登陆注册
15322500000017

第17章

Jimmie had an idea it wasn't common courtesy for a friend to come to one's home and ruin one's sister. But he was not sure how much Pete knew about the rules of politeness.

The following night he returned home from work at rather a late hour in the evening. In passing through the halls he came upon the gnarled and leathery old woman who possessed the music box. She was grinning in the dim light that drifted through dust- stained panes. She beckoned to him with a smudged forefinger.

"Ah, Jimmie, what do yehs t'ink I got onto las' night. It was deh funnies' t'ing I ever saw," she cried, coming close to him and leering. She was trembling with eagerness to tell her tale. "I was by me door las' night when yer sister and her jude feller came in late, oh, very late. An' she, the dear, she was a-cryin' as if her heart would break, she was. It was deh funnies' t'ing I ever saw. An' right out here by me door she asked him did he love her, did he. An' she was a-cryin' as if her heart would break, poor t'ing. An' him, I could see by deh way what he said it dat she had been askin' orften, he says: 'Oh, hell, yes,' he says, says he, 'Oh, hell, yes.'"Storm-clouds swept over Jimmie's face, but he turned from the leathery old woman and plodded on up-stairs.

"Oh, hell, yes," called she after him. She laughed a laugh that was like a prophetic croak. "'Oh, hell, yes,' he says, says he, 'Oh, hell, yes.'"There was no one in at home. The rooms showed that attempts had been made at tidying them. Parts of the wreckage of the day before had been repaired by an unskilful hand. A chair or two and the table, stood uncertainly upon legs. The floor had been newly swept. Too, the blue ribbons had been restored to the curtains, and the lambrequin, with its immense sheaves of yellow wheat and red roses of equal size, had been returned, in a worn and sorry state, to its position at the mantel. Maggie's jacket and hat were gone from the nail behind the door.

Jimmie walked to the window and began to look through the blurred glass. It occurred to him to vaguely wonder, for an instant, if some of the women of his acquaintance had brothers.

Suddenly, however, he began to swear.

"But he was me frien'!I brought 'im here!Dat's deh hell of it!"He fumed about the room, his anger gradually rising to the furious pitch.

"I'll kill deh jay!Dat's what I'll do!I'll kill deh jay!"He clutched his hat and sprang toward the door. But it opened and his mother's great form blocked the passage.

"What deh hell's deh matter wid yeh?" exclaimed she, coming into the rooms.

Jimmie gave vent to a sardonic curse and then laughed heavily. "Well, Maggie's gone teh deh devil!Dat's what!See?" "Eh?" said his mother.

"Maggie's gone teh deh devil! Are yehs deaf?" roared Jimmie, impatiently.

"Deh hell she has," murmured the mother, astounded.

Jimmie grunted, and then began to stare out at the window. His mother sat down in a chair, but a moment later sprang erect and delivered a maddened whirl of oaths. Her son turned to look at her as she reeled and swayed in the middle of the room, her fierce face convulsed with passion, her blotched arms raised high in imprecation.

"May Gawd curse her forever," she shrieked. "May she eat nothin' but stones and deh dirt in deh street. May she sleep in deh gutter an' never see deh sun shine agin. Deh damn--""Here, now," said her son."Take a drop on yourself." The mother raised lamenting eyes to the ceiling.

"She's deh devil's own chil', Jimmie," she whispered. "Ah, who would t'ink such a bad girl could grow up in our fambly, Jimmie, me son. Many deh hour I've spent in talk wid dat girl an' tol' her if she ever went on deh streets I'd see her damned. An' after all her bringin' up an' what I tol' her and talked wid her, she goes teh deh bad, like a duck teh water."The tears rolled down her furrowed face.Her hands trembled.

"An' den when dat Sadie MacMallister next door to us was sent teh deh devil by dat feller what worked in deh soap-factory, didn't I tell our Mag dat if she--""Ah, dat's annuder story," interrupted the brother. "Of course, dat Sadie was nice an' all dat--but--see--it ain't dessame as if--well, Maggie was diff'ent--see--she was diff'ent."He was trying to formulate a theory that he had always unconsciously held, that all sisters, excepting his own, could advisedly be ruined.

He suddenly broke out again. "I'll go t'ump hell outa deh mug what did her deh harm. I'll kill 'im! He t'inks he kin scrap, but when he gits me a-chasin' 'im he'll fin' out where he's wrong, deh damned duffer. I'll wipe up deh street wid 'im."In a fury he plunged out of the doorway. As he vanished the mother raised her head and lifted both hands, entreating.

"May Gawd curse her forever," she cried.

In the darkness of the hallway Jimmie discerned a knot of women talking volubly. When he strode by they paid no attention to him.

"She allus was a bold thing," he heard one of them cry in an eager voice. "Dere wasn't a feller come teh deh house but she'd try teh mash 'im. My Annie says deh shameless t'ing tried teh ketch her feller, her own feller, what we useter know his fader.""I could a' tol' yehs dis two years ago," said a woman, in a key of triumph. "Yessir, it was over two years ago dat I says teh my ol' man, I says, 'Dat Johnson girl ain't straight,' I says. 'Oh, hell,' he says. 'Oh, hell.' 'Dat's all right,' I says, 'but I know what I knows,' I says, 'an' it 'ill come out later. You wait an' see,' I says, 'you see.'""Anybody what had eyes could see dat dere was somethin' wrong wid dat girl. I didn't like her actions."On the street Jimmie met a friend."What deh hell?" asked the latter. Jimmie explained."An' I'll t'ump 'im till he can't stand.""Oh, what deh hell," said the friend. "What's deh use! Yeh'll git pulled in! Everybody 'ill be onto it! An' ten plunks! Gee!"Jimmie was determined."He t'inks he kin scrap, but he'll fin' out diff'ent.""Gee," remonstrated the friend."What deh hell?"

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 烟舟

    烟舟

    人们生来就有穷丑富美高矮胖瘦这样那样的区别,于是才有的现实,现实让人们总是在低谷中才看得到高峰,等熬过低谷,就再也看不到了。而大多数人所谓的成长,无非就是你抽烟的姿势越来越熟练,爱一个人也越来越随便,从当时的三杯倒到现在的喝不醉,可是没有人掐掉你手中的烟,3没有人替你挡掉手中的酒,更没有人给你一个心灵的家,说白了,除了孤独于酒你什么都没有。风行水上,其实只是路过,那些浮嵌在水面上的斑驳,是青春将我们这些朽木镌刻后留下残渣的投影,而当朽木成舟的那天,我们才恍然发现,那些自认为不朽的回忆,从一开始,并不是为了流传。才懂得无论是在过去还是现在或是看不到的未来,我们从来都漫不过时光。
  • 卓先生的甜美娇妻

    卓先生的甜美娇妻

    真是孽缘!她和他素未谋面却成为他指定要娶的妻子!哈?你说娶我就嫁?那她尊严何在?你说啥你说啥?咱俩曾经是恩爱情人,BOSS大人您老认错人了吧?宝宝活了二十多年可不记得啥时候跟你谈过恋爱好不好!……“请问卓太太,作为卓先生的妻子,您有什么想说的吗?”“作为卓先生的妻子,不需要会上得厅堂下的厨房,但是打情骂俏斗小三是必备技能!”
  • 娱乐圈之复仇者归来

    娱乐圈之复仇者归来

    前世,她是称霸娱乐圈的女王,糟人陷害,从顶峰陨落。重生归来,她和杀伐果断的慕容城攀上关系,又凭借着精湛的演技,系统和他的帮助,在娱乐圈中成为一个无法超越的传奇!
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 心眼心计心机全集

    心眼心计心机全集

    现在这个社会竞争激烈、人际关系复杂,这就要求我们要有一些心眼、心计和心机来自保。本书用精彩的案例和经典的理论相结合的方式,向读者展现了一些为人处世的道理。本书语言简洁、道理精深,相信此书能够带给您生活的灵感。
  • 彼岸孤独:曼离末华

    彼岸孤独:曼离末华

    (本作第一次写书,大家请多关照~)沙华,我定会想到办法见到你——曼珠末世来了,曼珠为见到沙华,借宿在沅映月体内,让沅映月帮她找晶石和药材来“复活”沙华。作为交换条件,曼珠也要保住她的命。不曾想这却是一个骗局......沙华,难道我们真的无法摆脱这宿命么......——曼珠
  • 凤栖梧桐,一妾无妻

    凤栖梧桐,一妾无妻

    慕容熙以女子之身,背负男子之名。担起整个家族的命运。她以为等弟弟长大便可放下肩上重担,谁知最后竟落得以男子之身嫁人为妾。她想,如若她是男子该多好。新婚之夜他说;"我知你是无奈,但我心中已有她人,妻位我给不了你。我对男子并无感觉”她说;“即你心中已有她人,我便是你男妾吧,至于你对男子并无感觉之事,你若需要,我并无权反抗。你若无需,吾不是自贱之人。歇了吧”六王爷望着走向床榻如玉之人,满心都是怜惜,唯独没有爱。或是感知了身后的人。她轻叹“在商吾为王,唯我独尊。在你床榻为妾,也当随遇而安。”
  • 海浪帆扬

    海浪帆扬

    我知道你都知道。就算海明是扬季的世界,海明的世界里也不会存在永久的盖世英雄。她是海明啊。没心没肺的海明。扬季看着对面一次次欺骗她的女孩,闭上眼睛说:”你走吧。“为什么非要爱上你。为什么。
  • 致命遇见

    致命遇见

    前世的注定,今生的重逢,只一眼,你便烙印在心中,逃不掉,避不开,今生今世,生生世世。
  • 和全民偶像结婚以后

    和全民偶像结婚以后

    温婉一直想不明白像K这样的大明星,为什么会和她这样默默无闻的人隐婚三年之久,但是温婉更想不到最后是她先受不了提出离婚,并且还是单方面的签署离婚协议书后狼狈逃窜至十万八千里的地方。只是没有想到他们之间其实没有一点结束的意思。好吧,这其实是一出小虐却处处洋溢着浪漫的爱情剧,平凡女生和当代大势偶像的婚后生活。