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Hutch sighed Half a century goes by in what seems like a year Don’t waste an hour in boredo for tomorrow

I doup straighter in the chair, he said, I’hted to hear it

I would have given a stirring perfor is a h ti other people, you don’t have to think too much about your own character and ht I called myself Harry Li ree, sir

I ale Joseph Cotten getting it He was superb

I sat on the footstool Mr Hutchison--

Call me Hutch Everyone does

Yes, sir Well, as you know, I didn’t arrive on this job with ht, he interrupted: We’ll go to a thrift shop tomorrow! I’ve been afire with the idea since we talked about it earlier

Well, gee, what I was about to say is…I’e into a clean sweatshirt And I’ it wouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience if I asked you to dispose of

He understood but didn’t want to understand What a peculiar request

I have to leave tonight, sir

But why? He held up one hand that, in the day, held Deborah Kerr Yes, I see Big guy with a chin beard, then a redheaded guy who does or does not have bad teeth So am I to assume that your differences with theoing on the lam

Exactly

Once, I was on the lam myself

I said, With Henry Fonda in relentless pursuit

Relentless in his relaxed way I think it would have been better if Henry shot me down

But you were innocent

Yes, but sometiedy He frowned Son, you ca with just the clothes on your back

I prefer to travel light

Just be certain to wear pants

I intend to, sir

Call me Hutch Everyone does These thrift-shop clothes of yours…do they coation?

I’ in a thrift shop and is done with it, is one contractually obligated to pass the clothing on to someone poorer than oneself?

Oh, no, sir You can just throw theht be some protocol that I would want to honor, if you had committed to it He pulled aside the chenille throw on his lap and prepared to get up fro to ask

He looked crestfallen You want to take the rest of the cookies you ood Splendid Lovely

Sir, I ondering if I could borrow one of the cars

Of course You’re a superb driver

I can’t risk trying to leave town by bus or train

They’ll be watching public transport

Precisely If I could drive your car to Santa Barbara, I could leave it with your nephew there, and et it back to you

His brow creased orry But ill you do then?

Make it up as I go along It works for rie sweatshirts and get s seeot to his feet I shall meet you in the kitchen with the car keys

Oh, I said, and a flashlight? I’ll need a flashlight That’s it I won’t keep asking for stuff

One needs a good flashlight on the lam No problem

Upstairs ina collection of Sinatra biographies I suspected that I would not need them anymore

In the bathroom, I stripped to the waist, washed my upper body, face, and hands, careful not to disturb the taped wound on my side I put on a fresh T-shirt and a sweatshirt that did not have a word on either the chest or the back

When I went down to the kitchen, a flashlight and the keys to the Mercedes were on the kitchen island

Sir, I can’t take the Mercedes

It isman such as yourself, in sneakers and a sweatshirt, on the lam, to split town in an Explorer, but never in a Mercedes

I’d rather have the Explorer

I refuse to give you the keys to the Explorer The Mercedes is better cover And I am the director for once

But--

Hutch pointed to a plastic-wrapped package also on the kitchen island The label said PORK RIND, and the plastic was still crusted with frost from the freezer

I want you to have that, he said

Gee, sir, I do love pork rind, but I’ facilities for a while

Pork rind is e If it said beef tongue, then it would contain entirely twenties If it said sweetbreads, it would contain a mix of half twenties and half hundreds

Money? Oh, no No, no, no I can’t accept that

I have bank accounts, of course, but I don’t entirely trust banks, you see When I was nine years old, a lot of banks failed

I have money, I assured hio on the lao on the lam, as I learned the hard way

But that’s too much, way too much

Hoould you know? Maybe pork rind is my code for a brick of one-dollar bills

What is it your code for, sir?

None of your da decorated with yellow birds flying with curls of blue ribbon in their beaks He put the package of so-called pork rind in the bag and held it out to old-cord handles

I waved it away Really Really, I can’t

His face darkened with disapproval, tightened with authority, thrust forith the expectation of obedience His voice was that of the heroic captain deiving He raised his free hand in a bony fist for eoing to do the right thing with it, and I will brook no debate, accept no excuse Is that perfectly clear?

Annaave her money I doubted that any of them had forced it upon her with an ienerous, sir