No country for old men - By Cormac McCarthy Page 0,37
do you.
No I dont. I done told you.
I know you did.
He took off his hat and laid it in the booth beside him and ran his hand through his hair. You aint heard from him?
No I aint.
Nothin.
Not word one.
The waitress brought the coffee in two heavy white china mugs. Bell stirred his with his spoon. He raised the spoon and looked into the smoking silver bowl of it. How much money did he give you?
She didnt answer. Bell smiled. What did you start to say? he said. You can say it.
I started to say that’s some more of your business, aint it.
Why dont you just pretend I aint the sheriff.
And pretend you’re what?
You know he’s in trouble.
Llewelyn aint done nothin.
It’s not me he’s in trouble with.
Who’s he in trouble with then?
Some pretty bad people.
Llewelyn can take care of hisself.
Do you care if I call you Carla?
I go by Carla Jean.
Carla Jean. Is that all right?
That’s all right. You dont care if I keep on callin you Sheriff do you?
Bell smiled. No, he said. That’s fine.
All right.
These people will kill him, Carla Jean. They wont quit.
He wont neither. He never has.
Bell nodded. He sipped his coffee. The face that lapped and shifted in the dark liquid in the cup seemed an omen of things to come. Things losing shape. Taking you with them. He set the cup down and looked at the girl. I wish I could say that was in his favor. But I have to say I dont think it is.
Well, she said, he’s who he is and he always will be. That’s why I married him.
But you aint heard from him in a while.
I didnt expect to hear from him.
Were you all havin problems?
We dont have problems. When we have problems we fix em.
Well, you’re lucky people.
Yes we are.
She watched him. How come you to ask me that, she said.
About havin problems?
About havin problems.
I just wondered if you were.
Has somethin happened that you know about and I dont?
No. I could ask you the same thing.
Except I wouldnt tell you.
Yes.
You think he’s left me, dont you.
I dont know. Has he?
No. He aint. I know him.
You used to know him.
I know him yet. He aint changed.
Maybe.
But you dont believe that.
Well, I guess in all honesty I would have to say that I never knew nor did I ever hear of anybody that money didnt change. I’d have to say he’d be the first.
Well he’ll be the first then.
I hope that’s true.
Do you really hope that, Sheriff?
Yes. I do.
He aint been charged with nothin?
No. He aint been charged with nothin.
That dont mean he wont be.
No. It dont. If he lives that long.
Well. He aint dead yet.
I hope that’s more comfort to you than it is to me.
He sipped the coffee and set the mug down on the table. He watched her. He needs to turn the money in, he said. They’d put it in the papers. Then maybe these people would leave him alone. I cant guarantee that they will. But they might. It’s the only chance he’s got.
You could put it in the papers anyway.
Bell studied her. No, he said. I couldnt.
Or wouldnt.
Wouldnt then. How much money is it?
I dont know what you’re talkin about.
All right.
You care if I smoke? she said.
I think we’re still in America.
She got her cigarettes out and lit one and turned her face and blew the smoke out into the room. Bell watched her. How do you think this is goin to end? he said.
I dont know. I dont know how nothin is goin to end. Do you?
I know how it aint.
Like livin happily ever after?
Somethin like that.
Llewelyn’s awful smart.
Bell nodded. You ought to be more worried about him I guess is what I’m sayin.
She took a long pull on the cigarette. She studied Bell. Sheriff, she said, I think I’m probably just about as worried as I need to be.
He’s goin to wind up killin somebody. Have you thought about that?
He never has.
He was in Vietnam.
I mean as a civilian.
He will.
She didnt answer.
You want some more coffee?
I’m coffeed out. I didnt want none to start with.
She looked off across the cafe. The empty tables. The night cashier was a boy about eighteen and he was bent over the glass counter reading a magazine. My mama’s got cancer, she said. She aint got all that long to live.
I’m sorry to hear that.
I call her mama. She’s really my grandmother. She raised me and I was lucky to have her. Well. Lucky dont even say it.