Transits Read Free Page B

leg once more. Roy drinks, and as he lowers the cup from his lips he smiles until he looks around the restaurant and in the back corner he sees what cannot be. Beyond the haze of the warmth in Roy's stomach and the grease in the air sits the Houston Street newsman. The newsman smokes a cigarillo and has removed his watch cap to reveal his balding head. In front of him is a steaming bowl and a cup like the one Roy holds in his hand. The man pays no attention to these things for he looks intently across the room, his gaze fixed in the direction of the booth across from Roy. Roy averts his eyes and watches Alice toy with the packets of milk on his saucer. He leans in and whispers, “The man from the newsstand is sitting in the far corner.”
    â€œHow is that possible?”
    Roy shakes his head and looks again, not because he is unsure of what he has seen, but because he cannot help but look. When Alice goes to the rest room, Roy turns in the direction in which the newsman directs his gaze. On the wall behind the women hangs a framed photograph of someone who looks an awful lot like Art Beazley. The black prostitute, Roy concludes, is in fact male. She is also better dressed than her companion, and from a distance, decidedly the more attractive of the two. The shorter woman wears a white felt hat with a turned down brim that might have once been stylish, but has lost its shape and given its owner a pitiable, juvenile look.
    The waiter places Alice's sandwich on the table. “We're closing in fifteen minutes.”
    â€œIs that Art Beazley in that photo?” Roy asks.
    â€œNone other than.” The waiter fills his cup without asking.
    As Alice returns from the restroom, she takes a good look at the man sitting in the corner.
    â€œWhat's he doing here?”
    Roy shrugs his shoulders. “Having dinner?”
    â€œHas he seen us?”
    â€œI don't think so. He's got other things on his mind.” Roy nods in the direction of the prostitutes.
    Alice looks over, immediately averts her eyes, and half-heartedly swallows a mouthful of her sandwich.
    Roy smiles and says, “I think the tall one's more your type.”
    Alice places her napkin on her plate and wraps her scarf around her face.
    â€œYou find it cold in here?” asks Roy.
    â€œI'm going. I don't want to stay here any longer.” Alice puts on her coat. “I'll meet you at my place afterwards. You can find your way back from here?”
    â€œYou sure you don't want me to come along? I'd like to see this studio.”
    â€œYou'll just make me uncomfortable. I'll let you listen to the recording as soon as I get home. One of us has to stay and settle the tab. ”
    Alice leaves, and a moment later the prostitutes make their wayto the cash. As the shorter woman asks the waiter for a pack of Pall Malls, the newsman approaches, puts his arm around her, and tries to kiss her. When she protests he grasps her by the arm and with his other hand he produces his wallet and insists on paying for her. The waiter points to him, then to the door. The man swears and pounds the counter with his fist as the few remaining customers look up. Before the waiter can emerge from behind the counter, the transvestite steps in and removes the newsman's hand from the girl's arm.
    As the two prostitutes walk out, the waiter blocks the newsman's path and says, “Best wait here until they're gone.”
    The newsman throws his hands in the air and at that moment from the dimness of the street there is a panicked scream and then what Roy imagines must be the sound of a gun, and then silence. The newsman runs out the front door. By the time Roy follows, the man is kneeling beside the body of the girl, which lies motionless on the sidewalk. There is a dark trickle running from her mouth to her chin. There are tears in the newsman's eyes and he does not notice Roy. There is no sign of the girl's companion and there is no sign of Alice. In the distance is