Free The Bell Tolls for No One by Charles Bukowski Page B

and Joe, the black guy followed. The black guy said his name was Lawrence. They turned into The Happy Hunting Ground and sat at a table. Joe ordered draft beers from the waitress. Julie was to Joe’s left. She leaned forward and whispered into his ear, “Listen, Joe, I love you. I really do love you. But you’ve got to give me room, lots and lots of room .”
    â€œSure,” said Joe.
    They got the beers and made small talk. Then Julie stood up and said, “I’m going to liberate this bar!” She walked over to the jukebox and put in some money. Then as she walked away she grabbed a guy who had just come out of the crapper. “Will you dance with me, mister?”
    They danced.
    Julie was great. She danced like she was fucking the guy right on the floor. Only it was better than fucking because she could get in more movements. All the men watched. Julie’s ass mashed and turned. She gave the feeling that she was out of control. Julie could really dance. Meanwhile she put her eyes on the guy with the most inviting look one could imagine. When the dance ended the guy came over and sat at their table. His name was William.
    â€œI wish I could really dance the way I wanted to,” said Julie.
    â€œHow’s that?” asked Lawrence.
    â€œI mean, I really dance WILD! I mean, I just wouldn’t dare dance the way I actually feel! Sometimes I feel like I’m going to fly! Oh, I feel so WILD! If I could only let it go!”
    â€œYou’re doing fine,” said Artie.
    Julie got up to dance with Lawrence. It did seem wilder than the preceding. At the end of the dance Julie and Lawrence whirled into the men’s room and locked the door. While they were in there Artie ordered three rounds of beers.
    â€œYou’ve got quite a girlfriend there, Joe,” said Artie.
    â€œA real sexpot,” said Joe, “and she loves me. She just came off a ten-year marriage. The woman’s lib gave her the strength to break it. She’s a liberated woman. Intelligent. She’s got a lot of soul.”
    â€œAnd how,” said William.
    After a while Julie and Lawrence came out of the men’s room. They sat down at the table.
    â€œLawrence sculpts ,” said Julie, “isn’t it wonderful?”
    â€œYou any good?” Joe asked Lawrence.
    â€œPretty good.”
    â€œHow about the money?”
    â€œWell, I haven’t made any money yet but it will be along.”
    Then Julie danced with the bartender. Near the end of the dance she got in real close and rubbed her box against him. When they broke the bartender had a hard on. He got around the bar and gave himself a double whiskey with water.
    â€œWhere I come from in the country,” said Julie, “dancing is just natural. The trouble with some city men is that they think dancing is dirty. Out in the country dancing is just natural. Why, we have this big 4th of July dance every year and it’s just more fun! One old guy actually leaps around like some kind of frog.”
    â€œDancing’s all right,” said Joe. “I got nothing against dancing.”
    â€œMe neither,” said Lawrence.
    â€œIt’s just that,” said Julie, “some men just can’t dance good so they get jealous when I dance.”
    â€œSure,” said Joe, “that’s it.”
    Then Julie went over to another table and asked a blonde kid to dance with her. They had been eyeballing each other. Julie began to dance and she really turned it on for him. Every man in the place had a hard on. The cat walked by and even the cat had a hard on. Julie was liberating the bar.
    â€œI could dance for hours,” said Julie afterwards. “I could dance night and day. I just love to dance.”
    Nobody said anything. Joe bought another round of beers.
    â€œWe came here to eat but to hell with it,” he said.
    â€œYou’re not getting nasty, are you Joe?”
    â€œWhat do you