6/15/39
Dear Brother Rat:
So you beat me to it! Well, it’s no surprise as I could tell by your letters following dates that such had happened. Well, toots, let’s look at it this way. First, and very important, please let’s neither of us drink on any dates other than in a crowd with no possibility of being alone with the date afterwards. This may seem mean, but I love my beer as much or more than you do, and coc’s will probably do just as well. Secondly, and also important, no kissing of any variety. Honey, will you agree to these two things? If you will, it will make me feel much more easy about your having dates. I shall do the same.
Incidentally, I don’t know beans about your salesman, but he is still that, away from home most of the time and thus lacking a normal home life, and cannot help but feel that anything is justified to fill up that gap in his life. So watch your step, use your own judgment, and then don’t get stung like you did with Andy.
I wish you could have gotten the call through Sunday. I certainly would have enjoyed it.
I’m awfully glad I didn’t send the first answer I wrote to your letter. It was before I ate supper, and I was the regular old grouch that I always am when I’m tired and hungry. Darling, the job is going to require a great deal of time and study before I can be sure of it. Your baby isn’t as smart as he used to be.
I sent John another 20 today, dropping the total balance to 93 bucks. I hope to have it cleaned up by September or so.
I’m going to try to answer Bill’s two letters tonight. I’m afraid he is going to be disappointed, for there are few of his questions that I can answer, both from a standpoint of business policy and also from ignorance. He expects too much of me. If I where half as smart as he thinks I am, I would be prexy* of the RCA.
Since I am not doing much of anything these days, there’s not much I can write about. We’ll go ahead with the outside dates and I’ll just sit by and hope, while you find out what swell people the rest of the men in the world are. I did sort of nail you when you were down and out from the K** affair. In all fairness, now that you’ve regained your equilibrium, I ought to at least give you a chance to look around some more.
Still your best friend, Cy.
*President
**Marty’s separation from William Kennedy.