6/7/2010 - Red wiped his forehead"That kid Wyman! It used to...
Red wiped his forehead"That kid Wyman! It used to be bad enough bunkin' with a Boy Scout like Toglio, but that kid Wyman"They're gonna be sendin' 'em overseas soon with a sugar tit
"Yeah, the platoon seems all topside-bottom since we got the replacements," Wilson complainedHe sighed, and ran the sleeve of his fatigue shirt over his chin, which was moist with perspiration"Weather's fixin' to act up," he said quietly
"More fuggin rain," Gallagher snorted
Dark slated clouds were washing the eastern sky and mounting thunderheads in the north and southThe air was leaden and moist, hanging limp without a murmurEven the coconut trees seemed swollen and expectant, their leaves drooping languidly over and raw chopped earth of the bivouac
"That corduroy we put in is gonna be washed out," Gallagher saidRed omega constellation looked out across the area and scowledThe tents were sagging, and appeared gloomy and somber although the sun was still shining with a dull red glow in the west
"Just so we don't get our tails wet," Red said
He debated for a moment whether to go back to his tent and deepen the rain trench, which had almost overflowed in the previous night's downpour, and then he shruggedIt was about time Wyman learned how to do itHe crouched and dropped into the hole in which Gallagher and Wilson were resting nowIt was a hole about two feet deep and about as wide and long as a double bedWilson and Gallagher slept side by side in it with two blankets between them and the earthOverhead they had anchored a ridgepole of bamboo on two uprights, had draped their combined ponchos over it, and staked the ends to the ground on each chanel white watches side of the holeIt was possible to kneel inside the tent without bumping one's head against the ridgepole, but not even an eight-year-old child could have stood in itFrom outside, the shelter appeared to be no more than two feet above the level of the groundThis tent was typical of almost all the pup tents in the bivouac
Red lay down between them, and stared out at the obtuse triangle of sky and jungle visible from the head of the tentThey had dug the hole to fit their bodies, and Red's long legs dangled over the rain trench at the entranceWhen the rain blew in the open end, it collected in the trench, which was lower than any other part of the holeNow it was still muddy
"Next time you men dig a tent right, so a guy can get in it," Red said
"If you men don' like it, get the hell out," Gallagher white chanel bag grumbled
"That's your Boston hospitality," Red said
"Yeah, we got no place for fuggin bums," Gallagher kidded heavilyThe purple lumps on his face looked swollen and putrefactive in the dull light"Ah say only thing worse'n a damyankee is a fella from Boston
"They wouldn't let you in a town where you had to wear some fuggin shoes," Gallagher snortedHe lit a cigarette and turned over on his stomach"Got to know how to read and write if you want to come north," he said
Wilson was a little hurt"Listen, boy," he told him, "Ah may not be able to read eve'thin' so good, but they ain't a thing Ah cain't do if Ah set mah mind to't There had been that time, he was thinking, when Willy Perkins had bought the first washing machine in town, and when it had gone on the bum, he'd taken it all apart and then fixed it"They ain't hermes kelly handbag a thing Ah cain't fix if it's piece of machinery," he saidHe took off his glasses and wiped the perspiration from them with a corner of his handkerchief"Once Ah remember there was a fella in town who had an English bicycleAmerican one wa'n't good 'nough for himHe lost some of the ball bearin's out of it, and they wa'n' none Ah could get to fit, so Ah jus' took an American ball-bearin' ring, and fit it to't He pointed one of his thick fingers at Gallagher and added, "Rode as good after Ah fixed it as it ever did
"Pretty clever," Gallagher sneered"In Boston you could get any kind of ball bearing you wanted
"A man's better if he can do without at times," Wilson muttered"I don't see where you're such a damn sight better doing without your pussy"That's somep'n a man should never do without," Wilson chanel cambon handbag admitted
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