Над пропастью во ржи

           Hecouldhearmeallrightthroughtheshowercurtains,buthedidn’tanswermerightaway. Hewasthekindofaguythathatestoansweryourightaway. Finallyhecameover,throughthegoddamcurtains,andstoodontheshowerledgeandaskedwhowasgoingbesidesme. Healwayshadtoknowwhowasgoing. Iswear,ifthatguywasshipwreckedsomewhere,andyourescuedhiminagoddamboat,he’dwanttoknowwhotheguywasthatwasrowingitbeforehe’devengetin. ItoldhimMalBrossardwasgoing. Hesaid,"Thatbastard...Allright. Waitasecond. "You’dthinkhewasdoingyouabigfavor. 

           Ittookhimaboutfivehourstogetready. Whilehewasdoingit,Iwentovertomywindowandopeneditandpackedasnowballwithmybarehands. Thesnowwasverygoodforpacking. Ididn’tthrowitatanything,though.Istartedtothrowit.Atacarthatwasparkedacrossthestreet. ButIchangedmymind.Thecarlookedsoniceandwhite. ThenIstartedtothrowitatahydrant,butthatlookedtooniceandwhite,too. FinallyIdidn’tthrowitatanything. AllIdidwasclosethewindowandwalkaroundtheroomwiththesnowball,packingitharder. Alittlewhilelater,IstillhaditwithmewhenIandBrossnadandAckleygotonthebus. Thebusdriveropenedthedoorsandmademethrowitout. ItoldhimIwasn’tgoingtochuckitatanybody,buthewouldn’tbelieveme. Peopleneverbelieveyou. 

           BrossardandAckleybothhadseenthepicturethatwasplaying,soallwedid,wejusthadacoupleofhamburgersandplayedthepinballmachineforalittlewhile,thentookthebusbacktoPencey. Ididn’tcareaboutnotseeingthemovie,anyway. Itwassupposedtobeacomedy,withCaryGrantinit,andallthatcrap. Besides,I’dbeentothemovieswithBrossardandAckleybefore.