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

you start, your beard grows in, your face toughens up. Girls wonтАЩt like to
kiss you anymore.тАЭ In that fast-talking pitchmanтАЩs voice like Chick Hearn at
courtside. He looked to Katy. тАЬWhat do you say? You kiss a fella with a
stubbly face? It kind of hurts, doesnтАЩt it?тАЭ
Her pupils were dilated into empty holes. I thought she would shrug or
snicker just to deflect attention from herself, but she didnтАЩt. She patted my
fatherтАЩs arm and told him he was a good dad.
I think she felt sorry for him. We were, all three of us, blazing out of our
minds. The world was our in-joke. And here was my father, maybe the
worldтАЩs unhippest guy. Ken always said he liked my dad, but even now,
calling from prison, he couldnтАЩt talk about him without laughing.
тАЬYou remember that jacket your dad tried to give you?тАЭ He snapped his
fingers at me over the phone. тАЬWas that gay or what?тАЭ
тАЬIt wasnтАЩt gay. It was space age.тАЭ
тАЬSpace Age. If you say so. What was his fascination with Velcro?тАЭ
тАЬHe saw it in a science fiction movie.тАЭ
тАЬA sci-fi movie!тАЭ He was laughing, a high, giddy hoot, no cigarette. тАЬHe
tried to make you wear it, you remember what you said? It smells of
science, thatтАЩs what you said!тАЭ
тАЬDid I say that?тАЭ
тАЬHonest to God, Bro. I donтАЩt know what that means, even to this day.
But it sounded so cool. You shouldтАЩve seen your dadтАЩs face when you said
that.тАЭ
тАЬKen? Shut up, all right?тАЭ
The jacket was lipstick red, which I knew in my mind was an
emergency color, to stand out against a snow bank. Like I was going to
school in Juneau Alaska instead of San Diego. Ken was looking away, trying
not to smirk.
тАЬItтАЩs double-lined,тАЭ my father said. тАЬWith Velcro seals at the wrists and
collar. Velcro is the absolute future. Did you see 2001: A Space Odyssey?
All those people on that spaceship to the moon, walking around in Velcro
slippers.тАЭ
тАЬI like what IтАЩve got on,тАЭ I said.
He blinked a little, behind his glasses. тАЬThat old Army jacket? I had that


Polyphony 6 285
RICHARD WADHOLM


thing in the garage since 1951. I canтАЩt believe you even dug it up. Try this
on. It cost me $40 at Mongtomery Wards.тАЭ
тАЬI like my army jacket.тАЭ
тАЬDonтАЩt be a pain in the ass here. That old army jacket makes you look
like a bum.тАЭ
The Army jacket made me look like Marci SingletaryтАЩs older brother,
just back from Vietnam, and smoldering-quiet. Full of stories he didnтАЩt want
to talk about.
I could have explained this to him. But my friends were enjoying the
show, and I was peaking on mushrooms, so I said to him, тАЬYou know what I