"Helle,"hesaid。"Igetsupper?"
"Sam'sgo,&quesaid。"He'llbebaabouthalfanhour。"
"I'dbettergoupthestreet,"themotormansaid。Geelookedattheclock。Itwastwesix。
"Thatwasboy,"Maxsaid。"You&apularlittlege;
"Hekneos;dblowhisheadoff,"Alsaidfromthekit。
"No,"saidMax。"Itain'tthat。Brightboyisnice。He'saniceboy。Ilikehim。"
Atsix-fifty-fiveGeesaid,"He'snoting。"
Twootherpeoplehadbeeninthelun。ohekitdmadeaham-and-eggsandwich"togo"thatamaakewithhim。IhesawAl,hisderbyhattippedbagonastoolbesidethewicketwiththemuzzleofasawed-offshontheledge。Nidthecookwerebacktobatheer,atoweltiediheirmehadcookedthesandeditupinoiledpaper,putitinabag,broughtitin,andthemanhadpaidfo。
&quhtboyd,"Maxsaid。"Hedeverything。You'dmakesomegirlaboy。"
"Yes?&quesaid。"Yourfriend,OleAndreson,isn'tgoi;
"os;llgivehimte;Maxsaid。
Maxwatchedthemirrorahehandsofthearkedseveno'dtheespastseven。
"eon,Al,"saidMax。"Webettergo。He'snoting。"
&quivehimfivemi;Alsaidfromthekit。
IesamandGeeexplaihecookwassick。
"Whythehelldon'tyougetanothera;Aren&apalu;Hewentout。
"eon,Al,"Maxsaid。
"Whataboutthetwhtboysandthe;
"They&apht。"
"Youthinkso?"
"Sure。hwithit。"
"Idon'tlikeit,"saidAl。"It'ssloppy。Youtalktoomuch,"
"Oh,whatthehell,"saidMax。"Wegottokeepamused,haven'twe?"
"Youtalktoomuch,allthesame,"Alsaid。Hethekit。Thecut-offbarrelsoftheshotgubulgeuofhistootight-fitti。Hestraightenedhiscoatwithhisglovedhands。
"Shtboy,"hesaidte。"Yougotalotofluck。"
"That'sthetruth,"Maxsaid。"Yououghttoplaytheraces,brightboy。"
&hemwentoutthedewatchedthem,throughthewindow,passuheardcrossthestreet。Ioverdderbyhatstheylookedlikeavaudevilleteam。GeewentbackthroughtheswingingdooriduntiedNidthecook。
"Idon'twanta,"saidSam,thecook。"Idon'twanta。"
Nickstoodup。Hehadowelinhismouthbefore。
"Say,"hesaid。"Whatthehell?"Hewastryingtoswaggeritoff。
"TheyweregoingtokillOleA;Geesaid。"Theyweregoingtoshoothimwheoeat。"
"OleA;
"Sure。"
Thecookfelttheouthwithhisthumbs。
"Theyallgo;heasked。
"Yeah,"saidGee。"They&aponenow。"
"Idon'tlikeit,"saidthecook。"Idon'tlikeanyofitatall。"
"Listen,&quesaidtoNick。"YoseeOleA;
&quht。"