"Ed was all right," she said. "Nicest guy you could find.

he was a queer."

"Ah, now," said Mac.

Only

"Yeah, I'm telling you," said Mollie. "Ed was a queer.

"No foolin'," said Arlene. "Nicest looking guy you ever see," said Mollie. "How did I know? I couldn't tell. He didn't look no queerer than you, Mac. You know what? There's lots of queers that don't look queer. Ed was a big guy. He wasn't no pansy. You know what? Anybody might be a queer. For all I know, Mister, you might be a queer," she said, turning to me.

"Now, look, Mollie," said Mac, "don't go insulting the customers.

"I'm not insulting no customers! All I said was he might be a queer. He don't look like no queer. Why, anybody might be a queer for all you can tell. Anybody. Abraham Lincoln. George Washington. How the hell do I know? I don't mean they was. I just said you can't tell. Anyway, I don't consider it no insult to say a man's a queer. You couldn't find a nicer guy than Ed."

"Papa's no queer," said Arlene. "I'll say he isn't," said Mollie. "Give me another shot, Mac.'

"Aw now, Mollie, you didn't ought to drink no more."

"Look, Mac," said Mollie, "I know damn well when I've had enough. How about you, Mister?"

"This one's on me," I said. "How about another, Arlene?"

"You could've knocked me over with a feather the first time,"

said Mollie. "Hell, I thought everything was okay. Ed had this friend, but how did I know? He looked like anyone else to me. He ran a service station and Ed used to buy gas from him. One day I came home and there they

was.

"You don't say," said Mac. "What did you do?" asked Arlene. "Do? What could I do? I didn't do nothing."

"I'd've taken a chair to 'em," said Arlene.

"You can't do that," said Mollie. "Two big men. Besides I loved the guy.

"I loved Pete," said Arlene. "That's why I hit him."

"This one's on the house," said Mac, filling the glasses. "I need it," said Mollie. "Look, Mister, did you ever meet a queer?"

"You never know," I said.

"That's what I mean," said Mollie. "You can't tell. Why even after I found 'em that way, I didn't believe it. I thought maybe they'd had one too many and was just fooling round. Like the gentleman here says, you never know."

"One of 'em come in here a while back," said Mac. "I could' ve told him a mile off."

"Sure, some of them," said Mollie. "But not Ed."

"Say, listen," said Arlene, "I got to go to the hospital. Pete don't even know me. He just lays there."

"Anyway," said Mollie, "I didn't do nothing then. I didn't even say nothing. Like I said,

one

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