A Handful of Dust

At Brat’s Club, Jock Grant-Menzies arrives and finds Tony sitting alone. Jock has been stood up by a woman, while Tony was “fed up with being alone at Hetton” (65). Brenda is also in London, he reveals, but she claims to be too busy to see him. As they drink, Jock talks about his recent professional interest in pigs, and Tony invites him to visit Hetton with his female acquaintance. They get very drunk together, and Tony insists on calling Brenda. She is with Beaver, so she tells Tony not to visit, but he is too drunk to follow the conversation. Brenda sends Beaver away from the apartment, while Tony and Jock continue to drink and mull over whether they should visit Brenda, who they insist is a “grand girl.”

Deciding to drink more, Tony and Jock visit a “dingy little place” named The Old Hundredth (70). There, they drink more and meet two sex workers. Milly and Babs encourage them to spend money in the establishment and to dance. Tony continues to think about Brenda and eventually calls her to apologize that he will not be able to visit her after all. When he and Jock leave, Tony takes a taxi away while Jock drunkenly plans to pass Brenda’s house and ring her doorbell to see if she is awake and angry.