day and say, 'Hello, Peewee, who was that street sweeper I see
you palling with last night? Oh, he wasn't! Well, I had him pegged either
as a street sweeper or a plumber!"
"That's their speed.
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