| 24 | |
| The apartment house lobby was empty this time. No gunman waiting under the potted palm to give me orders. I took the automatic elevator up to my floor and walked along the hallway to the tune of a muted radio behind a door. I needed a drink and was in a hurry to get one. I didn’t switch the light on inside the door. I made straight for the kitchenette and brought up short in three or four feet. Something was wrong. Something on the air, a scent. The shades were down at the windows and the street light leaking in at the sides made a dim light in the room. I stood still and listened. The scent on the air was a perfume, a heavy cloying perfume. | Aula najamne kuće bila je ovaj put prazna. Nikakav me revolveraš nije čekao pod palmom u sanduku da bi mi izdavao naređenja. Uzeo sam automatski lift do svoga kata i prošetao dugačkim hodnikom u taktu prigušenog radio--aparata iza nekih vrata. Trebalo mi je piće i bio sam u žurbi da do njega dođem. Nisam upalio svjetlo kad sam ušao. Udario sam ravno prema kuhinjici, no naglo sam bacio sidro već nakon dva koraka. Nešto nije u redu. Nešto u zraku, miris. Platnene su rolete na prozorima bile spuštene, i ulično je svjetlo što je prodirale sa strane stvaralo u sobi duboki polumrak. Zaustavio sam se nepomično i oslušnuo. Miris u zraku bio je parfem, težak i zasitan. |
| There was no sound, no sound at all. Then my eyes adjusted themselves more to the darkness and I saw there was something across the floor in front of me that shouldn’t have been there. I backed, reached the wall switch with my thumb and flicked the light on. | Nije bilo zvuka, uopće ga nije bilo. Tad su mi se oči još malo navikle na tamu pa sam mogao vidjeti da ispred mene, a na drugoj strani sobe, postoji nešto što ne bi trebalo biti ondje. Povukao sam se, dosegnuo zidni prekidač palcem i kvrcnuvši upalio svjetlo. |
| The bed was down. Something in it giggled. A blonde head was pressed into my pillow. Two bare arms curved up and the hands belonging to them were clasped on top of the blond head. Carmen Sternwood on her back, in my bed, giggling at me. The tawny wave of her hair was spread out on the pillow as if by careful and artificial hand. Her slaty eyes peered me and had the effect, as usual, of peering from behind a barrel. She smiled. Her small sharp teeth glinted. | Krevet je bio spušten. Nešto je u njemu zahihotalo. Plava se glava zabila u moj jastuk. Dvije su se gole ruke svijale prema gore, a šake koje su im pripadale saplele su se na vrhu plave kose. Carmen Stermvood ležala je na leđima, u mom krevetu, hihoćući mi se. Žutosmeđi val njene kose širio se preko jastuka kao položen pomnjivom, umjetničkom rukom. Njene su škriljaste oči zirkale u mene i stvarale dojam, kao i obično, da me gleda skrivena iza bačve. Nasmiješila se. Zablistali su joj oštri mali zubići. |
| “Cute, aren’t I?” she said. | — Bistra, zar ne? — reče. |
| I said harshly: “Cute as a Filipino on Saturday night.” | Rekao sam grubo: — Bistra kao Filipinac u subotu na-veče. |
| I went over to a floor lamp and pulled the switch, went back to put off the ceiling light, and went across the room again to the chessboard on a card table under the lamp. There was a problem laid out on the board, a six-mover. I couldn’t solve it, like a lot of my problems. I reached down and moved a knight, then pulled my hat and coat off and threw them somewhere. All this time the soft giggling went on from the bed, that sound that made me think of rats behind a wainscoting in an old house. | Prešao sam do stajaće svjetiljke i povukao prekidač, vratio se da isključim stropno osvjetljenje i zatim ponovno prešao sobu do šahovske ploče na stolu za kartanje pod lampom. Na ploči je bio složen problem, šesteropotez-ni. Nisam ga mogao riješiti, kao ni većinu svojih problema. Posegnuo sam i pomaknuo skakača, zatim svukao šešir i kaput i bacio ih nekamo: Sve se to vrijeme nastavljalo tiho hihotanje s kreveta, taj zvuk što me je navodio na misao o štakorima iza zidnih obloga stare kuće. |
| “I bet you can’t even guess how I got in.” | — Kladim se da ne možete ni naslutiti kako sam ušla. |
| I dug a cigarette out and looked at her with bleak eyes. “I bet I can. You came through the keyhole, just like Peter Pan.” | Iskopao sam cigaretu i pogledao je bijelim pogledom. — Kladim se da mogu. Ušli ste kroz ključanicu, baš kao Petar Pan. |
| “Who’s he?” | — Koji je taj? |
| “Oh, a fellow I used to know around the poolroom.” | — O, momak kojeg znam s biljara. |
| She giggled. “You’re cute, aren’t you?” she said. | Zahihotala je. — Bistri ste, zar ne? — rekla je. |
| I began to say: “About that thumb—” but she was ahead of me. I didn’t have to remind her. She took her right hand from behind her head and started sucking the thumb and eyeing me with very round and naughty eyes. | Počeo sam izgovarati: — Što se tiče tog palca ... — no bila je ispred mene. Nisam je trebao podsjetiti. Skinula je desnu ruku s glave i počela cuclati palac zrakajući u mene svojim vrlo okruglim i zločestim očima. |
| “I’m all undressed,” she said, after I had smoked and stared at her for a minute. | — Sasvim sam bez ičega — rekla je, nakon što sam minutu pušio i zurio u nju. |
| “By God,” I said, “It was right at the back of my mind. I was groping for it. I almost had it, when you spoke. In another minute I’d have said ‘I bet you’re all undressed.’ I always wear my rubbers in bed myself in case I wake up with a bad conscience and have to sneak away from it.” | — O, bože, — rekoh — bilo mi je na vrhu jezika. Mučio sam se. Gotovo sam se dosjetio, kad ste progovorili. Idućeg bih trenutka kazao: »Kladim se da ste sasvim bez ičega«. Ja uvijek idem u krevet s kaljačama, za slučaj da se probudim zbog nečiste savjesti pa se moram odšuljati od nje. |
| “You’re cute.” She rolled her head a little, kittenishly. Then she took her left hand from under her head and took hold of the covers, paused dramatically, and swept them aside. She was undressed all right. She lay there on the bed in the lamplight, as naked and glistening as a pearl. The Sternwood girls were giving me both barrels that night. | — Bistri ste. — Zavaljala je glavom, kao mačence. Tada je skinula i lijevu ruku s glave, uhvatila pokrivače, dramatično zastala i smaknula ih u stranu. Bila je uistinu bez ičega. Ležala je ondje na krevetu u svjetlu svjetiljke gola i Ijeskava kao biser. Te su večeri Stermvoodove cure ispraznile na mene obadvije cijevi. |
| I pulled a shred of tobacco off the edge of my lower lip. | Skinuo sam trun duhana s ruba donje usnice. |
| “That’s nice,” I said. “But I’ve already seen it all. Remember? I’m the guy that keeps finding you without any clothes on.” | — Jako lijepo — rekoh. — Ali sve sam to već vidio. Sjećate se? Ja sam tip koji vas ustrajno nalazi bez krpice na sebi. |
| She giggled some more and covered herself up again. “Well, how did you get in?” I asked her. | Još se malo zahihotala, a onda se ponovno pokrila. — Dobro, kako ste v i ušli unutra? — upitao sam je. |
| “The manager let me in. I showed him your card. I’d stolen it from Vivian. I told him you told me to come here and wait for you. I was—I was mysterious.” She glowed with delight. | — Nadstojnik me pustio. Pokazala sam mu vašu posjetnicu. Ukrala sam je od Vivian. Kazala sam mu da ste mi rekli da dođem amo i da vas pričekam. Bila sam ... bila sam tajanstvena. — Sijala je od radosti. |
| “Neat,” I said. “Managers are like that. Now I know how you got in, tell me how you’re going to go out.” | — Lukavo — rekoh. — Nadstojnici jesu takvi. A sada, kad znam kako ste ušli, još mi samo recite kako ćete izaći. |
| She giggled. “Not going—not for a long time… . I like it here. You’re cute.” | Zahihotala je. — Ne idem, ne idem još dugo ... Sviđa mi se ovdje. Cakani ste. |
| “Listen,” I pointed my cigarette at her. “Don’t make me dress you again. I’m tired. I appreciate all you’re offering me. It’s just more than I could possibly take. Doghouse Reilly never let a pal down that way. I’m your friend. I won’t let you down—in spite of yourself. You and I have to keep on being friends, and this isn’t the way to do it. Now will you dress like a nice little girl?” | — Slušajte — uperio sam cigaretu u nju. — Nemojte me siliti da vas opet odijevam. Umoran sam. Cijenim sve što mi nudite. Samo je to više no što bih vjerojatno mogao uzeti. Doghouse Reilly nikad nije zeznuo pajdaša na takav način. Ja sam vam frend. I neću vas zeznuti — unatoč vama samoj. Vi i ja moramo ostati prijatelji, a ovo nije način na koji se to radi. A sada, hoćete li se obući kao dobra mala curica? |
| She shook her head from side to side. | Odmahnula je glavom od strane na stranu. |
| “Listen,” I plowed on, “you don’t really care anything about me. You’re just showing how naughty you can be. But you don’t have to show me. I knew it already. I’m the guy that found—” | — Slušajte, — brazdio sam dalje — vama uistinu nije ni najmanje stalo do mene. Samo pokazujete kako zločesti možete biti. Ali mi ne morate pokazivati. Znam to od prije. Ja sam tip koji vas je pronašao... |
| “Put the light out,” she giggled. I threw my cigarette on the floor and stamped on it. I took a handkerchief out and wiped the palms of my hands. I tried it once more. | — Ugasite svjetlo — zahihotala je. Bacio sam cigaretu na pod i nagazio na nju. Izvadio sam maramicu i obrisao dlanove. Pokušao sam još jednom. |
| “It isn’t on account of the neighbors,” I told her. “They don’t really care a lot. There’s a lot of stray broads in any apartment house and one more won’t make the building rock. It’s a question of professional pride. You know—professional pride. I’m working for your father. He’s a sick man, very frail, very helpless. He sort of trusts me not to pull any stunts. Won’t you please get dressed, Carmen?” | — Nije to zbog susjeda — kazao sam joj. — Njih u-istinu nije mnogo briga. Mnogo je odlutalih komada u svakoj najamnoj kući, i jedna više neće zaljuljati zgradu. To je pitanje profesionalnog ponosa. Shvaćate: profesionalnog ponosa. Radim za vašeg oca. On je bolestan, slab, vrlo bespomoćan. On mi na neki način vjeruje da neću izvoditi nikakve egzibicije. Ne biste li se odjenuli, Carmen? |
| “Your name isn’t Doghouse Reilly,” she said. “It’s Philip Marlowe. You can’t fool me.” | — Ne zovete se Doghouse Reilly — rekla je. — Nego Philip Mariowe. Nećete me preći. |
| I looked down at the chessboard. The move with the knight was wrong. I put it back where I had moved it from. Knights had no meaning in this game. It wasn’t a game for knights. | Spustio sam pogled na šahovsku ploču. Potez skakačem je bio pogrešan. Vratio sarn ga odakle sam ga maknuo. Skakači nemaju važnosti u ovoj igri. To nije igra za skakače. Barem ne ova na šahovskoj ploči. |
