Page:Levenson - Butterfly Man.djvu/187

Rh wit was at its sharpest when he thought of something off-color—and he thought of nothing else. "I'm at my best in drag," Inkie explained, "but I'll do some high-kicks that make you ashamed of yourself." In dancing strap and not much else, Inkie vied with Ken at the interesting game of kicking at the moon. Ken, as usual, won.

Veane West was quieter, round faced, soft, like a pudgy girl. He objected to profanity, carried his handkerchief in his sleeve, used his hands with fascinating grace and powdered his nose occasionally, using a tiny "compact" and holding the mirror meantime expertly in his palm. He shared a room with Inkie, who explained that Veane could only be a sister to him, a darling sister, and nothing more.

Two chorus girls had been invited by Joe. One was, like himself, an Italian, a blonde Italian descended from the mixed Teuton and Latin race of north Italy. Her features were of classic mould, a thoughtful blue-eyed Diana she seemed—and Diana Mirina was her name. She had joined the "Sweeter Than Sweet" troupe early in the summer at the same time her husband, Johnny Keeler, had been engaged to fill a small part abandoned by another actor. At first used only as an extra dancer, Diana was now regularly in the chorus line.

Of Jean Pond, who brought Diana to Ken's suite, Frankie whispered: "A real egg. Lots of fun. Knows all the ropes." Jean was the oldest chorus girl in the show. She drank steadily all night, favoring straight alcohol, not even diluting it with coca cola in the fashion Ken had imported from Selma. In Jean's retinue was "Zigzag," a shaggy West Highland terrier who nestled in his mistress' lap whenever she sat down. Between Diana and Zigzag Jean was too busy to pay much attention to the boys.