"Eliot Fintushel - Breakfast with the Ones You Love" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fintushel Eliot)

If you didnтАЩt know, if the Yid hadnтАЩt let you in on it, a person would probably never know that it was
a spaceship. It just looked like a narrow, chopped-off piece of a warehouse, if you didnтАЩt know.
Only thing was, it was extraordinarily clean in thereтАФexcept for the window glass. It was hospital
clean when the Yid first took me and Tule in, and since then, IтАЩd scrubbed it down even better. We
sanded the floor on our hands and knees. We Gymsealed it a little at a time so the stink wouldnтАЩt
get too suspicious.
All that time on all fours, shoulder to shoulder, with schmattes and sponges, the Yid had never
made a pass at me. He had never, what you call, taken advantage of me at allтАФlucky for him!
Probably, he was scared to. Like I said, I knew I was pretty, in spite of the dead face and the crew
cut and the scarecrow clothes, which I hear some guys actually find attractive.
The Yid had seen what I could do. He used to hang out at the Wee Spot before he entered the
final phase of his mission, which required relative solitude. He used to talk about politics and
religion and sell a little hashish. I kind of got to know him when I was bussing tables; I listened to
him and his pals talk. Sometimes we shared a piece of cheesecake; I mean, because he wouldnтАЩt
finish it, and IтАЩd clear his plate, and then IтАЩd eat the rest over by the sink, and he didnтАЩt know it. I can
read a personтАЩs character from their table after they leave. I could tell he was from very far away. I
didnтАЩt like him and I didnтАЩt not like him. I donтАЩt need anybody that much that I would like them or not
like them.
Then one night when IтАЩm dumping some garbage out back I see him with a couple guys in the
alley. They look like college guys, football guys, frat guysтАФI mean, big. I donтАЩt know what I mean.
TheyтАЩre half-drunk. TheyтАЩre hurting him. OneтАЩs got a tire iron. He waves it and spits on it and
laughs. They push the Yid against a brick wall. ItтАЩs a hot night. Even the Yid is in shirtsleeves.
They pull him up by the collar and slap him around. I hear him whining and sobbing after the
excuses run out, and he canтАЩt pay them back their money, and he hasnтАЩt got any more stuff. One
of the guys pushes him to his knees and lays back to kick him, when the guy gets a heart
attackтАФif you catch my drift.
I shout at the other guy, тАЬLay off, asshole.тАЭ
тАЬHuh?тАЭ
The second guy looks at me and loses bowel control and starts throwing up. The Yid stands up.
HeтАЩs shaking. He wipes the back of his hand across his face and checks it for blood. ThereтАЩs only
a little, on his mouth, but the next day heтАЩll have a black eye. The guy with the heart attack is
squirming on the pavement, hyperventilating.
Usually when someone sees you do stuff like heart attacks and seizures, if they arenтАЩt terrified out
of their mind the way most people are, you have to kill them or ruin a part of their brains so they
wonтАЩt get you into trouble later. But I have this feeling that maybe the Yid is okay. I just stand there
and watch him watching me. At first he looks completely blank, but pretty soon that smile of his
sneaks out, like the moon from behind some steam, with the corners of his lips turned downтАФI
can see how it might move some girls.
He threads past the two heavies. This Yid must have seen some wonders. Most people if they
didnтАЩt just think the one guy tripped and hit his head and the other guy was sick drunk to begin
with, they would be all gaga. Not the Yid, though; heтАЩs onto me. тАЬYouтАЩve got a talent, havenтАЩt you?тАЭ
тАЬI donтАЩt know what youтАЩre talking about.тАЭ
тАЬMaybe we should call an ambulance.тАЭ
тАЬIt wouldnтАЩt help.тАЭ
He nods. He keeps looking at me. I donтАЩt blush. Then he says, тАЬTake a walk with me. IтАЩll show you
some stuff.тАЭ
I say, тАЬForget it. I got dishes here.тАЭ
He just stands there smiling that way. I take off my apron and follow him down the alley, across
the parking lot, up the fire escape, down the elevator shaft, to the spaceship. As far as Sarge is
concerned, I had to knock off a little early.