I knew that it was a sex smile. Another woman danced with grave
mien, and I knew that it was the gravity of sex
To watch dancing couples became a passion with me. One
evening, as I stood watching the waltzing members of a wedding
party, a married sister of the bride's shouted to me in Yiddish:
"What are you doing here? Get out. You're a kill-joy."
This was her way of alluding to my unpresentable appearance.
When the proprietor heard of the incident he sent for me. He told
me that I was a nuisance and bade me find another "hang-out" for
myself
The following month or two constitute the most wretched period
of my life in America. I slept in the cheapest lodging-houses on
the Bowery and not infrequently in some express-wagon. I was
constantly borrowing quarters, dimes, nickels.
Maximum Max was very kind to me. As I could not meet him at
the stores, where I dared not face my creditors, I would waylay
him in front of his residence
"I tell you what, Levinsky," he once said to me. "You ought to
learn some trade.
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