“Why don’t you try sitting up straighter — get a better posture?”
“I sit down because I want to be comfortable. I’m most comfortable when I’m slumped down in a chair.”
“Go ahead and exercise, then,” I said.
He flashed me a quick glance and acted as though he was going to say something, but didn’t. He went back to the weight-lifting machine and did some more work. Then he went over and weighed himself on the scales.
He walked over to the canvas mat and said, “Do you think you could show me some of that stuff the Jap was showing you last night?”
I met his eyes and said, “No.”
He laughed and put on the bathrobe. After that we sat down and talked politics until it was time to take a shower and dress for breakfast.
After breakfast Ashbury went to the office. Along about eleven o’clock I met Alta, who had just got up for breakfast. She’d evidently heard all about me. “Come on in and keep me company while I eat,” she said. “I want to talk with you.”
It looked like a good chance to get acquainted. I went in and went through the routine of seating her at the table. I sat opposite her, and had a cup of coffee with cream and sugar while she had black coffee, three pieces of Ry-Krisp, and a cigarette. If I could have had a figure like hers by eating that sort of breakfast, I’d have done it myself.
“Well?” she asked.