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Nobody's Fool

Nobody's Fool

Titel: Nobody's Fool Kostenlos Bücher Online Lesen
Autoren: Richard Russo
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careful because they splinter. Each board has a side groove that fits into a slot, and you can’t always yank them up without breaking one or the other. Laying them again is slow going. Three days, probably. Then you have to sand and varnish. New wood alone would cost you more than a thousand, though.”
    Carl looked at Sully, and both men shrugged.
    â€œLeaving only the issue of collateral damage,” Carl said, “the unforeseen destruction sure to occur when somebody’s stupid enough to allow Don Sullivan into his house with a crowbar.” He shook his head wearily. “My camp is liable to end up looking like this before he’s through.”
    â€œEleven hundred,” Sully said.
    â€œWhat?” Carl said.
    â€œThat insult just cost you a hundred dollars,” Sully said. “And I’ll take six hundred up front, since I’m dealing with you.”
    â€œI’m going to regret this,” Carl reached into his pants pocket. “I can tell already.”
    He counted out six hundred dollars from a large roll of bills.
    â€œYou’re right,” Sully said. “I am the dumbest man in Bath. If I had any sense I’d hit you over the head with this crowbar, take that wad of money, bury you beneath the floor and see if anybody’d miss you.”
    â€œ
You’d
miss me, snookums,” Carl Roebuck said confidently, giving Sully a pinch on the cheek.
    To celebrate, lunch at The Horse.
    As usual during the noon hour, the place was crowded with businessmen from up and down the length of Main Street, every table taken. There were three stools at the end of the bar, though, and Sully pointed Rub and Peter in their direction. Clive Jr. and a woman Sully’d never seen before were just getting up from a table near the window. When Clive Jr. saw Sully, his face clouded over and he looked at the woman he was with almost fearfully, Sully thought.
    â€œI got to go talk to that prick,” Carl said when Sully, Peter and Rub headed for the bar.
    â€œWho? The Bank?”
    â€œI’m hearing things I don’t want to hear,” Carl said. “That goddamn deal is heading south. I can feel it.”
    â€œThe theme park?”
    â€œWhat a putz,” Carl said, eyeing Clive Jr. across the room. “If it’d been me I’d have had that Texas big shot laid and then blown and then back on a plane before the ink was dry on the contract. Dickhead over there is just like his old man. The square of all squares. Can you believe that woman he’s going to marry?”
    â€œShe’s not getting much of a bargain, either,” Sully reminded him. “Go ahead. We’ll send the check over when we’re done.”
    â€œIt’d be just like you,” Carl Roebuck said.
    â€œSlide down one,”
Sully
told Rub, indicating the next stool.
    Rub looked reluctant. “How come?”
    â€œSo I can be on the end.”
    â€œHow come?”
    â€œSo you won’t swing around on that stool and bang my knee, like you’re so fond of doing.”
    Rub moved. “How come I’m always the one you boss?” he wondered, settling onto the middle stool.
    Sully moved the stool Rub had vacated so he could stand next to it. “What? You want me to give Peter an order, is that it?”
    Rub shrugged, embarrassed to have instigated open conflict.
    â€œWell?” Sully said.
    â€œI just don’t see—”
    Sully held up a hand and Rub stopped. “I just want to know what would make you happy, Rub. If it’ll make you happy, I’ll give Peter a direct order. And if he’s smart he’ll do as he’s told, too.”
    Rub shrugged again, but clearly the idea appealed to him.
    â€œAre you ready?” Sully said. “Are you paying attention?”
    Rub said he was.
    â€œSon.”
    â€œWhat?” said Peter, who seemed not to be in the mood for such games. He was still half angry about Will, was Sully’s guess.
    â€œI want you to stay right where you are,” Sully told him. “Don’t get off that fucking stool. That’s an order.”
    Peter surrendered a reluctant grin. “Okay,” he said.
    Sully turned back to Rub. “There,” he said. “You happy now?”
    Rub was not happy, but he knew better than to say so. Blessedly, Birdie came over and was waiting to take their order. “We got a new item,” she told them. “Hot buffalo

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