Читать книгу Sombrero Fallout - Richard Brautigan - Страница 20

CAREER

‘I’ll get the sombrero for you, mayor,’ he said and bent over to pick up the sombrero.

‘No, I’ll get it,’ the mayor’s cousin said, suddenly realizing that if he didn’t pick up that sombrero he might never be mayor.

Who was this unemployed bastard who was trying to pick up the sombrero and ruin his bid for public office? Did he want to become mayor himself? Even if the sombrero was frighteningly cold, he wasn’t going to let this son-of-a-bitch pick it up and become mayor of the town.

Why didn’t I just pick it up in the first place? the cousin thought. Then none of this would be happening. An ice-cold sombrero can’t hurt you. It just surprised him. That was all. He didn’t expect it to be cold, so he had jumped back. Who would have thought that the sombrero would be frozen? Anyone would have been surprised and reacted the way he did.

Suddenly the cousin hated the sombrero for having made a fool out of him. He had to hand that sombrero to the mayor if he ever wanted to be mayor himself. His whole political career would end right then and there if he didn’t get the sombrero to the mayor.

God-damn sombrero!