‘Since it is so sunny out, ladies,’ said Senor Ramirez, ‘I am going to walk around in my underpants…’
‘What a lucky thing for us,’ said Inez in a strident voice. ‘The day begins right.’ Senor Ramirez undressed and slipped on a pair of tennis shoes. His legs were very white and freckled. ‘Now I will give you some champagne right away,’ he said to them, a little out of breath because he had struggled so quickly out of his clothes. He went over to where he had laid the basket and took from it a champagne bottle. On his way back he stumbled over a rock; the bottle fell from his hand and was smashed in many pieces. For a moment his face clouded over and he looked as though he were about to lose his temper; instead, seizing another bottle from the basket, he flung it high into the air, almost over the tops of the trees. He returned elated to his friends. ‘A gentleman,’ he said, ‘always knows how to make fun. I am one of the richest businessmen in this country. I am also the craziest. Like an American. When I am out I always have a wonderful time, and so does everyone who is with me, because they know that while I am around there is always plenty. Plenty to eat, plenty to drink, and plenty of beautiful women to make love to. Once you have been out with me,’ he pointed his finger at Julia and Inez, ‘any other man will seem to you like an old-lady schoolteacher.’
from A Day In The Open, 1945, Jane Bowles
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