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She felt the wind begin to
rise and blow out of... |
9th September 2010, 01:31 |
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She felt the wind begin to
rise and blow out of simple charcoal strokes as
black as deathThe size of the actual storm when
it arrived - the pelting rain, the freight-train
shriek of the gale - frightened her badly, as if
she had whistled for a dog and gotten a wolf
But then the wind died and the sun came out and
everyone was all rightBetter than all right,
because in the Alice's aftermath, Adie and her
387
Unsuitable Young Man were forgotten for a time
Elizabeth even heard Daddy humming as he and Mr
Shannington cleaned up the wreckage in the front
yard, Daddy driving the little red tractor and Mr
Shannington throwing drowned palm-fronds and
busted branches into the little trailer trundling
along behind
The doll whispered, the muse told its tale
Elizabeth listened and painted the place off cartier watches women Hag's
Rock that very day, the one where Noveen whispered
the buried treasure now lay exposed
Libbit begs her Daddy to go look, begs him begs
him begs himDaddy says NO, Daddy says he's too
tired, too stiff from all that yardwork
Nan Melda says Some time in the water might loosen
you up, Mr
Nan Melda says I'll bring down a picnic lunch and
the l'il girls
And then Nan Melda says You know how she is now
If she say something's out there, then maybe
So they went downbeach by Hag's Rock - Daddy in
the swimsuit that no longer fit him, and Elizabeth,
and the twins, and Nan MeldaHannah and Maria
were back in school, and Adiebut best not talk
388
about herNan Melda was carrying
the red picnic basketInside was the lunch,
sunhats for the girls, Elizabeth's drawing things,
Daddy's spear-pistol, and a few prada bags cheap harpoons for it
Daddy puts on his flippers and wades into the
caldo up to his knees and says This is cold! It
better not take long, LibbitTell me where this
fabulous treasure lies
Libbit says I will, but do you promise I can have
the china dolly?
Daddy says Any doll is yours - fair salvage
The muse saw it and the girl painted itSo their
future is set
9 - Candy Brown
i
Two nights later I painted the ship for the first
time
I called it Girl and Ship to begin with, then Girl
and Ship No1, although neither was its real name;
its real name was Ilse and Ship NoIt was the
Ship series even more than what happened to Candy
Brown that decided me on whether or not to show my
389
workIf Nannuzzi wanted to do it, I'd go along
Not because I was seeking what Shakespeare called
"the bubble reputation" (I owe mulberry bayswater bag Wireman for that
one), but because I came to understand that
Elizabeth was right: it was better not to let work
pile up on Duma Key
The Ship paintings were goodThey
certainly felt that way when I finished themThey
were also bad, powerful medicineI think I knew
that from the first one, executed during the small
hours of Valentine's DayDuring the last night of
Tina Garibaldi's life
ii
The dream wasn't exactly a nightmare, but it was
vivid beyond my power to describe in words,
although I captured some of the feeling on canvas
In that dream and all the ones which followed, it
was always sunsetVast red light filled the west,
reaching high to heaven, where it faded first to
orange, then to a weird greenThe Gulf was nearly
dead calm, with only the smallest and glassiest of
390
rollers crossing rolex watches ladies its surface like respirationIn
the reflected sunset glare, it looked like a huge
socket filled with blood
Silhouetted against that furnace light was a
three-masted derelictThe ship's rotted sails
hung limp with red fire glaring through the holes
and ripsThere was no one alive on boardYou
only had to look to know thatThere was a feeling
of hollow menace about the thing, as though it had
housed some plague that had burned through the
crew, leaving only this rotting corpse of wood,
hemp, and sailclothI remember feeling that if a
gull or pelican flew over it, the bird would drop
dead on the deck with its feathers smoking
Floating about forty yards away was a small
rowboatSitting in it was a girl, her back to me
Her hair was red, but the hair was false - no live
girl had tangled yarn hair like balenciaga designer tha |
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Croft stared at Martinez"Changed your mind... |
6th September 2010, 17:30 |
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Croft stared at Martinez"Changed your mind again?" he asked softly"What are ya, a goddam woman?"
Martinez shook his head slowly"I don't know, I don't know His face began to work and he turned away
"Red, get your pack ready and cut out this -bleep- It had been wrong to talk to MartinezIt had been disgusting, as though he had been arguing with a childHe had been taking the easy way and it wouldn't workHe would have to face Croft"If I go up that hill, you'll be draggin' me
Some of the men in women's santos 100 replica the platoon were muttering"Let's go back," Polack yelled, and Minetta and Gallagher joined him
Croft stared at them all, and then unslung his rifle, cocked the bolt leisurely"Red, you can go get your pack
"Yeah, you would do somethin' when I ain't got a gun
"Red, just get your pack and shut up
"It ain't me aloneYou gonna shoot all of us?"
Croft turned and gazed at the others"Who wants to get lined up with Red?" None of them movedRed watched, hoping numbly that one of them might pick classic chanel quilted bag up a rifleCroft had turned away from himHe could leap at him, knock him down and the others would help outIf one man would move, they all would
But nothing happenedHe kept telling himself to jump at Croft and his legs wouldn't function
Croft turned back to him"Awright, Red, go get your pack
"Ah'm gonna shoot ya in about three-four seconds He stood six feet away, his rifle raised to his hipSlowly the muzzle pointed toward RedHe found himself watching the expression on Croft's face
Suddenly chanel white ceramic watch he knew exactly what had happened to Hearn, and the knowledge left him weakCroft was going to shootRed stood stiff looking at Croft's eyes"Just shoot a man down like that, huh?"
"Yeah
It was worthless to temporizeCroft wanted to shoot himFor an instant he had a picture again of lying on his stomach waiting for the Japanese bayonet to strike into his backHe could feel the blood thumping in his headAs he waited, his will drained away slowly
"How 'bout it, Red?"
The muzzle made a tiny twiggy balenciaga circular motion as if Croft were selecting a more exact aimRed watched his finger on the triggerWhen it began to tighten he tensed suddenly"Okay, Croft, you win His voice croaked out weaklyHe was making every effort to keep himself from trembling
About him he could see the platoon relaxingHe felt as if his blood had slowed down, halted, and now had begun to flow again, outlining every nerve in his bodyWith his head down he strode over to his pack, rammed in the blanket, buckled the straps, and stood chanel black wallet up |
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I hope that's okay with you
"Two per cent... |
5th September 2010, 16:23 |
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I hope that's okay with you
"Two per cent milk-"
"Also fine
" - and Half-n-HalfI can get you real cream next
time, if you want it
"You want to clog my one remaining artery?"
76
He laughed"There's a little pantry with all
kinds of canned shiThe cable's hooked
up, the computer's Internet-ready - I got you Wi-
Fi, costs a little extra, but it's way cool - and
I can get satellite installed if you want itHe was a good kid, but I wanted
to listen to the Gulf, sweet-talking me with words
it wouldn't remember a minute laterAnd I wanted
to listen to the house, see if it had anything to
sayI had an idea maybe it did
"The keys're in an envelope on the kitchen table -
car keys, too - and a list of numbers you might
need are on the fridgeI've got classes at FSU in
Sarasota every day except Monday, but I'll be
carrying gucci watches for women my cell, and I'll be coming by Tuesdays
and Thursdays at five unless we make a different
arrangement I reached in my pocket and brought out my
money-clip"I want to give you a little extraThis is a sweet gig, MrGood pay and good hoursI'd feel like
a hound taking any extra
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That made me laugh, and I put my dough back in my
pocket
"Maybe you ought to take a nap," he said, getting
up It was odd to be treated like
Grandpa Walton, but I supposed I'd better get used
to it"What happened to the other house at the
north end of Casey Key?"
"Huh?"
"You said one went into the drinkWhat happened
to the other one?"
"Far as I know, it's still thereAlthough if a
big storm like Charley ever hits this part of the
coast dead-on, it's gonna be like a going-out-ofbusiness
sale: everything must go He walked over
to me, and stuck louis vuitton travel bags out his hand
Freemantle, welcome to FloridaI hope it treats
you real well I hesitated,
probably not long enough for him to notice, and I
didn't get angry"Thanks for
everything He gave me the smallest of puzzled looks
as he went out, so maybe he did noticeMaybe he
78
did notice, at thatI was on my
own at lastI listened to shells and gravel
popping under his tires as his car started to roll
I listened to the motor fade
Now there was only the mild steady sighing of the
GulfAnd the beat of my own heart, soft and lowNot ringing, not bonging, not even
tickingI breathed deep and smelled the musty,
slightly damp aroma of a place that's been shut up
for a fairly long time except for the weekly (or
bi-weekly) ritual airingI thought I could also
smell salt and subtropical grasses for which I as
yet had no names
Mostly I chanel j12 listened to the sigh of the waves, so
like the breath of some large sleeping creature,
and looked out through the glass wall that fronted
on the waterBecause of Big Pink's elevation, I
couldn't see the beach at all from where I was
sitting, fairly deep in the living room; from my
armchair I might have been on one of those big
tankers that trudge their oily courses from
Venezuela to GalvestonA high haze had crept over
the dome of the sky, muting the pinpricks of light
on the waterTo the left were three palm trees
79
silhouetted against the sky, their fronds ruffling
in the mildest of breezes: the subjects of my
first tentative post-accident sketchDon't look
much like Minnesota, dere, Tom Riley had said
Looking at them made me want to draw again - it
was like a dry hunger, but not precisely in the
belly; it made omega watch replica my mind itchAnd, oddly, the stump
of my amputated arm
I heaved myself out of the chair on my second try,
glad the kid wasn't there to see the first
backward flop and hear my childish ("Cuntlicker!")
cry of exasperationOnce I was up I stood swaying
on my crutch for a moment, marveling at just how
tired I wasUsually "whipped" was just something
you said, but at that moment it was exactly how I
felt
Moving slowly - I had no intention of falling in
here on my first day - I made my way into the
master bedroomThe bed was a king, and I wanted
nothing more than to go to it, sit on it, sweep
the foolish decorative throw-pillows (one bearing
the likenessness of two cavorting Cockers and the
rather startling idea that MAYBE DOGS ARE ONLY
80
PEOPLE AT THEIR BEST) to the floor with my crutch,
lie down, and sleep for two chloe dior h |
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He had been babbling for water all day, and they... |
4th September 2010, 01:21 |
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He had been babbling for water all day, and they had been paying no attentionHe dropped his head back, rolled his thickened tongue in the arid cavity of his mouth"Le's have some water," he bleatedOnce more he waited patiently, fought against the vertigo that seemed to revolve him in circles on the litter"Goddammit, men, y' gonna gimme some water
"Take it easy, Wilson," Brown muttered
Stanley halted, his legs quivering, and they set him down"Give him some water for God's sakes," Stanley shouted
"You can't give him water with a stomach wound," Goldstein protested
"What do you know about it?"
"You can't give him water," Goldstein said'"
"Water's out," Brown panted
"Aaah, you guys gimme a pain in prada clutch the ass," Stanley bawled
"A little water ain't gonna hurt Wilson," Ridges mutteredHe felt a touch of surprise and scorn"Man dies if en he don't get water To himself he thought, What are they fussin' so much about?
"Brown, I always thought you were chickenshitNot even giving a wounded man some water Stanley reeled in the sunlight"An old buddy like Wilson an' you won't even give him any water 'cause some doctor starts talking about it There was a terror back of his speech which he could not quite faceEven in his exhaustion he knew there was something wrong, dangerously wrong, in giving Wilson a drink, but he avoided that, rousing in himself an emotion of certain righteousness"Try to relieve a man of a new omega watches little suffering and what the hell do ya get for it? Goddammit, Brown, what the hell do ya want to do, torture him?" He felt himself driven by an excitement, a necessity"Give him a drink, what will it cost ya?"
"It would be murder," Goldstein said
"Aw, shut up, ya dumb Jew -bleep- Stanley spoke with fury
"You can't say that to me," Goldstein pipedHe was quivering with anger now too, but back of it was the shattering realization that Stanley had been so friendly the night beforeYou can't trust any of them, he thought numbly with a certain bitter pleasureAt least this time, he was certain"Let's cut it out, men, let's get movin' again Before they could say any more, he bent down at one of the litter handles, ladies omega watches and motioned the others to take up their positionsOnce again they staggered forward into the blare and dazzle of the afternoon sun
"Gimme some water," Wilson whined
Once more Stanley halted"Let's give him some, get him out of his misery
"Shut up, Stanley!" Brown waved his free arm loosely"Keep going and cut out all this talk Stanley glared at himWith his exhaustion he was feeling an intense hatred for Brown
Wilson's thoughts rolled back into his painHe drifted along, not conscious for a while of the jarring of the litter, not even thinking directly of anything about himSensations washed through to him through the filter of his deliriumHe could feel his wound throbbing, and in his mind he saw a horn cheap chanel purses boring into his stomach, pausing and then boring forward again He heard himself groan without feeling his voice stir in his throatFor minutes he floated on the stretcher, his tongue exploring the roots of his teeth for moistureHe was convinced that his legs and feet were on fire, and he twitched them experimentally, rubbing them together as if to extinguish the blaze"Put it out, put it out," he mumbled from time to time
A new pain caught him, familiar and demandingHe felt a cramp in his lower belly, and the sweat stirred on his forehead, mounted into individual dropletsHe fought against it with a childish fear of punishment and then relapsed into the heat and pleasure of voiding, the good strain on his louis vuitton backpacks bowel |
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One of the gang guffawsBrown, I got a beautiful... |
3rd September 2010, 16:51 |
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One of the gang guffawsBrown, I got a beautiful wife too, but I swear after you been married two years a woman might just as well look like a coon dog for all the good it does you
I can't quite agree, Freeman, but there's a point to what you sayHe feels his words dribbling out of his mouth, lost in the babel of glasses and conversation
Come on, let's be goin' over to Eloise's
And the inevitable coming back
Freeman, you said something a while ago that kinda put a stir in me, but I want to tell you I got a beautiful wife, and there's no one could improve on her a bitI think it's a goddam shame the way we go around screwing God knows what, and then goin' back to our wives, it's a helluva note I want to tell you thatWhen I think of her and then what I do I'm pretty goddam ashamed of myselfIt's a hell of a noteYou'd think we have some sense, but the -bleep- truth of it is we just go around screwing and drinking and
And having a hell of a good time
Having a hell of a good time, Brown finishesThat's exactly what I was sac dolce gabana gonna say, Jennings, but you beat me to itHe stumbles, sits down on the pavement
He wakes up in his bed with Beverly undressing himI know what you're gonna say, honey, he mumbles, but I got my troubles, you just keep pushing something through, trying to make ends meet, trying to produce 'cause that's what you gotta pay off on, and it takes a long time, it's, it's a hard life, as the preacher says
And in the morning, massaging his headache, examining an estimate, he wonders what Beverly did last night
(The sly winks, the droll expressions of anguish among the men who had gone out the night beforeAt ten in the lavatory, Freeman joins him
Oh, what a bag I got on
I feel rocky today, Brown saysWhat the hell we do it for?
Got to get out of the rut, I guessOh, man!
6
THIS SAME night, on the other side of the mountain range, Cummings was making a tour of his positionsThe attack had been progressing favorably for a day and a half, and his line companies had advanced from a quarter to a half mileThe division gucci faux was moving again, more successfully than he had expected, and the long wet month of inactivity and stagnation seemed to have endedF Company had made contact with the Toyaku Line, and according to the last report Cummings had received that afternoon, a reinforced platoon from E Company had captured a Japanese bivouac on F Company's flankFor the next few days the attack would teeter from enemy counterattacks, but if they held, and he was going to see that they held, the Toyaku Line might be breached within two weeks
Secretly, he was a little surprised at the advanceHe had prepared the attack for over a month, hoarded his supplies, revised his battle plans from day to day through all the eventless weeks that had followed the aborted Japanese attack across the riverHe had done everything a commander could do, and yet he had been gloomyThe memory of the bivouacs at the front with their covered foxholes and duckwalks through the mud had depressed him more than once; it spoke with such finality of the men sitting down to omega seamaster fake rest permanently, implacably
He knew now he was wrongThe lessons learned from every campaign were different, and he had absorbed an obscure but basic axiomIf the men settled down long enough they became restless, ennuied to the point of courage again by the drab repetition of their daysIt's a mistake to relieve a company which has not been advancing, he told himselfJust let them sit in the mud long enough, and they'll attack through their own volitionIt was fortuitous that his battle orders had been launched at a time when the men were eager to move ahead again, but deep in his mind he knew he had been luckyHe had misjudged their morale completely
If I had a few company commanders who were perceptive, the whole process would be simpler, more responsive, and yet it's too much to ask sensitivity of a CO besides all the other things he has to haveNo, it's my fault, I should have seen it in spite of themPerhaps for this reason the early success of the attack gave him little elationHe was pleased, naturally enough, chanel top because his greatest burden had been removedThe pressure from Corps had relaxed, and the fear that for a time had colored everything -- that he would be relieved of his command in the middle of the campaign -- had retreated now, and would expire if the advance continued favorablyStill he had substituted one dissatisfaction for anotherCummings was bothered by a suspicion, very faint, not quite stated, that he had no more to do with the success of the attack than a man who presses a button and waits for the elevatorIt muddied the edges of his satisfaction, angered him subtlyThe odds were that the attack would bog down sooner or later in any case, and when he left tomorrow for Army, this present success was going to hurt his chances of getting naval support for the Botoi Bay operationIn effect he would have to commit himself, claim that the campaign could be won only by that side invasion, and there would be the ticklish business of having to undercut, disparage the advances he had made already
Nevertheless, things had d |
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If he could level the beach defenses first with... |
2nd September 2010, 01:12 |
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If he could level the beach defenses first with one force, and then send in his landing craftPerhaps a small detachment could capture the beach at night, and in the morning the others could landBut that was far too riskyA night invasion -- he had no troops who were skilled enough for that
A striking force to take Botoi, that could be his substitute for the NavyBut how to do it? It would be impossible to send a company through from his own lines, it would take a break-through for thatPerhaps he could land troops twenty miles behind the Japanese lines and have them advance along the coastBut the jungle was too thickThere were places where they would have to leave the shore and there was an impenetrable forest along the coast behind Botoi
An idea had formed, not even articulated, and he held it numbly, conscious at first only that he had an ideaHe got out of bed, and trod over the duckboards in his bare feet to examine some aerial photographs in his chanel jumbo deskCould a company do it?
It was quite possibleHe could send a company in assault boats completely around the island, have them land on the unexplored northern shore, which was separated from Toyaku and his troops by the Watamai mountain rangeThey could strike out directly across the middle of the island, go through the pass adjacent to Mount Anaka and descend into the Japanese rear, where they could attack the beach at Botoi Bay and hold it until he could land a battalionIt would be a plausible attack, for the beach defenses at Botoi were pointed toward the sea; like almost all Japanese positions, there was little maneuverability in the fire lanesThe timing will be a -bleep- on thatBut what a conception it wasThere was an unorthodoxy, a daring about it, which appealed to him greatlyCummings did not concern himself with that, howeverAs in all such moments when he was considering new plans, his mind had become practical and directQuickly, he was estimating the white chanel j12 watch distancesIt was twenty-five miles across the island to the Japanese side of the pass, and from there it was seven miles to Botoi BayWithout any delaying incidents a company could do it in three days, two if they were to push themselvesHe studied the aerial mapsThe terrain was formidable, of course, but not impassable on the other side of the islandThere was a fringe of jungle not more than a few miles wide at the water's edge, and then a relatively open march over hills and kunai grass until they would reach the mountains and the passThe problem was to find a route through the jungle in the Japanese rear once they were through the passIf he were to send a company out they would almost certainly blunder into an ambush
Cummings sat back in his chair and musedHe would need reconnaissance firstIt would be too expensive, too risky, to tie up a company for a week when the thing might be impossibleA patrol of a few men, a squad or two, would be the better louis vuitton purses ideaThey could go out, break a route, reconnoiter the trails in the Japanese rear, and then return over the way they had come to be picked up by the boatsIf they got back without trouble, he could send out a company and pull off the planCummings stared at the lamp for a few secondsThe first reconnaissance patrol would take five days, at most six, and on their return he could dispatch a company that could reach Botoi in three daysFor safety's sake, he could allow ten days altogether, or eleven actually since he couldn't start it until tomorrow nightHis attack would begin in two days, and by the time he would be ready to launch the Botoi Bay invasion it would be nine days oldWith luck some penetration might be made by them, but it was unlikely the frontal assault would be that successfulAs it was, the timing might be very opportuneThe thing had its appeal
Whom could he send out on the first patrol? He thought at once of recon, and then deliberated, searching fendi spy bags his memory for what he knew of themThey had been in the rubber boats but there were only a few of those men left, and since then they had been relatively inactiveThe night the Japanese had attacked across the river they had acquitted themselves well, very wellThere was that platoon leader Croft whom Dalleson had mentionedBest of all, they were a small platoon, and he could send them all outIf he were to split a larger platoon, the men who would have to go would be bitter at their bad luck in being selected
With a little shock he realized that Hearn was to be assigned to recon tomorrowIt wasn't a particularly good idea to send out an officer who would be unfamiliar with his platoon, but he couldn't leave the success of a patrol like this to a noncomAnd Hearn was intelligent with the physical requirements necessary for such an extended mission -- at this instant Cummings considered Hearn coldly, as though he were totting up the merits and demerits of a cartier pasha watch horse |
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A student holds up his handSir, what is their... |
1st September 2010, 01:21 |
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A student holds up his handSir, what is their main use?
Oh, they have been used many waysEssentially they are fertilizerPotash deposits can be extracted
But the moments like that come too seldomHe is empty and hungering for knowledge, the vessel that must be filled
Slowly he gets around, meets a few people, starts going to placesIn the spring of his freshman year he goes out of curiosity to a meeting of the Harvard Dramatic ClubThe president is ambitious and the discussion of plans is elaborate
It's completely absurd when you stop to think of itIt's absolutely ridiculous having us bat out these silly musical jangles, we've got to broaden our scope
I know a Radcliffe girl who's studied Stanislavsky, someone drawlsIf we had a decent program we could get her in, and have some decent training in the methodOh, lovely, let's do Chekhov
A slim youth with horn-rimmed omega de ville men's watches glasses is on his feet, demanding to be heardIf we're going to shed the chrysalis, then I demand, I just demand that we do The Ascent of F-6It's just kicking around, and it's not even being put onI mean it's ridiculous when you stop to think of it, what a barrel of kudos it'll mean to us
I can't agree with you about Auden and Isherwood, Ted, someone answers
A dark-haired student, heavy set, with a deep important voice, is talkingI think we ought to do Odets, he's the only playwright in America who's doing anything serious, at least he has his feet in the frustrations and aspirations of the common people
Boooooh, someone yells
O'Neill or Eliot are the only ones
Eliot doesn't belong in the same bed with O'Neill(Laughter)
They argue for an hour and Hearn listens to the namesA few are familiar to him, Ibsen and Shaw and Galsworthy, but he has never heard of Strindberg, cheap chanel purses Hauptmann, Marlowe, Lope De Vega, Webster, PirandelloThe names go on, and he tells himself desperately that he must read
He makes a start in the late spring of his first year, rediscovers the volume of Housman that nourished him in prep school, but to it he adds poets like Rilke and Blake and Stephen SpenderBy the time he goes home for the summer he has switched his major to English, and he deserts the beach many afternoons, the Sally Tendeckers and her replacements, spends the nights writing short stories
They are poor enough, but there is a temporary focus of excitement, a qualified successWhen he returns to Harvard, he makes one of the literary magazines in the fall competitions, glares drunkenly into the spotlight at the initiation, and comes off without making too big a fool of himself
The changes come slowly at first, then quicklyHe reads everything, spends a lot of time vintage chanel jewelry at Fogg, goes to the symphony on Friday afternoons, absorbs the pleasant connotative smell of old furniture and old prints and the malty odor of empty beer cans in the aged rooms of the magazineIn the spring he wanders through the burgeoning streets of Cambridge, strolls along the Charles, or stands talking outside his house entry while the evening comes, and there is all the magic of freedom
Several times he goes out on drunks to Scollay Square with a friend or twoIt is a self-conscious business with old clothing, an undeviating tour of all the bars and dives
Practice for finding the sawdust saloons on Third Avenue
If there is puke on the floor, they are delighted; they are fraternity men dancing with movie starsBut the moods all changeAfter they become drunk, there is the pleasurable sadness of late spring evenings, the cognition of all hope and longing arrayed against omega aqua terra watch the casual ugly attrition of time
God, look at these people, Hearn says, talk of your animal existences
What do you expect, his friend says, they're the by-product of an acquisitive society, refuse, that's all, the fester in Spengler's world-city
Jansen, you're a phony, what do you know about an acquisitive society, there's things I could tell you, it's different, you're a phony, that's all
So are you, we're all phoniesThe thing is to get out and join the movement
What's the matter, Hearn asks, you going political on me?
I'm not political, that's bullshit, everything's bullshitHe waves his arm sweepingly
Hearn, cupping his chin in his handYou know when nothing else is left I'm going to become a fairy, not a goddam little nance, you understand, but a nice upright pillar of the community, live on green lawnsNever a dull moment, man or woman, it's all the same to you, prada clutch exci |
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Oh, there were enough platitudes to cover it, but... |
31st August 2010, 15:22 |
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Oh, there were enough platitudes to cover it, but the General was showing him that he wasn't superior to the platitudes eitherIt had been the recreation tent all over again with fifty, perhaps a hundred variations
"You forget, Robert, there's such a thing as papal dispensation All right, now there was no dispensationHe was merely a second lieutenant, squeezed by all the pressures above and beneath him, no more capable than any of the other officers of maintaining his own course with a little dignity, a little restraintAfter it went on long enough the reactions would become automatic, fear-inspiredSomehow you never did win when you were with the GeneralEven on that night of the chess game it was he who had felt sick, not Cummings; it was he who had lain on his cot and dredged his memory for all the silt and cankers
"Are you junior officers getting your liquor supplies?" What the hell had he meant by that? On an impulse Hearn opened the General's liquor see by chloe bag closet, and examined the opened bottlesAlmost every night Cummings could be counted on to drink an inch or two of Scotch, and with a curious niggardliness he would mark the level of the bottle with a pencil before he put it awayHearn had noticed this with amusement, found it an interesting little quirk in all the contradictions of the General
But today the liquor level on his bottle of Scotch was at least two and a half inches below the last pencil markCummings had seen that this morning, had rebuked him for drinking it"Are you junior officers getting your liquor supplies?" Only, that was absurdCummings would know better than that
It could have been ClellanBut it was unlikely Clellan would jeopardize a sinecure like general's orderly merely for a drinkAnd besides, Clellan was shrewd enough to mark the liquor level himself if he wanted to take a nip
Suddenly, Hearn had an image of Cummings sitting in his tent the night before, about to go to bed, examining chanel quilted handbag thoughtfully the label of his whisky bottleHe might even pick up his pencil, deliberate a moment or two, and then he would leave the bottle unmarked, return it to the closetWhat had his face looked like at that moment?
This, now, was not funnyNot after the recreation tent and the flowers and KerriganUntil this little episode, he could consider the General's antics as pranks that spewed out of twisted and intense hungersIt had been in a way like the probing banter between friendsAnd frightening, a littleWith all his concerns, with all the pressures upon him, Cummings had had time to concoct these schemes, release a little of the greater frustration he was feeling
And that basically was what their relationship had always been, Hearn understood at this momentHe had been the pet, the dog, to the master, coddled and curried, thrown sweetmeats until he had had the presumption to bite the master onceAnd since then he had been tormented with the particular cartier tank must absorbed sadism that most men could generate only toward an animalHe was a diversion for the General, and he resented it deeply with a cold speechless anger that came to some extent from the knowledge that he had acquiesced in the dog-role, had even had the dog's dreams, carefully submerged, of someday equaling the masterAnd Cummings had probably understood even that, had been amused
He remembered a story Cummings had told him about an employee in the War Department who had been discharged after some Communist documents had been planted in his desk
"I'm surprised it worked," Hearn had said"You say everybody knew the man was harmless
"Those things always work, RobertYou can't begin to imagine how effective the Big Lie isYour average man never dares suspect that the men in power have all the nasty impulses he has, except they're more effective about carrying them outBesides, there's never a man who can swear to his own innocenceWe're all guilty, that's the pink vuitton bag truthThis particular fellow began to wonder if perhaps he had belonged to the partyWhy do you think Hitler was able to stay unmolested so long? The diplomat mentality at its poorest just couldn't believe that he wasn't playing the old game with some new wrinklesIt took an outside observer like you or me to see that he was the interpreter of twentieth-century man
Certainly Cummings would have been perfectly capable of planting those documents if he had thought it necessaryJust as he had finagled the whisky labelAnd he was not going to become a chess piece for the General to directNo doubt Cummings saw him now as a diversion
Hearn stared around the tentIt would be a pleasure to wait for the General and tell him that he had brought back the supplies successfully, but it was a tainted pleasure and Cummings would be quite aware of it"Had to extend yourself a bit, didn't you, Robert?" he might sayHearn lit a cigarette, and walked over to the wastebasket to drop the vintage omega watches ma |
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