Perry found time to complete the forms for his bank account. He got a passport. The artwork that Billy had bought him was delivered, and he and Laszlo hung it in Perry’s bedroom. It was like staking a claim on the room for the fall.
They went for drinks at a home that was shared by three men — George Platt Lynes, a photographer; Monroe Wheeler, who was something big at the Museum of Modern Art; and Glenway Wescott, the novelist, one of whose books Perry had read. The crowd struck him as particularly bright and intelligent. He talked to a sad little woman who turned out to be Dorothy Parker, one of the Alexander Woollcott set. She reduced him to helpless laughter within minutes while she appeared to remain cloaked in grief.
George, the photographer, approached Perry with a request. “I’m doing a series of male nudes. They’ll probably end up in a book,” he said with businesslike directness.” I like your looks. Would you be willing to let me try some shots of you?”
“Sure,” Perry said. They fixed a date for a photographic session the next afternoon.
There were several young actresses at the party. Perry talked to Dorothy McGuire, who had just played her first big Broadway role and was receiving offers from Hollywood.
He made a point of spending some time with Glenway Wescott, the first famous author he’d ever met. He was a pixieish man with great personal magnetism and a clever, lively air. Perry impressed himself for being able to converse so easily with him. Glenway talked about his friend Gertrude Stein in Paris and told Perry he should look her up. It seemed to Perry that this was the sort of party that could happen only in New York, and he was rapidly becoming part of it.
When he went for his photographic date with George Platt Lynes the next day, Perry discovered a world that fascinated him. Watching George’s quick, economical manner gave him the idea that this was perhaps something he could do. As George moved around him, giving Perry directions for different poses, he clicked away with professional concentration without taking any particular notice of Perry’s naked body. There wasn’t a hint of sexual interest. Perry was just an object being photographed, nothing more.
After an initial twinge of indignation, Perry suddenly felt proud of his body in a completely new way. It wasn’t just a sex object, a thing to be flaunted for money or sexual gratification. It was something to record for posterity, appreciated for its intrinsic value, like any work of art. Or at least George would make it a work of art through his art and talent.
Perry was using his body legitimately for the first time. There was nothing to be ashamed of about being open and free — his body was a beautiful object. George made him feel exultant in his beauty in a way he’d never known. He wasn’t just a whore.
As George moved in for close-ups, moved away, twisted, and turned to get the angles he wanted, he made it look easy and fun. The session was quickly over, and with it a bright new interest for the future had been born.
Perry put the Lynes-Wescott-Wheeler household at the head of his list of places in New York he wanted to make part of his life. They gave parties for fascinating friends. George’s work brought him into contact with beautiful people. There was an air of sanity and stability about it all that Perry treasured.
He was almost sorry to be going away just when he was making his own connections in the city: weekends with the Wimans; parties with the Wescott crowd; getting to know celebrities like Clifton Webb, Libby Holman, and Lucius Beebe. Perry hoped they all wouldn’t forget him during the summer.
He took Arlene Vernon to dinner at the Barbary Room before the Stork. He was nervous at first. Being her ex-husband’s kept boy might be uncomfortable for him if she chose to make it so.
She didn’t. They chatted easily about goings-on around town, and he slowly relaxed. They touched on more intimate matters only once.
“You’re going to be seeing Bettina,” she said thoughtfully, while Perry’s heart skipped a beat. “Billy has the right to his own life, and I never intrude, but my daughter is my affair. She’s young. You seem like an unusually well-behaved young man. I count on you to exercise the utmost discretion. I have no idea how much she knows of the world. Probably more than I think after a girls school in Switzerland, but we must assume that she’s retained some innocence.
“At the time of our divorce, I could have deprived Billy of all parental rights, but I declared that it was important for her to have normal relations with her father rather than turn him into some sort of monster in her eyes. She’s getting to be an age when she can’t possibly ignore his tastes. That’s why I wanted her to go abroad to school. Europe is more tolerant of such matters than we are, but in that atmosphere Billy is also less careful. I don’t want you to encourage him.”
“I understand. I like you. You’re a very attractive woman. To tell you the truth, I wish you’d let me come home with you.”
She drew back and stared at him. “Certainly not. You’re not satisfied with Billy? You want me too? You’re a very ambitious young man.” She suddenly relented, and her expression softened with a slight smile. “Actually, it’s rather a sweet suggestion. I’m flattered.”
“Flattery doesn’t work in this case. I either mean it, or I don’t. You can easily find out.”
“I’ll take your word for it. You’re something of a departure for Billy, perhaps for the better. I don’t know where you come from, but I assume you have no means.”
“None. Just what you see before you. The dinner jacket is worth more than anything I ever had until a few weeks ago.”
“Your honesty is disarming. You’re very tempting, Perry. It’s exciting to know a fortune hunter.”
“I didn’t know I was, but May be I am. I thought I was just trying to get along. A fortune hasn’t been one of my ambitions.”
“It will be. Heaven knows what Bettina will make of you. I doubt if she’s known anyone quite like you. Don’t lead her on. I warn you, you’ll have me to contend with. To start with, she can’t afford you. None of us has any money we can call our own. We’re all Billy’s mother’s dependents. Climb higher, Perry.”
“This has been a pretty big climb for me. I’m resting.”
At least until he knew for certain about Bet. She had become the most important factor in his future, with or without money.
Arlene’s idea of “money” probably wasn’t the same as his. He smiled at her and fixed her with his eyes. He saw that he could have her, but he wanted to give it a little more thought. He had maneuvered his way safely through some fairly dangerous pitfalls, and he didn’t want to blunder now. How would this affect his relationship with Bet?
Arlene unexpectedly burst out laughing. “You’re delicious. I’m glad we’ve had a little talk. I’m going to enjoy the evening.”
When they got to the Stork Club, they were conducted to what she told him was the Cub Room. It was noisy and crowded, and Perry thought he agreed with Billy. It wasn’t nearly as elegant as El Morocco.
They ordered drinks, and a slight, amiable-looking man stopped at their table. Arlene introduced him as Leonard Lyons. Perry knew he wrote a column, and Perry watched as his name was jotted down in a notebook. When the columnist was gone, Perry asked Arlene to dance. The band was playing “Get Out of Town” when they reached the floor. He put his arm around her and took her hand, and they began to move with the music.
“I hope that doesn’t mean me,” he said.
She looked at him questioningly and then cocked her head, listening, and smiled in recognition. “I doubt it,” she said. “I think you’re here to stay.”
On the crowded floor he was obliged to hold her closer than he usually would, and he knew she could feel his cock hardening against her. Her hands tightened slightly on him. She was ready for it. Why not? She couldn’t accuse him of misbehaving if she wanted it. They would be in it together.
Satisfied that there was no way she could use it against him, he hoped it might dispose her in his favor. It was all in the family. In a way he would be having Bet. The thought made him chuc
kle to himself.
They drank and chatted and crowded onto the dance floor several more times. He pressed himself against her.
Picking up the tab at the end of the evening, Perry was prepared for the outing to make a major dent in his weekly allowance but was pleasantly surprised to see that it had all come to less than half of it.
When the taxi stopped in front of the Lombardy, Perry took Arlene’s hand. “Shall I tell the driver to wait?” Perry asked.
“Did you mean that about coming up?”
“Yes.”
“Will you tell Billy?”
“No. Will you?”
“No. There must be some honor among thieves. Come along.”
“We can trust each other.”
He paid the cabdriver, and they went in and stopped at the desk. She was greeted and given a key. She handed it to Perry, and they went to the elevator. They stood in silence behind the operator to the fourth floor.
When Perry let them in and closed the door behind them, he took Arlene in his arms, deciding that further preliminaries would serve no purpose. She responded avidly to his kiss and held his cock while it hardened into erection. She had nice breasts.
“In here,” she said. She took him into a bedroom with subdued lighting. “Just a moment. You can get undressed. I won’t keep you waiting.” She went to the bathroom and closed the door.
Perry took his time folding his dinner jacket over a chair. When he was naked, he moved to a long mirror and looked at himself. Luxury agreed with him. He was bearing up.
She returned without his hearing her. “Admiring yourself?” she asked behind him.
He laughed and turned to her. “I guess I was.”
“Understandably. You’re the youngest man I’ve had since I was a girl.” She was wearing a negligee. She went to the wide bed, lifted back the covers, and dropped the negligee as she slipped under them.
He caught only a glimpse of a womanly body. He dropped onto his knees above her on the side of the bed and lifted her hand to his cock and moved it over him.
“What are you doing?”
“Just showing you that I wasn’t flattering you.”
“It looks very flattering to me.”
“A man doesn’t get like that unless he means it. Suck it.”
“What an outlandish idea.”
“Haven’t you ever sucked a cock?”
“Of course not. Why should I?”
“Because I think you’ll like it. I know I will.”
He dropped back onto his heels, lifted her head onto his lap, and lowered his cock to her lips. She opened her mouth and slid his cock inside, responding with surprising skill for a novice. She seemed to be warming to the idea of servicing him and soon was gripping his turgid member with both hands and moving her mouth on it hungrily, her breasts heaving. He pulled away and lifted her back onto the pillow.
“Now I’m really going to fuck you,” he said. He threw the covers off and swung himself over onto her. He felt her opening her body to him with a rapturous sigh, which caught in her throat as his penetration deepened. She arched her back and raised her knees, clamping him between them. He made quick hard thrusts into her to establish his possession of her.
“God, I’ve missed this,” he exclaimed.
“Fucking?”
“Yes. Fucking you at the moment.”
“Beautifully, I might add.”
“Don’t worry. There’s plenty more. We should’ve been doing this all evening.”
“You feel as if you could have.”
“Now we know.” He lowered his head to her breasts, and she pressed it to her while he sucked on her hard nipples. She uttered a strange, long muted howl. “Are you going to come?” he asked without lifting his head.
“Yes. It’s starting. My God. Yes, like that again. Oh, Perry, you’re incredible. You like women.”
“Has anybody been spreading rumors to the contrary?”
She laughed deep in her throat. “You’re an immoral bastard. Oh! My God. Don’t say anything. Just do it, Perry. Do it. You’re heavenly. You’re so beautifully young. I’d forgotten. Do it for me. Do it!”
He loved giving older women such pleasure. They knew he might be their last chance. He had known often enough what it was like to feel that something was slipping through your fingers forever. He did it until she was reduced to helpless, grateful passivity.
When he was finished with her, he pulled the covers over her gently and went to the bathroom to wash away the smell of her. When he came out, she was lying where he had left her. She turned her head toward him.
“Will I see you again before you go?” she asked.
He moved into the light so that she could look at his body. “It doesn’t seem likely.”
“No. I suppose not.” Her eyes moved over him. “Have a lovely summer. Bring me news of Bettina. And remember what I said.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
A ripple of laughter escaped her. He approached the side of the bed and stood over her. She lifted a hand and stroked his cock lightly. It flexed under her touch.
“You’re quite superb. You know it, of course, and it would be foolish of you not to. You want to get along. Thank you for teaching me what you wanted with your…your…”
“My cock?”
“If that’s what you want to call it.”
“As far as I know. You sucked my cock.”
“It was more thrilling than you make it sound.”
“I’m glad. May be we’ll do it again.”
She gave it a final little squeeze. “Go put your clothes on. It must be getting late.”
He looked at his watch. “Quarter past 3,” he said, going to the chair where he’d left his clothes. He dressed and paused at the foot of the bed to exchange a smile of suggestions and hidden possibilities, then left. An ally for the time being, he thought, but a lady to reckon with. He didn’t think fucking her had been a mistake even if she told Billy.
And Bet? Would Bet do for him what her mother just did? And what her father does? He made a mental note to send Arlene flowers.
There had been a delay, but Cartier finally had the big ring ready for him before Clifton Webb’s party, and Perry could hardly take his eyes off it. “Isn’t it fantastic?” he exclaimed, showing it to Billy.
Billy took his hand and examined the ring. “Very handsome. It’s turned out just the way I hoped. It’s perfect for your hand. I’m delighted,” he smiled smugly, “and talented.”
“I hope I don’t ever sock anybody with it. I’d kill them. Oh, Billy, it’s beautiful. You are more than talented, you’re a genius. You’re going to see me waving my hand around a lot in front of people’s faces. I want everybody to see it.” His eyes were drawn as always to the photograph of Bet, and he moved his hand slightly, showing off the ring.
“You make it such a pleasure to give you things. Charming.”
Clifton lived in one of the grandest apartment buildings on Park Avenue, and the party was the most glamorous Perry had ever been to. He’d never seen so many celebrities gathered in one room. It was better than “21.”
He was introduced to Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. He chatted with Tallulah Bankhead, who said “fuck” four times in as many minutes. Perry was astonished. He didn’t know it was a word you could use in public.
“Who do you have to fuck around here to get a drink?” she demanded. Perry got her one without demanding to be fucked, although she looked as if she might be considering it.
As Billy had assured him he would, he met Marlene Dietrich. He finally met Cole Porter with his wife, Linda. He didn’t think he’d made much of an impression on the songwriter. He was a slight, gnome-like man who seemed to need a stick to walk. Perry wondered what had become of his boyfriend. Rodney’s playwright, Moss Hart, was there, glittering with wit and gold. Perry’s ring caught his eye when they were standing near each other, and he asked to see it. Perry slipped it off his finger to let him inspect it.
“A pre
tty bauble,” he commented, handing it back. “Do you own gold mines?”
“Only one.”
“Much depleted, no doubt.” Moss Hart looked at him with interest. “You’re not an actor, I hope?”
“No.”
“Then it’s safe to talk to you. I can’t blink at an actor without his thinking I’ve hired him. I write plays.”
“I know. I saw one the other day. A friend of mine was in it. Rodney Fairfield.”
“Ah, yes, Rodney.” The playwright’s interest seemed to become guarded. “Very promising despite his looks. I do wish he’d change his name again.”
“It’s fake, isn’t it?”
“Unlike your ring. I thought I had the corner on the gold market, but you’ve beaten me to it.” He glanced at his watch. “Cartier too.” He nodded at Perry’s wrist. “Do you have a Tiffany cigarette case?”
Perry laughed. “Yes.”
“Good. I like to see a young man so well provided for. We must get together and compare our loot. Now I have to leave all you lovely people. I wonder if I can make my getaway without being raped by May belle.”
He left Perry laughing. Celebrities were fun. He wanted to be invited to more parties like this. He hoped he’d have some time with Clifton.
Perry talked at length with a dumpy little woman who seemed rather forlorn and out of sorts. He stayed with her longer than he wanted in an attempt to cheer her up. He encountered Clifton as he made his escape.
“Did you see that woman I was just talking to? Who is she?”
Clifton put a hand on his arm and laughed. “I won’t tell her you asked. That’s Gloria Swanson.”
“You’re kidding.” She had been the biggest star in Hollywood when he was growing up. It hadn’t been all that long ago.
“Are you having a good time, dear boy?” Clifton asked.
“Wonderful.”
“I’ve been a busy host, but I intend to have some time with you before the evening’s over. Stay.”
He had a friendly chat with Steve Wiman and felt very much a part of the big-time clientele. She repeated her invitation for a weekend. He saw Cole Porter taking a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray and waited while he hobbled over to him.
The Good Life Page 11
