"Bradbury, Ray - The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (ss) v1.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bradbury Ray)

"But who will own this one suit?"

"Me!" said Manulo.

"Me!" said Dominguez.

"Me!" said Villanazul.

"Me!" cried Gуmez. "And you, Martinez. Men, let's show him. Line up!"

Villanazul, Manulo, Dominguez, and Gуmez rushed to plant their backs against the poolroom wall.

"Martinez, you too, the other end, line up! Now, Vamenos, lay that billiard cue across our heads!"

"Sure, Gуmez, sure!"

Martinez, in line, felt the cue tap his head and leaned out to see what was happening. "Ah!" he gasped.

The cue lay flat on all their heads, with no rise or fall, as Vamenos slid it along, grinning.

"We're all the same height!" said Martinez.

"The same!" Everyone laughed.

Gуmez ran down the line, rustling the yellow tape measure here and there on the men so they laughed even more wildly.

"Sure!" he said. "It took a month, four weeks, mind you, to find four guys the same size and shape as me, a month of running around measuring. Sometimes I found guys with five-foot-five skeletons, sure, but all the meat on their bones was too much or not enough. Sometimes their bones were too long in the legs or too short in arms. Boy, all the bones! I tell you! But now, five of us, same shoulders, chests, waists, arms, and as for weight? Men!"

Manulo, Dominguez, Villanazul, Gуmez, and at last Martinez stepped onto the scales which flipped ink-stamped cards at them as Vamenos, still smiling wildly, fed pennies. Heart pounding, Martinez read the cards.

"One hundred thirty-five pounds . . . one thirty-six . . . one thirty-three . . . one thity-four . . . one thirty-seven . . . a miracle!"

"No," said Villanazul simply, "Gуmez."

They all smiled upon that genius who now circled them with his arms.

"Are we not fine?" he wondered. "All the same size, all the same dream - the suit. So each of us will look beautiful at least one night each week, eh?"

"I haven't looked beautiful in years," said Martinez. "The girls run away."

"They will run no more, they will freeze," said Gуmez, "when they see you in the cool white summer ice cream suit."

"Gуmez," said Villanazul, "just let me ask one thing."

"Of course, compadre."

"When we get this nice new white ice cream summer suit, some night you're not going to put it on and walk down to the Greyhound bus in it and go live in El Paso for a year in it, are you?"

"Villanazul, Villanazul, how can you say that?"