A heavy man in a faded plaid shirt walked by the car obscuring the row of trees off behind the small convenience store. He seemed out of breath exhaling heavily as he sat down at the curb near the old phone booth now empty.
She’d been crying. She’d actually stopped here hoping for a good cry, the empty gravel parking lot alongside what was now a Quickway,Summer Job: Chapter 39,She’d been crying. She’d actually stopped here hoping for a good cry, the empty gravel parking lot alongside what was now a Quickway
A heavy man in a faded plaid shirt walked by the car obscuring the row of trees off behind the small convenience store. He seemed out of breath exhaling heavily as he sat down at the curb near the old phone booth now empty.
Had everyone changed? Rivky remembered once looking at the locals here with a certain kind of awe. At home in Brooklyn she and her sisters were sure that the men who lived in the Catskills all year were the strongest toughest men on earth. In so many imaginary tales and skits “Tatty’s friend Mike” was the hero driving away the bad guys with one blow called upon to kill a lion or drive a tank. As a child these men had all appeared to her as muscular and robust faces bursting with good health eyes crinkling with cheer.
Now she looked over at the group of men sitting on the grass — gaunt pockmarked faces sagging shoulders and vacant eyes — and felt a new wave of sadness engulf her.
She’d been crying. She’d actually stopped here hoping for a good cry the empty gravel parking lot alongside what was now a Quickway but had once been called Charlie’s. There was a time when she and her sisters would come here for black cherry soda one of those exotic drinks they could never find in Brooklyn. They would cradle the small glass bottles and proclaim more enthusiasm for its taste than any of them really felt.
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