"Richard Wadholm - Orange Groves Out to the Horizon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wadholm Richard)

Polyphony 6 283
RICHARD WADHOLM


was my dad after all. And he should be respected. But Ken was laughing so
hard, he wouldnтАЩt have heard me.
I was headed off to college, my freshman semester. Ken and Katy cut
school to see me off. Katy was draping this giant American flag around the
inside of the fallout shelter. Ken was roasting some тАШshrooms in my little
sisterтАЩs Ezy Bake Oven.
My dad was supposed to be at work. I never even heard his car pull into
the driveway. You are a person of a certain age, you will recall the
heartrending zzzwwwiiiccck of a needle pulled a cross a vinyl surface. Katy
Grossman, whose pupils were already dilated to inky periods, went, тАЬOh.
My. God.тАЭ The shelterтАЩs steel door cracked on its rusted hinge, and pushed
back, and my dad blinked around at the lot of us. His eyes went right to me.
I always thought that was a neat trickтАФyou throw open a door into a
darkened room and instinctively pick your son from a crowd. He had been
on the road for an hour, his forehead was flushed. His hair was plastered
down to his eyes in little curls, like ivy. He looked like he had stopped
someplace for a few beers. He had this breathless glow on his face, like
George Jetson, bringing home a new disintegrator ray.
He said, тАЬI got a few things for your trip.тАЭ Took me a moment to realize
that this wasnтАЩt a raid, that he was happy to see me.
He had some bags from Montgomery Wards. From the smaller bag, he
pulled out a pocket calculator. I think it had something like 1K of memory,
and would have cost him $300 at the time.
I showed it to Ken. тАЬNow I can calculate missile trajectories.тАЭ It was a
joke. Ken and I hadnтАЩt launched a rocket since weтАЩd lost Butter. But Katy
laughed. My father just beamed. He had such plans for me.
He held out a jar of cream in a little box colored that sort of
embarrassed-pink of feminine hygiene products. тАЬItтАЩs called a cream
depilatory,тАЭ he said.
I just look at him. тАЬYouтАЩve got to be kidding.тАЭ
тАЬWhat do you think? ItтАЩs just out on the market the last couple of years.тАЭ
I didnтАЩt get mad, or mortified. I had to remind myself, this was George
Jetson talking. The guy who had always worried IтАЩd use hair oil in a space
capsule. To him, cream depilatories were all about the future, when men
wouldnтАЩt bother with barbaric daily rituals involving edged objects against
their throats.


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 ORANGE GROVES OUT TO THE HORIZON


I said, тАЬI think guys are supposed to shave, arenтАЩt they?тАЭ
тАЬDonтАЩt be narrow minded. You donтАЩt want to start shaving yet. Once