Page:Levenson - Butterfly Man.djvu/297

Rh "You'd better lie down," the voice said. He followed it through a window into a bedroom.

"Lie down," said the voice. The door closed. The room was hot. He began to undress. When he was naked, he felt cooler and more comfortable. He felt like going to sleep in his own bed. He decided to go home. Naked except for shoes and socks, he opened the door.

The green and gold room was full of faces. He didn't mind. Inside of him might be rotten, but he was proud that his body was still handsome, straight and unmarked in the bronze light of the lamps.

Men and women were staring at him curiously.

"Wanta see me dance?" he asked. A girl squealed like a stuck pig when Uncle Joe killed it. A laugh. He said:

"Well, I don't want to dance." He thumbed his nose.

He saw Harry Hayes, in the dining room. He went toward his host past the foyer. The foyer door was open. He saw someone, opening the elevator door. He decided to go home at once. He quickly slipped into the elevator. He pushed a button marked: "DOWN."

"Well," the familiar voice said. It belonged to a girl. He turned. She was near him, tall, very near and dark, much like a boy, except that her breasts, rising decisively, shaped the line of her dinner dress. She carried a coat over her arm. She tried to cover him.

"Hello," he said. His vision cleared. He saw her vividly.

"Do you know you have no clothes on?"

"Do you like the idea?"

"You're … rather good to look at … but what will strange people say, especially policemen?"

"I love policemen," said Ken.

"Who are you?" she asked.