Read Nobody's Fool for Free Online
Authors: Richard Russo
few minutes before while looking up into the trees.
"That must mean you've been everywhere," Sully said.
"The early snow convinced me that this is our winter.
God's going to lower the boom.
One of those limbs is going to come crashing down on us."
"Sounds like a good reason to head for the Congo," Sully offered.
"There's no such place as the Congo anymore."
NOBODY'S FOOL23
"No?"
"No. And besides," Miss Beryl reminded him, "God finds Jonah even in the belly of a whale." Sully nodded.
"God and the cops.
That's how come I stay close to home. So they know where to find me.
Maybe that way they'll go easy. " Miss Beryl frowned at him. " You're not in Dutch with the police again, are you, Donald? " Her tenant did wind up in jail occasionally, usually for public intoxication, though when he was younger he'd been a brawler. Sully grinned at her. " Not to my knowledge, Mrs. Peoples. These days I try to be good. I'm not a young man anymore. "
" Well," she said, " you were a bad boy far longer than most. "
" I know it," he said, taking another drag on his cigarette and noticing for the first time how hazardously long the gray ash had become. " You going out for Thanksgiving, at least? " Miss Beryl took the cigarette from him, put it into the ashtray, and then put the ashtray on the side table. With Sully, you didn't just set the ashtray down nearby and expect him to recognize its function. " Mrs.
Gruber and I are going to the Northwoods Motor Inn.
They're having a buffet.
All the turkey and trimmings you can eat for ten dollars. " Sully exhaled smoke through his nose. " Sounds like a hell of a good deal for the Northwoods. You and Alice couldn't eat ten dollars' worth of turkey if they gave you the whole weekend. " Miss Beryl had to admit this was true. " Mrs. Gruber likes it there. It's all old fogies like us, and they don't play loud music. They have a big salad bar, and Mrs. Gruber likes to try everything on it. Snails even. "
" Snails are good, actually," Sully said, surprising her. " When did you ever eat a snail? " Sully scratched his unshaven chin thoughtfully at the recollection. " I liberated France, if you recall. I wish snails were the worst thing I ate between Normandy and Berlin, too. "
" It must be true what they say, then," Miss Beryl observed. " War is heck.
If you ate anything worse than a snail, don't tell me about it,"
" Okay," Sully said agreeably. " I just eat a couple of those carrot curls and save myself for the dinner. Otherwise, I get full, and if I eat too much I get gas. " Sully stubbed out his cigarette. " Well, in that case, go slow," he said, laboring to his feet again. " Remember, you got somebody living above you. It's too cold to open all the windows.
"
NOBODY'S FOOL 23
"No?"
"No. And besides," Miss Beryl reminded him, "God finds Jonah even in the belly of a whale." Sully nodded.
"God and the cops.
That's how come I stay close to home. So they know where to find me.
Maybe that way they'll go easy. " Miss Beryl frowned at him. " You're not in Dutch with the police again, are you, Donald? " Her tenant did wind up in jail occasionally, usually for public intoxication, though when he was younger he'd been a brawler. Sully grinned at her. " Not to my knowledge, Mrs. Peoples. These days I try to be good. I'm not a young man anymore. "
" Well," she said, " you were a bad boy far longer than most. "
" I know it," he said, taking another drag on his cigarette and noticing for the first time how hazardously long the gray ash had become. " You going out for Thanksgiving, at least? " Miss Beryl took the cigarette from him, put it into the ashtray, and then put the ashtray on the side table. With Sully, you didn't just set the ashtray down nearby and expect him to recognize its function. " Mrs.
Gruber and I are going to the Northwoods Motor Inn.
They're having a buffet.
All the turkey and trimmings you can eat for ten dollars. " Sully exhaled smoke through his nose. " Sounds like a hell
"That must mean you've been everywhere," Sully said.
"The early snow convinced me that this is our winter.
God's going to lower the boom.
One of those limbs is going to come crashing down on us."
"Sounds like a good reason to head for the Congo," Sully offered.
"There's no such place as the Congo anymore."
NOBODY'S FOOL23
"No?"
"No. And besides," Miss Beryl reminded him, "God finds Jonah even in the belly of a whale." Sully nodded.
"God and the cops.
That's how come I stay close to home. So they know where to find me.
Maybe that way they'll go easy. " Miss Beryl frowned at him. " You're not in Dutch with the police again, are you, Donald? " Her tenant did wind up in jail occasionally, usually for public intoxication, though when he was younger he'd been a brawler. Sully grinned at her. " Not to my knowledge, Mrs. Peoples. These days I try to be good. I'm not a young man anymore. "
" Well," she said, " you were a bad boy far longer than most. "
" I know it," he said, taking another drag on his cigarette and noticing for the first time how hazardously long the gray ash had become. " You going out for Thanksgiving, at least? " Miss Beryl took the cigarette from him, put it into the ashtray, and then put the ashtray on the side table. With Sully, you didn't just set the ashtray down nearby and expect him to recognize its function. " Mrs.
Gruber and I are going to the Northwoods Motor Inn.
They're having a buffet.
All the turkey and trimmings you can eat for ten dollars. " Sully exhaled smoke through his nose. " Sounds like a hell of a good deal for the Northwoods. You and Alice couldn't eat ten dollars' worth of turkey if they gave you the whole weekend. " Miss Beryl had to admit this was true. " Mrs. Gruber likes it there. It's all old fogies like us, and they don't play loud music. They have a big salad bar, and Mrs. Gruber likes to try everything on it. Snails even. "
" Snails are good, actually," Sully said, surprising her. " When did you ever eat a snail? " Sully scratched his unshaven chin thoughtfully at the recollection. " I liberated France, if you recall. I wish snails were the worst thing I ate between Normandy and Berlin, too. "
" It must be true what they say, then," Miss Beryl observed. " War is heck.
If you ate anything worse than a snail, don't tell me about it,"
" Okay," Sully said agreeably. " I just eat a couple of those carrot curls and save myself for the dinner. Otherwise, I get full, and if I eat too much I get gas. " Sully stubbed out his cigarette. " Well, in that case, go slow," he said, laboring to his feet again. " Remember, you got somebody living above you. It's too cold to open all the windows.
"
NOBODY'S FOOL 23
"No?"
"No. And besides," Miss Beryl reminded him, "God finds Jonah even in the belly of a whale." Sully nodded.
"God and the cops.
That's how come I stay close to home. So they know where to find me.
Maybe that way they'll go easy. " Miss Beryl frowned at him. " You're not in Dutch with the police again, are you, Donald? " Her tenant did wind up in jail occasionally, usually for public intoxication, though when he was younger he'd been a brawler. Sully grinned at her. " Not to my knowledge, Mrs. Peoples. These days I try to be good. I'm not a young man anymore. "
" Well," she said, " you were a bad boy far longer than most. "
" I know it," he said, taking another drag on his cigarette and noticing for the first time how hazardously long the gray ash had become. " You going out for Thanksgiving, at least? " Miss Beryl took the cigarette from him, put it into the ashtray, and then put the ashtray on the side table. With Sully, you didn't just set the ashtray down nearby and expect him to recognize its function. " Mrs.
Gruber and I are going to the Northwoods Motor Inn.
They're having a buffet.
All the turkey and trimmings you can eat for ten dollars. " Sully exhaled smoke through his nose. " Sounds like a hell