Read The Hoods for Free Online Page B

said to me.
    I took it out and showed it to him. He looked at it distastefully. He grunted, “From Rags to Riches. Isn't it juvenile for a boy your age?”
    I shrugged.
    “You like books?” he asked, smiling.
    “Yeh, I like to read.”
    “Why don't you get good books, join the Public Library?”
    “The library is for sissies.”
    He laughed. “Well, I'll tell you what, I'll let you belong to my library. Go on, help yourself, in there.”
    He gestured toward the toilet.
    “You got books in there?”
    “Yes, go on help yourself, that's the best place for the library. That's where one can really concentrate on what one is reading.”
    I walked into the toilet. Both walls from the floor to the ceiling were covered with shelves of books. They all had unfamiliar titles. The Education of Henry Adams, a book by a guy named Yeats, and others I never heard of.
    “Well, have you found something you would like?” the Professor called to me.
    I spied a title that made a little sense to me. Boswell's Life of Johnson. Yeh, I thought, this must be pretty good. All about Jack Johnson, the champ. I walked out with it.
    The Professor said, “What did you pick out?”
    I showed it to him. He looked doubtfully at me. “Do you think you will like it and understand it?”
    “Who you kiddin'?” I snorted.
    “It's kind of deep stuff for a kid,” he said.
    “You don't know Noodles, Professor, he's a smart guy. The smartest guy on Delancey Street.”
    “All right, Noodles,” he said, “after you finish it I'd like to know what you think of it.”
    “Yeh, I'll let you know,” I promised.

CHAPTER 2
    “I'll keep in touch with you,” he whispered after us as we walked upstairs. We walked back to Gelly's.
    Maxie asked, “What was that he said, I have to learn not to be... that word, imp... something, you remember, Noodles?”
    “Impetuous?”
    “Yep, that's it, impetuous. What did he mean?”
    “Not to rush into things, you know, without figuring.”
    “That's a good tip. The Professor is a smart one. Yep, you got to plan things out; that's one thing I'm gonna remember.”
    Patsy, Cockeye and Dominick were standing in the doorway, waiting for us. “Where were you guys?” Patsy asked.
    “Noodles and I made a buck apiece.” Maxie walked into the store. We followed him in.
    “Give me your buck, Noodles,” Maxie said.
    “Give you my buck?” I was unwilling. “What for?”
    “We all share,” Max said decisively.
    Reluctantly I handed it to him. He walked over to old man Gelly.
    “Give us some change.” He threw the bills on the counter.
    Maxie split the two dollars five ways. I took my forty cents with a feeling of disappointment. He smiled reassuringly.
    “Don't worry, Noodles, there's more where that came from.”
    Maxie bought a pack of Sweet Caporals. We went outside. We smoked, whistled, and made nasty remarks to the girls passing by.
    Dominick's father came by. He slapped the cigarette out of Dominick's mouth and chased him home. We jeered after them.
    I was looking up at Dolores, who was gazing out of her window across the street. Maxie waved to her; she shut the window in a huff. I stood there daydreaming about her. My first love. I imagined her in all sorts of trouble, being pursued and molested by strange ruffians. In my daydreams I cast myself in the heroic role of her protector—me and my knife. Then my thoughts wandered off to Peggy. A new strange inner excitement overwhelmed me. I wondered if she would be on the stoop. Maybe I'll grab a hold of fat little Fanny.
    I said, “I'm gonna hit the hay, fellas,” and walked down the street towards my house.
    “What's the hurry all of a sudden?” Maxie called after me. “Don't forget, early tomorrow, Noodles, four-thirty.”
    I answered over my shoulder, “I'll be there, don't worry.”
    Peggy wasn't on the stoop. Like a tomcat I slunk through the halls, up and down the stairs looking for her or for Fanny. I felt foolishly dissatisfied as I walked up the