Chapter 38 chapter 2

Later, they could have gone to drive, but instead sat on the steps in front of 611 for a while, watching the night slowly fall. Zhu Zhu spread out a handkerchief on the steps and sat down.He was earnest and enthusiastic, talking about the new cars that had just been launched, one powerful one, one exquisitely crafted. "From your tone, it seems that you are willing to spend all your belongings to buy a new car," Nick said, "Actually, you and I both know what's going on." Scalfo, an adult, was standing in a corner about ten yards away, holding an apple jelly away from his body, leaning over to take a bite from time to time.

"There's nothing in it except condoms." The two watched the flow of people leaving get off work.Nick sat on the iron railing, just above Juju.Heads buried in the cold, people walked home, among them company secretaries, bus drivers, garment workers, elevator operators. Nick smoked and watched. "That's you," he said. "What are you saying?" "Two years from now, that's what you'll be," he said. "Probably in less than two years." "It's a job, and they have a job. What do you want them to do?" "I'll tell you what I think."

"Don't finish smoking this cigarette, leave me a mouthful." They saw Scalfo, one arm outstretched, holding an apple jelly, talking to the shoemaker. "Anything, as long as it's better than the current job." "They have jobs, let them do it." Nick smoked and watched.Among those were secretaries, maintenance men, bank tellers, messengers, professional typists, professional stenographers. "The problem is not the work, it's the rigid working hours," Nick said. "Going to work at the same time every day, catching the train on time. The same train, going to work together, and coming home together."

"Your situation is better than theirs." "I'm better and worse. What's the difference?" Nick took the last puff, holding the cigarette butt between his thumb and middle finger so that the middle finger would jiggle lightly.He took a puff, shook it slowly, and threw the butt over the curb. "Thank you." Zhu Zhu said. "Thank you for what?" "You'd rather work twenty weeks a year than a steady job that pays well?" "I'll tell you what I wish. I wish the man in the green top sucked my dick." "Where?"

"That's the one in the green coat." "where?" "Across the street," Nick said. "You want someone like that?" "Well, I didn't say I wanted to marry her." "Can't you leave me a cigarette?" "What, did you tell me to stay?" "She's too short," Zhu Zhu said. "Yes, I can stand and let her blowjob." "Her knees don't wear out." "God made dwarves for a reason." Scarfort's trousers were clean but wrinkled, and his shoes were beautiful.He leaned over to eat the apple jelly so the juice wouldn't drip onto his clothes.He was chatting with the shoemaker, and the shoemaker stood there, bowed, with a blank expression on his face.

"Did you bring gas money?" Zhu Zhu asked. "The place we're going to is not far away, so there's no need to refuel." "where are we going?" "Go to the pool room," Nick said. They watched the shoemaker think like a dog eating garbage. The flow of people returning home from get off work gradually dispersed, and it was even more sparse at this time.Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, you should feel the festive spirit today, take a day off, buy groceries, and treat your family and friends to a festive meal.However, Nick hadn't been to school a few weeks ago, and the day off had already begun.He has no friends or relatives nearby, which is actually something to be thankful for.

He patted Zhu Zhu on the shoulder.The two walked to Quarry Street, a place overgrown with weeds and mainly used by dog ​​walkers.That '46 Chevrolet was parked there, by the fence of the hospice. That evening, about three weeks ago, they had seen the car parked near the zoo, the key in the ignition.Nick gets in the car on impulse and does something you don't even have time to think about daring to do.He started the car, Zhu Zhu looked at it for a while, and then got in too.Oddly enough, Vito Butz was with them and got into the car.The three of them drove almost all night that night, it was purely for fun, and it was regarded as a kind of practical joke.They chipped in for a little gas, strolled around a bit more, and parked near a clearing.Nick pulled out the car keys.The car was still there the next day.Uncle Vito's car has been parked and has not been moved throughout the winter.They removed his license plate and replaced it with the original one.They drive mostly at night, and the initial impulse has given way to a sense of responsibility to the owner.They don't drive very far and feel it's safer to do so.Besides, they didn't have money to buy gasoline, and they didn't have anywhere in particular they wanted to go anyway.

Zhu Zhu started the car, and the two sat there, listening to the sound of the gas pedal. "Look at how worn out the pads are," Nick said. "You've worn it out in just three weeks. You've worn all the patterns on your feet. You and her. By the end Sit on the seat and toss it, beast." "The back seat is too narrow." "Beast." "It's more spacious here." Juju and his girlfriend Gloria would spend hours in the front seat, kissing each other well into the night.Zhu Zhu was young and fiery, and kept stroking with both hands, but it was their feet that caused trouble.In fruitless passion, their feet rubbed against each other, destroying the patterns on the pads.

"Explain to Gloria that in the long run, if she takes it easy, she won't do much damage to the car. It might be easier if you two do it on the bed." "Bed." "Either take it easy, or don't get in the car. We can't let this chick destroy this property, let her act softly." Zhu Zhu put the car in gear and drove two blocks to the billiard room, parking the car away from the street lights.The two got out of the car, carefully observed the car's condition, then crossed the street, walked to the long staircase with sharp steel knives, passed through the metal gate, and entered the smoky hall.In front of a table, a hazy figure leaned over, and the cue ball was spinning in the dark.

A woman tapped a coin on the window, and Clara looked up.The woman waved her hand and said, Miss.Clara smiled and continued on her way.She made an appointment and it was already too late. Clara stopped in front of the grocery store, did some shopping, and went straight up the front steps.From the window, she saw Albert's mother raising her head, wearing a white hospital gown, facing out of the window, with a religious medal hanging from her body, looking a bit like a character in a hallucination, or someone waiting for a hallucination. Clara did not want to use the name of a Renaissance painting to name this remarkable scene before her. It would be too unkind to do so.However, this fact exists after all-this woman is shown like a painting.

Mrs. Kessel was with Albert's mother this afternoon.The children were looked after by a girl in the flat who was able and reliable. Clara sorted it out, and then stood in the empty room, admiring the sketch on the easel, the work that reflected the state of the room.During this period of time, she created some sketches based on the furnishings of this room, including door frames, wall decorations, and luggage stacked in the corner. Clara was standing in the kitchen smoking a cigarette when Roscher rang the doorbell. "Clara, you are here." "Don't look too closely, I didn't do the cleaning." "Old friends are here, you don't need to clean up." The two sat in the living room, enjoying coffee and snacks. "So you live here." "Six blocks from where we grew up, to be exact." "It's weird to be back here. People are just so annoying. I swear I didn't notice it before." True Roschel.This is what Clara wants to see, but she is not sure if she can get it. "You've moved to a new place," she said. "Binhe Road. I don't know how my luck is so good." "You look very Parisian. Maybe it's your hair, maybe it's your clothes. What is it?" "Once you start, you can't stop, it's like being sick," Roschel said. "You're still so slim, I've been envious all my life." Roschel's husband was a real estate agent, and she called him Harry the realtor.The pair went shopping in Florida and Bermuda, and went shopping for lingerie on Fifth Avenue. "You're here, Clara, teaching art creation." "There's a community center here. The kids go to classes there, some run around, some make a scene. Others want to learn and like to paint." "You seem quite satisfied." "Sometimes, yes, I like to teach." "You like teaching. That's all right. And Albert? He teaches too. We're all teachers. In this world, half the people teach the other half." "Albert was a veritable teacher, a professional teacher." "His mother lives here?" "She's such a powerful woman, even when she's sick. I admire her in so many ways, she never believed in any bullshit." "Is she going to die here?" "Ok." "You let her die at home?" "Ok." "You've always been open about it. Do you have a lover, Clara?" "You have only been at my house for ten minutes, and my answer is no." "You want to ask me if I'm having an affair?" "I know the answer. You're crazy to have an extramarital affair. To take such a big risk? Harry wants to know, what do you do? In the apartment? What about underwear? But—" "Only once or twice. I need some stimulation in the afternoon, or I feel useless." Roscher wished to see Clara's work.In the empty room, there are several small oil paintings against the wall.The two stood there and watched for a while.Roschel felt a lot of pressure and didn't know what to say, which seemed to take her breath away. "Harry wants to buy some art." "Let him hire a consultant." "I will convey your opinion verbatim." Clara showed her some crayon drawings. "So Albert is a nice, very sweet man, isn't he? Does he like your drawings?" "He thinks painting relaxes me." "It seems you like it. You come to this room to paint. I can imagine you painting, Clara. Standing here, meditating, gesturing with the brush in your hand, trying this way, trying that. Once, I Let the elevator driver touch my thigh, that's in Florida." The two drank another cup of coffee, then went upstairs to see Clara's children.The little girl is sitting on the floor and is playing with a jigsaw puzzle.The two stayed upstairs for half an hour, chatting with the nanny while watching the child make a pattern that had nothing to do with the game. "Clara, I want to hear your opinion. Should I have children?" "I wouldn't suggest having children to someone like you." "Thank you. We're friends after all. Give me a hug and I'll be happy on the way home." The two went downstairs and stood on the porch talking.Three men push a car, trying to get it started.There is light snow in the sky. "So she never believed any nonsense, I mean Albert's mother. Let me see her sometime, and maybe she can tell me something I should know." Clara watched Roschel leave, turned around and entered the empty room, put together the oil paintings just now, and then stood there, examining the completed sketches.Doors, door knobs, walls, window frames. Clara sat beside Albert's mother until dark.She went into the kitchen and prepared dinner.However, before she left, she turned on the bedside lamp.This way, Albert could see his mother before he walked into the house. The pool player was George Manza, George the usher.He played alone in the back of the pool room, not the type to hang out with the regulars.Moreover, he is also a master of billiards, and few guests have the level to compete with him. Nick was on a pool table nearby, and some drunks were playing.However, Nick's eyes fell on George.George hit the 6, got into position to hit the 8, and quickly made a putter.When Nick saw it, he couldn't imagine how he did it. About a year ago, George approached Nick and, out of the blue, asked him to come with him to the unemployment office.George needs to fill out some forms in order to receive the benefits within twenty-four weeks.George didn't say so, but Nick knew he needed help reading the form and filling in the relevant information.Nick also knew that an older person wouldn't normally ask someone his age to ask for help with this sort of thing.The two went to the unemployment office together and filled out forms, and George showed no embarrassment.From that day on, George always said hello to Nick, offering advice such as respecting his mother and staying through school. Someone asked: "How's this week going?" Mike the bookkeeper stands behind the counter with the TV hanging above him.He is not tall, with a square face, and his beard is always not shaved on time.The billiard room was a sideline of Mike's book-booking business.Sometimes George asked Nick and his friends to turn off the lights above the pool balls, which meant they didn't have to pay to play. Mike's eyes met Nick's, and he tilted his head, waiting until Nick came over and said something to him. "What's the matter?" "It's grand larceny. You know the term?" "What do you mean by that?" Mike leaned over and spoke in a low voice. "You think no one knows? What's the matter? I thought you were smart. That guy over there, Juju, I didn't expect much from him. I'm amazed you'd do something like that." "Mike, this car was dumped by someone else. I really don't think the guy wanted to drive it anymore. He left the keys in the car so someone could drive it away. You can get a car like this out and drive it. See it this way Come on, we'll save him trouble." "If you were caught by the precinct police, it would be funny to think you were doing that. I was thinking about your mother's reaction, Nicky." The dog came and sniffed Nick's shoes.It was a mongrel dog, a stray dog, which Mike took in, and some people called him Puppy Mike. "Okay, let me see how to deal with it." "Throw it away, that's what you're supposed to do." "I don't need it anymore. I'm going to work and I can take a cab when I need it." "That's the wise thing to do, you're like your father." Nick wasn't sure he wanted to hear that. "Your father is low-key, unassuming, always on the edge. Perhaps, I don't know him very well. We are colleagues, he is in the city center, I am here, and he always keeps my distance. Even when he is standing When you're around, it feels like you're somewhere else. That's what your dad did." "I'll figure it out." "Tell me, what are you going to do?" "I'm going to work soon and my life of crime is coming to an end, Mike." They play on two other tables.On the third table, Zhu Zhu fixed the position of the ball with a tripod.Nick walked over and played a round. He said, "Mike knows." "What? What does he know?" "I think everybody knows it. How can it be hidden from them? Even the fucking dog knows." "That said, we're fucking unlucky," Zhu Zhu said. "We can put the key back in the car and let it go." "Good idea. Give me the key and I'll get it," Nick said. Halfway through the ball, Nick went to the phone on the other side of the room and called Loretta.Usher George saw him and raised his club as a gesture, and Nick made a gesture of taking off his hat. "Loretta, what are you doing?" "Trying on the shoes I just bought." "Which shoes?" "The pair I bought, you went with me." "That was three days ago." "So, I'm still trying. What's the matter?" "you alone?" "My mother is here." "You are not alone." "My mother is here." "You are not alone." "Where is she now?" "She lives here. It's her house and she has power." "I just wondered if you live alone." "My mother is here." "I might come to you." "She's still here. She was here when you asked her, and she's still here." "Meet me in the car, then. I parked across from Mike's pool room." "Meeting you in the car? You want me to meet you now?" "Let's drive out." "What should I say? Mom, I'm going out to buy a bottle of milk." "Tomorrow is a holiday, you don't have to get up early to go to school." "I've got to get up early to get the turkey. There's twenty-two of us for dinner. I'm up at six-thirty. Maybe they're all leaving tomorrow, tomorrow night." "Put those shoes on," he said. Nick walked over to watch George tidy up the table.George, with his flour-smeared face and sunken eyes, held his cue ball up to his nose as he spoke to Nick. "You don't go to school, what's the matter?" "Not anymore, not anymore. School is a waste of time, isn't it?" "Go ahead." "Go on. All right, George." "Do you have work?" "I found something to do part-time." "What's the matter?" "In an ice cream freezer, doing packaging and stuff." "Has that workshop joined the union?" "What union? The union requires ice cream packers to only be in the freezer for twenty minutes at a time, and then come out for twenty minutes. That way, they don't freeze their dick off. That's why the company hired me Such a fool." George swung his club and holed the No. 4 so that it almost touched the ceiling.Nick found it amusing to see such a taciturn man like George do such fancy tricks on the table. "You want to earn a little pocket money." "right." "So, you don't consider whether it is appropriate to do this, and whether it will damage your health." "right." "Of course, they'll pay you. How much will they pay you?" "Low wages." "They'll keep you in cold storage for longer than is safe. Let me talk to an acquaintance. Maybe, I can find you a better job. You'll work like a cow, but at least You don’t need to wear gloves when you’re working.” On the other table, Vito Butz was playing where Nick had been.Nick walked over, watching and smoking, pointing out their mistakes from time to time. "Everyone knows," he said. "We have to get rid of it," Vito said, "and we can't go near it anymore. I'll go get my uncle's license plate, and I'll be there tonight. When the police find a car without a license plate, they'll take it It drags away. Goodbye, as long as you can get rid of it." "You don't want to sleep with that girl again, I'm talking about you two. This car is your only hope of picking up girls." "I'd rather be a saint who didn't date a girl and die in a coffin than be thrown in jail with lots of prisoners." "Give me the key, and I'll go talk to Zhu Zhu. Give me the key, and I'll deal with it." "Give me back Uncle Tommy's license plate and maybe I'll give you the key." "Go get that hapless license plate, I have the key." "You fucking take shit, only shit." "Don't be so mean, just give me the key." "Give you shit, okay?" "Did you see the cue, it's the cue in your hand, the cue in your hand." "That's what I mean, Nick." "Dog, give me the key." Nick knew that the car keys were in Zhu Zhu's hands, but he talked to Vito like this.He didn't want Zhu Zhu to gain the upper hand, and he didn't want to lose his sense of pride and his current status.However, Vito kept licking his lips when he spoke, and his lips were big and wet, like the lips of a fish.His glasses were over the bridge of his nose with thick lenses. "If I don't get the key, you know what's going to happen to that club? It's the one in your hand, and I'll let you guess. Where's it going to go?" The waiter, George, paid the bill and left the pool room.Soon some poker players came in.They piled up their chips and bet big, blinking their eyes in the smoke until four or five o'clock in the morning.A man named Walls stood at the door to let the wind blow. Walls is said to be carrying a .38 caliber pistol that sits somewhere above his buttocks. Four gamblers have arrived, standing in front of the counter, chatting with Mike.After a while, two more came.The lights on the table went out, and the players left one after another. Someone sang in a clear tenor: "The night is bluer than velvet." Walls was different from the others. Standing in the doorway, he had a thin face, a sharp chin, and short-cropped hair.Nick observes him from the counter position.Seeing Nick's actions, he frowned, and said with that expression: What do you want to tell me? Nick smiled, shrugged, and took the change. "Take care," Mike said. Vito borrows Mike's jackknife on his keychain.Three thieves go out, ready to take off the license plate. Puppy Mike followed them. Nick watched from the sidelines, pointing out errors in their methods from time to time.He urinated close to the hospital wall, which caught the puppy's attention.Later, he returned to the car, watching them and pointing. Vito said, "Hey, stop nagging, okay?" "Give me the key," Nick said. "We're not done yet." "You'll never be done. You only want to be a woman, and you've got a human head. Vito, you're going to marry a rotten chick when you grow up. I'm serious, and you're going to have a lot of kids." After they removed the license plate, Zhu Zhu handed over the keys to Nicky.Now, the car is his, a pile of green scrap iron, no record of any information about the vehicle, and the fuel tank is almost empty. Nick said he was going to take the puppy to Mike's shop.The two young men left separately, and Nick led the puppy across the street. As he walked up the steps, he was talking to the puppy.He was three-quarters of the way up the steps when the door creaked open to find the guy named Walls standing there with one hand in his coat pocket. Nick smiled at him. "Walk the dog," he said. Walls stepped out of the way to let the pup in, then blocked Nick's path. "I think you're going to hang out for a while." "Yeah," Nick said, "walking the dog. I think my play days are over, though." Walls smiled.Nick walked over and peeked in, hoping Mike would see him and let him in to watch the game for a while. Walls shook his head, the smile still on his face.Nick nodded and went down the steps.He got in the car and drove to where the car had been parked two blocks away.He got out of the car, walked around the car, and took a closer look.Later, he returned to his family's apartment building, sat on the iron railing in front of the door, smoked his last cigarette, and headed for the stairs.