Ice Brothers Read Free Page B

much rent will these people pay?”
    â€œThe guy’s a serviceman. Tell the Hendersons that this is a matter of patriotism. Maybe the guy can pay fifty a month, not much more. Call right away. There’s a crowd trying to get into this phone booth.”
    Actually, the people waiting in line did not seem restless. They all had drinks in their hands and were watching with appreciative interest a sailor who was giving his girl such a hearty and prolonged embrace that he would have been evicted from the bar in peacetime.
    While he waited five minutes Paul sat with the receiver to his ear to show he had a right to remain in the telephone booth. Finding that he had no more nickels, he conquered a feeling of waste and inserted a dime. His mother-in-law answered immediately.
    â€œThe Hendersons say they’ll take him if you’ll absolutely vouch for his character.”
    â€œI vouch for it. How much rent do they want?”
    â€œThey’ll need sixty a month if they’re going to pay for the heat.”
    â€œIt’s a deal. Give me their name, their address and their number.”
    This time Paul had to put a quarter into the telephone, an extravagance that hurt him deeply. Christiansen answered immediately.
    â€œThis is your expediter,” Paul said. “I got you a garage apartment in Wellesley. Nice section. Sixty bucks a month, heated. Do you want it?”
    â€œGod, do I want it! I was going to send my wife and baby back to New London. I can’t thank you enough!”
    â€œJust send me the forms and answer me one question,” Paul said. “If I have all the qualifications, what happens? What’s the timetable?”
    â€œYou’ll take a twelve-hour examination in navigation and seamanship at M.I.T. on February second. If you pass that, you’ll be wearing an ensign’s uniform by April. What’s the address of this apartment?”
    Paul gave it to him and added, “It’s only about a block from where I live. If you have any trouble give me a call.”
    â€œIs the place furnished?”
    â€œYes,” Paul replied, though he wasn’t dead sure. “Anyway, it will be easy to get everything together. The Hendersons are nice people.”
    He didn’t really know the Hendersons, but he figured they must be nice people if they were friends of Lucy and Erich.
    â€œThat’s great,” Christiansen said. “Look, everything’s so jammed up around here that it would be days before we got your forms in the mail. I’ll stick them in my pocket and bring them to the Henderson house tonight. Drop in maybe at about seven and we can have a drink.”
    And so that was the way Paul got a commission in the Coast Guard as quickly as he did. There were a few people who said he used pull and political pressure, but all he did was to get a guy an apartment and study like hell for six weeks to pass the twelve-hour examination.
    The speed with which Paul made all these arrangements bewildered Sylvia. All her classmates, after all, were planning to finish their college year before entering the service. “You’d think you just can’t wait to leave me,” she said reproachfully in their bedroom one night after they had made strangely unsatisfactory love.
    â€œYou know that isn’t it at all.”
    â€œWell, what is it then?”
    He found it difficult to give an answer except to cite patriotism, which he knew would be mostly a lie. He wanted to help defend his country, all right, but he wasn’t really in such a great rush to get out there where the shells were flying and the hurricanes were blowing. No, the truth was that naive though it might sound, there was a lot of joy involved in getting a commission. For one thing, he found that temporarily, at least, he would outrank his condescending older brother. While training to be an army air force pilot, Bill would be an enlisted man, while as an ensign Paul would be the