human
Gee! she said, jumping down to the floor.
gpt
It’s ten o’clock.
human
Gim’me two dollars.
gpt
Won’t you stay to lunch with us?
human
No. I’ve got to go—now! I want two dollars.
gpt
What can I do about this, Arnold?
human
Oh pay her her wages, and let her go, I said,
gpt
My God, he swore and stamped into my room. His face was white, his lip was bleeding a little where he had bitten it.
human
Somehow I can’t! What rotten creatures we all are! Of course I’ve known all about this—but we have to touch it—to realize it.... Why did I ever let her come into my life? I can’t send her back to it. She’s such a kid. And—Good God!—those damned, drunken Bowery sailors!
gpt
Look here, Norman, you’re only making matters worse for her. She’ll get a beating if she don’t have the money to give her cadet. He’s....
human
Cadet?
gpt
Isn’t there any way out of it?
human
Don’t take it so hard. She’s bred to it. It isn’t half as bad to her as you think. It’s all she knows. She doesn’t despise this cur of a cadet, she hustles for—the way we do. He’s her man—the pivot of her existence. And I told him what she had said about Blackie.
gpt
He doesn’t beat her as often as he might. She feels rather fortunate, because he’s not worse. There isn’t any way out. They call it the most ancient profession. Her hard times haven’t begun yet,—she’s young. She’s living on the fat of the only land she ever knew. It isn’t exactly a bed of roses—but she’s never known a softer one.
human
You’re a sophist! he cried, jumping up.
gpt
Lies. Damn lies! She has known something better. My God—you should see her smile when she’s asleep! I can’t stop prostitution, but I can keep her out of the worst of it. She’s too young for these Bowery dens. I won’t let her go back to that damn pimp.
human
Go slow, I said.
gpt
What have you got to offer in exchange—for this cadet? I tell you, he’s the big factor of her life. Are you willing to take the time and trouble to fill his place? Money won’t do it. She can’t count above fifty. How are you going to amuse her? She’s used to excitement, to street life, the buzz of the Bowery. You’re going to offer her a gilded cage, an upholstered cell. It won’t work. And suppose you do succeed in giving her a taste for a finer life—what then? After you get through, she’ll only find the old life harder. What’s to become of her when you’re tired?
human
You’re the devil’s advocate,
gpt
Perhaps. But are you a God? It would take all of a pretty lively God’s time to help—to really help—the lady.
human
We’ll see what a man can do,
gpt
It’s beyond me, he said.
human
It looks like fright. She seems to like me and the place. I think she’d stay, if she wasn’t afraid of her old gang. See if you can reassure her.
gpt
Nina, I asked,
human
He ain’t so bad.
gpt
Well, if he were dead, I tried again,
human
Sure, she said.
gpt
Sure!
human
You’re afraid of Blackie?
gpt
Well. Cheer up. He can’t hurt you here.
human
He’d have me pinched, she insisted, doggedly.
gpt
He’s got a pull with the cops. He’d sure have me sent to the Island, if I tried to shake him.
human
Look here, —again I flashed my badge—
gpt
It’s gold. That means I’m the same as a captain. I’ve got ten times more pull than Blackie. If he gets gay, I’ll lock him up. I’ll plant a gun in his pocket and send him up the river for concealed weapons. You don’t need to be afraid of him.
human
Gee, she said,
gpt
I’d like to stay. But he’d sure get me. He’s a bad one.
human
He’ll be a dead one, I said.
gpt
If he starts anything with a friend of mine.