Dirty Old Men [And Other Stories] (Zane Presents) Read Online Free PDF Page B

would have to go through it in a few more years herself.
    “Well, you gotta hang on in there then,” he advised Brenda.
    “I know, but…I wish I had some
help
sometimes, you know what I mean? But my parents can’t help me at all. They’re struggling right now to take care of my younger brother and sister back home. And with me being the oldest, they’ve gotten used to me finding a way to make things happen for myself, but I get so
tired
of this sometimes.”
    She was pouring the sob story on thick, and Clarence was prepared for it, as soon as she mentioned that her car had been hit.
    He said, “You need some help, hunh? Well, I’ve already given you help.”
And what have you done for me?
he asked himself. She was forcing him to think with the wrong head again.
    She pleaded, “I know, but if you could like, help me out again, I swear to
God
, I will pay you
back. Honestly.
”
    “I mean, you think I got like, extra money lying around like that that I can loan you for a year or two?” he questioned.
What the hell does this girl think I got going on over here?
    She said, “Clarence, you guys get tips at the airport every day. And like, in two to three days, you could get five hundred dollars easy. I
know it.
And then I would get the car fixed with my money, and by the end of the week, you could give it back to me, and then I would have to work harder, or whatever I have to do to pay you back. I mean, for real.”
    Clarence couldn’t believe his old ears. This young college girl was really pushing him hard now. She was even counting his pocket change at the airport.
    He said, “Now you really wanna get this same car fixed that bad? It seems to me that this car is gonna cause too much of a steady problem for you. You may be better off having somebody drive you to and from work every day and pay them a couple dollars each way. I mean, Tallahassee ain’t but so big,” he advised her.
    Brenda stopped talking for awhile. She let the dead silence sink in on him. Then she said, “So you can’t do that for me at all?” She remained persistent.
    Clarence was even impressed with by it. She really knew how to put pressure on a man. But he also realized that he was letting her get away with it because she was young and didn’t know any better. It was the spoiled and desperate recklessness of her youth talking.
    So Clarence leveled with her. “You know, a young woman could really find herself in a bond with a man if you keep going like this. Because if you talk to the wrong kind of guys about helping you out with money—”
    Brenda cut him off, “But that’s why I’m asking
you
, because I know you wouldn’t do me like that. I mean, do you know how many guys talk about helping me out. I’m not dumb; I mean, I know what they want. And I’m not going out like that, simply because I need money. But somebody has to be on your
side.
You know what I mean? I’m only asking you to be on my side and look out for me like that. I need some
help.
”
    Got’ dammit!
Clarence panicked.
What would Maurice say to this shit?
he wondered. The game had quickly climbed out of his reach. He found that he couldn’t handle this young woman with his simple logic. She would eat him up alive.
    He took a deep breath and thought it over.
You a damned fool, Clarence,
he told himself before he even responded to her. “I’ll ah…see what I can do. But I won’t make you any—”
    “Thank you, thank you,
thank you!
” she exclaimed, cutting him off again. “Oh my God, I promise you will
never
regret helping me. I mean, I will make you feel so
proud
of me.”
    “Make me feel
proud, how?
” he asked her.
    “When I become successful,” she answered. “And it will be all because of your help. I mean, I can be like, your little project.”
    Clarence was stunned into silence. What the hell could he say to that? The girl sounded borderline
crazy.
And all he could do was smile about it. He actually liked the shit. She was a real