| |
Scene:
Pete & Dud sitting at a
table in a pub
Dud: All right,
then, Pete, are you?
Pete: Not too bad,
you know, not too bad
... Cheers.
Dud: What you been
doing lately, then?
Pete: Well quiet,
pretty quiet, not been
up to much - I had a
spot of the usual
trouble the other day.
Dud: Oh, did you -
what happened, then?
Pete:
A spot of the usual
trouble - well, I come
home about half-past eleven - we'd
been having a couple
of
drinks, remember? - I
come home about
half-past eleven, and,
you know, I was feeling
a bit tired, so, you
know, I thought I'd go
to bed, you know, take
me clothes off, and so
on, you know.
Dud: 'Sright -
well, don't you take
your clothes off BEFORE
you go to bed?
Pete: Er - no, I
made that mistake this
time, got it the wrong
way round - anyway, I
got into bed, settled
down, I was just about,
you know, reading "The
Swiss Family Robinson".
Dud: Good, ain't
it.
Pete: It's a
lovely book, Dud, a
lovely book - an' I got
up to about page 483,
second paragraph, when
suddenly - 'bring, bring
- bring, bring'.
Dud: What's that?
Pete: That's the
'phone, going 'bring,
bring'. So I picked up
the 'phone, and - you
know who it was?
Dud: Who?
Pete: Bloody Betty
Grable. Calling
transatlantic, bloody
Betty Grable - I said,
'look, Betty, what do
you
think you're doing,
calling me up half-past
eleven at night?' She
said 'It's half-past two
in the afternoon over
here'.
I said, 'I don't
care what bloody time it
is, there's no need to
wake ME up'. She said,
'Peter, Peter - get on a
plane,
come dance with
me, be mine tonight'.
Dud: I thought it
was the middle of the
afternoon?
Pete: Yes, what
she probably meant was
'be mine tonight
tomorrow afternoon our
time'.
Dud: No - didn't
she mean tomorrow
afternoon - er ...
Pete: Anyway, 'Be
mine tonight' she said -
I said, 'Look, Betty -
we've had our laughs,
we've had our fun, but
it's
all over'. I said,
'Stop pestering me, get
back to Harry James and
his trumpet - stop
pestering ME' I said. I
slammed
the 'phone down
and said 'Stop pestering
me'.
Dud: Shouldn't you
have said 'Stop
pestering me' BEFORE you
put the 'phone down?
Pete: I should
have, yes ...
Dud: It's funny
you should say that, 'cos
a couple of nights ago,
you remember, we had a
couple of drinks ...
Pete: I remember
that, yes ...
Dud: ... and I
came home, you know, I
was going to bed, felt a
bit tired - I was having
a nightcap ...
Pete: 'Course you
were ...
Dud: ... and I was
just dropping off
nicely, and all of a
sudden I heard this
hollering in the
kitchen.
Pete: Hollerin'?
Dud: And screaming
and banging on the door,
you know, and I thought
I must have left the gas
on - so I go
down there
- I fling open the door
- you'll never guess -
it's bloody Anna Magnani,
up to her knees in rice,
screaming
at me - 'Lesse
more entrate - amore me
per favore!'
Pete: Italian.
Dud: Italian, yes
- she was covered in
mud, she grabbed hold of
me, she pulled me all
over the floor - she had
one
of them see-through
blouses ...
Pete: All damp,
showing everything
through it ...
Dud: ... Yes, and
we rolled all over the
floor - I hit her, I
said 'Get out of here!
Get out of here, you
Italian ... thing!'
I
said. 'Get out of here',
I said ...
Pete: 'You Italian
thing ...' a good thing
to call her.
Dud: Yes ... I
said. 'Don't you come
here and mess up MY rice
again, mate'.
Pete: I should
hope not. I had the same
bloody trouble about
three nights ago - I
come in, about half-past
eleven
at night, we'd
been having a couple of
drinks I remember - and
I come in, I get into
bed, you see, feeling
quite sleepy,
I could
feel the lids of me eyes
beginning to droop - a
bit of the droop in the
eyes - I was just about
to drop off, when
suddenly, 'tap, tap,
tap' at the bloody
window pane - I looked
out - you know who it
was?
Dud: Who?
Pete: Bloody Greta
Garbo! Bloody Greta
Garbo - stark naked save
for a shortie nightie.
She was hanging on to
the window
sill, and I
could see her knuckles
all white ... saying
'Pieter, Pieter ...' you
know how these bloody
Swedes go on - I said
'Get out of it!' -
bloody Greta Garbo. She
wouldn't go - she
wouldn't go, I had to
smash her down with a
broomstick, poke
her off
the window sill, she
fell down on the
pavement with a great
crash ...
Dud: She just had
a nightie on, is that
all?
Pete: That's all
she had on, Dud, just a
...
Dud: See-through?
Pete: ... a
see-through, shortie
nightie. Nothing else -
except for her dark
glasses of course.
Dreadful business.
Dud: Well, it's
funny you should say
that ...
Pete: Yes, it's
funny I should say that.
Dud: ... four
nights ago, I come home,
we'd been having a
couple of drinks ...
Pete: Couple of
drinks, yes ...
Dud: ... I come
home, I come through the
door, and - sniff -
sniff, sniff, I went -
you know - funny smell,
I
thought, smells like
wood burning ...
Pete: Probably
burning wood, Dud.
Dud: What's that?
Pete: 'Burning
Wood' - that's a perfume
worn by sensual, earthy
women.
Dud: Funny you
should say that, because
I come in the bathroom,
you know, I thought,
'bit stronger here',
you
know, 'sfunny - I come
in the bedroom - it's
getting ridiculous, this
smell, you know, so I
get into bed, you
know,
turn the covers back -
it's a bit warm in bed -
I thought, 'funny', you
know, being warm like
that - and - I
get into
bed, I put out the light
- and, I was just going
off to kip - and
suddenly I feel a hand
on my cheek.
Pete: Which cheek
was that, Dud? ... Come
on - which cheek was it?
Dud: It was the
left upper. I said, I
thought, you know,
'funny' ... I turned on
the light - bloody hand
here,
scarlet
fingernails ...
Pete: Who was it?
Dud: You'll never
guess - bloody Jane
Russell.
Pete: Jane
Russell?
Dud: Jane Russell,
in bed with me, stark
naked - I said 'Jane'
...
Pete: With the
huge ...
Dud: With the
things ... I said,
'Jane', I said, 'get out
of here' ...
Pete: Get out ...
Dud: 'Get out of
here', I said, 'you may
be mean, moody and
magnificent, but as far
as I'm concerned, it's
all over'.
So I threw
her down - I took her
out of bed, threw her
down the stairs - I
threw her bra and her - er - gauze panties
after
her, I threw them down
... and the green silk
scarf ... I said 'Get
out of here! Get out of
here, you hussy!' ... I
threw her fag-holder - I
threw a bucket of water
over her, I said 'Get
out of here, you hussy!'
- I said, 'don't come in
my bed again, mate, it's
disgusting!' Terrible
... I was shocked to the
quick.
Pete: You're quite
right, you got to do
something about these
bloody women who pester
you ...
Dud: What you
doing tonight, then?
Pete: Well ... I
thought we might go to
the pictures. |
|