Now And On Earth

Now and On Earth Jim Thompson AN [e-reads]BOOK N e w Yo r k , N Y No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, scanning or any information storage retrieval system, without explicit permission in writing from the Author. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright © 1942 by Jim Thompson Copyright renewed 1970 by the Estate of Jim Thompson First e-reads publication 2002 www.e-reads.com ISBN 0-7592-3121-4 Other books by Jim Thompson also available in e-reads editions SAVAGE NIGHT THE GOLDEN GIZMO SOUTH OF HEAVEN KING BLOOD THE NOTHING MAN BAD BOY THE CRIMINAL ROUGHNECK Table of Contents Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four 1 3 8 19 25 33 36 46 49 52 58 68 80 87 99 111 122 135 146 156 161 172 178 189 Table of Contents Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Biography v 192 199 200 One I got off at three-thirty, but it took me almost an hour to walk home. The factory is a mile off Pacific Boulevard, and we live a mile up the hill from Pacific. Or up the mountain, I should say. How they ever managed to pour concrete on those hill streets is beyond me. You can tie your shoelaces going up them without stooping. Jo was across the street, playing with the minister’s little girl. Watching for me, too, I guess. She came streaking across to my side, corn-yellow curls bobbing around her rose-and-white face. She hugged me around the knees and kissed my hand — something I don’t like her to do, but can’t stop. She asked me how I liked my new job, and how much pay I was getting, and when payday was — all in one breath. I told her not to talk so loud out in public, that I wasn’t getting as much as I had with the foundation, and that payday was Friday, I thought. “Can I get a new hat then?” “I guess so. If it’s all right with Mother.” Jo frowned. “Mother won’t let me have it. I know she won’t. She took Mack and Shannon downtown to buy ’em some new shoes, but she won’t get me no hat.” “‘No hat’?” “Any hat, I mean.” “Where’d she get the money to go shopping with? Didn’t she pay the rent?” “I guess not,” Jo said. “Oh, goddam!” I said. “Now, what the hell will we do? Well, what are you gaping for? Go on and play. Get away from me. Get out of my sight. Go on, go on!” 1 Jim Thompson I reached out to shake her, but I caught myself and hugged her instead. I cannot stand anyone who is unkind to children — children, dogs, or old people. I don’t know what is getting the matter with me that I would shake Jo. I don’t know. “Don’t pay any attention to me, baby,” I said. “You know I didn’t mean anything.” Jo’s smile came back. “You’re just tired, that’s all,” she said. “You go in and lie down and you’ll feel better.” I said I would, and she kissed my hand again and scurried back across the street. Jo is nine — my oldest child. 2 Two I was tired, and I hurt. The lung I’d had collapsed during the winter seemed to be filled with molasses, and my piles were torturing me. I hollered when I got inside the door, but no one answered so I supposed Mom was gone, too. I went in the bathroom and washed, and tried to do something about my piles, and washed again. No good. I went at it again, and I washed some more. And then I remembered that I’d alre