{"id":"01KG07AF1MEDXEWQMC4WBWV95P","cid":"bafkreidhsz677bjuhon74twsia3bvhpcjcuxiszprmzaiioy5od325pauu","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3266,"extracted_at":"2026-01-27T17:16:48.807Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 5","source_file":"01KFYTG9MG93RTB6YAW34V48XG","start_line":3216,"text":" 3079\ttwitcher of a dress to wear. She really did look damn good in it, though. I save to admit it.\n 3080\tAnd don't think she didn't know it. The kept walking ahead of me, so that I'd see how\n 3081\tcute her little ass looked. It did look pretty cute, too. I have to admit it.\n 3082\tThe funny part was, though, we were the worst skaters on the whole goddam rink.\n 3083\tI mean the worst. And there were some lulus, too. Old Sally's ankles kept bending in till\n 3084\tthey were practically on the ice. They not only looked stupid as hell, but they probably\n 3085\thurt like hell, too. I know mine did. Mine were killing me. We must've looked gorgeous.\n 3086\tAnd what made it worse, there were at least a couple of hundred rubbernecks that didn't\n 3087\thave anything better to do than stand around and watch everybody falling all over\n 3088\tthemselves.\n 3089\t\"Do you want to get a table inside and have a drink or something?\" I said to her\n 3090\tfinally.\n 3091\t\"That's the most marvelous idea you've had all day,\" the said. She was killing\n 3092\therself. It was brutal. I really felt sorry for her.\n 3093\tWe took off our goddam skates and went inside this bar where you can get drinks\n 3094\tand watch the skaters in just your stocking feet. As soon as we sat down, old Sally took\n 3095\toff her gloves, and I gave her a cigarette. She wasn't looking too happy. The waiter came\n 3096\tup, and I ordered a Coke for her--she didn't drink--and a Scotch and soda for myself, but\n\n\n 3097\tthe sonuvabitch wouldn't bring me one, so I had a Coke, too. Then I sort of started\n 3098\tlighting matches. I do that quite a lot when I'm in a certain mood. I sort of let them burn\n 3099\tdown till I can't hold them any more, then I drop them in the ashtray. It's a nervous habit.\n 3100\tThen all of a sudden, out of a clear blue sky, old Sally said, \"Look. I have to\n 3101\tknow. Are you or aren't you coming over to help me trim the tree Christmas Eve? I have\n 3102\tto know.\" She was still being snotty on account of her ankles when she was skating.\n 3103\t\"I wrote you I would. You've asked me that about twenty times. Sure, I am.\"\n 3104\t\"I mean I have to know,\" she said. She started looking all around the goddam\n 3105\troom.\n 3106\tAll of a sudden I quit lighting matches, and sort of leaned nearer to her over the\n 3107\ttable. I had quite a few topics on my mind. \"Hey, Sally,\" I said.\n 3108\t\"What?\" she said. She was looking at some girl on the other side of the room.\n 3109\t\"Did you ever get fed up?\" I said. \"I mean did you ever get scared that everything\n 3110\twas going to go lousy unless you did something? I mean do you like school, and all that\n 3111\tstuff?\"\n 3112\t\"It's a terrific bore.\"\n 3113\t\"I mean do you hate it? I know it's a terrific bore, but do you hate it, is what I\n 3114\tmean.\"\n 3115\t\"Well, I don't exactly hate it. You always have to--\"\n 3116\t\"Well, I hate it. Boy, do I hate it,\" I said. \"But it isn't just that. It's everything. I\n 3117\thate living in New York and all. Taxicabs, and Madison Avenue buses, with the drivers\n 3118\tand all always yelling at you to get out at the rear door, and being introduced to phony\n 3119\tguys that call the Lunts angels, and going up and down in elevators when you just want to\n 3120\tgo outside, and guys fitting your pants all the time at Brooks, and people always--\"\n 3121\t\"Don't shout, please,\" old Sally said. Which was very funny, because I wasn't\n 3122\teven shouting.\n 3123\t\"Take cars,\" I said. I said it in this very quiet voice. \"Take most people, they're\n 3124\tcrazy about cars. They worry if they get a little scratch on them, and they're always\n 3125\ttalking about how many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand-new car\n 3126\talready they start thinking about trading it in for one that's even newer. I don't even like\n 3127\told cars. I mean they don't even interest me. I'd rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at","title":"Chunk 5"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG07252MX4J6CZDGDQKZRH28","peer_label":"17","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS","peer_label":"More Classics","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"}],"ver":1,"created_at":"2026-01-27T17:16:49.232Z","ts":"2026-01-27T17:16:49.232Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}