Alcala 1958

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fen der should have bee n. It sat there wait­ ing as pat ient lyas an old mil k hor se. Ma x saw me and squ eak ed from the fron t sea t: "Run , Ro lf. Al rea dywe're lat e." I clim bed in back and got com fort abl e among the turp enti ne bucket s, pai nt cans, old rags , pai nt bru she s, burlap sack s, dus t and odd tools of the pai nte r's trad e (no n­ un io n) . Max pic ked up a sma ll sle dg e hamme r and smash ed at the star ter. Th e Willy s leaped forw ard. "L ike a sew ing ma chi ne, Ro lf. Best car I ev er owned . Tw ent y years. " As we jerked ov er the road to Ranch o San ta Fe at full 15 m. p.h ., he po int ed ou t sig hts of inte rest . "Twen ty-t hre eyea rs ag o I pa int edtha t house ,Ro lf. Ti gh t. Ac h, so tight. All the time wa tch ing me . Ok ies. Talk cra zy. 'Gr cnn qt! Gr cnn qt! Gr cnn qt! ' "S ee tha t whi te hous e? Stucco pai nt. Ne ed s new job. Se e, it's str eak ing . Last gu y did n't do it rig ht. No pa int er. Lou se. Fa ul! Won 't let me do it. 'To omu ch, Max. Late r, Maxie .' Che ap. Ri ch . No good ." He poi nte d. "O ld lad y over the re eve ry time try to kis s me . Kis s, kis s, kis s. 'D o you like some tea , Max ?' Ri ch . Cra zy. Th ree tim es I pa int ed he r ho us e alr ead y. Fat dau ght er. Oh, so fat . "Over ther e, se e the ro of ? What a job . I spr ay he r last wee k. So be au tif ul. Goo d - i ly se. ed t: "Run, l . dy ' . table g tine s, cans, , s es, s, t r's - i n). x ll e r a a e t . ill s . i s i g m c ine, R lf. ever owne . wenty y " o Santa Fe at foll 15 . ., e t. ty-thre s e , l . t. , . t ing . i s. . ' qt! qt! qt!' e? t. s , ' ing. t t. i er. se. l! ' , ax. , .' . . .'' . l . s, , . ' , ?' . z . e e y. ter. . , f? a job. tiful. .

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job . But tig ht. Fre nch-Jew. Bi g ca r. Tw o. Ne ve r work fo r French man, Ro lf. Com­ mu nis t. Ti gh t." "Good mor nin g."This to a ma n water ­ ing hi s lawn. "Capt ainRos ebe rry . Dr ink s too mu ch . Nav y. No t wi ne . Ha rd stu ff. Al l the tim e drink .Da ughte rtoo. Li ke fis h. Cra zy in the he ad ." We fin al ly go t where we we re go ing . An old house sto od und er some euc aly ptu s trees. Max hopp edout and beg an dragging pa int cans from the ca r. Ev ide ntl y the hou sene ededpa int fas t. "Quick,he re com es the old ma n. Unload the car so he thin ks you are har d wo rke r." Ma x unl oad edeven fas ter . A kin dly-lo ok ingma n wa lked up , said "Good mo rn ing "and walked on . "T igh t, Ro lf, " whisp ere dMax. "D id yo u see hi s ey es ? Wa lks lik e a cat . Hy po crite. Tr ies for to sne ak up an d fin d us sle ep ing . No t so mu chpa int ,Ro lf. $6.21 agal lon . Wa tch out the ho les . Pa in tin g is tri cky . Ea sy. Easy. " We wor ked str aig ht thr oug h till aft er dark. We cou ldn 'tse e the pa int an y mo re. Ma x alw ay swor ked till aft er dark. "N ev er ge t ric h sle ep ing,Ro lf," he use d to sa y. I worked fo r him for two yea rs. Alwa ys till aft er dar k. I ne ver slept an d I nev er got ric h. Ac h, tig ht . So tig ht . r an, lf. - i t. t." ni g." - . tai rry. i s . y. . f . . t r . .'' l y going. l tus e gging car. Evidently the s aint fast. "Quick, here comes . s r." ax unloaded eve . l -l oking , ing" . i t, l " ered i ? l . crite. ies ing. t i , lf. a l . t l . i ting . s . '' i t h t . 't . s . er ing, l . s. ys .

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Th re e, Ple ase ThomasA. Edi son on ce ga ve a pok er qu iz to pro spe ctiveemplo yee s. "You 're down to you r last ten dol lars ,"Ed iso n told the job- hun ters ,"a nd yo u ha ve no chan ce of ge tti ng mo re. You 're pla yin gpok er wit h a stra nger. He sta yspa t on the fir st hand . You draw to a pa ir of eig ht sand ma ke thr ee. Th ere 's50 cen ts in the pot , an d the strang erbet s a qua rter . What do you do ?" Some an sw ere d:"S ee hi m." Oth ers sa id :"R ais e." Ed ison ga ve the job to the ma n who rep lie d:"D on 'tpla yca rd swit h stra nge rs." as i s ective l ye s. "You're ," i ters, " ce f tting . i g p . s . t s e . 's , t er ts rter. ered: .'' i : " aise.'' i li d: t trangers.'' 't s

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