第16章和你在一起(2)
afterall:毕竟,终究
造__________________
无辜的流浪者
IHomeless
洛里·S。莫尔LoriS。Mohr
&ilyscrawledsignonthecrumpledcardboardread:BROKE—NEEDDOGFOOD。ThedesperateyouhesigninonehandaheotherashepacedbadforthonthebusydowntownLasVegas。
Attachedtotheleashuphanayearold。Notfarfromthemwasanofthesamebreed,ppost。Hewashowlingintothebriskchilloftheapproaterevening,withawailthatcouldbeheardforblocks。Itwasasthoughheknewhisowhesignthatedohimread:FORSALE。
&ingaboutmyowion,Iquiedtheadeabeeliowardthehomelesstrio。Foryears,I'vekeptdogandcatfoodirunkofmycarforstrayryanimalsIoftenfind。It'sbeenaingthoseI'ttakein。It'salsowhatI'veusedtoanyascareddogofftheroadtosafety。Helpingneedyanimalshasalwaysbeenanautomatie。
Ipullediparkinglotandgrabbedafivepoundbagofdogfood,aerofwateray-dollarbillfrommypurse。Iapproachedtheragged-lookingmanandhisunhappydogswarily。Ifthismathesecreaturesorwasusingthemase-ons,Iknewmyangerwouldquicklytakeover。Theatthesky,whiningpitifully。JustbeforeIreachedthem,atruckpulledupalohemandaskedhowmuwahe。
“Fiftybucks,”themanontheerreplied,thenaddedquickly,“butIreallydon'twanttosellhim。”
“Ishepapered?”
“No。”
“Ishefixed?”
“No。”
“Howoldishe?”
&Ireallydon’twanttosellhim。Ijustofeedhim。”
“IfIhadfiftybucks,I'dbuyhim。”Thelightturhetruckspedoff。
Themanshookhisheadandueddejectedlypagthesidewalk。Wheiingiiooppedwalkingandwatchedmeapproach。Thepupbeganwagginghistail。
“Hi,”Ioffered,asIdrewheyoungman'sfatleandfriendly,andIsejustbylookingihewassomeoneinrealcrisis。
“Ihavesomefoodherefs,”Isaid。DumbfouhebagasIsetdowerinfrontofthem。
“Yhtwater,too?”heaskedincredulously。Webothkdowhe,andthepuppygreetedmeenthusiastically
“Thato。dthisone'sDog。I'mWayhesad,stenoughtoseewhatwasiainer。
“ened,Wayne?”Iasked。Ifeltabitihealyandsimply。“Well,IjustmovedoutherefromArizonaabeeofindwork。I'matthepointwhereI'tevehedogs。”
“Whereareyouliving?”
“Inthattruckrightthere。”Hepoioadilapidatedoldvehiclethatarkedcloseby。Ithadaralohashell,soatleasttheyhadshelterfromtheelements。
Thepuphadylapaledin。Iaskedeofworkhedid。
“I’mamedawelder,”hesaid,“Butthere’snothingouthereforeither。I'velookedahesedogsaremyfamily;Ihatetohavetosellthem,butIjust’taffordtofeedthem。”
&sayingitoverandover。Hedidn’twahem,buthe'tfeedthem。Anawfullookcameoverhisfaceeverytimeherepeatedit。Itwasasifhemighthavetogiveupachild。
&imeseemedrighttocasuallypassoverthetwenty-dollarbill,hopingIwouldn'tfurtherdamagehisalreadyshakypride。“Here。Usethistobuyyourselfsomethi。”
&hanks,”heslowlyreplied,uolookmeihiscouldgetusarht,too。”
“Howlonghaveyoubeenouthere?”
“Allday。”
“Hasopped?”
“hefirst。”Itwaslateafternoonandquicklygettingdark。Herei,whenthesuemperaturewoulddipiies。
Mymiofast-foricturedthethreeofthemgoingwithouteveoday,perhapsforseveraldays,andspendingmanylong,coldhourscoopedupintheirie,makeshiftshelter。
Seeingpeoplebegforfoodisn’tahiscity。Butthismanstoodoutbecausehewasn’taskingforfoodforhimself。Hewasmoreedwithkeepinghisdogsfedthanwithhisownarentofnineassionatelyloveddogsofmyown,ithitadeepe。
Idon’tthinkI’lleverreallyknowwhateatthatmoment,inspiriodowhatIdidIjustkwassomethingIhadtodo。Iaskedhimifhe'dwaitthereforafewmiilIreturned。Henoddedhisheadandsmiled。
Mycarflewtrocerystwithurgency,Iradtookholdofacart。Istartedoaisleanddidn’tquituheothersideofthestore。Theitems’tbepulledofftheshelvesfastenough。Justtheessentials,Ithought。Justfoodthatleofweeksandsustaintheirmeagerexisteerandjelly。Bread。edfood。Juice。Fruit。Vegetables。Dogffood(fortypou)。Aheyshouldhavesometreats,too。Afewotherhejobwasdone。