unless he could write in his own name. Every boy learned to calculate his batting average, and he had also to be able to check his friends’ averages, for once skill was acquired it wasonly a simple step further to cheat. The boy who had played the worst in the previous half hour was pulled out and forced to write a short summary of the game, naming stars, acknowledging great plays. He was force-fed the five Ws of journalism: who, what, where, when, and why. He learned quickly in order to get back onto the baseball field.
SECTION TWO
BUTTERFLY WINTER
“Orderly things are wild on the inside.”
— THE SOURCE OF TROUBLE , DEBRA MONROE
TWENTY-FOUR
ALI
A h, yes, you have come to the right place. Welcome to my humble store. Booth, roadside stand would be more appropriate. Very far from famous American department stores, which I someday aim to emulate, is it not? I have seen Harrods in London, but it is Walmart that thrills my heart. That fine young man named Sam who began Walmart out of his back pocket so to speak, is my hero. He offered his friends a chance to invest $1,000 at the beginning, those who did so are multimillionaires today. I wish to make the same beginnings.
Your question? I have not forgotten your question. The Pimental brothers, Julio and Esteban. I have known them all their lives, indeed I have known their parents before them, the crafty Hector, the shrill Fernandella. Ah, how I came to be in this place is a long, sad story, of which I am sure you are not interested, though I’m sure you as an American recognize me as not being a Courteguayan. By the way, have I told you how much pleasure it is to converse with someone in English, you cannot imagine how little English is spoken here. Dr. Lucius Noir, the noble dictator of Courteguay, speaks English, I know this for a fact, for he studied at a chiropractic college in yourstate of IdaHO. Ah, yes, IoWA, to be sure. Dr. Noir once graced my humble roadside stand with his presence, though that is another sad story, and the reason I limp, though I am certain you are not interested.
How old are the Pimental brothers? Well yes, age is relative, is it not? Some of us are very old when we are very young, some of us remain very young when we are very old in years.
I am not exactly evading the question. I have known the Pimental brothers all their lives. They have lived in a hut down that road to the left, which is visible to the naked eye. I remember them coming to my humble stand with a centavo or two to spend. Different as night and day they are; Julio lean and wild-eyed, confident, like candy to the young women. Esteban, born with a scowl on his wide, dark forehead, stocky and lumbering, always eager to learn, the pleasure of the flesh secondary, or, how would you say, less than secondary? It is so long since I have spoken English. You will notice that I speak English with an Oxford accent, for in my native country I was tutored by a fine young man who read history at Oxford and could recite the details of every battle of the Peloponnesian Wars, a subject that I have to admit did not interest me a great deal, for I have always been an entrepreneur, though I tolerated his long digressions in order to learn English. Ah, I see you look askance at my meager supplies, at the warped lumber of the shelves, at the preponderance of flies on the fruit and meat. This is certainly not what I imagined when I agreed to come to this part of the world. I was offered a fine wife and acceptance into a prosperous business. In the Dominican Republic there are a number of families from India, all engaged in trade and commerce. One of these families had many daughters and few acceptable suitors so they advertised in India. I come from a family that had, with the early death of my father, a lawyer, fallen on hard times. I answered the ad and was presented with a photograph of a beautiful young woman, and a one-way ticket from Bombay to Santo Domingo.
Ah, yes, I can see your
SECTION TWO
BUTTERFLY WINTER
“Orderly things are wild on the inside.”
— THE SOURCE OF TROUBLE , DEBRA MONROE
TWENTY-FOUR
ALI
A h, yes, you have come to the right place. Welcome to my humble store. Booth, roadside stand would be more appropriate. Very far from famous American department stores, which I someday aim to emulate, is it not? I have seen Harrods in London, but it is Walmart that thrills my heart. That fine young man named Sam who began Walmart out of his back pocket so to speak, is my hero. He offered his friends a chance to invest $1,000 at the beginning, those who did so are multimillionaires today. I wish to make the same beginnings.
Your question? I have not forgotten your question. The Pimental brothers, Julio and Esteban. I have known them all their lives, indeed I have known their parents before them, the crafty Hector, the shrill Fernandella. Ah, how I came to be in this place is a long, sad story, of which I am sure you are not interested, though I’m sure you as an American recognize me as not being a Courteguayan. By the way, have I told you how much pleasure it is to converse with someone in English, you cannot imagine how little English is spoken here. Dr. Lucius Noir, the noble dictator of Courteguay, speaks English, I know this for a fact, for he studied at a chiropractic college in yourstate of IdaHO. Ah, yes, IoWA, to be sure. Dr. Noir once graced my humble roadside stand with his presence, though that is another sad story, and the reason I limp, though I am certain you are not interested.
How old are the Pimental brothers? Well yes, age is relative, is it not? Some of us are very old when we are very young, some of us remain very young when we are very old in years.
I am not exactly evading the question. I have known the Pimental brothers all their lives. They have lived in a hut down that road to the left, which is visible to the naked eye. I remember them coming to my humble stand with a centavo or two to spend. Different as night and day they are; Julio lean and wild-eyed, confident, like candy to the young women. Esteban, born with a scowl on his wide, dark forehead, stocky and lumbering, always eager to learn, the pleasure of the flesh secondary, or, how would you say, less than secondary? It is so long since I have spoken English. You will notice that I speak English with an Oxford accent, for in my native country I was tutored by a fine young man who read history at Oxford and could recite the details of every battle of the Peloponnesian Wars, a subject that I have to admit did not interest me a great deal, for I have always been an entrepreneur, though I tolerated his long digressions in order to learn English. Ah, I see you look askance at my meager supplies, at the warped lumber of the shelves, at the preponderance of flies on the fruit and meat. This is certainly not what I imagined when I agreed to come to this part of the world. I was offered a fine wife and acceptance into a prosperous business. In the Dominican Republic there are a number of families from India, all engaged in trade and commerce. One of these families had many daughters and few acceptable suitors so they advertised in India. I come from a family that had, with the early death of my father, a lawyer, fallen on hard times. I answered the ad and was presented with a photograph of a beautiful young woman, and a one-way ticket from Bombay to Santo Domingo.
Ah, yes, I can see your
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