american tragedy

Chapter 89 (1)
Chapter 243 (1)
He returned to Lycurgus on Monday morning, and at the same time he saw Roberta's letter.

Dear Clyde:

My dear, it used to be said, "Misfortunes never come singly," and I never understood what it meant until now.The first person I met this morning was our neighbour, Mr. Wilcox.Mrs. Ansey, he said, couldn't come out today because she had a job for Mrs. Dinwiddie of Beards.Although we took care of everything for her when she was leaving yesterday, but now she can't come, she has to wait until tomorrow.Later, I got another news that my mother had to visit my aunt who was seriously ill.Tom put down his work and drove to her.I don't know if mom will be back before Sunday.If I was better, I would go, even if my mother didn't agree.

Also, Emily and Tom thought I was all right, and I just liked to have fun, so they got four girls and four boys to come here tonight and have a party, like a moon party.Me, Emily, and mom are here to make ice cream and pie.But now, she must go to the Wilcox's, which might be postponed until sometime next week. (Of course she was very sad.)

As for myself, I had no choice but to hang on.But my dear, to tell you the truth, it's really hard.So far, I have only had three short phone calls with you. You just said that you may not be able to get the money you need before July 15th.In addition, there are some bad things. I didn’t know until today that Mom and Dad have decided to go to Hamilton on the [-]th (No. [-] to NO.[-]) to find Uncle Charlie and take me with him unless I decide to go back to Lai Coggs; while Tom and Emily go to Homer to find his sister.But, my dear, you understand that I can't do it.I'm not feeling well and I'm too worried.Last night, I threw up a mess and worked my way through the day; tonight, I'm going crazy.

My dear, what should we do? They are leaving on July [-]rd, will you pick me up before that day? You must pick me up in time, I really can't go with them.It's fifty miles from here.As long as you can promise to pick me up before they go, I might as well say to them that I can go with them.But you have to guarantee that you will definitely come, with absolute certainty.

Clyde, I just can't stop crying since I got here.If you were here too, I wouldn't be so sad.I do want to be brave, my dear, but you haven't had a letter since I've been here.We just had three phone calls, so how can I not worry that you won't come to pick me up when the time comes.I said to myself that you would never be so nasty.Especially since you've promised you'll come, haven't you? For some reason, I'm terrified of everything now, Clyde, I'm terrified.I think about last summer, I think about this summer, I think about all my dreams.It doesn't really matter to you that you came a few days earlier than planned, does it? Even though our lives are tough, I know we can always figure it out.I can save a lot.I will try my best to finish my clothes in time.If you can't finish it, you might as well bring something with you, and it's not too late to stay in the future.And I'll make myself brave, dear, and I'll never give you too much trouble if you come.You must come, you know, Clyde.There is no other way to go, although for you now I wish there was another way.

Promise me, Clyde, to write and tell me that you will come in time.It's really worrying that I'm here alone, it's really lonely.If I don't see you by then, I'll come straight to you, and I know you won't like it, but Clyde, I can't stay here, that's all, and I can't go with Mum and Dad , so there is only one way.Tonight, I'm sure I won't be able to sleep.Therefore, please be sure to write to me, and tell me in the letter not to worry about you not coming to pick me up.As long as you come today or this weekend, dear, I won't be so worried.However, there are almost two weeks left.Everyone is asleep, and the room is silent, so I will stop here.

But write to me, dear, at once.If you don't want to do this, be sure to call me tomorrow.Because only with your answer can my heart settle down.

your unfortunate roberta

Also: this letter is messed up, but I really can't write well.I am so depressed.

But Clyde was not present when this letter was sent here, and could not answer her immediately.Roberta's mood became more and more gloomy as a result, and she wrote another letter on Saturday afternoon.At that time, she thought that he had left her and left.When she wrote the following letter, she was so excited that she almost cried out:

My dear Clyde:

I am writing to tell you that I am returning to Lycurgus.I just can't stay here any longer.Mom was very worried, wondering why I was crying, and I was really sick.I promised to stay until the 25th or 26th, and I know that.But, you said you were going to write to me, but you never wrote, but then there was a phone call, and I was almost going crazy.I woke up this morning and couldn't help crying.This afternoon, I have a terrible headache.

I'm afraid you won't come, I'm terrified, my dear, you must come, you can take me anywhere, as long as you leave here, don't worry as much as you do now.As I am now, I am afraid that my parents will ask me to tell the whole truth, otherwise, they will find out by themselves.

Ah, Clyde, you never know that.You said you would come, and sometimes, I know you will too.But sometimes, I have to think of other things.I don't think you will come, especially when I don't write to you or call you.I hope you write a letter and tell me you will come.In this way I can barely continue to stay here.After receiving this letter, I hope you can reply immediately and tell me when you can come, and no matter what, it cannot be later than one day.Because I understand that if I am asked to stay here one day later, I will not be able to survive anyway.Clyde, there is no girl in the world sadder than me.This is all your fault.But I don't really want to say that, my dear.You were good to me in the past, if you can come to pick me up, then you are still good to me, if you can come soon, I will be very grateful.If you read this letter and think I am unreasonable, please don't take it to heart.Only when I'm sad, crazy with worry, and there's really no way out.Please write to me, Clyde.If only you could know how much I look forward to hearing from you.

Roberta

Belz on Saturday [-] June
Such a letter, with such a threat to Lycurgus, was enough to put Clyde and Roberta in the same mood.Imagine now that there was no longer any excuse to persuade her to delay this last, irrefutable request.He racked his brains to think about it all.He must not write to her, or write to bind himself.Since he was determined not to marry her, it would be foolish to do so.Moreover, he had just hugged Sandra and kissed her on the mouth, and in his current mood, he could never do that again.Even if I wanted to, I couldn't.

He also knew that in order to make her feel at ease, he had to think of a way.He read the last two letters and managed to get on the phone with Roberta 10 minutes later.In the end, he stayed anxious for half an hour before he heard her voice. At first, it seemed that the voice was very soft, and it seemed to be complaining. In fact, it was just a problem with the phone itself.She said, "Hello, Clyde. I'm glad you called. My heart has been flustered. Have you received both letters? If I don't hear from you in the morning, I will Ready to go. You don't write a single letter. It's too much for me. Where have you been, dear. I told you that Mom and Dad are leaving, don't you know? It's true. Why? You didn't reply to the letter or call? How about the three days mentioned in the letter? Will you come then? Or let's meet at a place? I've been flustered these days, but now I hear your voice , reassures me a little, but anyway, I do wish you would write me every few days, why don't you, Clyde? I haven't had a single letter from you since I've been here. I really don't know what to say, how restless I am right now."

When Roberta spoke, she was very panicked and frightened.Clyde thought that if the room was empty when she called, she would have been too careless.Although she explained to him that she was the only one there and no one could hear her, he still thought so.He didn't want her to call him by name, or mention her letters to him.

Instead of making it clear what he meant, he wanted to tell her how busy he was and it was difficult to write to her as she wished.Didn't he say he was going to come around the 28th if he could? If he could he would come.However, according to the current situation, it may be delayed by another week, to July [-] or [-], so that he can have enough time to get another fifty dollars.He has a plan about this, and he needs this little money, but in fact, he just wants to give himself enough time to visit Sandra next weekend to satisfy his earnest wish.But now she actually made such a request! Can she just go with her parents for about a week before picking her up, or let her come to him, so that he will have plenty of time.Then……

At this point, however, Roberta immediately protested, saying that in that case she must go back to her old room at the Gilpins, if she could still get it.Since he doesn't come, she will never waste time waiting for him here.Then he suddenly decided, thinking that he might come in three days, and if he couldn't come, at least he would arrange with her where she would meet him, that is, he had to think it over carefully before spending another day. some time.

He changed his tone suddenly: "But listen to me, Roberta, don't lose your temper with me. From the feeling you have given me, it seems that I can do everything easily. Before this thing is done , how miserable I am, do you know? You don't seem to care at all, I know you're worried, but what am I doing? I'm doing my best, Roberta, and there are so many things to think about, In any case, you must be patient and wait until the [-]rd. Please do it. I promise to write to you. If I don’t write, I will call you the next day. Is it all right? However, I will never I hope you mentioned my name like you did just now, it will cause trouble, and you must not do it in the future. Next time I call, I will say that Mr. Baker is looking for you, understand? Besides, in case something happens, If I can't leave on time on the third, you can come back if you like, you know. Or somewhere around here, and then we can start as soon as possible."

His tone of voice was pleading, reassuring, and it did help a little.Because he had no choice, he took on the original soft, seemingly helpless tone.This has really fascinated Roberta in the past.Even now it made her strangely grateful.So that I immediately answered him enthusiastically: "Oh, no, my dear, I never want to do this, you know. It's just because my current situation is so difficult that I can't control it. You should understand that too, don't you?" I love you so much. I don't think I'll ever get over my suspicions. Besides, I really don't want to make you sad, no matter what. Really, if I could, I wouldn't."

Hearing her sincere words, Clyde once again realized his control over her, so he spoke in a lover's tone again, lest Roberta push too hard.He thought to himself, even though he can no longer like her and marry her, but for another dream, he might as well be gentle with her, just for fun! Therefore, this conversation made them go on the basis of understanding. eased again.

(End of this chapter)