bukowski, charles. the most beautiful woman in town

7/25/2019 Bukowski, Charles. the Most Beautiful Woman in Town

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CI-IARLES

UKOWSKI

The

Most

Beautiful

Woman

n

Town

& other stories

Thesc rad nrrnortal

tories.

ow

surfaccd

l-orr

he

itcrary

underground.

have

addictedegions

l'American

eaders. ven

hough he high

itcrary

cstablishnrent

ontinucso ignore

hern.

n Eunrpc, owever

particularly

in Gernrany,

taly,

ndFrancc

hcre e s

published

y

he

grcat ublishing

houses),

e is critically ecognized

s onc

ol'Arncricar's

reatest

iving

realist

writers.

Charles

lukowski.

born ttll6l2t).

Andernach.Gernran_v.

rouglrt

to

America

at

he

agc

ol'two. E,ightecn

r

twc'nty ooks

l'prose

nd

poctry,

tsukowski. fterpublislring rosc n S/olv and 'rtrtfolirt. ttlppcd riting

tbr

lerr

_years.

lc

arrivcd n

thc

charity

ward

of thc -<ls ngclcsCounty

General

lospital.henrorrhaging

s

a clinrax o

a len-ycar

rirrking

out.

Some

ayhe

didn't die.

Alicr leaving

he

hospital

er ot

a typcwritcr nd

began

writing again-=this

inrc,

poetry.

He

later eturncd o prosearrd

gained omc

ame with his

colurnrr,

Notcs

'u

Dirtv

Old

Man.

Al'tcr

4

years n the PostOtTicehe rcsigned t

agc

50,

he

says. o kcep rom

g<ling

insane.

c

now claims

o he

uncrnployitblcrrd ats ype

,riter

ibbons.

Other

Bukowski

books

'rom City Lights

' l 'ales

of Ordinary

Madncss

Notcsof'a Dirtl ' Old Ma n

$

10.95

780872

ISBN U-B?eBt- I5t-e

illill

illtl

4

5o

61

095>

illillill



THE MOST

BEAUTIFUL

WOMAN N TOWN

Cass vas heyoungest nd most

beautiful

f

5

sisters. ass as

the

most

beautiful

girl

in town.

%

lndian

with

a

suppleandstrange

body, a snakelikeand

fiery

body

with

eyes

o

go

with

it. Cass

as

fluid moving

fire. She was

ike

a spirit stuck

nto

a form

that would

not

hold her. Her hair was

blackand ong and

silken

nd

moved

nd

whirled

about

as

did

her

body.

ler

spirit

waseither

very

hrgh

or very

low.

There

wasno

in between

or Cass.

omesaid

she

was

crazy.

The

dull

ones

said

hat. The

dull

oneswould

neverunderstand

ass. o

the

men

she simply seemed sex

machineand

they didn't

care

whether

she was crazy or

not. And Cass

ancel and flirted, kissed

the men,

but

except or

an instance r two,

when

t came

ime

to

make t with Cass, ass ad somehow lipped way,eluded he men.

Her

sisters

ccused

er of

misusing er

beauty,

f

not

using

er

mind

enough,

ut Cass

ad mind

andspirit:

she

painted,

he

danced,

she

sang,

hc nade hings

of clay,

and

when

people

werehr-rrt

ither

in

the

spirit or the flesh,

Cass

elt a

deep

grieving

or

them.

ler

mind

was simply

different; her

mind

was simply not

practical.

Her

sisters

were

ealous

of

her

because

he

attracted

heir men,

and they were

angry

because

hey

felt

she

didn't make

he

best

useof

them.

Sh e

had

a

habit of

beingkind

to the uglierones; he so-called

andsome

men

revolted

er -

"No

guts,"

she aid,

no

zap.

They

are iding

on

their

perfect

little earlobes

and

their

well-shaped

ostrils . .

.

Al l

surface

and

no insides

. ." Shc

had

a

temper that

came close o

insanity;shehad a temper hat somecalled nsanity.

Her

father

had died of alcohol and her

mother

had

run oll

leaving

he girls

alone.The

girls

went to a

relative

who

placed

hem

in

a convent.

he

convent

ad

beenan

unhappy

lace,

more

or

Cass

than

he

sisters.

he

girls

were

ealous

of

Cass nd

Cass

ought

most

of

them.

She

had

razor

marks all

along

her

left

arm

rom det'ending

herself

n

two fights. There

was

also a

permanenl

car

along he eft



check

but

the scar

athcr

han esseninger

beautyonly seemcd

o

highlight

t.

I rrrct

her

at the West

End

Bar several

ights after

irer

release

fiorn lhc

convent.Bcing

or-rngest,

hewas

he last

of the sisterso

be relcased.

hesirirply arne n and sat

next

to

mc. was

probably

the

ugliesl rnan

ir;

town

and

this might have

had something o

dcr

with t .

"Drink'I"'

asked.

"Sure,why not'?"

I

don't

supposeherc

was anything

unusual n

our

convcrsa-

tion

that

night, it was sinrply in

the

feeling

Cass

gave.

She

had

chosenme

and

t

wasas sirnple

s

hat.

N<-r

ressure.

he

iked

he r

drinks

and

had

a

great

numberof them. She

didn't seem

uite

of

age

but

they

served

her

anyhow.

Perhaps hehad

a forged .d., I

don't

know.

Anyhow, cach

ime

she ame ack

rom the rcstroom nd

sa t

down

next

to me,

I did feel some

pride.

She

was not

only

the

most

beautiful

woman

n

town

but

als<l

ne

of

the

most

beautifui had

ever een.

placed

my arm abouther waist

and kissed er

once.

"Do

you

think 'm pretty?"

she

asked.

"'Yes,

of course, ut tl 'rere's omething lse . . there'smore

than

your

ooks

. ."

"Peoplearealways cc:using

ne

o1'being

retty.

Do

you

really

think I'm

pretty?"

"Pretty sn't he word,

t

hardlydoes ou

fair."

Cass eached nto hc r handbag.

thought shewas cachi ng or

her handkerchief.Sl-re ame

out

with

a iong hatpin. Belbre I couid

stop her she had

run this

long hat

pin

through her nose,sideways,

just

above

he

nostrils. felt disgust ndhorror.

She

ooked at me and aug hed, Now do

you

think

rne

pretty?

l\'irat do

you ttrink

now,

man'i

I

pulled

the

hatpin

out asd held my

handkerchiefover the

bleeding.Several eople, ncluding he bartender,had seen he act.

Thc bartender

amedown;

"Lrok,"

he

said

o

Cass,

you act up againand

you're

out.

We

don't

need

your

dramatics

ere."

"Oh,

fuck

you,

manl"

she

aid.

"Better keep

her straigtrt,"

he

bartender

aid

o

me.

"She'll

be ail right,"

I

said.

"lt's

nty nose,"

said Cass,

I

can

do what

I

want with

my

nose."

"No.'"

I

said.

it hurtsme."

"You urean t hurts

you

when stick a

pin

in

my

nose?"

"Yes,

t

does.

mean

t. "

"All

right, I won't

do it

again.Cheer

up."

Shekissed

me,

ratherginning through he

kiss

and holding

he

handkerchief

o

her nose.

We

e

't for

my

place

at

closing ime.

I

had

somebeerand we sat here alking. It was hen that I got the percep-

tion

of her

as a

person

ull

of kindness nd

caring.

She

gave

erself

awaywithout

knowing t.

At

the same ime

shewould

leap

back nto

areas f

wildnessand

incohercnce.

chitzi.

A

beautiful

and

spirituai

schitzi. Perhaps'

ome man, sornething,

would ruin her forever.

hoped

hat

t

wouldn'tbe

me .

We

rvent

to

bed

and after I turned out the

lights

Cass

asked

me, "When do

you

want

it?

Now

or

in

the

morning?"

"In

the morning," I

said

and urned

my back.

In

the

morning

got

up

and

made

a couple

of

coffees, rought

her one n bed.

She aughed.

You're the

first

man

've

met

who has

urned

t

down

at

night."

"It's

o.k.,"

I

said, we

needn't

o t at all."

"No,

wait, want o now. Let me

reshen

p

a

bit."

Cass

went to the

bathroom.

She came

out

shortly,

looking

quite

wonderful, her

long

black

hair

glistening,

her eyes

and lips

glistening,

her

glisLening

. .

She displayed

her

body calmly,

as a

good

hing.

She

got

under he

sheet.

"Come

on, over

man."

I

got

on

in .

She

kissedwith abandon ut

without

haste. let

my

hands un

over her body,

through

her hair.

I

rnounted.

t

was

hot, and

ight. I

began to stroke slowly, wanting to make it last. I'Ier eyes ooked

directly nto

rnine.

"What's

our

name?"

asked.

"What

the

hell

differencedoes

t make?" sheasked.

I laughed

nd

went

on ahead.Afterwards he

dressed

nd

I

drove

her

back to

the bar

but

she

was difficult

to forget. I wasn't

working

and

I slept

until 2

p.m. then got

up

and

read he

paper. I



was n the

bathtub when

she amc

n

with

a arge eaf an

elephant

ear.

"l

knew

you'd

be n the

bathtub,"

shesaid, so I brought

ou

something

o covcr hat hing

with,

rtature oy."

She

hrew he

elephanteaf

down on me

n

the

bathtub.

"Llow did

you

know

I'd

be n

the

tub?"

"l knew."

Almost everyday ass rrivcdwhen was

n the ub.

The

imes

were diffcrcnt but she seldornmissed, nd there was he elephant

lcaf.And

thenwe'd

make ove.

One

or

two

nights

he

phonedand

t

had o

bail

her

out of

jail

for drunkenness

nd

fighting.

"These

sonsof bitches,"she

said. Just becausehey

buy

yo u

a few

drinks

hey think they

can

get

nto

your

pants."

"Once

you

accept drink

you

create

our

own

trouble."

"I

thought hey

wcre nterested

n

me,

notjust

my'

body."

"I'm

interestedn

you

and

your

body. doubt.

though,

ha t

most

mencan

see eyond

our

body."

I left town lbr

6

months,bummed

around, ameback.

ha d

never

brgotten Cass,

ut we' d had

sorlc type

of

argument

and

felt

like moving n anyhow, nd when gotback figured he'd e gone,

but I had beensitting n the West

End

Bar

about 30

minutes

when

she

walked n and

sat down next

to

me.

"Well,bastard,

see

ou've

con]e

back."

I orderedher a

drink.

Then I looked at her.

Shc had on a

high-necked

ress.

had neversecn

her

in one

of those.

And

under

each

eye,

driven

n,

were

2

pins

with

glass

eads.All

you

couid

sc e

were

he

glass

eads f the

pins,

but

the

pins

weredrivendown

nt o

her

face,

"God

darnn

ou,

still

trying o dcstroy

'<-rur

eauty. h?"'

"No,

it's the

ad,

you

fbol."

"You're crazy."

"l've

missed

ou,"

she aid.

"Is

thereanybody

else?"

"No,

there

sn't anybody else. ust

you.

But I'm hustling. t

costs

en bucks.But

you get

t

free."

"Pull

those

ins

out."

"No.

it's

the

ad."

"lt's rnaking

me very

unhappy."

"Are

you

sure?"

"I{ell

yes,

'm sure."

Cass lowly

pulled

the

pins

out

and

placed

hern n her

purse.

"Why do

you

haggle

our

beauty?" I

asked.

Why

don't

you

just

live with it?"

"Becausc

eople

hink

it's all

I

have.Beauty

s nothing,

eaut,v

won't stay.

You

don't know how lucky

you

are o

be ugly,because

if people ike you thenyou know it's or something lse."

"O.k.,"

I said,

I'm

1ucky."

"I don't mean

you're

ugly.

Peclple

ust

think

you're

ugly.

Yo u

have

a fascinating ace."

"Thanks."

We

had

another

drink.

"What are

you

doing'l"

she

asked.

"Nothing.

can't

get

orr o anything.No

interesl."

"Me

neither.

f

you

werea woman

you

couldhustle."

"I

don't

think

I'd

want to

make

that

close

a contact

with so

many

strangers.t's wearing."

"You're right, t's

wearing,

verythings

wearing."

We eft

together.

eople

till

stared t

Cass n the streets.

he

wasstill a

beautiful wontan,perhaps

more beautiful

han ever.

We

rnade

t

to

my

placcand I

opened

bottle of

wine

and we

talked.

With Cassand

I, the talk alwayscame

easy.

She

talked

a

while and I would

listen

and then

I

would talk.

Our

conversation

sirnply

went

along

without

strain. We seemed

o

discover

secrets

together. When

we

discovereda

good

one

Casswould laugh

that

laugh - only

the

way

she

could.

It

was ike

oy

out of fire.

Through

the

talking

we kissedand

moved

closer

ogether.

We became

uite

heatedand

decided o

go

to bed. t was then

Cass

ook off her

high-necked

dress and I

saw

it

-

the

ugly

jagged

scar across

her

throat. trtwas argeand hick.

"God

damn

you,

woman,"

I

said

from

thc

bed,

"god damn

you,

what have

you

donc?"

"I

tried t

with a

brokenbottle

one night.

Don't

you

like me

anymore?

m I still

beautilul?"

I

pulled

her

down on the bedand kisscd

er. She

pushed

rvay

and laughed,

Some

men

pay

me

that

ten

and then I

undrcss nd

they don't want o

do t. I

keep

he ten. t 's very

unny."



"Yes,"

I said,

[ can' tstop aughing. .

Cass,

i tch, l

love

cu

. . .

stop

destroying

tturscll' :

ou're

the nrost

alivewoman

've ever

rnet."

We

kissed

gain.Cass

wascrying

witlrout

sound. could

ee l

the tcars.

That long

black

hair

ay

behind

ne

ike a 1ag f

dcath.

We

enjoined

nd

made

low

andsotnbre

ndwonderful

ove.

In

the

morning

Cass

was up rnaking

brcakfast.She

seemed

quite

calm

and

happy.She

was

singing. stayed

n

bcd and

enjoyed

hcr happiness. inally she carncovcrand shook ne,"Up, bastard

'fhrclw

sornc

old

waterolr

vour

faceand

pecker nd

come

enjoy

hc

feasl

"

I

drove

her

to the

beach

hat

day.

t

was

a

weekday

nd not

yet

sumlncr

o thingsweresplendidly

escrted.

each urns

n rags

siept on

the lawns above he sand.

Othcrs

sat

on

stone

benches

sharing

lone bottle. Thc

gulls

whirled

about,mindlcss

et

distrac-

ted.

Old

ladics n

ttreir

70's

and 80's

sat on

the

benches

nd

dis-

cussed elling

cai

estate eli behindby

husbands

ong

ago

killedby

the paceand

stupidity

of

survival.

or

it all, therewas

peacen

th e

air

and

we walked

about

and

stretcl'rcd

n the lawns

and

didn't say

much.

lt simply

felt good being

together.

bought a couple

of

sandwiches,

ome

chips

and drinks

and rve sat

on the

sand

eating.

Thcn

I held Cass

nd

we

slcpt

ogether

boui an hour. t

was

some-

how

bcttcr

than ove-making.

here

vas

tlowing

ogether ithout

tension.

When rve awakcnedwe drove

back

to

rry

place and I

cooked a clinner.

After

dinncr

I

suggcsted

o

Cass

hat

we shack

togethcr.She waited

a long

time, looking

at

me,

thcn

she slowly

said, "No."

I

drove

her

back

to the bar, bought

her a drink

an d

walked

out.

I

found a

ob

as

a packer

n a factory

he

next

day and

the

rest

of

tl.re

weck

weut to working.

rvas oo

tired

o

get

about

rnuch

bLrt

1.hat riday

night

I did

gct

to

the

West

End Bar. sat

an d

wailed

frrr Cass. lours

wenl by. Aftcr

I rvas airly

drunk

the

bar-

tender aid o me, l'm sorryaboutyourgirl friend."

"Wrat

is t?"

I asked.

"l'rr

sorry.

Didn't

you

know?"

"No."

"Suicide.

She

vas uried

yesterday."

"Buried?"

asked. t

secnred

s f she vorrld

alk hrough

he

doorwayat

any

moment.How

couldshebe

gone?

"Her

sisters

uried

her."

"A

suicide? ind

elling

me how?"

"She

cut her hroat."

"l

see.Give

me another

drink."

I

drankuntil

closing ime.

Casshc

mostbeautif

i

of

5

sisters,

the rnost

beautilul

n

town.

I managed

o

drive

o

my

place

and

r

kcpt

thinking,

I

should havc

nsisted

she stay

with rne instcad

of

accepting

hat

"no."

Everything

bout

her had indicated

hat

sh e

had cared. had simplybeen oo offhandabout t, lazy, oo uncon-

cerned. deserved

y death

and hers.

was

a

dog. No, why blame

the dogs? got

up and found

a

bottle

of

wine and

drank from

it

heavily.

Cass hc

most

beautiful

girl

in

town was

dead

at

20.

Oulside

somebody

onked heir

automobile

orn.

They were

very

oud

and

persistent.

set

the

bottle

down and screamed

ut :

..GOD

DAMN

YOU,

YOU SON

OF A

I]ITCI_I.

IIUT TIP "

The

nightkept coming

n n and

here

was

nothing

coulcl

o.

bukowski, charles. the most beautiful woman in town

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