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"I think it's the other way around," Tony said.
The swami began to gather the clothing that hung on chairs and doorknobs. He found a laundry bag in the closet and stuffed the soiled linen into this. He hung a jacket on a hanger, treed Tony's shoes, closed the closet door, and gave the chair cushions a shake. "Well that looks a little better, doesn't it," he said. "Another thing I would like to do is to burn some incense if you don't object."
"I'd like you to do everything you want to do," Tony said, "but I don't really like incense. Any kind of perfume. I never use after-shave lotion. I like to smell perfume on girls but I don't like it when it's all over the place. I don't like the way department stores smell."
"I think I know what you mean," the swami said, "but this isn't sweet or strong. It's sandalwood. It has a clean smell." He took a narrow stick of incense from his pocket and lighted it.
"That's all right," Tony said.
"I was born in Baltimore," Rutuola said, "to poor people, but the hardships of my race are well known so I won't bother you with them. I went to school until the eighth grade and I can read very well but I ca
The rain lets up. Nailles comes home. Swallows and blackbirds hunt in the early dark. The wind is out of the northeast and coming up the steps he can distinguish the sounds made by the different trees as the wind fills them: maple, birch, tulip and oak. What good is this knowledge for his son or himself? Someone has to observe the world. The steady twilight seems like a sustained note, perfect in pitch. Nellie tells him that the guru is upstairs but that he ca
Nailles slams this book down on a table and picks up another called Rainy Summer. He reads the first sentence: "It was a very rainy summer and the ashtrays on the tables around the swimming pool were always filled with rainwater and cigarette butts…" He throws this book across the room. The doorbell rings. Nailles opens it and sees his neighbor Mrs. Harvey. Why is her face wet, he wonders. Beyond her shoulder he can see stars in the sky. Can she be crying and why is she crying? It is his turn to cry. "Please come in," Nailles says. "Please come in."
"I don't think I've been here since I solicited for the mutual fund," she says. She is crying. 'I'm soliciting again." Red Cross, thinks Nailles, Muscular Dystrophy, Heart Trouble? "What is your cause tonight," Nailles asks.
"The Harvey family," she says. "I'm soliciting for Dads." She laughs; she sobs.
"Please come in and sit down," says Nailles. "Let me get you a drink."
"Well it's a long story," she says, "but I guess I'd better tell it if I expect your help. I guess you know that Charlie's a junior in Amherst. He went down to Boston and took part in a demonstration. He was arrested and spent a couple of nights in jail but they let him off with a fine and suspended sentence. Then two weeks ago the draft board changed his classification from student deferment to 1A. He was ordered to report for induction the day before yesterday. I mentioned the fact that he was going to be inducted when I was at the beauty parlor and the woman beside me-I don't really know her-told me there was a psychiatrist in the village who makes a specialty in drilling young men in how to disqualify themselves for the army. He charges five hundred dollars. I thought of speaking to Dads about this but it seemed dishonest. Charlie doesn't want to be a soldier but he doesn't want to be a liar either. I mean it seems like killing yourself in order to avoid getting killed. Anyhow I didn't mention this. He was supposed to report for induction on Thursday and on Wednesday Dads went to the savings bank and took out three thousand. It was all we had. He gave Charlie five hundred in cash and the rest in a certified check. We never once discussed his plans. After supper he went upstairs and packed a suitcase and came down and Dads drove him to the station. They didn't say anything, they didn't even say goodbye. Dads said he didn't dare say goodbye because he would start crying. I suppose he's in Canada or Sweden but we haven't heard from him. Well a day later a man came to Dads's office- a man from the government-and said that he knew Dads had taken three thousand out of the bank in order to enable his son to emigrate. Dads and I thought our bank accounts were private but evidently not. He said that he wanted to see Dads at home so Dads took an early train today and the man drove over-the government man-from the county seat where his office is. He first accused Dads of assisting a draft evader and then he said he was going to make it short and sweet and he took a cigarette out of his pocket and put it on the table and said that Dads was under arrest for the possession of dangerous drugs. The cigarette was a marijuana but it was the first one Dads had ever seen. The man explained that he was after draft evaders because he had spent a year and a half in a POW camp in Germany, eating rats and mice. He wanted the younger generation to learn what it was all about. So then Dads called the lawyer here-Harry Marchand-and they all drove over to the county seat and Dads was arrested for the possession of drugs and put into jail. They set the bail at two thousand and because this is the end of the month we simply don't have it so I'm going from house to house trying to raise it."