Над пропастью во ржи

           Notcornyjitterbug,notjumporanything—justniceandeasy. Everybody’llallsitdownwhentheyplayafastone,excepttheoldguysandthefatguys,andwe’llhaveplentyofroom. Okay?" 

           "It’simmaterialtome,"shesaid. "Hey—howoldareyou,anyhow?" 

           Thatannoyedme,forsomereason. "Oh,Christ.Don’tspoilit,"Isaid. "I’mtwelve,forChrissake. I’mbigformyage." 

           "Listen.Itolejaaboutthat.Idon’tlikethattypelanguage,"shesaid. "Ifyou’regonnausethattypelanguage,Icangositdownwithmygirlfriends,youknow." 

           Iapologizedlikeamadman,becausethebandwasstartingafastone. Shestartedjitterbuggingwithme—butjustveryniceandeasy,notcorny. Shewasreallygood. Allyouhadtodowastouchher. Andwhensheturnedaround,herprettylittlebutttwitchedsoniceandall. Sheknockedmeout.Imeanit. Iwashalfinlovewithherbythetimewesatdown. That’sthethingaboutgirls. Everytimetheydosomethingpretty,evenifthey’renotmuchtolookat,orevenifthey’resortofstupid,youfallhalfinlovewiththem,andthenyouneverknowwherethehellyouare. Girls.JesusChrist. Theycandriveyoucrazy.Theyreallycan. 

           Theydidn’tinvitemetositdownattheirtable—mostlybecausetheyweretooignorant—butIsatdownanyway. TheblondeI’dbeendancingwith’snamewasBernicesomething—CrabsorKrebs. Thetwouglyones’nameswereMartyandLaverne. ItoldthemmynamewasJimSteele,justforthehellofit. ThenItriedtogettheminalittleintelligentconversation,butitwaspracticallyimpossible. Youhadtotwisttheirarms.