CHAPTER TWO

Tom's Other Woman

The Long Island railroad comes from New York City to West Egg. When driving by car from West Egg into the city, the road joins the railroad tracks and follows next to it for a short way. The train stops at this place. This area is very dirty and piles of earth sit on either side of the road. Clouds of dirt always cover this gray place. Dirty workmen are there everyday working with tools on these piles of dirt.

Behind the largest pile of dirt is a large sign. The sign has a picture of a man named Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. His eyes are huge, large and yellow and they look like they are looking down at all the cars driving by. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg seem not to be on his face, but, instead, they are on a pair of wide yellow glasses. I guess that Dr Eckleburg moved away from this dirty area, but left his advertisement here.

It was here that I met Tom Buchanan's "other woman" for the first time.

I was interested to see this woman, just to know what she looked like, but I didn't have any desire to meet her. I did meet her though. I was taking the train with Tom into New York and when we got to the piles of dirt he stood up and said that he wanted to get off the train for a bit. I asked him why and he said, "I want you to meet my girl." He then grasped my arm and pulled me out of the train.

Everyone knew that Tom had a second woman. His friends did not agree with the way he brought her with him to popular restaurants, as if he wanted to show her off to the world. They all thought that it was a big risk and that it would hurt Daisy's feelings.

Tom and I walked along the dirty road; Doctor Eckleburg's eyes seemed to watch us. The only building I could see was a small yellow one made out of brick. It was standing alone in the empty land. The building had three stores inside, one of them was a café, and I could see lines of dirt leading to the door, the next store was empty; the last store was a garage to fix cars—GEORGE B. WILSON'S CAR REPAIRS, said the sign in front.

Tom and I went into the garage. It was empty and dirty inside. There was only one car inside; it was old and covered with dust. Mr Wilson came out of the door of his office. He was a sad-looking man with a pale face. It looked like he was a handsome man when he was young, but now he just looked old and tired. It seemed that he had lost all of his spirit for life.

"Hey, Wilson," said Tom. "How's business?"

"Not too bad," said Wilson unhappily. "When are you going to sell me your old car?"

"Soon—maybe next week; I'm fixing it right now."

Tom's eyes were jumping up and down and looking nervously around the garage. A moment later a woman with a round body came out of the office door. She looked like she was between thirty and forty years old, and was rather fat. Her face and body were not beautiful, but she seemed to have the spirit of a wild animal and it made her seem strangely good-looking.

She came into the room and walked past her husband like he was not even there. She then smiled slowly at Tom and shook his hand.

"Get some chairs, so our guests can sit down," Mrs Wilson said to her husband, who ran into the office.

"I want to see you," said Tom. "Get on the next train to the city."

"Okay." She whispered.

"I'll meet you at the train station."

She quickly moved away from Tom and just at that moment George Wilson came out of the office with two chairs.

We left the garage and walked to the train station and then waited for Mrs Wilson.

"It's a dirty and terrible place, isn't it?" said Tom. "It's good for her to get out of here sometime. I rent an apartment in the city where we go sometimes."

"Doesn't her husband get angry that she goes into the city all night?"

"Wilson is so stupid that he will never know. He thinks that she is going into the city to see her sister."

So I went together with Tom Buchanan and his girlfriend to New York. Mrs Wilson sat in another train car so that no people would see her and Tom together.

Tom bought her a magazine and some soap with a heavy smell at the train station. Once in New York we got off the train and got into a taxi. She often stopped the taxi and made Tom buy her things.

"I want a dog," she said. The taxi stopped beside an old man with a basket full of very young dogs, which he was selling. "I want to get a dog for our apartment. They're nice to have—a dog."

"What kind are you selling?" asked Mrs Wilson.

"Many kinds. What kind do you want, lady?"

"I want a police dog, the white ones with black spots; do you have that kind?"

The man looked with doubt into the basket and pulled up one of the animals by the back of the neck.

"That's not a police dog," said Tom.

"No, it's not exactly a police dog," said the man.

"I think it's sweet," said Mrs Wilson. "How much is it?"

The man looked at the dog with great respect. "That dog will cost you ten dollars."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" she asked softly.

"That dog? That dog's a boy."

"It's a girl," said Tom firmly. "Here's your money. Go and buy ten more dogs with it."

Mrs Wilson picked up the dog and smiled happily. We then drove to the Fifth Avenue. I wanted to get out of the car and walk around the city, but they both insisted that I join them.

"I'll call my sister Catherine," said Mrs Wilson, "and Mr and Mrs McKee from the apartment below."

Their apartment was at the top of a building on the 158th Street. Mrs Wilson opened the door proudly and let me walk in first. The small living room was filled with expensive furniture that was much too large for it.

Mrs Wilson gave the elevator boy some money and told him to go buy some milk, dog food and a box for the dog. Tom then brought out a bottle of strong wine and opened it.

Mrs Wilson sat on Tom's knee and called her sister and the McKees on the telephone. I wanted a cigarette, but there were none in the house. I went out to buy some at the store on the corner. When I came back to the apartment both Tom and Mrs Wilson had disappeared. I sat down in the living room and waited for them. About twenty minutes later they came out of the bedroom, just before Mrs Wilson's sister arrived.

I don't drink much. In fact I have only been drunk twice in my whole life. That night was the second time. My memory of most of the conversation was not very clear. I remember that Mrs McKee was loud and annoying and that her husband didn't speak much. I also remember that Mrs Wilson's sister, Catherine, was about thirty and attractive. She lived in the city and knew much more about the world than Mrs Wilson. She sat down beside me on the sofa.

"Do you live near Tom?" she asked.

"I live in West Egg."

"Really? I was down in West Egg at a party about a month ago. It was at the house of a man named Gatsby. Do you know him?"

"He is my neighbor."

"People say that he is the nephew of the King of Germany. That's why he is so rich."

"Really?" I didn't think that this was true.

Catherine was staring at Tom and Mrs Wilson. "My sister looks good with Tom, doesn't she?" She came close to me and whispered in my ear, "You must know that they both hate the people they're married to. They should get divorced and then marry each other!"

I just sat there and didn't say anything, but she continued talking, "Tom's wife is stopping them from getting a divorce. She's a Catholic, and Catholic's don't believe in divorce."

I knew that Daisy was not a Catholic, and I immediately understood that Tom had lied to Mrs Wilson because he did not want to marry her. I was a little shocked at Tom's lie.

As the evening continued we all finished the first bottle of strong wine and then a second one. Tom then gave the elevator boy some money to go out and buy some sandwiches, which were so big that they were a full dinner.

I wanted to leave the apartment and walk in the moonlight toward the park, but each time I tried to stand up Tom would grasp my arm and pull me back down.

Mrs Wilson came over and sat next to me and she suddenly began to tell me the story of her first meeting with Tom.

"I was on the train to New York, I was coming here to see my sister, and he was sitting in front of me. He was wearing a nice suit and a clean, white shirt, and I couldn't stop looking at him. I was embarrassed though and I had to pretend that I was looking at the advertisement over his head. We began to talk and he was so brave. By the time that we arrived at the train station he was sitting next to me, and his body was close to mine. I told him I'd have to call a policeman if he sat any closer, but he knew I was kidding. When I got into a taxi with him I was so excited, in my head I thought, 'You can't live forever, you can't live forever.'"

I looked at my watch and it was nine o'clock. After what felt like only a few minutes I looked at my watch again and saw that it was already ten-thirty.

The little dog jumped up on the table and looked at Tom and Mrs Wilson through the smoke of all the cigarettes. Tom and Mrs Wilson were fighting about something. It seemed as if Tom was telling Mrs Wilson that she didn't have any right to speak about Daisy.

"Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs Wilson. "I'll say her name whenever I want to! Daisy! Daisy! Dai—"

Tom made a short and fast move with his fist and broke Mrs Wilson's nose. Suddenly there was blood everywhere and everyone began to yell. Catherine ran to get some ice and a towel and Mrs McKee began yelling at Tom. Mr McKee and I quietly left the room.

(end of section)