Read Online Jolly by John Weston - Free Book Online Page B

I really did. And you can pull in right there at Doogle’s and buy me a big fat strawberry soda to prove your everlasting affection.”
    “Jeez, I’ll buy ya two. No kidding? You wouldn’t yank on an old buddy, would you?”
    “Call ’em up, if you don’t believe me.”
    The two boys pushed open the glass doors of Doogle’s Center Drug and searched for vacant stools together. After they had given their order Luke whistled again. “I still don’t believe it. Where’ll we take ’em?” he asked.
    “They want to go down to Skull Valley for the Saturday night dance. You want a cigarette?”
    “No. Yes. This calls for a celebration.”
    “Look at the Baptist pillar, would you. Sin and shame.”
    Luke puffed at the cigarette awkwardly. “What do they want to go there for?”
    “They’ve no doubt heard rumors that that’s where the big boys go to play on a Saturday night.”
    “Yeh. Well, this boy’s big enough to play. Babe Wooten! God. Say, you’ve been to those dances before. What’re they really like?”
    “Jeez, I was about eight at the time.”
    “Eight! What the hell could you do at eight, for chrissake?”
    “Very little except dance. As a matter of fact, at that age you went to them to dance. Real shit-kickin’ music, too,” Jolly winked.
    “I bet.” Luke blew smoke down a straw and watched it bubble out the top of his soda like a miniature strawberry volcano.
    “Say, Joll,” Luke whispered, “we better get some rubbers.”
    “Dreamer. Anyway, I have one.”
    “Where’d you get it?”
    “Remember in that service station out by Freddy’s? You got a package, too.”
    “Christ, that was six months ago. It won’t be no good now, if it ever was.”
    “Why? I haven’t used it—dammit.”
    Luke wagged his head in disgust. “Why, you can’t keep ’em that long. They deter—tederio—”
    “Deteriorate.”
    “Yeh. It’d be rotten by now. Why’d ya keep it so long?”
    Jolly snorted. “What was I supposed to use it for, a goddam balloon?”
    Luke lowered his voice more. “Hey, Joll, we could buy some right here. Right over there. You just go put fifty cents on the counter and hold up two fingers. He’ll know what you mean.”
    “Not me, dad. You ever done it?”
    Luke bent his cigarette in an ash tray. “No,” he said,
    “Well, me neither. And I’m not about to. Couldn’t you swipe some of your father’s?”
    “Hell, the last time I looked I couldn’t find none. I don’t think he uses them anymore or something.”
    “Do you reckon he’s too old?” Jolly asked.
    “I don’t know. I wonder how old ya hafta be before you got to stop.”
    “What worries me is, how old do you hafta be to start, for chrissake.”
    “Tomorrow night could tell the tale, son.” Luke swung off the stool. “Let’s go.”
    They drove west across town, squinting against the four-thirty sun that cast long shadows from the trunks of the trees on the plaza, belying the heat. At the curb before Jolly’s house Luke asked, “You seen your brother yet?”
    Jolly lifted the door handle but did not open the door. “No,” he said.
    “Jesus Christ, he’s been here a week. Or more. How come you haven’t seen him?”
    “Oh, I’ll see him sometime, I guess.” Jolly laughed, but shortly. “He seems to come calling when he knows I’m not here. Piss on him. I don’t give a shit, any more.”
    Luke watched Jolly’s face for a moment, then turned to face the windshield. “Yeh. Not much, you don’t.” Luke tapped the steering wheel with his fingers. “What the hell’s the matter with him anyway? He must be as crazy as you—”
    “Not a goddam thing’s the matter with him.”
    “OK, OK. Well, patookus, you gettin’ out?”
    Jolly opened the door. “Yes.”
    “What do you wear to one a those dances, Joll?”
    “If you don’t want to look like a slicker, you’d better wear Levis. I told the girls we’d pick them up about nine. It takes about an hour to get there.”
    Luke grinned.