О мышах и людях

           Tellyouwhat—"Heleanedforwardeagerly.«S’poseIwentinwithyouguys.Tha’sthreehunderdan’fiftybucksI’dputin.Iain’tmuchgood,butIcouldcookandtendthechickensandhoethegardensome.How’dthatbe?»

           Georgehalf-closedhiseyes.«Igottathinkaboutthat.Wewasalwaysgonnadoitbyourselves.»

           Candyinterruptedhim,«I’dmakeawillan’leavemysharetoyouguysincaseIkickoff,‘causeIain’tgotnorelativesnornothing.Youguysgotanymoney?Maybewecoulddoherrightnow?»

           Georgespatonthefloordisgustedly.«Wegottenbucksbetweenus.»Thenhesaidthoughtfully,«Look,ifmean’Lennieworkamonthan’don’tspen’nothing,we’llhaveahunderdbucks.That’dbefourfifty.Ibetwecouldswingherforthat.Thenyouan’Lenniecouldgogetherstartedan’I’dgetajoban’makeuptheres’,an’youcouldselleggsan’stufflikethat.»

           Theyfellintoasilence.Theylookedatoneanother,amazed.Thisthingtheyhadneverreallybelievedinwascomingtrue.Georgesaidreverently,«JesusChrist!Ibetwecouldswingher.»Hiseyeswerefullofwonder.«Ibetwecouldswingher,"herepeatedsoftly.

           Candysatontheedgeofhisbunk.Hescratchedthestumpofhiswristnervously.«Igothurtfouryearago,"hesaid.«They’llcanmepurtysoon.Jus’assoonasIcan’tswampoutnobunkhousesthey’llputmeonthecounty.MaybeifIgiveyouguysmymoney,you’llletmehoeinthegardenevenafterIain’tnogoodatit.An’I’llwashdishesan’littlechickenstufflikethat.ButI’llbeonourownplace,an’I’llbelettoworkonourownplace.»Hesaidmiserably,«Youseenwhattheydonetomydogtonight?Theysayshewasn’tnogoodtohimselfnornobodyelse.