The Laughing Matter by William Saroyan Read Free Book Online

for a moment,” Cody said.
    In the morning Bart said, “It was
something
. I don’t know
what
, but it was something. I think the reason I was scared is that I felt he might fall dead or even kill somebody, from anger.”
    â€œAnger?”
    â€œWell, rage would be more like it. It wasn’t funny. It was a man in a killing rage.”
    Now, driving with the man and his kids to the depot and freight yards of Clovis, Cody Bone listened to the talk of the father and the son, and knew from the man’s way of speech that Bart had not been far from the truth. Cody didn’t want to pry, but when his car was almost struck by one that had not stopped at a stop sign and Cody had had to slam on the brakes, throwing everybody around a little, he said, “Well, life
is
full of surprises, isn’t it?”
    He had not, as a matter of fact, meant the remark to start anything, but after it had been made and Evan Nazarenus did not treat it insignificantly by saying quickly almost anything at all, Cody knew that Evan
had
been in a bad way, and was still.
    â€œI mean,” Cody went on quickly, “there’s no telling when the unexpected is liable to happen, like that fool boy back there nearly smashing into us. Well, he didn’t make it, so we’re all set for the locomotive ride, after all.”
    He turned to glance at the boy beside him, the boy’s eyes enormous and searching. They were still excited, but no longer frightened.
    â€œWhere will I sit?” Red said.
    â€œRight beside me.”
    â€œCan I sit where
you
sit and lean out the way you do?”
    â€œI think so.”
    â€œCan I make it go?”
    â€œI think so.”
    â€œEva,” Red said, “you watch from the depot. Watch me run the locomotive.”
    â€œAll right,” the girl said.
    Cody Bone parked the car in front of the depot.
    â€œI’ll get into my work clothes,” he said. “I’ll be back with the big black baby in five minutes.”
    â€œWe’ll be out front,” Evan said.

Chapter 11
    Across the street, over Harry’s Pool Room, was a hall, six rooms, a kitchen, and two baths. The door on the street was locked, had been since four in the morning. Susie and the two girls were having coffee and cigarettes. The enormous Negress had invited the girls to the front room to sit at the window and look down at the depot and the railroad tracks.
    â€œThere’s Cody Bone,” she said.
    â€œWas
he
ever here?” a girl called Peggy said.
    â€œCody?” the Negress said. “Lord, no. We been friends thewhole time I rent this place. He remember my birthday every year. Just because I tole him one day it was my birthday. I was all dressed up, but it wasn’t no more my birthday than today is. There’s some others. That man there, that boy and girl.”
    â€œThat one last night,” the other girl said, a girl called Toy, half Japanese, half Mexican-Indian. “Warren Walz. Was he ever here before?”
    â€œJuss a minute,” Susie said. “My girls don’t know who comes here. All right here to say the name. Nowhere else. A man come here, nobody ever hear about it.”
    â€œI know,” Toy said. “I just want to know if he ever came here before.”
    â€œThere they go,” Susie said. “They standing out front there, the man holding hands with the boy and girl.” She turned to the girl. “He never come here before. Why?”
    â€œI’ve seen
boys
cry.”
    â€œLook over there now,” Susie said. “Here comes Cody with the big black baby. That’s what he call the engine. He doan mean no kind of discrimination by it, though. He love that big black baby. Look now, Toy. You, Peggy. There’s Cody getting down. There he go back up with the boy. He been
my
friend the whole time. That time of trouble, Cody help me. There he go. There’s the boy sitting in Cody’s place. Look at