american tragedy

Chapter 11

Chapter 18
Clyde's chief concern was how to spend most of the money he earned.Because since he earned money, the family always thought that he would use a large part of the money he earned to supplement the family.But now if he said that he could earn at least twenty-five dollars a week, or even more, and that's not including fifteen dollars a month and food, then his parents would definitely take ten or twelve dollars.

For a long time he had harbored a desire to look good, and now his chance had come.He told his mother that the total daily tip was less than a dollar.In order to be able to freely control the free time, he also said that in addition to his turn to go to work every other day, he had to often work as a substitute for sick waiters or be assigned to do other things.He also said that the manager had taken care of all the waiters outside the hotel as if they were in the hotel, and dressed neatly.He couldn't keep wearing this suit and going to work in a restaurant.He said Mr. Squires had hinted at it to him.Fortunately a waiter in the restaurant told him there was a place to buy these things.

His mother, quite uninitiated in such matters, took him at his word.

The problem is not that simple.The young people who were with him every day had more experience than him, were more familiar with the luxury and evil life than he, and had already acquired some bad habits.But Clyde was still a complete layman in all these things, and when he heard people talking about it, he couldn't help being dumbfounded, and even felt disgusted at first.Hegglund once said that Clyde is now one of them, and some of them go to have fun on the night of salary at the end of the month as usual.Clyde knew from what they said that they liked to hang out together late at night, eat and drink, and then, as usual, go to the good-looking dance hall in the city center to find a woman.If that doesn't interest everyone, they go to that very notorious brothel.These waiters often boasted that there they could "get any girl they wanted" for a fraction of the money they had around them.The women in this kind of place are business-oriented and always want to lure them to come back next time, so they are very attentive to them.

Hitherto Clyde's life had been very dull, and he was so preoccupied with almost every kind of pleasure-seeking that he listened very closely to any talk of adventure and pleasure. vigorously.That's not to say he approves of nonsense.In fact, this kind of thing irritated and distressed him at first, because he felt that it was completely contrary to what he had been taught for many years.However, his life has undergone such a big change, what a relief.It kept him thinking of such things all the time, with a longing for variety.Although he still sometimes disapproved of what he heard, he listened with great enthusiasm and expressed sympathy.

Seeing how easy-going and friendly he was, those young men persuaded him to go to various places with them one by one, and even persuaded him to go to those dirty places.At first, Clyde was resolutely unwilling to go to this kind of place.But he liked Hegglund and Rattler very much, and after getting to know them well, they invited him to a dinner together, and he decided to go.

Rattler said to him, "Tomorrow night we're going to Frisell again for our monthly lively dinner. You haven't been there, Clyde. Would you like to attend?"

By this time, Clyde had gotten used to this lively atmosphere, and was no longer hesitant as he was at the beginning.He studied Doyle carefully, and, like him, bought a new suit.He has never worn beautiful clothes in his life.This suit made his family members surprised by this change, even a little dumbfounded.

How did Clyde become so rich so quickly? How much is the suit he is wearing now worth? Would he be so foolish as to mortgage his future income and spend it indiscriminately for the sake of his present style? Need to spend money, others also need to buy some clothes.How much does the restaurant make him work so long and sometimes come back so late at night? Is the moral and spiritual atmosphere of the place suitable for him?

To these questions he answered tactfully that everything would be all right and that his work was not too hard.His clothes weren't too pretty either, as his mother would have known if she saw some of the other waiters.He didn't spend a lot of money, and the money spent on these things can be paid back in installments over a long period of time.

However, the issue of this dinner cannot be ignored.He thought to himself, it would be very late, how could he explain to his parents that he was coming home so late? Rattler said that it would be around three or four in the middle of the night, but he could leave first.But leave everyone alone and go first, what is that like? Should we go to such a late dinner? These guys all drink and don't take him seriously at all. People drink on these occasions, only He was foolish enough to think that a little drinking was dangerous, but he could do without it.He decided that if the family said anything, he could say that he had to come back so late because of work, but what was it if he came back late once in a while? Isn't he an adult now? Doesn't he earn more than anyone in the family? Does he Shouldn't you decide things yourself?

He began to feel the joy of freedom of movement, that he could have a fling, and no matter what his mother said, he would never be able to control him.

(End of this chapter)