| Wilson and Gallagher slept side by side in it with two blankets between them and the earthOverhead they had anchored a ridgepole of bamboo on two uprights, had draped their combined ponchos over it, and staked the ends to the ground on each side of the holeIt was possible to kneel inside the tent without bumping one's head against the ridgepole, but not even an eight-year-old child could have stood in itFrom outside, the shelter appeared to be no more than two feet above the level of the groundThis tent was typical of almost all the pup tents in the bivouac
Red lay down between them, and stared out at the obtuse triangle of sky and jungle visible from the head of the tentThey had dug the hole to fit their bodies, and Red's long legs dangled over the rain trench at the entranceWhen the balenciaga replicas handbags rain blew in the open end, it collected in the trench, which was lower than any other part of the holeNow it was still muddy
"Next time you men dig a tent right, so a guy can get in it," Red said
"If you men don' like it, get the hell out," Gallagher grumbled
"That's your Boston hospitality," Red said
"Yeah, we got no place for fuggin bums," Gallagher kidded heavilyThe purple lumps on his face looked swollen and putrefactive in the dull light"Ah say only thing worse'n a damyankee is a fella from Boston
"They wouldn't let you in a town where you had to wear some fuggin shoes," Gallagher snortedHe lit a cigarette and turned over on his stomach"Got to know how to read and write if you want to come north," he said
Wilson was a little hurt"Listen, boy," he told him, "Ah may not be able omega mens watch fake to read eve'thin' so good, but they ain't a thing Ah cain't do if Ah set mah mind to't There had been that time, he was thinking, when Willy Perkins had bought the first washing machine in town, and when it had gone on the bum, he'd taken it all apart and then fixed it"They ain't a thing Ah cain't fix if it's piece of machinery," he saidHe took off his glasses and wiped the perspiration from them with a corner of his handkerchief"Once Ah remember there was a fella in town who had an English bicycleAmerican one wa'n't good 'nough for himHe lost some of the ball bearin's out of it, and they wa'n' none Ah could get to fit, so Ah jus' took an American ball-bearin' ring, and fit it to't He pointed one of his thick fingers at Gallagher and added, "Rode as good after Ah fixed it as it ever did colored prada fairy bag
"Pretty clever," Gallagher sneered"In Boston you could get any kind of ball bearing you wanted
"A man's better if he can do without at times," Wilson muttered"I don't see where you're such a damn sight better doing without your pussy"That's somep'n a man should never do without," Wilson admittedHe rubbed his hand reflectively against one of the earthen walls of the hole"In Boston," Gallagher said, "if one of your buddies gets a piece, he lets you know about it Immediately afterward he felt ashamedHe made a mental note to remember what he had just said when he went to Chaplain Hogan for confessionThe resolution made him feel betterHe was always forgetting the bad things he had done when he did go to confessionSometimes when he would be trying to collect his bad thoughts before he saw tiffany co jewelry Father Hogan, he could not remember any of them, and he would have to go in and say only, "Father, I have blasphemed
Mary knew so little about him, Gallagher thoughtShe didn't even know the way he sworeBut that was just a bad habit he had picked up in the Army, Gallagher told himselfHe had used bad language before when he was with the gang, but that didn't countHe was just a kid thenHe had never sworn when a woman was around
Gallagher began to think of the gangWhat a good bunch of guys they were, he told himself with prideThere had been the time they passed out pamphlets to get McCarthy elected in RoxburyHe had even made a speech afterward, saying that his victory was due to his loyal cohortsAnd there was the time they had made that raid into Dorchester, and had taught the Yids a gucci wallet lesson |
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