"Robert Reed - Will Be" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

Marvin? It took me a few seconds to put Marv and Marvin together.

I blinked and straight away, I asked, "Is he dead?"

Miss Vitovsky gave me a brave little smile, then said, "No. But he's badly
hurt." Because she thought I needed it, she put a hand on my shoulder. Then she
told me, "His car hit a light pole. He's in intensive care. At General, if you
want to visit him."

What I was thinking about was that I was late for class. I shook my head and
admitted, "You know, I barely know the guy."

"Really? I thought you were good friends."

I wrestled open my locker. Marv's books were on the top shelf, their plasticized
covers looking new. That's how much he needed books. On the spur of the moment,
I reached up and peeked behind them.

Nothing there.

"I've seen you talking with him," the counselor was saying. Explaining why she
had mistaken us for friends.

I grabbed my books, slammed the locker, then told her, "Sorry."

"By any chance then...do you know who his friends are....?"

Again, "Sorry."

"Well," she had to tell me, "Marvin is going to pull through." She touched me on
the elbow. I can remember the squeeze of her fingers and her eyes looking damp,
and I remember her voice breaking as she said, "If anyone asks, tell them. Tell
them that he should make a full recovery. Would you do that, please.?"

Our fallen comrade didn't make it to graduation, naturally.

But Marv got himself mentioned. Our principal publicly wished him well. Which
caused our valedictorian to do the same in her long, boring speech. Using their
best Cheech and Chong voices, my classmates repeated a string of bad pothead
jokes. And I made some little comment about driving into a light pole and
becoming famous. "If that's all it takes," I asked, "why don't we all do it?"

Summer was busy, and boring. I spent it stocking and clerking at my father's
little grocery store, saving up my money and having zero time for socializing.

I went to City College in the fall and found myself in a new circle of friends.

Around Christmas, I bumped into one of my old circle. Both of us were out
shopping. We spent most of our breath promising that we'd get together soon.
Lying, in other words. Then the guy told me, in passing, "I hear Marv got out of