excerpt
When the day came, Thorp and Poodie and the older boy put
the furniture on the flatbed under a canvas, roped it in place and
hooked the trailer to the Model A. Dan’s cousin in Seattle had a
place they could stay and thought he might be able to get him a job
in a shipyard. Poodie watched the twins in the rear wndow, waving
as the car turned onto the road. He stood in the lane for half an
hour, looking at the spot where the Thorps had disappeared. That
fall’s crop stayed on the trees until the apples dropped and the snow
covered them.
“There goes that man with his wagon,” Winifred Stone looked up
from her book at her husband in the other lawn chair, “the little
man from the old Thorp place down by the river. I’ve never seen
him in our alley before. Jeremy, hop up and see if that box of old
bottles is still in the garage. Poor man, I don’t see how he gets
along on what he makes from peoples’ leavings.”
“Poodie James,” Jeremy said as he headed toward the back of the
yard. “He’s doing things around Gritzingers, and he has free rent
until we can sell the property. Alice Moore down at the library tells
me he’s in there reading most afternoons. Swims at the city pool.
Thorp said he swam across the river. I see him downtown all the
time. Can’t hear, you know.” Now he was at the side door of the
garage.
“Not so loud, Jeremy.”
“He can’t hear, Babe.”
“The neighbors can.”
Stone caught up with Poodie, displayed a palm and mouthed,
“wait.” Poodie nodded, smiling up at him. Jeremy felt a glow on his
face. When he brought the bottles out of the garage, Poodie delivered
a symphony of throat sounds that Jeremy understood to mean
thank you. Winifred watched from her lawn chair as Poodie
scraped down the alley.
Two and a half years later, Poodie was startled early one morning
to see men outside his cabin with axes and saws. He threw on
his shirt, shorts and sandals and stepped out to find Jeremy Stone
Libros Libertad 