"Mesler, Corey - daniel eldritch's guardian angel (SS)(txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mesler Corey)

УTo earth,Ф Daniel clarified. УSorry.Ф
Sonny looked at Daniel closer now. He did not look crazy or homeless or from one of those aggressive religions. He didnТt look like Larry the Licker whom Sonny sometimes slept next to behind Kroger, Larry who thought he was reincarnated not from someone famous like Alexander the Great or Abraham Lincoln but from the soul of a Walmart salesman in Peoria, Illinois. No one knew where Larry got this idea but about it he was adamant. No, this guy didnТt look crazy like Pete the Apostle who stood on the corner of Walnut Grove and Holmes and shouted at passersby in an unintelligible language which he confided was Aramaic, the language of Christ himself.
Sonny knew the street crazies, hell he was one of them. Sonny the Flasher. Sonny the Sausage. Sonny was a fixture in this part of town.
УI always been on Earth, gooТ buddy,Ф Sonny now said in as mild a voice as he could muster.
УIs that how it works?Ф Daniel said, nodding his head like Old Time.
УHow what works, brother? YouТre confusing old Sonny.Ф
УSorry,Ф Daniel said. УYou are my guardian angel.Ф
Sonny snorted through his gin-blossom nose, expelling mucus that he then used the back of his hand to sling onto the curb.
УDoes I look like an angel?Ф Sonny laughed.
УGod works in ministerial ways,Ф Daniel quoted. УSorry.Ф
УHe does that, brother, yessir,Ф Sonny said, now laughing so hard he had to put his hand against the side of the Sterrick Building.
УOh! Sorry,Ф Daniel said quickly. УIТll be late for work. Listen. Here.Ф
Daniel fumbled through his pockets, his wallet, his checkbook. He finally produced both a pen and the back of a receipt from Videos A to Z. He wrote his address on the back of the yellow piece of paper.
УTonight, after I get off work, um, sorry, say sixish. Come to my place for dinner,Ф Daniel sputtered.
Sonny took the piece of paper and looked at it real hard. He looked up. DanielТs face was as earnest as a storm.
УSure thing,Ф Sonny said, nodding, secreting the address somewhere amid the layers of cloth that made up his vestments.
Daniel started off, his face alight with delight.
УSay,Ф Sonny added quickly. УYou got the price of a sandwich there too?Ф
УOf course,Ф Daniel said.
He threw a handful of bills into SonnyТs hands and off he sprinted.
Sonny followed him far enough to see that he entered a bank and SonnyТs smile was as large as his newfound protectorateТs. It was a bright, bright, sunshiny day. Yessir.



*


Daniel was pent-up all day at work, a sparkling effervescence running in his bloodstream like a lifeline. When quitting time came around he practically skipped out the door and half-jogged down the sidewalk toward home. This was not a good idea. Daniel was in wretched condition and his heart pounded as if it wanted out. A block from home he was forced to slow down and his breathing and heart-rate slowed as he neared his apartment building. It was 5:15.
DanielТs angel was waiting for him on the steps to his building.
УOh,Ф Daniel said, surprise briefly supplanting joy.
УAm I late?Ф Sonny Lemontina asked.
Lack of rational, linear thinking was new to Daniel Eldritch and he took a moment to answer.
УUm, no, no,Ф he said. УLetТs go in. I need to get dinner started.Ф
Daniel squeezed past his guest on the stoop catching as he did the redolent odor of the city streets emanating from his angelТs earthly body. Sweat, dirt, halitosis, what-all. Daniel took a moment to wonder at the workings of the Elysian fields.
Daniel threw together a quick meal of pasta and clam sauce, some frozen garlic bread which he overcooked and a cheap bottle of red wine. Sonny Lemontina ate like a scavenger at a corpse and his consumption of the wine was a wonder to witness. Daniel could barely pick at his food and when his guest had finished a copious amount of pasta he nodded toward DanielТs half-eaten plate, an inquiry. Daniel pushed it toward his guest and watched as Sonny also hauled in that portion.
Daniel was feeling a bit blue. This wasnТt going as well as he had anticipated. So far his angel had not spoken a word as mouthful after mouthful disappeared down his unceasingly open maw. He longed for talk of futurity, hopefulness, portents, miracles. He counseled himself to be patient. The earth wasnТt built in a day.
When all the comestibles were finally sucked away, Sonny leaned back in his chair. His face contorted briefly into a horrendous mask (or was it beatific?) and then, from deep in his terrene interior, a belch emerged to rival the rushing gorge beneath the great falls Niagara.
УAhh,Ф he continued. УBest meal IТve had today.Ф
Here Daniel could only stare and wait. Sonny Lemontina looked at him as if he were a museum piece and then let go with a barroom laugh, a sound almost as hideous as the devilТs temptings.
УKiddin ya, little brother,Ф Sonny elucidated. УHavenТt eaten like that since donkeyТs years. ShelterТs food is as horsefeed compared.Ф
Daniel brightened a bit. He sat up straight.
УSo,Ф he said. УTell me about me.Ф
Sonny Lemontina fixed him with a squint. Daniel was beyond his ken.
УYou,Ф Sonny began. He was going to try.
A few tense moments passed.
УYou are a kind man,Ф Sonny attempted.
УAh,Ф Daniel said. УThank you.Ф This was surely heavenly blessing. This was the word that he sought. From here on out he would be granted divine intervention, he now believed.
УYou,Ф Sonny continued, straining his grey matter. УYou are a jackalТs cousin.Ф
This was odder. Daniel looked at his lap. Of course, he thought, the angel speaks in proverbial riddles. He could try to decipher them or he could accept them as the voice of the sphinx.
УFurtherforth,Ф Sonny said. УThe streets call your name late at night. The restless refuse skitters about looking for your kith and kin. Cats in the alley walk on padded feet through your dreams.Ф