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

IтАЩm saying? WeтАЩd put on the old Sabbath albums and light the black candles,
and egg each other on with the spooky parts from those Left Behind books. I
never took it seriously, but I had this friend, all right? This friend. I guess he
got caught up a little bit. He had a tragedy in his life, like the way I lost
Katy, and, I tell you, the end of the world looked awfully close. And, wellтАФI
hear that he entrusted a little package to ThumperтАЩs mom.тАЭ
тАШA little package.тАЩ тАФRicin, is what he meant. The stuff heтАЩd been
brewing in the coffee pot at his desk was, I donтАЩt know, a personal stash
maybe.
I must have started swearing because immediately heтАЩs trying to talk me
down.
тАЬYou start to read Revelations, Hoss, itтАЩs a scary book. Let me tell you.
Some of the things in that book, the locusts, with the head of a man? A-and
the tail of a scorpion? ThatтАЩs some fucked up shit. You take that shit literally,
you donтАЩt want to be around for it.тАЭ
тАЬAnd you were going to give Thumper and Agnes an easy way out.тАЭ
тАЬMy friend. Anyway, the package went to ThumperтАЩs mom. She still
lives in the same house she used to. Thumper himself is in jail to the end of
December on a misunderstanding involving some car parts.тАЭ


Polyphony 6 287
RICHARD WADHOLM


тАЬNothing that God wonтАЩt forgive him for.тАЭ
I heard the pop and squeak of a cigarette, drawn too hard. тАЬJust get the
package from ThumperтАЩs mom and dump it in the ocean,тАЭ he said. тАЬDonтАЩt
dump it off Santa Monica pier. People fish off the pier. Drive some place
down the coast. Where thereтАЩs no houses.тАЭ
I tried to think of some place along the coast with no houses.
тАЬYou know youтАЩve made me an accomplice.тАЭ
тАЬAccomplice. ThatтАЩs an awfully big word, Hoss. These people youтАЩre
helping out, theyтАЩre not criminals. TheyтАЩre like me and you. They always
thought something would happen. Right? Something beyond themselves.
Only it never did. You were in the 60s with me. You know what IтАЩm
saying.тАЭ
тАЬThat was forty years ago,тАЭ I reminded him.
тАЬForty years ago, my ass. Look at our president! The most starry-eyed
romantic since John F. Kennedy.тАЭ
тАЬWhat president are talking about here?тАЭ
тАЬCome on, Hoss! He was there when we were. He may not come out
and say it, but he understands that old magic.тАЭ
тАЬWhich old magic are we talking about?тАЭ
тАЬOur song, Hoss! Wooden Ships! The end of the world.тАЭ
тАЬI thought the end of the world was supposed to be scary. WasnтАЩt it?тАЭ
тАЬAh. A little anxiety keeps you sharp. LikeтАФremember how it used to
feel, that first week of school? SummerтАЩs over, and suddenly everything
matters a little more than it did last week. ThatтАЩs how it is now. You notice
how people shut up when the news is on? Autumn is in the air, forever.тАЭ