So did the woman with the raffle tickets.
And what about you, young lady? she said. It’s for Anjie’s kidney machine. She’s retiring you see. Yes? She hoisted the little smile even further up her face. She would have to stop and let it go soon or the skin would surely split.
Er, look, here you are, said Arthur, and pushed a fifty pence piece at her in the hope that that would see her off.
Oh, we are in the money, aren’t we? said the woman, with a long smiling sigh. Down from London are we?
No, that’s all right, really, he said with a wave of his hand, and she started with an awful deliberation to peel off five tickets, one by one.
Oh, but you must have your tickets, insisted the woman, or you won’t be able to claim your prize. They’re very nice prizes, you know. Very suitable.
Arthur snatched the tickets, and said thank you as sharply as he could.
The woman turned to Fenny once again.
And now, what about…
No! Arthur nearly yelled. These are for her, he explained, brandishing the five new tickets.
Oh, I see! How nice!
She smiled sickeningly at both of them.
Well, I do hope you…
Yes, snapped Arthur, thank you.
The woman finally departed to the table next to theirs. Arthur turned desperately to Fenny, and was relieved to see that she was rocking with silent laughter.
He sighed and smiled.
Where were we?
You were calling me Fenny, and I was about to ask you not to.
What do you mean?
She twirled the little wooden cocktail stick in her tomato juice.
It’s why I asked if you were a friend of my brother’s. Or halfbrother really. He’s the only one who calls me Fenny, and I’m not fond of him for it.
So what’s?…
Fenchurch.
What?
Fenchurch.
Fenchurch.
She looked at him sternly.
Yes, she said, and I’m watching you like a lynx to see if you’re going to ask the same silly question that everybody asks me until I want to scream. I shall be cross and disappointed if you do. Plus I shall scream. So watch it.
She smiled, shook her hair a little forward over her face and peered at him from behind it.
Oh, he said, that’s a little unfair, isn’t it?
Yes.
Fine.
那个买彩票的女人也做了同样的事。
“您呢，年轻女士？”她说，“为了安洁的人工肾。您看，她退休了是不？她把自己脸上的微笑又提升了一级。如果她再不停下来的话脸上的皮肤就得散架了。
“呃，这里，”阿瑟说着，掏出五十便士希望能把她送走。
“哦，咱很富裕是不？”那个女人说道，微笑着叹了口气。“咱们是伦敦来的是不？”
“不是，这样就成了，真的，”他一边说着一边摆摆手，而那个女人用令人作呕的沉着态度开始一张一张地撕下五张彩票。
“哦，但您可必须拿着您的彩票，”那个女人坚持着，“要不您就不能去兑奖了。奖品非常的好，您要明白。非常的适合您。”
阿瑟一把抓过彩票，用他最快的速度说谢谢。
那个女人再一次转向了芬妮。
“那么现在，您怎么样......”
“不！”阿瑟几乎在大吼了。“那些是替她买的，”他一边解释一边挥舞着五张新买的彩票。
“哦，我明白了！多么贴心啊！”
她向两人显露出令人恶心的微笑。
“那么，我真心希望您......”
“是的，”阿瑟打断她，“谢谢你。”
那个女人终于离开了，转向邻近的桌子。阿瑟郁闷地转向芬妮，很欣慰地看到她正在拼命地忍着，不出声地发笑，身体却在不住摇晃。
他舒了一口气然后微笑。
“我们刚才说到哪儿了？”
“你正叫我芬妮，而我正要告诉你不要这么叫。”
“什么意思？”
她用木质鸡尾酒小棍飞快地搅动着番茄汁。
“这就是为什么我问你是不是跟我哥一伙儿的。或者准确的说他是我半个哥哥。他是唯一一个叫我芬妮的人，而我对这一点很不爽。”
“那么应该是......？”
“芬琪诗。”
“什么？”
“芬琪诗。”
“芬琪诗。”
她严厉地盯着他。
“是的，”她说，“而我会像猞猁一样盯着你，看你会不会问出每个人都会问的一样的蠢问题让我尖叫。如果你这么做了，我不光会生气和失望，还会尖叫。咱们看着办。”
她微笑着把头发稍微拢到面颊前然后透过头发凝视阿瑟。
“哦，”他说，“这可有点儿不公平啊，不是么？”
“很公平。”
“好吧。”