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"That's a mighty fine letter," Ridges said when Goldstein had finished"Pa writes a nice hand
"It's a very nice letter," Goldstein saidHe read over again the last lines of one of the letters his wife had sent him"Danny asked about you yesterday, I've been telling him all the time that daddy is in the Army, and he hasn't forgotten you one bitHe's so cute, oh, Joey, I wish you could see him growing up, there's nothing like itHe said yesterday, 'When does Daddy come back from going boom-boom?' I didn't know whether to laugh or cryManny Straus promised he'd take some pictures of him
Goldstein sipped his beer and felt an awful longing
Wilson had Gallagher reread one of the letters from Wilson's wife next morningHe laughed angrily several times as Gallagher read
"I am not going to stand for this I hav been a gud wife to cartier roadster swiss watches you and you no that, I hav alwaze giv you all the monie you want, and I am entitel now to one hunedird and twentie dollar everie monthe I was tawking to Wes Hopekinds down at the cowntie clerke offis and he saiy that you hav to giv me the monie the armie take care of it thair is no thing you can do abowt itUnles you do that yurselfe Woodrow I am goeing to rite a leter to the armie I no the adres cawze Wes done tolde me how to go abowt itI am tird of be a gud wife to you cawze you do not unnderstan
"Well, now, how do you like that ol' ****?" Wilson saidHe was angry and he brooded over his answer"You're gonna write a letter for me, tonightAh'm gonna tell her that she cain't get away with none of that stuff He phrased a few sentences to himself"Ah'm tellin' ya, y' better start actin' like a decent wife, and cut out all that cartier santos 100 chronograph fussin' an' naggin' or I damn sure ain't gonna come back to ya Wilson had an obscure prejudice against using profanity in a letter"There's plenty of women would be glad to have me, an' you know itAh cain't stan' a woman who's always tryin' to take away the last cent from a manIf Ah want a little money in the Army, Ah'm gonna have itAh don' want no more talk about this "lotment Wilson felt bitter and righteous, and the act of composing had given him a heady pleasureHis mind was filled with things to tell her, and he felt a glow each time he conceived a biting phrase
He sat on the edge of the hole at the tent entrance and squinted at the sun"Y' take that other gal," he said to Gallagher, "she's awrightAh got a letter from her Red read me last mail call we had, an' she tol' me she was jus' waitin' for me to come back to Kansas so we prada replica handbags could git married an' then go on southUse' to cook for me, mend my clo'es, starch up my shirts for Satidday inspection, an' she gave me as good lovin' as Ah've had for a long time
Gallagher spat with disgust and envy"What a bastard you areIf you like her so goddam much why don't you tell her you're married, and give her a break?"
Wilson looked at him as if Gallagher were stupid"Hell, man," he protested, "why should Ah tell her? Ah never can tell how Ah'm gonna be feelin' when Ah git out of the ArmyMaybe Ah'm gonna want to go to Kansas and hook up with that other womanThere's no way of sayin'Be a damn shame if en Ah was to tell her, an' she wasn't around when Ah got out, an' Ah wanted her He shook his head and giggled"The less you tell a woman the better off y'are
Gallagher flew into a rage"You fuggin crackers, you're a chloe bunch of animals
Gallagher smolderedA guy like Wilson went around taking life easy and making everybody pay for himHe looked off into the jungle, righteous, envious
After a while he calmed, and began to look over his mail againHe had had time the night before to read only the mail he had received from his wifeThey were all old letters; the newest was a month old, and he had kept telling himself with surprise that he was probably a father by nowThe date his wife had mentioned for the birth of his child had elapsed a few days ago but he was unable to believe itHe assumed that what she wrote about had happened on the same day that he read the letter; if she said that she was going to visit one of her girl friends on the next day, he would be thinking on the day after he read the letter that Mary was seeing her friend at this chanel bags to buy fake mom |