Then Ferris began again. "Your starting salary is forty-four-and-half cents an hour. We are non-union here. Management believes that what is fair for the company is fair for you. We are like a family, dedicated to serve and to profit. You will each receive a ten-percent discount on all merchandise you purchase from Mears-Starbuck. . ."
My father walked back with Edna's purse. "Everybody in the house!" We went inside and my father locked me in the bedroom and my mother and father began arguing.
My father drove along, stopping and starting, making deliveries.
"O.K., kid, which direction are we driving in now?"
"North."
"You're right. We're going north."
We went up and down the streets, stopping and starting.
"O.K., which way are we going now?"
"West."
"No, we're going south."
We drove along in silence some more.
"Suppose I pushed you out of the truck now and left you on the sidewalk,
what would you do?"
"I don't know."
"I mean, how would you live?"
"Well, I guess I'd go back and drink the milk and the orange juice you
just left on the porch steps."
"Then what would you do?"
"I'd find a policeman and tell him what you did."
"You would, huh?" And what would you tell him?"
"I'd tell him that you told me that 'west' was 'south' because you wanted
me to get lost."
As I walked along I didn't feel so alone and I wasn't. I noticed a starving mongrel dog following me.
It was sad. A flock of pigeons, frightened by a piece of paper blown in the wind, flapped noisily away. I yearned to be drunk on beer. I wanted to be anywhere but here.
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