A Bright Tomorrow by Gilbert Morris Read Free Book Online Page A

name?”
    Amos gave his name and sat there, twisting his soft cap in his hands as Rossi questioned him and trying to think of another way to find Lylah. But it seemed almost impossible. Finally he got to his feet. “Sorry to have bothered you, Mr. Rossi.”
    Rossi let the young man get to the door, then made a decision. “Stuart…wait a minute!”
    â€œYes, sir?”
    Rossi rose and motioned toward his desk. “Miss Adams is out of the country. But if you want to write her a letter, I’ll see that she gets it.”
    Amos thought quickly, then nodded. “I’d appreciate that, Mr. Rossi.” He sat down and wrote a few lines, folded the paper, and handed it to Rossi. The older man took it and held it in his hand. “Leave your name and address. I’ll send for you if she answers this.”
    Amos jotted down the Castellanos’ address, then looked up. “How long do you think she’ll be gone?”
    â€œMaybe a month, maybe two.”
    Rossi turned away in dismissal, and Amos left the office, feeling defeated. I can’t stay here two months! he thought. I’m broke! But then he remembered Lylah’s face, and his jaw hardened.
    He walked back to the Castellanos’ house and, when Nick came home, he told him what had happened. “I’ve got to stay here until I hear something. Do you know where I can get work?”
    Nick nodded. “Sure, you can work in the bottle factory with me.” He frowned and stared down at his hands. “But you won’t like it, Amos.”
    â€œCan’t be any worse than plowing new ground.”
    â€œYou’ll see!”

4
A N EW A RRIVAL
    A voice was calling his name, but Amos clung stubbornly to sleep, fighting for oblivion as a dreamer fights for his dream. Hands pulled at him, and he made a few feeble spasmodic blows that accomplished nothing.
    â€œLemme sleep!” he mumbled, burrowing his face in the pillow, trying desperately to will away the voice and the hands.
    But the hands persisted, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him upright, and Amos squinted, recognizing the features of Nick Castellano. “Come on, Amos, pile out of there!” Nick said, and when Amos tried to break away, Nick braced himself and gave a rough jerk, pulling Amos half out of bed. “Better hurry up, or they’ll dock your pay!”
    Amos groped around in the murky darkness, fingers stiff with cold as he fumbled for his clothes. They lay on the floor where he’d let them drop the night before, stiff and dirty and cold, so that he shivered as the cloth touched his bare skin. They smelled rank. Got to wash my clothes after work , he thought. Can’t live like a pig! He had only two sets of working clothes, and his first two weeks on the job, he’d washed one set every day, but that had taken too much energy, until now he usually went dirty…except for those times Mama Anna or Mary Elizabeth took pity on him and threw his stiff pants and shirt into the family wash.
    When he was dressed, he stumbled out of the small room, casting one envious glance at Mario’s sleeping form. I’d give anything to be able to stay in bed and sleep! He went down- stairs, stood beside Nick at the mirror over the washbasin, and the two of them shaved in cold water, the dull razor raking Amos’s skin and making his eyes water. After he finished, he slumped at the table with Nick and gulped down the coffee Anna set out, then silently ate the hot mush and rolls that comprised their usual breakfast. It was the last hot food hewould have for fourteen hours, so he chewed slowly, trying not to think of the long day stretching before him.
    Swallowing their last bite, they got up and took the small paper sacks Anna gave them. She kissed Nick. “I’ll see you after work, bambino mio. ”
    Nick was embarrassed as always by her caress. He pulled away, grunting, “Yeah…okay, Mama.” Anna patted Amos on