"David Gerrold - The Man Who Folded Himself" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gerrold David)

education. You'll find it out for yourself in time. And be-
sides, there are other ways to learn." He coughed; his
whole chest rattled. He was so thin. "Do you know how
much you're worth right now?"
"No. How much?"
He pursed his lips thoughtfully; the wrinkled skin
folded and unfolded. "One hundred and forty-three mil-
lion dollars."
I whistled. "You're kidding."
"I'm not kidding."
"That's a lot of money."
"It's been properly handled."
One hundred and forty-three million dollarsтАФ!
"Where is it now?" I asked. Stupid question.
"In stocks, bonds, properties. Things like that."
"I can't touch it then, can I?"
He looked at me and smiled. "I keep forgetting,
Danny, how impatient you wereтАФare." He corrected
himself, then looked across at me; his gaze wavered
slightly. "You don't need it right now, do you?"
I thought about it. One hundred and forty-three
million dollars. Even if they delivered it in fifties, the
apartment wasn't that big. "No, I guess not."
"Then we'll leave it where it is," he said. "But it's
your money. If you need it, you can have it."
One hundred and forty-three million dollars. What
would I do with itтАФwhat couldn't I do with it? I had
known my parents had left me a little money, butтАФ
One hundred and forty-three millionтАФ/
I found I was having trouble swallowing.
"I thought it was in trust until I was twenty-five," I
said.
"No," he corrected. "It's for me to administer for you
until you're ready for it. You can have it any time you
want."
"I'm not so sure I want it," I said slowly. "NoтАФI
mean, of course, I want it! It's just thatтАФ" How to ex-
plain? I had visions of myself trapped in a big mansion
surrounded by butlers and bodyguards whose sole duty
was to make sure that I dusted the stacks of bills every
morning. One hundred and forty-three million dollars.
Even in hundreds, it would fill several closets. "I'm
doing okay on five hundred a week," I said, "All that
moreтАФ"
"Five hundred a week?" Uncle Jim frowned. Then,
"Yes, I keep forgettingтАФThere's been so muchтАФDanny,
I'm going to increase your allowance to two thousand
dollars a week, but I want you to do something to earn
it."
"Sure," I said, delighted in spite of myself This was