Alcala 1958

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Ach, Tight! By ROLF C. SM ITH Fres hma n, Colleg e for Me n I n,

"A CH, MRS . SMITH , Ameri- can bo ys are no goo d for no th ing. Ne ver work . Laz y T a u g e n ic h ts. Goo d tim e. German bo ys work ha rd. Wor ked when I was nin e. Bu tch er's app ren tice . Wor ked har d. Look at me . Str on glike a bul l." I stuc k my head ou t of the back room of our sto re to see what wa s go ingon. Th e gnome likevis itor fle xe dhi s pain t-spatter ed arm for my mo the r. "Tha t's not ca lf's ''ACH, RS. S ITH, Ameri- t ing. . ugenichts. G d e. . e. L 's re tice. . . g l s g like d t ered r. t's

my han d and yanked it up and down tw ice . He star ed hard at me from gander -blu e eyes . "Bueno. You work ha rd? Tomorrow you be at my ma ilbo x at eig ht o'cl ock . Be sur e and bri ng lunch. He re, I make a ma p." He gave me the enve lop ehe had scr awl ed the map on, pick ed up the hal f-ga llon of ruby port he had bought from my mot her an d trott ed out the door. I had just landed my fir st job. Max was born in Ki el. He came to Am eri ca 26 years ag o. He ran an apar t­ men t hou se in New Yo rk, then came to Esc ondido . He bou ght land and plante d avo cad os, usi ng see d inst ead of see dli ng s bec ause it was che ape r. He bou ght mor e land and bec ame rich . Wh en the mar ket brok e he woul d not par t wit h hi s ran che s. Th at' s why he took up pa int ing . For as lon g as I've known him , the on ly thi ngs he has eve r worn were a pa ir of pai nte r'sove ralls with no thing underneat h, a red Sea rs and Roebuc k nec ker chi ef aro und hi s stringy nec k and some old hou sesho es. Whe n it got hot he put a we t wa shr agon his bal din ghea d. Whe n it wa s col d he pinned a bath towel aro und hi s sho uld erswith a saf ety -pin and drank ruby por t and bran dy. He smo ked a stemle ss pi pe wh ich he stu ffed wit h hi s cigar but ts and he didn 't have a too th in hi s mo uth . Th e firs t day I work ed for him , I fou nd him parked in his car down by his ma ilbox . Th e car was the olde st, mos t beat -up con ­ traptio n I have eve r see n. It was a 19 36 Willy s, the ori gin al pain t-jo b lon g sin ce gone , alo ng with one fen der . Tw o lon g pa in tin g ladd ers wer e lash ed where the i . -blue . . ? o i x . . , . l e e p l s l. ica . t- , i . o , ling . . c . ' i ting. , l r's l h, c ief d . ag g . l er - i . ~ Le i l t ' t . l , il o . , - ti n . il , i al t-j b , . 110 i ting ~ "hrre

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ROLF SMITH mea t, Mrs . Sm ith ,"he sa id . "Fifty- six yea rs old ." The n my mot her saw me . "Mr. Reimer s, this is my son Ro lf. Ro lf, Mr. Reimer s is lookin g for a boy to hel p him on a pai nt job ." The wi zen edold German pai nte rgra bbe d t, . i ," i . "Fifty- ix s . i r, lf. lf, I g ed o r

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