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《渺小一生》:“有个令人兴奋的大消息!”

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2020年04月01日

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  [ III ]

第三部分 虚荣

  Vanities

 

  1

1

  THEIR NEXT-DOOR SUITEMATES their second year in Hood had been a trio of lesbians, all seniors, who had been in a band called Backfat and had for some reason taken a liking to JB (and, eventually, Jude, and then Willem, and finally, reluctantly, Malcolm). Now, fifteen years after the four of them had graduated, two of the lesbians had coupled up and were living in Brooklyn. Of the four of them, only JB talked to them regularly: Marta was a nonprofit labor lawyer, and Francesca was a set designer.

大学时代,他们住在虎德馆的第二年,隔壁套房住了三位女同志,都读大四,组了一个叫“背脂”的乐团,而且出于一些原因很喜欢杰比(后来也喜欢裘德,然后是威廉,最后才很不情愿地喜欢马尔科姆)。现在,他们四个毕业十五年后,那三个女同志中的其中两人成了一对,住在布鲁克林。而他们四个人里头,只有杰比还常跟她们联络,马尔塔成了非营利劳工组织的律师,弗朗西斯卡则是舞台设计师。

  “Exciting news!” JB told them one Friday in October over dinner. “The Bitches of Bushwick called—Edie is in town!” Edie was the third in the lesbians’ trio, a beefy, emotional Korean American who shuttled back and forth between San Francisco and New York, and seemed always to be preparing for one improbable job or another: the last time they had seen her, she was about to leave for Grasse to begin training to become a professional nose, and just eight months before that, she had finished a cooking course in Afghani cuisine.

“有个令人兴奋的大消息!”十月的一个星期五,杰比在晚餐时告诉他们,“布什维克那两个贱货打电话来——伊迪来纽约了!”伊迪是女同志三人组里的第三个,一个健壮、情绪化的韩裔美国人,一直在旧金山和纽约之间跑来跑去,为某个不太可能成功的工作做准备:上回他们碰到她时,她正要去普罗旺斯的世界香水之都格拉斯受训,打算成为专业闻香师。在此之前八个月,她才刚完成阿富汗料理的厨师训练课程。

  “And why is this exciting news?” asked Malcolm, who had never quite forgiven the three of them for their inexplicable dislike of him.

“为什么这个消息令人兴奋呢?”马尔科姆问,始终不太能谅解她们三个莫名地不喜欢他。

  “Well,” said JB, and paused, grinning. “She’s transitioning!”

“这个嘛,”杰比说,暂停了一下,咧嘴笑了,“她正在转换!”

  “To a man?” asked Malcolm. “Give me a break, JB. She’s never exhibited any gender dysphoric ideations for as long as we’ve known her!” A former coworker of Malcolm’s had transitioned the year before and Malcolm had become a self-anointed expert on the subject, lecturing them about their intolerance and ignorance until JB had finally shouted at him, “Jesus, Malcolm, I’m far more trans than Dominic’ll ever be!”

“转换成男人?”马尔科姆问,“饶了我吧,杰比。打从我们认识她以来,她从来没有显示出任何性别不安症的迹象!”马尔科姆以前的一个同事前一年转换性别了,马尔科姆于是自命为这方面的专家,总是责备他们的不宽容和无知,直到有回杰比终于朝他吼:“天啊,马尔科姆,我转换得可比多米尼克多太多了。”

  “Well, anyway, she is,” JB continued, “and the Bitches are throwing her a party at their house, and we’re all invited.”

“好吧,总之,她正在转换。”杰比继续说,“贱货们要在她们家帮她办一场派对,我们全部受邀了!”

  They groaned. “JB, I only have five weeks before I leave for London, and I have so much shit to get done,” Willem protested. “I can’t spend a night listening to Edie Kim complaining out in Bushwick.”

他们哀叹起来。“杰比,再过五个星期,我就要去伦敦了,有一大堆事情还没办。”威廉抗议道,“我可不能花一个晚上,跑去布什维克听伊迪·金抱怨。”

  “You can’t not go!” shrieked JB. “They specifically asked for you! Francesca’s inviting some girl who knows you from something or other and wants to see you again. If you don’t go, they’re all going to think you think you’re too good for them now. And there’s going to be a ton of other people we haven’t seen in forever—”

“你不能不去!”杰比尖叫,“她们特别问起你!弗朗西斯卡邀请了一个不知道你在哪里认识的女生,说很想再看到你。要是你不去,她们就会觉得你自以为了不起,不屑理她们了。还有一大堆我们好久没见的人……”

  “Yeah, and maybe there’s a reason we haven’t seen them,” Jude said.

“是啊,我们好久没见到他们,或许是有理由的。”裘德说。

  “—and besides, Willem, the pussy will be waiting for you whether you spend an hour in Brooklyn or not. And it’s not like it’s the end of the world. It’s Bushwick. Judy’ll drive us.” Jude had bought a car the year before, and although it wasn’t particularly fancy, JB loved to ride around in it.

“何况,威廉,无论你去不去,那个妞儿都会等着你。那里又不是世界尽头,就在布鲁克林的布什维克而已。小裘会载我们去的。”裘德一年前买了车,不是多炫的款式,但杰比很爱坐他的车。

  “What? I’m not going,” Jude said.

“什么?我才不去。”裘德说。

  “Why not?”

“为什么?”

  “I’m in a wheelchair, JB, remember? And as I recall, Marta and Francesca’s place doesn’t have an elevator.”

“别忘了,杰比,我现在坐轮椅了。我记得马尔塔和弗朗西斯卡那没有电梯。”

  “Wrong place,” JB replied triumphantly. “See how long it’s been? They moved. Their new place definitely has one. A freight elevator, actually.” He leaned back, drumming his fist on the table as the rest of them sat in a resigned silence. “And off we go!”

“不是那里。”杰比得意地回答,“你看你多久没去了?她们搬家啦,新家有电梯。其实呢,是运货电梯。”他往后靠,一只拳头在桌上轻敲,其他人坐着不说话,一副认命的样子,“所以我们要去喽!”

  So the following Saturday they met at Jude’s loft on Greene Street and he drove them to Bushwick, where he circled Marta and Francesca’s block, looking for a parking space.

于是下个星期六,他们就在裘德位于格林街的公寓集合,由他开车载他们去布什维克。到了那,他在马尔塔和弗朗西斯卡的那个街区绕圈,想找停车位。

  “There was a spot right back there,” JB said after ten minutes.

“她们家后头就有个地方可停。”十分钟后,杰比说。

  “It was a loading zone,” Jude told him.

“那是卸货区。”裘德告诉他。

  “If you just put that handicapped sign up, we can park wherever we want,” JB said.

“要是你把残障标志摆出来,我们就可以爱停哪儿停哪儿了。”杰比说。


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