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.Before I was allowed to put in the gas, Leonard hadto finish hearing out a song on the tape player, and since his cheap systemdidn't play unless the motor was running, I stood outside willing and waitingwith my gas nozzle cocked and ready, tapping my boot to the jump of the music.Acquaintance of mine, Gerald Matter, who used to own a gas station in downtownLaBorde, told me once, you never load in the gas with the car motor running,or you might get a littlespark, end up with your ass on the far side of the moon."Safety first" wasGerald's motto.'Course, Gerald lost the station for lack of payment back in nineteenseventy-eight, but he hadn't quite gotten the gas and oil business out of hisblood.He did him a stretch in prison for trying to rob a filling station inPage 33ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlGilmer with a sharpened butter knife.Fat lady that ran the place came overthe counter after him, got him by the throat, and beat the pure-dee dog shitout of him, took his knife away.She then proceeded to carve off part of hishead before she could be subdued by a handful of shocked customers waiting ontheir free "crystal" dish with a fill-up.Gerald has done his time and he's out now and he might even be a littlesmarter.But he's grown bashful, wears hats indoors and out to hide what'smissing on top of his head, though except for a flap cap he wears now andthen, it doesn't do a damn thing for his absent left ear.These days Geraldhas abandoned gas and oil and has a little carpet-cleaning business and likesto go to bed early.While I waited with the nozzle, the tall, pale-faced man we had seen earliercame out in his thick coat with his cap in his hand, picked up on CliftonChenier calling out "Eh, Petite Fille," from Leonard's tape deck, smiled, sanga verse with Clifton, jiggled a little and flop-kneed on out to the car.Hislong body, pasty face, and gyrations made him look like an albino grasshopperon speed.He reached the car dancing and grinning, stopped and laughed."Damn," hesaid, "give an accordion to a redneck and all he can do is play 'Home on theRange' or some goddamn polka, give it to a coonass and he'll make the musiccrawl up your butt and play with your kidneys.""That's right," Leonard said.He was standing outside the driver s door,leaning on the rooftop, listening.When the song finished, Leonard cut offthe motor, and I started pumping gas."How're y'all," said the pale-faced man.He had a grin as infectious assyphilis."Good," I said."Cold and a little damp, but good.""Well, accordin' to the weather report, we're all gonna get colder and damper.Air is blowing ass over tea kettle down from Canada, churning like pig feet aboilin', only the air ain't warm.There's penguins would faint they knewsomething like this was comin'.""Damn," I said."That bad?""Let's just say them suitcases you got in back of your car there better not befilled with Hawaiian shirts and sun hats.hey, speakin' of pig's feetboilin' ""Were we?" I said."Well, I was," said the man."I got some pickled ones inside that're pepperedjust right.Fifty cents a pig stump.You might like to try 'em.Just got'em in.Can't keep 'em, they go so fast.Fellow I know out in the countrymakes 'em.Them buddies are so spicy, you eat one, you'll be able to do apush-up with your dick.""Maybe I could use some of that," I said."I was younger, I woke up and did apush-up with my dick without pickled pig's feet.Now, got to get enough sleepto do it, and then when I try to do it, I need sleep.""Ain't that the shits?" he said."Just when you get older and figure out whatit's all about, what it's all about you ain't able to do.""Say, listen," I said."We're gonna get a couple of cans of oil too, butwe're looking for someone.Main reason we stopped in here."Leonard said, "Lady named Florida Grange.""Oh, yeah.Nice lady.A looker too.She was around here a few days." Helooked at Leonard."You kin?""Nope," Leonard said."Boyfriend? Either of you?" He gave me a good hard look."Though in thistown, you better not say you are if you are.""Nope," I said."We're not boyfriends.""She owe you money?""Nope.""Y'all some kinda law?""Nope.""Well then, let me say I tried serious hard and major purposeful to put thePage 34ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlmake on that little gal, but she wasn't havin' any.I think she has a thingabout white guys.And not a good thing.""Trust me," I said."She does.""Ah, so you tried her too?" he said."It didn't work out," I said."You might say I'm an ex-boyfriend.But whatwe're lookin' for is to help out her current boyfriend who's worried abouther.And we want to do it because we're friends of hers too.Sort of.Usedto be.""I see," the man said."I think."It grew very dark suddenly, then there was a crack of thunder and a sizzlingrace of lightning, and right after that it seemed as if a great tidal wavewashed over us.The rain came down so hard it nearly knocked us flat."Goddamn," said the pale-faced man, putting his cap on."There it is.Y'allcome on in and we'll talk."Leonard followed the man inside.I topped off the tank, hung up the gasnozzle, and damn near swam to the door.Inside, the store was warm and thelights were on, and the cold rain and midday darkness outside made the placeseem tight and cozy.The joint was stocked with pretty basic goods.Breads, crackers, a lunch meatcooler housing pressed ham, bologna, olive and liver loaf.There were softdrinks, peanuts, chips, that kind of stuff.Cans of oil, transmission andbrake fluids.A rack of John Deere caps.A few straw cowboy hats.Acardboard display of colored plastic combs, and on the wall a dusty calendarover ten years out of date with a gorgeous, big-breasted woman in shorts and ahalter top holding a wrench and smiling; the logo above her read January, andabove that Snap Tight Tools.Next to the cash register were two large jars containing yellowish brinewater, and by my standards, some rather nasty looking pig's tootsies.Didn'tappear to me that before they pickled them little delights they had washed thepig shit out from between the hooves, but maybe that was just a concentrationof black pepper and meat gelatin.There was a homemade oil barrel stove in the middle of the room, and therewere lawn chairs and wicker-bottomed chairs pulled all around it.Near acouple chairs were two tobacco-splattered cuspidors, and the floor aroundthem, which was covered with newspaper, was also splattered.Beneath thestove there was a large square of scarred, fire-spotted linoleum, and on itwere tufts of dust bunnies, a chewing tobacco wrapper, and something thatlooked like blue glass or plastic that caught the electric light and pulled itin and winked it back.There was a small stack of firewood next to the stove and there was a hatchetstuck deep in one of the logs and a gray lizard lay by the hatchet, attemptingto trick us into thinking he was nothing more than a wood knot [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]