10,115. I RAN INTO

I RAN INTO

At the Copacabana Club I ran

into Huey Long. He was with 

Desi Arnaz, and I was surprised 

they knew each other. Desi said,

'Oh, yes, we go way back. I met him

through Lucille.' 'Do you mean

'Casting Couch Lucy?' I wanted

to say, but thought better of it. Down

south they had their own kind of 

Cuban Mafia, and although they 

didn't seem tough, they could be.

Why muscle with muscle, thought I.

Then I went into the lobby, where

there was also a pool, and there were

five or six ladies around it, in those

odd 1950's swim-suits with the little

modesty thing over the groin area. I

used to thing that was sexier than a 

tiny suit, to tell the truth  -  anyway, 

these were all throwback suits, not the

real thing. I found out later I was wrong,

but that's not part of this tale. When you

go down south, there are sometimes hens

and chickens everywhere, and old cotton

plants line the Carolina roads. It's a weird

feeling, getting to Cuba, because you first 

have to get to 'not-Cuba'  -  which takes 

all the work. I don't mind the driving, but

it's all those Georgia cattle-trucks that

bug me  - metal sheds on wheels, filled

with fat pigs on their way to slaughter.