"Carrol, Jonathan - Fish In A Barrel (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Carroll Jonathan)

JONATHAN CARROL

FISH IN A BARREL

KROPIK WAS EATING A liverwurst sandwich when the kid came in. No more than
seventeen, the boy had the obnoxious look of some one too smart for his own
good. A wiseguy but no wise guy. He marched right through the open door and
stopped in the middle of the nondescript office. Two windows, two large filing
cabinets, two brown wastebaskets, two dented and scratched green/brown metal
desks. On the wall was a photograph of the most recent President of the United
States.

The boy looked slowly around, as if trying to decide whether or not to buy the
place.

Kropik dabbed delicately at his small round mouth with a white pa. per napkin
and folded it carefully into quarters before dropping it into a wastebasket next
to his desk. Plus the kid had red hair. If there was one thing Kropik didn't
like, it was red hair.

"I found you!"

"You certainly did."

"I cannot fucking believe it! This place is a rumor, a myth. But here I am, I'm
actually here!"

Kropik disliked that kind of language but refrained from protesting. Red hair
and a dirty mouth. What a distressing combination. Embarrassed, he looked at his
half-eaten sandwich. Liverwurst and Bermuda onion. Creating a good liverwurst
sandwich was a modest feat but a satisfying one nevertheless. The secret was in
knowing the correct brand of German mustard to use and the exact width of the
onion slice

"So. I made it. Now what?"

"How did you find us?"

The boy crossed his arms and smiled "I have my ways." One could almost smell his
smugness wafting across the room.

"We are in the phone book. You only have to look us up. We're also on the
Internet under governmental offices. It's just that few people bother."

That took the wind out of the boy's sails. And how would one define the precise
color of that awful hair? More orange than red, it was the color of a carrot
left in the refrigerator too long. Exactly! Dead carrot red.