"John Kessel - Buffalo" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kessel John)

"Are you coming into D.C. with us tomorrow? Sgt. Sauter
says we can catch a ride in on one of the trucks."

Kessel thinks about it. Cole probably wants to borrow
some money. Two days after he gets his monthly pay he's
broke. He's always looking for a good time. Kessel spends
 his leave more quietly; he usually walks into Alexandria--about
six miles--and sees a movie or just walks around town.
Still, he would like to see more of Washington. "Okay."

Cole looks at the sketchbook poking out from beneath
Kessel's pillow. "Any more hot pictures?"

Immediately Kessel regrets trusting Cole. Yet there's
not much he can say--the book is full of pictures of movie
stars he's drawn. "I'm learning to draw. And at least I
don't waste my time like the rest of you guys."

Cole looks serious. "You know, you're not any better
than the rest of us," he says, not angrily. "You're just
another polack. Don't get so high-and-mighty."

"Just because I want to improve myself doesn't mean I'm
high-and-mighty."

"Hey, Cole, are you in or out?" Turkel yells from the
table.

"Dream on, Jack," Cole says, and returns to the game.

Kessel tries to go back to the story, but he isn't
interested anymore. He can figure out that the hero is
going to defeat the hyper-evolved scientist in the end. He
folds his arms behind his head and stares at the knots in
the rafters.

It's true, Kessel does spend a lot of time dreaming. But
he has things he wants to do, and he's not going to waste
his life drinking and whoring like the rest of them.

Kessel's always been different. Quieter, smarter. He
was always going to do something better than the rest of
them; he's well spoken, he likes to read. Even though he
didn't finish high school he reads everything: _ A_ m_ a_ z_ i_ n_ g,
_ A_ s_ t_ o_ u_ n_ d_ i_ n_ g, _ W_ o_ n_ d_ e_ r
_ S_ t_ o_ r_ i_ e_ s. He believes in the future. He
doesn't want to end up trapped in some factory his whole
life.