Sneaky People by Thomas Berger

Author:Thomas Berger [Berger, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Literary
ISBN: 9780743287609
Google: Akkutd0ZEhwC
Amazon: 0743257952
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2005-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

chapter 10

WHEN RALPH RETURNED to the store Bigelow denounced him for taking almost an hour to make three deliveries and showed no sympathy when informed of the theft of the bike.

“Should of locked it. A nigger’ll take anything that’s not nailed down. They come over here from the West Side and raid this neighborhood. Other night, one or more threw a brick through my cellar window.”

He failed to mention the money tied to it. Ralph took dull notice of this omission, but was not nearly as interested as he would have been were he not still under the spell of L. Lorraine, L. Linda, L.L.L. He was weirdly thrilled that his bike had been stolen outside her house, as if it were a sacrifice to love.

“Whatchoo gonna do now?” asked the grocer. He held another bag ready for delivery and poked it.

“Walk, I guess.”

Bigelow enlarged his piggy eyes. “If it took you that long on a bike, the milk’ll sour by time you walk.”

“Then,” Ralph said ebulliently, “I’ll run!” Bigelow frowned at this, and Ralph added: “Tomorrow I’ll borrow a bike.” He felt so good he could not bear to mention the breakage. He realized this was a failure of character, but he was indulging himself in his intimate memories of Laverne: she had no need of those items, having broken off with her boy friend. Going through the possible reasons for the rupture, Ralph could only conclude that, she being perfect, the man must be a louse.

“I dunno,” said Bigelow, shaking his heavy head. “I dunno if that would work out.” He punched the cash register, causing the bell to sound and the NO SALE sign to appear in the window. He clattered in the change drawer and brought out a half dollar, holding it between thumb and forefinger as if he were going to put it into his eye like a monocle. “Here,” he said to Ralph. “You never earned it, but if you got to save up for another bike…”

So he was sympathetic after all; Ralph kept changing his mind about the grocer.

“Oh, I can’t take that—it was my fault.” Then Ralph sensed all at once he was being fired. He politely asked Bigelow if his suspicion was correct.

The grocer rubbed his aproned belly against the counter. “That’s about the size of it, kid. I got to have a boy with a bike. Even if you was fast as Jesse Owens, how would it look? Like I was a cheapskate. The A and P undercuts me on prices, and Rumbauer’s, over on Maple, he’s got a panel truck and delivers as far as them snobs in Wydale Hills; he charges an arm and a leg of course. Me, I’m in between. I got to work my hump off or I’ll be on my uppers.” His big cheeks collapsed in dramatic compassion. “Anyway, you’re a little light for all the lifting I need around here.”

It occurred to Ralph’s logical mind that now no deliveries would be made for

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