do you want the job or not?
i was just asking a question.
no questions. i am doing you a favor, giving you the job. i am describing the job. take it or leave it.
you owe me .
yes, ii owe you - a little bit. i am paying you back by offering you this job. it is not a tough job, it is nothing you have not done before. do you want it or not?
i want it.
i thought so.
mr jones took a scrap of paper out of his shirt pocket and wrote on it. he handed the piece of paper to booth.
booth looked at the piece of paper. there was a name on it, the name of a person, and the name of a city.
you know what to do, mr jones said.
that is a way off, booth said. do i have to get there myself?
of course. you know how i operate. if you do the job you will get paid. you know my reputation. i always pay. i ain’t no welsher.
booth took his wallet out of his pocket and put the piece of paper in it.
all right, then.
booth got up and left.
*
a week later. wilsonville.
booth got off the bus.
there did not seem to be much to remark about wilsonville. booth had been there before, even though he had never been there before.
there was a coffee shop beside the bus station.
there was an old timer behind the counter in the coffee shop.
booth sat down at the counter.
coffee.
want some pie to go with it?
got any chocolate cake?
chocolate cake? you must be from the west.
i might be. do you have any chocolate cake? if you do, i would like a slice.
coming right up, mister. we keep some on on hand just for such occasions as this.
you get many customers from the west?
you might be surprised, mister, you might be surprised. we get people passing through from all over. all over. here’s your coffee, i ‘ll go get your chocolate cake. you want a big slice?
as big as you want to give me.
here’s your cake, mister. anything else you want.
i’m looking for a friend of mine.
you do not say so.
name of jackson. that’s the name i knew him by. he might be going by a different one.
fellow named jackson been here a while. lives out on the outskirts of town. not as young as the day he was born. keeps to himself. got a big mean dog.
that sounds like him.
*
there was no sign of a dog. booth knocked on the door.
an old man answered the door. he walked with a limp, and wore a blue new york giants t shirt.
jackson?
that’s me. who are you?
mr jones sent me.
jones. it’s been a long time since i heard from jones.
he knows that. he wants to do right by you, that’s why he sent me here, to help you out.
i don’t need no helping out.
come on , mr jackson, give me a chance. mr jones sent me here to help you out, and i need the job. there must be something i can do for you. do you mind if i come in? it looks like it might rain.
all right , come on in.
booth looked around. he was in a room like a billion others, with a big easy chair pulled up to a window looking out on the flat plain.
i suppose you can clean up the yard a bit, jackson said. tend to the dog’s grave,
just give me a chance, that’s all i ask.
all right, but i warn you, i ain’t much for talking.
neither am i.
booth noticed a television in the corner. it looked kind of old. he hoped it worked, and that there was something good on.
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