Genevieve; the Third of January by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Chapter 9

Genevieve and Willy checked a few more roofs. Each was in snow-free order. Then they reached Pablo’s, their last expected stop on Pacific Lane, and saw clear signs of the kinds of external inattention rampant within the reader community.

Willy said; “I actually expected this.”

Genevieve said; “I had mixed feelings as I’d been out with him looking for Billy and Jack, and thought it more than possible that he might have come to be more interested in the outdoors. ....... Maybe he’s been away.”

Willy said; “Well, we shall soon see.” He knocked on the front door. In a second Pablo answered, with Rufus just behind him. “Good morning,” he said. “This is Rufus. I don’t believe that you have previously met him, Willy.”

Greetings were exchanged and Genevieve and Willy were invited inside.

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Rufus and Pablo; property of the author.

Pablo said; “Wailer is here today too. She seems too rather wrapped up in her book right now to partake in the customary social pleasantries.”

Wailer had a hardcover open and was doing her best to ingest the contents.

Genevieve said; “Oooh. What is she doing?”

Pablo replied; “Yeah. ...... Umm; how can I put it? She’s really expressed a precocious interest in an eclectic genre. The unintended curse of a ‘prodigy’ designation hovers. I sincerely hope she winds up all right.”

Rufus was confused as to whether he should smile or appear disapproving; the net result a wavy and wrinkled Charlie Brown mouth.

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Apparently having surmised that she was the current subject of conversation, Wailer said; “These crinkly old pages taste good. I’m bringing my brothers and sisters over next time.”

Looking at Pablo, Willy said; “Why don’t you stop that young woman!”

Pablo said; “It’s okay. Really; it’s no big thing beyond a bit of toddy time like personal badinage. She’s got a Pynchon book and if a few pages go missing, no one will notice the difference. I believe that Pynchon himself might have approved.

Besides, she’s so cute. Isn’t she?”

Genevieve and Willy both nodded in a desultory manner which suggested that they were not espousing a clear cut yes or no; but may have been leaning toward the affirmative.

Wailer and her book; property of the author.

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Relatively new to the world of bibliophilia, Wailer looked up warily as she was not sure what all the adults meant by their words and gestures. Perhaps feeling challenged, Wailer raised her voice, and defiantly said; “It’s ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’ for God’s sake. Ask stupid questions and you get stupid answers.”

Pablo said; “See?”

Genevieve replied; “Just imagine what she might say when she eats ‘Ulysses’.”

Rufus and Pablo petted Wailer vigorously; Rufus saying;

“This girl gets my vote for prodigy status.”

”Gravity’s Rainbow”; property of the author.

Genevieve said; “I’ll second that. Well, you might be wondering about the reason for our visit.”

Just to be silly, Pablo said; “No. Not at all. What makes you think that?”

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Genevieve continued as if nothing worthwhile was spoken, just as when Pynchon drops his “bombs,” saying; “Willy and I stopped by just as we did the rest of the neighborhood, to warn you about the snow on the roof.”

Willy added; “Yes. Normally there is not enough snow here to cause a problem. But this year we’ve had much more than usual and the weight just can become too much.”

Wailer returned to her book, thinking that if everyone else wanted to paraphrase Pynchon, it was necessary for her to eat the source.

Genevieve said; “Tardiff and Lenta had a partial collapse.”

Pablo said; “Oh, give them my condolences.”

Willy said; “With your permission, Genevieve and I would like to sweep the snow off yours.”

Pablo said; “Thank you. You’re much too kind. I think the three of us here can handle that. We’ve just been so occupied with books lately that we haven’t been paying enough attention to other things. I’m in the middle of one I’m enjoying greatly;

‘The Master and Margarita.’ Russian. I was sufficiently fortunate to obtain a complete version. This book had so many partial editions and censorings for political reasons.”

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”The Master and Margarita”; property of the author.

“And I re-read ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ again. I don’t know how many times that is. There is just so much in there I see something new every time.”

”The Catcher in the Rye”; property of the author.

Not to be left out, Rufus said; “And I’ve been reading

‘Second Chance.’ I’m not as fast as Pablo. But, I relate to this

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one, and it gives me an emotional response and sometimes I just have to stop and think about how lucky I’ve been for a while.”

Genevieve, Willy, Pablo, and Wailer recalled how Rufus had been saved from that bad situation in Rapidtown by Billy and Jack, the two black scotties.

”Second Chance”; property of the author.

Before the conversation might have produced any noses or teeth in books, Pablo said; “All books closed! We’re going up on the roof right now. ...... All right. Wailer, you can leave yours open. But, to the roof we go! He started to march and his two troops fell right in line, Rufus with a bit of a giggle, and Wailer with an overt one.

The trio paraded through the front door followed by Genevieve and Pablo.

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The strut ended when everyone looked at the roof, then looked at Pablo as if to say; “Okay what next?”

Pablo sheepishly said; “I guess we’ll need our own ladder and some brooms. ....... Minor details, minor details. I’ll get the ladder and you two go back in and get three brooms out of the closets.”

Willy lightheartedly said; “Things under control here?”

Pablo stopped in his tracks to answer; “Yes sir. No sir. As much as ever sir. Snow off roof.” He looked up and overly calmly stated; “You hear that up there? You’ve had a cozy perch up until now, but your minutes are numbered. Beware the ides of the broom.” In search of that ladder, he was off howling “No tu tambien techo,” over and over.

Willy said to Genevieve; “Is he all right?”

Genevieve said; “Yeah. I know him. He’s just having some fun. He just must have recently been re-reading Shakespeare’s

‘The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.’ It’s hard to explain.”

Willy said; “Mind if we wait here until the snow starts coming off the roof?”

Genevieve said; “Not really. We’re done for the day. I don’t mind waiting here a few more minutes.”

Pablo came back from somewhere with a ladder, and Rufus and Wailer came back with three brooms. The trio got on the roof and

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swept like possessed sprites entranced by some music others could not hear.

”The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” by William Skespeare; property of the author.

Genevieve said; “I guess we can go home now.”

Genevieve and Willy; property of the author.

Willy agreed and the duo walked to Willy’s house; he with his ladder and she with his broom. The gray sky produced flurries and a gusting breeze which seemed more annoying than

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consequential. After Genevieve deposited the broom just inside of it, they began parting at his front door.

With a voice afflicted with sudden great wonder or surprise Willy called her back said; “Genevieve! We have forgotten about your house.”

Genevieve sheepishly constricted her neck, and replied; “Oh yeah. Forgot about that, didn’t we? ........ It’s okay. I’ll just take my broom up there later.”

Willy got insistent saying; “No, no, no, no, no. My dear lady, we are both going to clear off your roof right now.”

Genevieve said; “But .......... “

Willy said; “No buts. Here. Take the broom and off we go.”

Genevieve seemed overwhelmed and inarticulate. They walked to her house and cleared her roof, Willy doing the bulk of the sweeping. For her own sake, though she didn’t do the majority of the work, Genevieve was also up on the roof, and thereby didn’t get hit with any snow brushed off this time.

Genevieve accompanied Willy back home for the second instance; him with ladder, her with broom. It was becoming a habit.

At his door Willy looked up at the gray sky and said; “Hope these flurries don’t get nasty.”

Genevieve shrugged and replied; “Then we’ll just have to do it again.”

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They knowingly smiled at each other, mutually understanding the importance of their joint mission, and Willy almost didn’t close the door.

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