The Cock 'n Bull . . .

After Rusty goes on a joy ride with his friends to Mexico, he gets arrested -- and also violates his parole. A distraught Mary Ann goes to Myra, who in turn enlists Leticia's help to get him out jail. After Myra picks him up from the judge, they celebrate by going out to a club. As Myra, Mary Ann, and Rusty watch Leticia perform some songs, they discuss human sexuality and the population explosion.

Excerpt from the novel:

Myra: "But how should a man act?" I was mild.
Rusty: "He should ball chicks, that's how he should act."
"But only if he really loves them." Mary Ann was droll; both laughed at what was obviously a private joke.
"And why should he ball chicks?" I continued my gentle catechism.
Rusty: "Well, because that's . . . well, Christ, it's natural!"
"And that's how you get babies," said Mary Ann sagely. "I mean that's how nature intended it."
Myra: "Do you think nature intended you to have a baby each time you make love?" Mary Ann looked like a lapsed Catholic, trying to recall what she had been taught.
But Rusty was a good Catholic Pole and knew right from wrong. "That's what you're supposed to do, yes. That's what we're told in church."
Myra: "But you do use contraceptives, don't you?"
Both flushed and Rusty said, "Well, sure. I guess most Catholics do now, but that doesn't mean you don't know it's wrong."
"Then you basically believe it's right for more and more babies to be born, even though half the people ever born in the world are now alive, and that each day twelve thousand people starve to death in India and South America?" Oh, the sly Myra Breckinridge! Nothing can escape the fine net of her dialectic!

Click to hear Rusty's response

On to the Infirmary

Back to the Main Page