Of course, along with this ability of Ed’s to "count coup" in this carnal game as many times as possible was his singular inability to come to grips with the fact that there were others who did not share his enthusiasm for the game and sought to shorten, if not end it. Many were the times I’d see Ed fleeing up Main Street with an irate boyfriend, husband, or father in hot pursuit. Most of these pursuers were along the order of shaved gorillas, generally not alone nor I would assume unarmed. Once in a while, Ed would come tearing through the theatre. A few seconds later, hulking shadows would appear in the doorway:
“Hey! Did some blonde-haired sunovabitch come through here?! ”
We’d generally point opposite of Ed’s flight path to give Ed a chance to put some distance between himself and his "fans". I say generally because once in a while there would happen to be an actress in the house that Ed had "crossed"; then it was “He went thataway!” Set loose the hounds!
Eventually, Ed would show up later at the theatre or at one of the post-show get-togethers, grinning like a dog and cadging beers in return for the telling of his latest exploits and brushes with near-disaster. I kept thinking of Winston Churchill’s remark as a young military officer that “There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result”, as I watched Ed animatedly recount his current conquest and close call with the irate father/brother/boyfriend/husband. I think the last time was at the Sans Souci, a little bar across from Ed’s place of intermittent employment.
“Dang, Ed. Maybe you could save yourself the hassle by just asking if they’ve got an old man or boyfriend. Plenty of single women to go around, you don’t need to be messing with married women.”
