But once in a while, usually on mail-call nights, he had a momentary and irrational little hopeThe business with Lois was dead, but even so
His depression had increased while he was with the other menGallagher was busy writing to his wife, leafing through the fifteen letters that had come from her in order to answer some of her questions, and Wilson had been complaining about his wife"Ah gave that damn woman lovin' she'll never forget, and now she's always fussin' over why Ah don' send some o' my pay
"You're gonna die in jail," Red had snorted
By the time he returned to his own tent, he was very depressedAt the entrance he kicked aside an empty beer can and crawled into the holeAs he straightened his twisted blankets in the dark, he swore a little"It's just like the goddam Army," he said to Wyman, "three cans of beerThey got more ways to tease a man
Wyman twisted over in his bedding, and spoke up softly"I only drank one of my beersWhy don't you take the other two, Red?"
"Well, thanks, kidA tacit friendship had developed between them since they had been
omega replica watches bunking together, but Wyman was making more and more overtures latelyYou start buddy-buddying with 'em and they get knocked off, Red thoughtMore and more Wyman reminded him of Hennessey"You better drink the beer yourself, kid," he said, "they ain't gonna give 'em out again for a while
"Naw, I don't like beer much
Red opened a can and passed it to Wyman"C'mon, we'll each have one If he had kept both of them and drunk them it might have muddled him enough to fall asleep easilyEver since the night they had marched up to the front, Red's kidneys had been bothering him steadily, keeping him awake at nightAnd with insomnia there was always a re-enactment of the moment when he had waited for the Japanese soldier to stab himBut even so, two beers was a big favor, too big a oneIt would give Wyman a call on himIt was better when you didn't owe anybody
They drank silently for a few minutes"You get lots of mail, kid?" Red asked
"I got a batch from my mother Wyman lit a cigarette and looked away
"What about your girl friend, what's-her-name?"
"I don't know, I didn't get
fake fendi handbags anything from her
In the dark, Red grimacedThe whole setup should have told himGiving away a beer, mooning by himself in the tent -- he should have guessed what was wrong with Wyman and avoided a conversation"Aw, hell, kid, she'll write you," he blurted
Wyman fingered his blanket"I can't figure it out, RedI haven't got any mail from her since I been overseasBack in the States she used to write me every day
Red rinsed his mouth with a swallow of beer"Aaah, it's just the Army's got the mail fugged up," he said
"I used to think that, but I don't believe it any moreWhen I was in the replacement depot I didn't expect to get any, but now we've had two mail calls here, and I got a bunch of letters from my mother each time, and nothing from her
Red fingered his nose and sighed
"I'll tell you the truth, Red, I'd be scared to get a letter from her nowIt'd probably be a Dear John
"There's lots of women, kidYou're better off if you learn early
Wyman's voice was troubled and hurt"She ain't like that, RedShe's really a swell kidOh, Jeez, I don't know, there was
chanel watch something real different about herWyman's emotion was embarrassing him, and he knew he would have to listenHe drank some beer, and smiled wrylyI'm paying for the goddam drink, he said to himselfAbruptly, he pictured again Wyman brooding by himself all evening, and the thought softened him"It's kind of hard just to sit around and think," he saidBy now he had stirred at best only a partial sympathyOther men's troubles usually bored himEverybody gets his share of bloody noses, and it's Wyman's turn now, he thought
"How'd you meet her?" he asked
"Aw, she was the kid sister of Larry Nesbitt, you remember he was that buddy of mine I was telling you about?"
"Yeah Red had a vague recollection
"Well, I always used to see her around his house, and she was just a kid, I never paid any attention to herBut then one time a couple of months before I came into the Army, I went over to his house and he wasn't in, and I noticed herYou know, she'd sort of grown upSo I asked her to go for a walk with me, and we sat in the park and talked, and"I could talk to her about a lot of
balenciaga twiggy bag things, and I don't know, we just sat there on a park bench, and I told her I wanted to be a sports writer, and she said she wanted to design dresses, and I started laughing until I realized she was serious, and we talked a long time about what we wanted to do with ourselves He swallowed his beer
"A lot of people were walking past us," Wyman said, "and we started playing a game, you know guessing how old they were and what they did for a living, and she would try to guess whether they were happy or notAnd then we started analyzing all our friends, and we talked a lot"And then you asked her, 'What do ya think of me?' "
Wyman looked at him with surprise"How'd you know?"
"Ah, I just guessed Red was remembering the park at the end of the main street in the company townFor a moment, he could see Agnes's face again, and the sound of his voice, "You know I don't believe in God He felt wistful, and then smiled to himselfThat evening had had a beauty which he had never felt in exactly the same way again"What was it, summer time?" he asked Wyman
"Yeah, early in the
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