И проиграли бой

           "Oh,forChrist’ssake,Dad,"Alsaidweakly."Don’tstartthatagain.TheycallyouMac,don’tthey?"

           "Right."

           "Well,look,Mac.D’youthinkIcouldgetintotheParty?"

           "Youmeanyouwanttogoinactivework?"

           "Yeah.ThinkIcouldgetin?"

           "Ithinkso—"Macsaidslowly."I’llgiveyouanapplicationcard.Whatyouwanttocomeinfor,Al?"

           Theheavyfacetwistedinagrimace.Alswunghisheadbackandforth."Ibeenthinkin’,"hesaid."EversincetheybeatmeupIbeenthinkin’.Ican’tgetthoseguysoutamyhead—mylittlewagonallburnedup,an’themjumpin’onmewiththeirfeet;andtwocopsdownonthecornerwatchin’,andnotdoin’athing!Ican’tgetthatoutamyhead."

           "Andsoyouwanttojoinupwithus,huh,Al?"

           "Iwanttobeagainst’em,"Alcried."Iwanttobefightin’’emallmylife.Iwanttobeontheotherside."

           "They’lljustbeatyouupworse,Al.I’mtellin’youstraight.They’llknockhelloutofyou."

           "Well,Iwon’tcarethen,becauseI’llbefightin’’em,see?ButthereIwas,justrunnin’alittlelunchwagon,an’givin’bumsahandoutnowan’then——"Hisvoicechokedandtearssqueezedoutofhiseyes.

           Dr.Burtontouchedhimgentlyonthecheek."Don’ttalkanymore,Al."