"Ed Howdershelt - Anne" - читать интересную книгу автора (Howdershelt Ed)

looking into Mrs.Barnell's eyes. Something that my sister once told me came to
mind.
She'd read an article about eye contact somewhere. Pupil dilation as an
indicator and tool for advertising success? The model would keep her eyes
closed until the shot was ready. When she opened her eyes, the camera caught
the eyes with pupils wide. It was a technique that made a picture seem to pull
at you. Applied biological response, I think they called it. Whatever it was,
I was ready believe it worked.
And maybe it had been just a ridiculous rationalization of a crush, I
quickly realized. Could be I was just thinking myself into a kind of corner.
After all, she was soon going to be gone, and I was taking every opportunity
to study her face, legs, and hair as if to memorize her before she left. Yeah,
I'd call that a crush. I finished tying the load and went back upstairs.
Laughter erupted from the apartment as I approached. I stopped outside to
prop a boot on the rail and haul up my socks as I listened a moment before
entering. Jim was enthusiastically telling about the time we'd caught snakes
instead of fish at Mountain Creek Lake.
"...and we hit a stump. The boat was sinking. Snakes were coming out of
that old stump in all directions. Ed grabbed a big one that came up by his leg
and whacked it's head on the motor, then used it to beat the water all around
us to scare off the other snakes while I used my hat to bail water. There
musta been half a dozen snakes swimming in the boat. Ed grabbed them behind
the head and tossed them out when they got near us. Scared the hell out of
us."
"He grabbed them? My God...! What happened then?" asked Mrs. B.
"Well, he couldn't let go of that one big-assed snake. It wasn't dead, and
it was REAL pissed off, whipping itself around like crazy. Ed couldn't throw
it away, because he had a tail-grip on it and he'd put his foot on the other
end, and he had to help me bail to keep the motor up out of the water. He just
had to keep a grip on that snake all the way back to shore, where some guy
gave him ten bucks for it."
"Why would anyone buy a snake?" asked Mrs. B.
"It was the guy from the baithouse. I saw that snake on his wall later. He
probably told people some story about it." Jim paused a moment and looked
around his audience. "Anyway, next thing I hear is Ed asking the guy if he
needed any more snakes."
Another round of laughter. I grinned as I found a three-foot piece of
leftover tie-down rope and tossed it at Jim as I entered the apartment. It
landed in his lap. He yelled and stood up so fast the chair fell over behind
him. Kelly pounced on the rope as it hit the floor. Judy and Mrs. B. were
laughing themselves sick at both of them.
"I'll get you for that," he said, grinning and hitching up his pants.
Kelly triumphantly dragged the rope across the room to Mrs. Barnell. She
made it move for him and then tossed it across the room. Kelly was on it in a
flash, wrestling it into relative submission.
"About lunch..." said Mrs. B.
"Sounds good to me," said Jim.
I said, "Whatever from wherever."
Mrs. B. said, "I'll buy if someone goes for it."
"And I'll fly if you buy," said Jim, rattling his keys.