SUPPERBURGER
365
there I had seen the maid cleaning up in the dining room, and
I had seen Supperburger standing at one of the living room windows
with a woman beside him, looking out. I wondered if it was
his
wife or maybe his sister. But he came out alone, with a trench coat
on because it was cool. He saw me immediately and must have
recognized me because I was under a lamp, but he did a funny
turn and went the opposite way up the street. I have been through
this sort of thing before, but it can still seem funny to me.
If
people
would be less afraid of looking at each other they would enjoy each
other more. Just as Supperburger went off up the street a girl named
Charles walked by. I know her from hanging around the Doughnut
Shop. I think Charles is her last name. She likes me a lot, but she
is a sad one because she is sort of dumpy and does not try to do much
with her face. She laughed because she saw me standing under
the lamp, and then she played at being a whore picking me up,
but I just stood smiling. Then she got mad because I did not
say much to her. She said she wanted to go to a party and no one
would take her and of course I would not either, she said. She
did most of the talking. Then she got a little sad and said how
cute I looked and she did not care what I thought of her as long
as she could look at me. I feel sorry for her, most of the time, but
I cannot think of the right thing to say so I just keep quiet, and I
know that hurts her. But soon she was on her way that night, off
to the party by herself. There are a lot of parties on the hill in the
summer. When she was gone I was about to track down Supper–
burger when I saw him coming down the street. He must have
assumed I had gone and was returning to make
his
walk down the
hill. When he saw me it was too late to turn around again, so he
walked briskly by as if he had planned his roundabout route. I
stepped right out and asked for the time, and he almost flinched
but he told me, and then I knew I had been right all along because
he asked if I was not the boy who had told him yesterday about
hearing his Symphonic Suite. I smiled and got
in
stride with
him,
and
we walked down to the river together. I introduced myself as Patrick
Polo, which is my full name. He asked me what I did, and I said
I was an art student, which is not really true though I do have two
drawing classes a week. Then he asked if I was bored and lonely
here, and that surprised me. I have met a lot of people on the
