mentally apologized to his lower neighbor. 

       *      *      *      *      * 

 Two days later, on a Saturday evening, after what had become his accustomed daily rounds of playing on street-corners—Jurgen found himself again descending the stairs into Calcutta. The place was noisier than it had been before. There might have been thirty people inside. He found a seat at the booth closest to the spotlights—the open tables were full. A young waitress in a slinky white dress came over to serve him. He decided to have dinner there—a repayment to Mabel. The last time, he had only ordered one drink, and when he thought back over the evening, decided that he had in fact never paid for it or any of the drinks he had with Al and the others. At least he could give her some business by ordering dinner. 

 "Where's Mabel this evening?" he asked. 

 "Huh?"  The waitress seemed confused. She let one knee bend, and ran a hand quickly along the strap of her dress. 

 "Oh," he stammered, "I thought Mabel would be here." 

 "Oh, she's here," the waitress said, puzzled.  "She don' work tables though."  She leaned on the table with one hand.  "Can I get you something to drink first?" 

 "I'll have a Coca-Cola." 

 The waitress left and came back with his drink. She set it lightly on the table, with a battered cork coaster beneath, and slid it in front of him. He ordered a few side dishes—words spilling willy-nilly from his mouth while he glanced over the menu. He was uncertain how much he should order and ended up ordering far too much food to eat alone—but he felt that he really owed Mabel something. Plain Al showed up later; Jurgen walked over to say hello, and to thank him for so kindly allowing him to play the other evening. Remembering that he had plates of untouched food, he invited Al over to his table. They ate together and talked about the late George Gershwin. 

 "Pity how he passed away so suddenly, ain't it?" Al observed quietly. 

 "I'm sure he'll be counted among the greatest," Jurgen replied. 

 Jurgen joined the band and they spent the rest of the evening working over tunes they all knew. Mabel came out and sang with them, and they rounded out the evening with a few long numbers just for the enjoyment of listening to each other.  

 Prev. P 30/50 next