@@@@@ He paused dramatically, and Minetta laughed
@@@@@ He paused dramatically, and Minetta laughed at the grin on Polack's big lewd mobile mouth
"Yeah, so what?" Minetta asked
"Well, she's watching me real close, and when I start to wrap up the fowl, she says, 'Where's the other piece of fat?' I look at her and I say, 'You don't want it, lady, it's diseasedIt'll ruin the taste of the whole chicken' She shakes her head and says, 'Never mind, young man, I want it' So what could I do, I give it to her
"How'd you beat the game there?" Minetta wanted to know
"Hah, before I give it to her, I cut open the bile sack on the liverThat chicken must have tasted like shitThe moon cast enough light into the tent for him to see Polack's faceHe was grinning, and Minetta decided Polack was comical with the three teeth missing on the left side of his mouth
Polack was perhaps twenty-one but his eyes were shrewd and bawdy, and when he laughed his skin was wizened, tough, like the skin of a middle-aged manMinetta felt a little uncomfortable with himSecretly he was afraid to match his knowledge against Polack's
"Stop throwing it," Minetta saidWho did Polack think he was telling the story to?
"No, it's the truth," Polack said in a hurt voiceHe always dropped the "h" when he said "think" or "the" or "truth
"Yeah, it's da troot," Minetta said, mimicking him
"You havin' a good time?" Polack asked
"I can't complain," Minetta said"You talk like something out of a comic book"Anyway, one thing nobody ever beat was the Army
"I ain't done so bad," Polack said
"You're doing bad till the day you get out of it," Minetta told himHe clapped his hand against his forehead, and sat up