پنجشنبه ۲۲ شهریور ۰۳ | ۲۱:۳۱ ۹ بازديد
Chance didn't ask me to sit down, but I did and he didn't like that either.
«You were next to the guy when he got shot," he said unpleasantly, after I said
DeVon Hardy's name.
«Yc " I .des, sa1 .
"Terrible for you, huh?"
"It's over. Mr. Hardy, who's now dead, was evicted from a warehouse. Was it
one of our evictions?"
"It was," said Chance, but he didn't look at me as he spoke. I guessed that
Arthur Jacobs had looked at the file with him, earlier in the day. "What about
it?" added Chance.
«w, h ;>"
was e a squatter.
"Of course he was. They're all squatters, aren't they? Our client just got them
out of the warehouse."
«Ar_e you sure he was a squatter? Not a tenant?"
Chance looked angry. "What do you want?"
"Could I see the file?"
"N ,,o.
"Wh ;>"y nor.
'Tm very busy. Will you please leave?"
"Ifhe was a squatter, there's no problem. Why can't I see the file?"
"Because it's mine, and I said no. How's that?''
"Maybe that's not good enough."
He stood, his hands shaking as he pointed to the door. I smiled at him and left.
T he legal assistant from the hall had heard everything and we exchanged looks
and smiles as I passed his desk. "The man's a fool," he said, very quietly. I smiled
. «v ,,
agam. res.
Bue what was Chance hiding? There was something wrong and it was in that
file. I had to get it. I went back to my office to think. The phone rang. It was
Claire.
"Why are you at the office?" She spoke very slowly and her voice was colder
than the snow outside.
I looked at my watch. I remembered we had arranged to have dinner together
at the apartment. «I, uh, well, a client called from the West Coast." I had used
this lie before. It didn't matter.
'Tm waiting, Michael. Should I start to eat?"
"No, I'll be back at the apartment as fast as I can."
I ran from the building into the snowstorm, but I didn't really care that
another evening together had been ruined.
•
18
A few hours lacer, Claire and I were having our coffee by the kitchen window.
The snow had finally stopped. I had an idea. "Let's go to Florida," I said.
She gave me a cold look. "Florida?"
"OK, the Bahamas. We can leave tomorrow."
"It's impossible."
"Not at all. I don't have to work for a few days ... "
"Wh ;>"y not.
"Because I'm going crazy, and at Drake & Sweeney if you go crazy, then you
get a few days off."
"You are going crazy."
"I know. Ir's fun, actually. People are nice to you.They smile. Polly brought
me cookies today. I like it."
The cold look returned and she said, "I can't.,,
And that was the end of that. I knew she couldn't do it. She was a doctor,
people had appointments with her. But also, she didn't want to go with me.
''OK," I said. "Then I'm going to Memphis for a couple of days to see my
parents.,,
"Oh really," she said. She didn't even sound interested.
"I ·need to see my parents. It's been almost a year. And this is a good time, I
think. I don't like the snow and I don't feel like working. Like I said,I'm going
,,
crazy.
Claire got up and went to bed. "Well, call me," she said over her shoulder. I
knew char was the end of my marriage. And I hated to have to tell my mother.
•
My parents were in their early sixties and trying to enjoy not working for the first
time in their lives. Mom had been a bank manager. Dad had been a lawyer in
Atlanta. They had worked hard, saved hard, and given me the best of everything.
Dad always wanted me to be a lawyer, like him.
I rented a car at Memphis airport and drove east to the rich part of the city
where the white people live. The blacks had the center of the city and the whites
the area outside. Sometimes the blacks moved out from the -��ntcr into a white
area and then the whites moved further out.
My parents lived on a golf course in a new glass house. You could see the golf
course from every window. I had called from the airport, so Mom knew I was
commg.
"What's wrong?" she asked when she saw me.
''N h' I' fi "ot mg. m me.
golf course /'golf brs, 'g:,lf-/ (n) an area of land where you play golf
19
"Wherls Claire? You guys never call us, you know. I haven't heard her voice in
two months.,,
"Claire,s fine, Mom. We're both alive and.healthy and working very hard.,,
''Are you spending enough time together?"
"N ,,o.
"Aie you spending any time together?"
"Not much." I saw the tears in her eyes. "rm sorry, Mom. It's lucky we don't
have kids."
To talk about something else, I told her the story of Mister.
"Aie you all right?" she asked, a look of shock on her face.
"Of course. I'm here, aren,t I? T he company wanted me to take a couple of
days' holiday, so I came home.,,
"You poor thing. Claire, and now this. ,,
Later that afternoon, my dad and I played golf.
"Dad, I'm not very happy at Drake & Sweeney," I said. "I don't like what I'm
d�n�"
"Welcome to the world, son. You think the guys in factory jobs like what
they're doing? You're getting rich, they aren't. Be happy."
He was happy. He was winning at the gol£ Ten minutes later he said, "Are
you changing jobs?"
"rm thinking about it.,,
"Why don't you just say what you're trying to say?"
As usual, I fdt weak and like I was running away from something.
"I'm thinking about working for the homeless," I said. "As a lawyer," I added
quickly.
Dad didn't stop playing. He hit a ball into the distance. "rd hate to see you
throw it all away, son," he said. "You'll be a partner in a few years.,, We walked
after his ball. "A street guy's killed in front of you and you have to change the
world? You just need a few days away from work."
Is that all?
golf /'go:lf, 'go:lf/ (n) a game in which you hit a small white ball into holes in the ground
20
0
�
irLanguage.com
I /I'
Chapter 4 - Mom and Dad
'
/.I
21
IID Were you rig�t?
Look back at Activity 2:4. What does Michael deci�e to do about:
1 DeVon Hardy's death?
2 his marriage?
3 his job?
IIB What more did you learn?
1 Compare the 14th Street Law Center with Michael's office at Drake &
Sweeney. In which office or offices can these be found?
metal desks Persian carpets an old photocopier windows
pieces of carpets a _computer files a photo of Martin Luther King
red leather armchairs dust and dirt an expensive desk
The Law Center Michael's office Both offices
Metll desks
2 Who says these words? Write the names. Then discuss what they tell you
about that person and their part in the story.
a "You looking for somebody?"
b "Sit down. But you might get dirty."
c "Because it's mine, and I said no."
d ''I'm waiting, Michael. Should I start to eat?"
e "Are you spending any time together?"
f "Welcome to the world, son."
22
Lontae Burton
Inside were a young mother and her children, all dead. The mother had
started the engi.ne ofthe old car and left it running.
O f course the apartment was empty when I returned Friday night, but
there was a note in the kitchen. Just like me, Claire had gone home to
her parents in Providence for a couple of days. I knew Claire wanted to end the
marriage, too. I just didn't know how badly.
I went for a long walk. It was very cold outside, with a strong wind. I passed
beautiful homes with families in them, eating and laughing and enjoying the
warmth.
Then I moved onto M Street. Friday night on M was always fun time; the
bars and coffee shops were full, and people were waiting in line to get into the
restaurants.
24
I stopped at the window of a music dub, listening to sad music with snow over
my feet, watching the young couples drink and dance. For the first time in my life,
I didn't feel young. I was thirty-two, but in the last five years I had worked more
than most people do in twenty. I was tired. Those pretty girls in there would never
look at me now.
I went back to the apartment. At some time after nine, the phone rang. It was
Mordecai Green. ''Are you busy?,, he asked.
"To do what?"
"To work. The shelters are full. We don1t have enough helpers."
'Tve ... never done that kind of work."
"Can you put butter on bread?,,
"I th'nk "1 so.
"Then you're the man for us. We're at a church on 13th and Euclid.,,
"I'll be there in twenty minutes.,,
I changed into the oldest cloches I had, jeans and an old blue jacket, and rook
most of my money out of my wallet. As I closed the apartment door behind me, I
was excited and I didn't exactly know why.
I parked the Lexus opposite the church. The attack I half expected didn't
happen. No gangs. The snow kept the streets empty and safe, for now. I went into
the church, down into a big room below it, and entered the world of the homeless.
Ir was unbelievable how many people were in that room. Volunteers were
giving out blankets and apples. Mordecai was pouring fruit juice imo paper cups
and talking all the time. A line waited patiently for food at a table.
I went ro Mordecai and he said hello like I was an old friend. "It's crazy," he
said. ''One big snowstorm and we work all night.,, He showed me the bread, the
burrer, the meat, and the cheese. "Ir's real complicated. You do ten with meat and
then ten with cheese. 0 K?"
«Yeah."
«You learn fast." Then he disappeared.
I made ten sandwiches quickly, then I slowed and watched all the people. Most
of the homeless looked down at the floor. Most of them said «thank you" to the
volunteers when they got the food. Then they ate slowly. Even the children were
careful with their food.
Mordecai came back and started making sandwiches next to me. "W here does
the food come from?" I asked him.
"Food bank. People give it. Tonight we're lucky because we have chicken
usually ies just vegetables
dfs3434