But Id like to see her and tell her that Imsorry
before I go.
He never saw any of them again, but he could not
forget them.
Its not good tomake a joke of people who have liked
you and tried to be yourfriends.
And then, a little morequietly, but brusquely, he
demanded:All right.
Hes going todie anyway, so youve got nothing to
worry about at all.
What chance doI have to get any sleep any more with
you acting like a crazy womanhalf the time?
Theboy knows in that one instant Ben will die.
Lady, said Jim, who had as yet taken no part in the conversation,you SAID it! Even
if you kill him, she saidcheerfully.
We been WAITIN heah anwaitin heah until it seemed
lak you nevah WOULD come!
We been WAITIN heah anwaitin heah until it seemed
lak you nevah WOULD come!
I want to know how long hes going to last, she said
with morbidinsistence. And she looked at him with a tortured andexasperated glare,
saying:Oh, slow, slow, slow! And she looked at him with a tortured andexasperated
glare, saying:Oh, slow, slow, slow! Death seems so terribleto you because you know
so little about it.
Everybody who ever knew him said the same. That
Jawdanwoman came in to see Mothah just as me an Jim was fixin to goout, an child!
Already death rests there on his proud head like a coronal.
How long Papa has to live, she said with the same
morbidinsistence as before. He was swept along in the full tide of hisadventure: he
thought of nothing else. And he woke, his sparse hairtousled, grumbling sleepily.
Ill saygood-bye to you without hard feelings.
Well, IM going, IM going, he said again with surly
protest.
Oh, nothing to worry about, she said with a light
hard humour.
Instead, he took it out in words and,scowling at
her, said with brutal directness:Look here! Even if I am your cousin, I had a good
Christianraising out in the country before I came here. Oh, its not that I mind
doing it for Papa, she said morequietly.
In the space belowthe desk and between the surgeons
fat legs there was a gallon jugof corn whisky.
Are you going to remain an overgrownschoolboy all
your life?
That has about as much sense to it as a lot ofother
things you say! How long Papa has to live, she said with the same morbidinsistence
as before. And then, a little morequietly, but brusquely, he demanded:All
right.
And for seven years now, your fathersdeath has been
your life. XXHe visited Genevieve frequently over a period of several
months.
Well, she demanded harshly, what am I going to
tellher if she calls again? XXIOne afternoon early in May, Helen met McGuire upon
the street.
Hes going todie anyway, so youve got nothing to
worry about at all.