“Informed? How?”
Ind’dni clicked his tongue again. “Has not that remarkable woman told you that once she enabled a P.L.O. girl to elope with a Christian infidel?”
“No. She did?”
“She did, at great personal risk. The girl is still grateful.”
“And this P.L.O. girl is your source?”
“No, her husband is. The infidel is precinct chess champion I mentioned previous. Now we must act quickly, Dr. Shima. I cannot send staff; they would never gain entrance. We may, on our own recognizances. The PloFather is a dangerous woman, and Miz Nunn may find herself webbed in disaster attempting to bargain for the murder of someone already demised.”
“But wait a minute, Subadar. Doesn’t the death of the Queen Bee mean the end of the Golem? Won’t that solve all our problems? That was Gretchen’s theory.”
Ind’dni was exasperated. “Do not plague me, I beg, doctor. You have just joined the pieces of yourself together at a frightful cost. And now you ask me to put all other pieces of this deadly crisis together? Instantly? And at what price? Come, please!”
* * *
When a commune loses its queen, the subjects lose all sense of order. They become distracted, irritable, aggressive, and begin to cluster in desperation. Occasional loners may join the cluster, kindled by the angry vibrations. Occasional “false queens” may try to take over the commune but are treated with a mixture of token respect and impatient hostility. Only a true queen can win true respect and gather the cluster into another ordered commune. But to generate a true queen, a royal home and royal food must be provided, and then she must be coaxed out to be mated by the world.
* * *
He’s dead he’s dead and the piebald son of a bitch never got around to changing his will like he kept threatening I’m burning a fancy number where she’s taking it up the ass and he’s on one knee what are you burning Yenta oh lovely she’s taking it in her tits while he’s standing on his head let’s all go to India drink up drink up use the ear trumpets for glasses just shove your thumb over the ear end and fill up drink up he’s dead the bastard black and white for Christ’s sake Mary how long does it take to get a walking stick fire going never mind the gold heads let’m burn and melt just knock their noses off Sarah but save the Nell Gwyn mask for me I want to do a special number on her Pi-face what the hell are you doing here yes yes we know Regina’s dead it’s all over the Guff we know we know you don’t know what to do drink up girl grab a container an eyecup an ear trumpet a snuffbox fill up and drink up hey Priss got a stick between your legs at last no baby it’s no hobbyhorse and if you could straddle like that on a real stick you could teach India lessons hey here’s a wild position where they’re ouch I burned myself how’s that fire doing Mary hey Ood Ud come into the bedroom and help me lug out that damn coffin he made me lie in the son-of-a-bitch we’re going to burn it Christ it’s heavy you’re dead the black-and-white freak said you’re dead you’re not breathing your heart’s stopped beating you’re white as death Mary you’re a genius blowing it up like that help her Pi we’ll blow up all the French letters and have a balloon ascension no Ood stick the small end into the fire first it’ll fit help her swing it around Ud that goddam cedar ought to burn like crazy Christ knows how many times I did a burn in it while that piebald bastard told me I was dead I wasn’t breathing my heart stopped beating and dangling his polka-dot prick in my dead face because that was the only thing that could stiffen it hey great the coffin’s caught I wish he was in it dead or alive Jesus he was dead anyway but wouldn’t admit it but he never changed his will and I’ve got Regina to thank for that when I take over like BB said we’ll hold services for Regina every week we’ll play funeral and take turns delivering the eulogy and I’m going to have the piebald son-of-a-bitch buried at a crossroad with a stiff prick through his heart will you look at that coffin burn but the satin stinks Pi-girl you’ll come and work for me girl so don’t worry Jesus Christ look at those flames the ceiling’s caught my God three cheers the whole goddam freakhouse is going to go up and to hell with it he never changed his will I can live where I goddam please and for how much I Christly please and let’s get the hell out of here before we catch fire not that I’m not on fire already bring the French letter balloons and any other souvenirs you want from his slob collections come on to Sarah’s saloonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
‘Tis BEAUTY calls and GLORY shows the WAY Alexander the Great Act I Scene 3 ladies I can NOT permit us to look like this we are be-DRAGGLED we are un-BEAUT-i-ful we have failed our duty to our public we must dress to the nines and my wardrobe is yours and my dresser this is darling Norah my dresser is yours and NORAH will GARB you FITT-ingly and in character starting with me of course because I am the
of the company sequins silver sequins Norah and slinky form-fitting with rhinestone straps Nellie of course will be GAFOOZALUM the harlot of Jerusalem put her in the belly-dancer drag no no Yenta don’t object I’ve cast you in a role that will CREAM your devoted public Norah dress Yenta Calienta in the Delilah rags but put a beard on her and turn her into Moïse Mary Mixup does the soubrette bit playing the lady’s maid of pertness and intrigue no no Pi-face you won’t be a servant in service my God these sequins scratch the boozalum you become HOBO the wandering worker and darling Norah will give you the original Hollywood costume it was a place out west in the entertainment business before it fell into itself Priss is BEAUTY in the fable the Cinderella ballgown for her Norah and Oodgedye and Udgedye will play a two-headed BEAST in fright-wigs and that eight-armed drag from Scriabin’s Kackula the Monster That Ate Nizhni Novgorod what Norah you want to join us come on then but in what role I know the BOADICEA I played in the play of the same name you can’t have the chariot it’s in some warehouse but you can spray yourself blue with the cobalt on my dressing table my god you’re all FANTASTIC ladies mag-NIF-i-cent we’re the greatest show on earth all we need is fanfares TA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DUM-DEE-DUM and we’re going to dress up like this at every meeting I hold here and where to now great Yenta’s place great great GREAT applause applause APPLAUSE curtain call curtain call curtain call bows bows BOWSSSSSSSSSSSS
The carpenter in the nail apron making with the glue and the pegboard is Bimmy Braham my personal private rabbi say hello vos macht ir to the ladies of my colony Bimbo they’ve all heard about you which is why I’m protective I wish you all could see Bim’s kidney transplant but we didn’t have a window installed I traded a first edition of Gray’s Anatomy for it only two pages missing in the middle and the donor never noticed if he ever does and tries to repossess his kidney mazel tov is all try our vodka ladies we brew it ourselves Bimmy and me sure the restaurants give you their potato peelings and carrot tops and corncobs and wilted greens if you haul the junk away saves them garbage fees Bim and I schlep the stuff back here and ferment it and distill it and Bimbo pronounces the conjure word congener and hey presto one hundred proof redeye vodka it’s the beet skins that give it the color drink up drink up you like the glasses huh Mary they’re my prize collection of logo plastics you get them for free advertising you know my favorite is this number from Mugative that’s the mouthwash you use and your breath is guaranteed to set a mugger’s face on fire I don’t know how they do it the miracle of modern chemistry I guess drink up drink up the redeye won’t set anything on fire but your pipiks no there’s nothing dirty or suggestive about that rug Priss it’s all innocent geometric design there was a hell of a hole in the center but Bim and I rewove it I had to trade a thundermug for the wool the mug had a crack in it but the dye in the wool ran so it all came out even drink up drink up I want to try a lobster vodka from free shells but my Bimbo won’t drink it because it isn’t kosher Bim show the two-headed monster that movie poster of Drekula we got in a trade for the makeup mirror with Sarah Heartburn Bimmy hey Bimbo-baby Roboynov shel oylom she’s smashed she’s stoned we’re all fractured jingle jangled Gottenu Bim you’re exploding the glue it’s going up like Roman candles doesn’t mix with congeners huh out out come on come on everybody out let’s buzz buzz buzz off you too Bim be with the fellas no don’t get out of your jump suit and keep the apron you’ll be in drag like the rest of us in the hive and let that hammer keep hanging from your delicious delectable divine assssssssssssssssssssssss