South of Heaven Read Online Free PDF Page B

Four Trey. I’ve learned a lot about different jobs and I read a lot when I have the chance. One time I wintered in Six Sands and I read every book in the public library.”
    “Six Sands, hmm? That would be about eighteen volumes, if I remember the town rightly.”
    I laughed and said, no, they had quite a few more books than that. “But, anyway, getting back to the subject—this stuff I fool around with isn’t poetry. It’s doggerel. I don’t know much about writing or poetry, but I know that much.”
    “I see. And you figure on getting able to do the real stuff by hanging around these Godforsaken labor camps?”
    I said, no, I was pulling out after this pipeline job. I was going to save my money and get a start on making something out of myself. He studied me reflectively, chewing on a piece of grass stem.
    “I hope you mean that, Tommy. Because you’ll have the money to do it. Deal blackjack for me and save your stiff’s wages, and you’ll have all the money you need.”
    “I’m going to,” I said. “That’s just what I’m going to do, Four Trey.”
    He nodded, studying me with thoughtful eyes. “Who was the girl I saw you with today, Tommy? You seemed to be getting along real friendly.”
    “Oh, her,” I said. “Oh, she’s just a girl.”
    “I know she’s a girl, Tommy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a girl that was more of a girl. In fact, she wouldn’t have needed much more equipment to be two girls.”
    I laughed, a little uncomfortably. “Her name’s Carol. I don’t know her last name.”
    “Well, now, she must be a pretty dumb girl. What did she say when you asked her?”
    “Look,” I said, “I was only with her a few minutes. She had some idea of getting work around the pipeline, but I told her there wasn’t anything for girls.”
    “Mmm? Don’t you think that was rather misleading, Tommy?”
    “No, I don’t,” I said, feeling my face redden. “Not if you’re talking about what I think you are.”
    “That’s what I’m talking about. Why else would she be in a place like this? A girl who brings a shape like that to a pipeline isn’t looking for a job, Tommy. She has her office right in her pants.”
    “That’s not a very nice thing to say,” I said. “You shouldn’t talk that way about a girl you don’t even know. Why, I’ll bet she’s long gone by now. She probably wouldn’t even have stopped in town if she hadn’t had a flat tire.”
    “A flat tire, huh?” He laughed softly. “Well, she certainly didn’t have anything else that was flat.”
    My face was really beginning to burn by then, and I was on the point of saying something very nasty. But he smiled at me in a way he had of smiling—warm and friendly and sympathetic—so I choked down the nasty words and smiled back at him. After all, why should I be so defensive about a girl I didn’t even know and would never see again?
    He sat up, gripping his hat brim front and rear and tilting it upward. I sat up also, unconsciously doing the same with my hat brim. I think I must have imitated him a lot without knowing that I did. I suppose every kid patterns himself after some older man, and I might have done worse.
    He drew his knees up and locked his arms around them, looking off toward Matacora. Pretty soon I was doing the same thing. After a while, he shifted his gaze and spoke to me.
    “You believe in God, Tommy?”
    “Well, yeah, I guess so,” I said. “That’s the way I was raised.”
    “Then you believe that’s heaven right up over us, so close we can almost touch it. We’re just a little south of heaven, right?”
    “Well,” I hesitated. “I suppose you could put it that way.”
    “Think about it, Tommy. Think about it real hard the next time you’re about to do something to screw yourself up.”
    He yawned and stood up. He stretched himself, then stood a little on tiptoe to peer off toward the horizon.
    After a minute or so he said, “Here we go, Tommy. Here’s us our ride.”

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