“I will get you drunk and take out your liver and put you in a good Italian liver and make you a man again.”
I held the glass for some more cognac. It was dark outside now. Holding the glass of cognac, I went over and opened the window. The rain had stopped falling. It was colder outside and there was a mist in the trees.
“Don’t throw the cognac out the window,” Rinaldi said. “If you can’t drink it give it to me.”
“Go something yourself,” I said. I was glad to see Rinaldi again. He had spent two years teasing me and I had always liked it. We understood each other very well.
“Are you married?” he asked from the bed. I was standing against the wall by the window.
“Not yet.”
“Are you in love?”
“Yes.”
“With that English girl?”
“Yes.”
“Poor baby. Is she good to you?”
“Of course.”
“I mean is she good to you practically speaking?”
“Shut up.”
“I will. You will see I am a man of extreme delicacy. Does she—?”