american tragedy

Chapter 9 (2)
Chapter 16 (2)
The young man said kindly, "Hey, you don't hate this place, I bet anyone would hate this big hotel. You mean the eighth floor?" He stopped the elevator, and Clyde went Get out of the elevator.He was so nervous that he forgot to ask the person where he was going, so he immediately looked at the room number, searched for a while, and concluded that he had gone the wrong way.Soft brown rugs underfoot, soft, cream-colored walls, bowl-shaped lamps recessed into the ceiling.It seemed to him almost unbelievably perfect, and the pomp and pomp were so different from his own life.

Later, he found No. [-], and knocked on the door timidly. After a while, he wore blue and white striped trousers and underwear, with a short and sturdy half body and a half round head with a good complexion. He was greeted at the door, and there was one eye on that half of the head, with some wrinkles at the end of the eye.

"Here's a dollar bill, man." It was as if the eye spoke, and then a hand came out and held a dollar bill.It was a pair of red and fat hands. "Go to the dresser and buy me a pair of garters, Boston garters, silk, and come back quickly."

"Yes, sir," replied Clyde, taking the money in his hand.He closed the door and hurried along the aisle towards the elevator, wondering where the clothing store was.Although he is so old, 17 years old, this name is unfamiliar to him.He hadn't even heard of it, at least not paid attention to the name.If the man said "men's store," he'd get it right away, but now he was being called to a clothing store, and he didn't know what it was about.Some cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his knees were shaking.What the hell! What to do? If you ask someone else for advice, wouldn't it be...

He rang the elevator bell, clothing store, clothing store.He suddenly had an idea.What did it matter if he didn't know what a dress shop was? Anyway, the guy wanted a silk Boston garter, and where would he find it? Naturally, he'd look for it in the men's department of a department store.Where's a men's store? He'd have to run out and find such a store.When he was going down, he saw another friendly black man driving the elevator, and asked, "Do you know where there is a men's clothing store nearby?"

The black man replied: "It's in this building, just outside the south lounge." Clyde hurried over.But in this well-fitting uniform, with this fancy hat, there’s always something a little out of place, a little bit special.He was constantly worried that his round, just-fitting hat would fall off.He kept pressing it down with his hand secretly, and ran into the snow-lit clothing store in a hurry, "I want a pair of Boston garters."

A smooth-talking dwarf said, "Well, boy, here's it, for the hotel guests? Let's say it's seventy-five cents, and these are for you." He wrapped the package and dropped the dollar into the payment. The side of the box said: "I always show my friendship to the waiters here, because I know you always try to take care of my business." At this time, Clyde saw clearly that this person's head was bald and bright, and his face was pale. Ruddy, wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

Clyde held the dime and the paper bag, not knowing what to make of it.That pair of garter belts must be priced at seventy-five cents, so they say.In this way, we only need to return the twenty-five cents to the customer.Then, the dime is his own.Maybe that person also tipped extra?

The elevator doors opened and several guests walked over.Then Clyde went in with another waiter who gave him a concerned look.The waiter on the sixth floor left.Clyde and an old lady stepped out of the elevator on the eighth floor.He hurried to the door of his guest room and knocked lightly twice.The man opened the door, he was a little more neatly dressed than before.He was wearing trousers and was shaving. "came back?"

"Yes, sir, they say seventy-five cents," Clyde handed him the paper packet and the change.

"He's a real robber, the goddam thing. But there's nothing you can do, take your change," he answered, handing him the twenty-five cents, and shutting the door.Clyde at that moment, at this very moment, was stunned. "Triangle Five. It's just such a small trip. Is this the way things are here? Absolutely not. This is impossible. It will never be like this."

Then he stepped on the soft felt on the carpet, clutching a few dimes tightly with his hands in his pockets, he really wanted to say yes and laugh out loud.Good guy, triangle five, only did such a small thing.This guy gave him twenty-five cents, and the other guy a quarter, but he didn't do anything at all.

He went downstairs and got out of the elevator, and the music of the band fascinated him again, so many well-dressed people, it was amazing, which also made him intoxicated, and he walked towards the bench he had just left.

After that, he asked to pick up three handbags and two umbrellas for an elderly couple who looked like farmers. They booked a reception room, a bedroom and a bathroom on the fifth floor.He noticed that they looked at him all the way, but said nothing.As soon as he got to the room, he immediately turned on the light in the room, drew down the curtains, and put the handbag on the luggage rack. The slow-moving middle-aged man with the beard looked very solemn, and he looked him over and said: "Young man , you are smart and lively, stronger than those we have encountered in the past."

"I don't think a hotel is a place for kids," shrieked his wife, a big, plump woman who was busy looking around the room. "I will never let our children work in restaurants."

Putting away his overcoat and digging into his trouser pocket, the older man said, "Young man, I'll give you a quarter and go down and buy me three or four evening papers, and a bottle if you can get them." Ice water, I'll wait for your return."

"His father, this restaurant is better than Mana, Pennsylvania. The carpets and curtains here are better." The woman commented briefly.

Although Clyde was a stranger, he couldn't help laughing to himself.But he pretended to be very serious on the surface, as if he didn't have any expression on his mind, and just went with the change.Presently he came up with ice water and all the evening papers, got his quarter, and walked away happily.

However, this was only the beginning, because he had not yet settled down on the bench, and was sent to room [-] again, where he was called to the bar to get drinks. This time he was sent by a group of well-dressed Bright young men and women, they are talking and laughing in the room.One of them opened the door a little and told him what he wanted.But there was a mirror on the mantelpiece, from which he saw these people, and a pretty girl in a white coat, sitting on the edge of a chair, and a young man was reclining on the chair, with his arm around her. waist.

Clyde stared, but pretended not to.For him, the scene was like looking through the gates of heaven.These young men and women in this room were not much older than him, they were talking and laughing, and they were drinking the kind of drink that his parents always opposed, thinking that it could lead people to the road of destruction.

He hurried to the bar, came back with a drink and a receipt, and got the money again. The drink was one and a half dollars, and the tip was twenty-five cents.Once again he beheld the alluring sight.But this time, one of the couples was dancing and the other two were humming.

In addition to the various scenes of the guests in the room, what also aroused his interest was the appearance of the staff, and there were also various stalls.The people in these places seemed really strange to him, each of them exuded a special aura.Walking and sitting around and among the stalls were full of pompous men and women, all so stylishly dressed.And the cars and other vehicles they rode in before and after dinner.And their shawls and fur collars and things of that sort were often carried by other attendants through the foyer in the gate to the car or from the restaurant to the elevator.Clyde saw that these things were often made of very expensive materials, how luxurious! In this way, it is very clear what it means to be a rich man, to be an important person, and to be rich.That is to say, people can do whatever they like.You have all these luxuries, where you want to go, how you want to go, when you want to go, everything you want.

(End of this chapter)