Читать книгу Every Man for Himself - Mark J. Hannon - Страница 21

CHAPTER 17

THE EAST SIDE, 1937

Walt Schneider took one last drag on his smoke and flicked it away. “Okay, kid, this machine ain’t gonna load itself.”

Johnny looked at the four-foot-high cigarette machine on the ground and the tailgate on the truck, and wished he were taller.

“Lemme know when you’re ready, Johnny.”

The both of them crouched down and gripped the heavy metal box at the bottom. When he had his hands firmly in place, Johnny squeezed, “Okay,” out of his chest and they began to straighten their legs. Just before they got it level with the tailgate, all the weight shifted forward and the cigarette machine fell away from Johnny.

“Jesus, Walter!” Johnny shouted as he tumbled away from the truck and the machine crashed onto the pavement. Rolling away from the machine, Johnny avoided getting hit, as it first fell on its side, then forward off Walter onto the concrete, shattering the glass on the front and scattering packs of cigarettes everywhere.

“What the hell happened?” Johnny shouted as he stood up. Walter lay there silently with the machine across his legs. Johnny grabbed the bottom of the machine and started to drag it off Walter. It took him three heaves to get it off.

“Walter, are you okay?” Johnny gasped.

Walter was still, his eyes open and looking around. His mouth was moving, but he wasn’t saying anything. He raised his one arm, but the other one just quivered.

Johnny got up close. “Walter, what’s the matter?”

Walter’s eyes stared at Johnny, then danced around. His mouth kept moving, but he couldn’t talk.

A passerby shouted, “Call a doctor for that man!”

Soon, there was a small crowd there.

“Somebody call a doctor!”

“Get a cop!”

“Run down to the firehouse and tell them!”

Johnny didn’t know what to do. He tried shaking Walter, who just lay there quivering. Finally, two police officers arrived, and Johnny helped them load Walter into their car.

“We’re taking him to Deaconess, buddy,” the one policeman said, as they slammed the doors and drove off. Johnny looked around at the smashed machine and the cigarettes in the street, and hesitated. Finally, he jumped in the front seat of the truck and followed the police car to the hospital.