Β Β Β Β Β βIs this the only color you useβblack?β I asked.
Β Β Β Β Β βItβs charcoal gray,β he corrected me. βAnd no, itβs not the only color. If you look closely at each of my paintings, youβll find a little bit of pink in it somewhere.β
Β Β Β Β Β βAha!β I said. βI thought so.β
Β Β Β Β Β Again, he made the look of a giant smelling a rat.
Β Β Β Β Β βWeβll never see the movie if we donβt get going!β called Margot.
Β Β Β Β Β βBe right there,β I called, and then realized that I was being presumptuous. I still had to pass the test: I still had to draw my favorite animal. I made a swipe at the canvas with the roller. It left a low arch of charcoal gray.
Β Β Β Β Β βHm,β said Mr. Glynn.
Β Β Β Β Β I made another swipe and left an inverted arch under the first. Then I held the roller with both hands, like a broadsword, and dragged it horizontally, so that it didnβt roll at all, but left a thinner line between the two arches.
Β Β Β Β Β βAh!β said Mr. Glynn. I think he liked my technique. He looked at what Iβd done. He looked at me. He looked at my painting again. He stepped back from it, to the limit of the planking. He moved to the left. He moved to the right. He rubbed his nose. βWhat is it?β he asked.
Β Β Β Β Β βA clam,β I said.
Β Β Β Β Β βA clam? Thatβs your favorite animal?β
Β Β Β Β Β βYeah.β
Β Β Β Β Β βWhy?β
Β Β Β Β Β βWell, they donβt bite, for one thing.β
Β Β Β Β Β βPeeeterrrr!β called Margot, from far below.
Β Β Β Β Β βAnd,β said Mr. Glynn, with the raised eyebrow that, it seemed to me, he probably used to indicate an attitude of easy familiarity with his artist colleagues, βtheyβre easy to draw.β
Β Β Β Β Β βYes, sir,β said I. I handed him the roller.
Β Β Β Β Β βYou want to take my daughters to the movies,β he said.
Β Β Β Β Β βUmβthey want me to take them to the movies,β I said. Then I immediately corrected myself. βWalk them to the movies.β He seemed not to understand the distinction, so I added, βIβm not going to pay.β
Β Β Β Β Β βOh,β he said, βI see,β and he burst out laughing.
Β Β Β Β Β βDaaaady!β cried both girls. βCanβt we go now?β
Β Β Β Β Β βIβm afraid not,β said Mr. Glynn.
Β Β Β Β Β To this day, I cannot relive the moment of his saying that without a crushing feeling of defeat. I looked at my painting of a clam. Was it that badβso bad that I wasnβt qualified to walk his daughters to the movies?
Β Β Β Β Β βIβm not going to let my daughters go to the movies with a strange boy,β he called, and he shrugged.
Β Β Β Β Β βHeβs not that strange!β shouted Martha.
Β Β Β Β Β βYou know what I mean,β said Mr. Glynn. He gave me what I accepted as an apologetic look.
Β Β Β Β Β βThen let us go alone!β wailed Margot.
Β Β Β Β Β βWeβve been through all that,β said Mr. Glynn. He turned to me. βWhen you grow up, youβll understand,β he asserted. βA father likes to get to know a fellow before heβll let him take his girls to the movies.β
Β Β Β Β Β βWalk,β I said.
Β Β Β Β Β βYeah, well, even before heβll let a fellow walk his girls to the movies.β
Β Β Β Β Β βOkay,β I said. I headed for the ladder. There was probably still time to catch most of Duel in the Dust, after all. Mr. Glynn followed me to the ladder and laid a hand on my shoulder before I began climbing down.
Β Β Β Β Β βPeter?β he said, almost in a whisper.
Β Β Β Β Β βYeah?β
Β Β Β Β Β βWhy donβt you come back and see me tomorrow? We can start getting to know each other.β
Β Β Β Β Β βOkay,β I said, and felt my heart leap up. Perhaps the fault lay only in my strangeness and not in my clam.
Β Β Β Β Β βMaybe I can teach you how to draw,β he added.
Β Β Β Β Β βSure,β I said.
Β Β Β Β Β I descended the ladder with my head down, so that I wouldnβt have to look at my defective attempt.
Β Β Β Β Β βNice try, Peter,β Martha said when we were at the door.
Β Β Β Β Β βI think it was the middle part,β I said.
Β Β Β Β Β βHuh?β said Margot.
Β Β Β Β Β βThe line where the two shells join,β I explained. βIt should have beenβI donβt knowβdifferentβbetter.β
[to be continued]
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π§ 818: βIs this . . .β