Thursday, December 19, 2013
for the type of infection he had but none of us bothered to pronounce
it. They gave him a shot of penicillin. Meanwhile Neal and I went out to
dig the streets of Mexican San Antonio. It was fragrant and soft---the
softest air I’d ever known---and dark, and mysterious, and buzzing.
Sudden figures of girls in white bandanas appeared in the dark. Neal
crept along and said not a word. “Oh this is too wonderful to do
anything!” he whispered. “Let’s just creep along and see everything.
Look! look! a crazy San Antonio pool shack.” We rushed in. A dozen boys
were shooting pool at three tables, all Mexicans. Neal and I bought
cokes and shoved nickels in the jukebox and played Wynonie Blues Harris
and Lionel Hampton and Lucky Millinder and jumped. Meanwhile Neal warned
me to watch. “Dig now, out of the corner of your eye and as we listen
and as we also smell the soft air as you say---dig the kid, the crippled
kid shooting pool at table no. 1, the butt of the joint’s jokes, y’see,
he’s been the butt all his life. The other fellows are merciless but
they love him.” The crippled kid was some kind of malformed midget with a
great big beautiful face much too large in which enormous brown eyes
moistly gleamed. “Don’t you see, Jack? A San Antonio Mex Jim Holmes, the
same story the world over. See they hit him on the ass with a cue? Ha!
ha! ha! hear them laugh. You see, he wants to win the game, he’s bet
four bits. Watch! Watch!” We watched as the angelic young midget aimed
for a bank shot. He missed. The other fellows roared. “Ah man” said Neal
“and now watch.” They had the little boy by the scruff of the neck and
were mauling him around, playful. He squealed. He stalked out in the
night but not without a backward bashful sweet glance. “Ah man, I’d love
to know that gone little cat and what he thinks and what kind of girls
he has---Oh man, I’m high on this air!” We wandered out and negotiated
several dark mysterious blocks. Innumerable houses hid behind verdant
almost jungle-like yards; we saw glimpses of girls in front rooms, girls
on porches, girls in the bushes with boys. “I never knew this mad San
Antonio! Think what Mexico’ll be like! Lessgo! Lessgo!” We rushed back
to the hospital. Frank was ready and said he felt much better. We put
our arms around him and told him everything
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