Of Mice and Men
For a moment he seemed bewildered. And then he whispered in fright,
‘I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.’
He pawed up the hay until it partly covered her. He kept staring at her, fingering her features, on the verge of tears.
‘What I got to do now? Huh? What I gotta do?’ Lennie cried, keeping his bloodshot eyes fixed on the dead woman.
‘I remember George told me’, he hissed between sobs,
‘He told me… he told me to hide in the brush until he
comes.’ He seemed enlightened for an instant, but then his
shapeless face darkened again.
‘George don’t want me anymore, he ain’t going to want
me. And if he sees me he gonna give me hell’, Lennie muttered,
now shifting his gaze to the entrance of the barn. ‘He
won’t let me tend the rabbits.’ And with this thought he
thrust his fist into the ground, crushing the puppy’s bones more
than ever, and leaving nothing but a flattened carcass. He shook it off
angrily, letting it fall onto the girl’s chest. A crimson
bloodstain formed on the immaculate white cloth of her dress. Lennie
got up and walked, past the tenement, past the ranch gates, onto the
road.
‘I don’t need nobody. I’m gonna go live in a cave and
make everyone happy. That’s what I’m gonna do. And I
won’t need no ketchup. Or no beans’, he muttered over and
over again, as if to convince himself of it.
The yells and gasps, the swearing and cheering, gradually started to
fade, as the horseshoe tournament came to an end. Old Candy emerged
from the bunkhouse and flinched because of the light pouring into his
eyes. He walked around the ranch, wandering aimlessly and sweeping here
and there. He passed by the barn and a tall heap of hay caught his eye.
He crept in and saw a familiar red shoe with ostrich feathers on it. He
came closer and saw the lifeless face of Curley’s wife, with the
corpse of one of the puppies lying on top of her in a now dry puddle of
blood. Candy took in a breath and didn’t let it out for quite a
while. He opened his mouth to whisper or scream or say something, but
he couldn’t. He simply couldn’t. His mind was working like
clockwork, and yet he couldn’t draw conclusions. Then he heard a
voice calling from outside.
‘Hey, any of you guys seen my wife?
…No, she’s not at the house, she’s not
anywhere…I’m not blaming anybody! Just
asking…’. Curley talked shakily, for he knew he was doing
something he had sworn he wouldn’t do any more, after what had
happened to him. He walked into the barn and surveyed the place, taking
in every detail. He saw Candy crouched in a corner, an expression of
agony on his face. Curley walked forward, his feet drowning in the hay.
And he saw his wife lying there, pale and unmoving, as if it was the
first time he’d seen her. For the first time he looked at her and
saw how much he had made her suffer. But he tried to keep a straight
face, because he was a tough guy.
‘Who done it?’ Curley whispered, glaring at Candy, ‘I
gotta know…and you gotta tell me!’ His voice grew louder
and louder. ‘What you staring at? Talk!’
‘I swear to God Curley…I don’t, I
don’t…I have no idea…’, Candy mumbled, his
voice shaking with shock, and fear.
‘Nonsense! You was here weren’t you? Huh?’ Curley
came closer and grabbed Candy by the collar, his eyes twitching
menacingly. For a moment, everything stood still. A horse by the
stables gave a restless kick, as if feeling the tension. Suddenly, a
shadow cast across the hay. It was the shadow of a little, sharp man
with beady eyes and a strained expression on his face. He walked in
cautiously, slowly taking in what was happening. He saw Curley and
Candy and Curley’s dead wife and fear was visible on his face. He
took a deep breath and approached the two men. Curley and Candy finally
seemed to become aware of George’s presence and both turned to
look at him.
‘Oh you! I knew you’d turn up. You’ve got something to do with it dontcha?’
George stayed silent, his eyes fixed on the dead body and especially on the puppy lying on it.
‘I knew it! You’ve been planning this all along haven’t ya?’
Again there was no answer.
‘It wasn’t him, Curley! I know it wasn’t!’ Candy interrupted, starting to recover from the shock.
‘Well if it ain’t him… If it ain’t
him…It’s someone else like him…’,
Curley’s forehead scrunched up in thought. And then he saw the
light. His eyes widened and George glanced at him, starting to panic.
‘I’m gonna get that big guy, I’m gonna get him if
it’s the last thing I do.’
Candy hissed, a mix of fury and satisfaction in his eyes. Candy looked
at George, then at Curley and back again, completely oblivious. Curley
took out his gun and cocked it. ‘Where’s he at?’
Now, George realized he had to do something. Just as
Curley had turned around, starting to head out, George grabbed his arm
to stop him. He looked right into Curley’s eyes, his heart
racing.
‘Don’t take Lennie. He done nothing wrong. I’m the
guy you have to go after, if you gotta get somebody just because
you’re mad, get me.’ George let out his breath. Curley
growled. ‘I can’t kill you. You done nothing to me.’
And for the first time, George just followed his impulse, because it
was the only thing left for him to do. He grabbed Curley’s gun
and shot him. Right in the chest.
‘Now I done something to ya’, George snapped. And he ran.
It was the first time he had had to run for something he had done
himself, and it was an indescribable feeling. Candy watched him go and
thought for a moment. At least, he tried to, because he didn’t
know what to think. At last, he called for help.
When George arrived at the river everything was still and motionless.
There seemed to be no animals scurrying and no leaves shaken by the
wind. It was as if he had stepped into a picture frame. Lennie was
nowhere to be seen. George looked everywhere, behind the bushes, under
the trees, and he started worrying. Maybe they had gotten to him.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar howl from up in the hills. He ran to it,
panting heavily, until he got to a dark cave. At last, he remembered
what Lennie had told him the last time they had been in that place. But
apparently Lennie did. He crept into the dingy cave and saw Lennie
lying on his side, crying desperately.
‘Lennie?’
‘I don’t need nobody.’
‘Lennie, what are you talking about? It’s George.’
‘I’m gonna live in a cave and make everybody happy.’
‘Lennie get up’, said George.
Lennie slowly turned around and sat up. His hair was full of dirt and
his face was streaked with tears. His huge paws were scratched and
stained with blood. George looked at him for a moment and tears came to
his eyes. He sighed and sat on the ground next to Lennie. Lennie
took his head into his hands.
‘George?’
George simply turned his head to looked at him, without replying.
‘You know I done a bad thing George.’
‘Yeah, I know’, said George.
‘Well, aren’t you gonna give me hell?’ asked Lennie.
‘Sometimes people do things just because at that moment they feel it’s right to do them’, said George.
Lennie stared at him blankly. ‘You know you could just leave me here and not bother with me.’
George didn’t answer.
‘George, can we still get that little place? And the rabbits?’ asked Lennie.
George got up and paced around the cave. The humidity was almost
suffocating. He could see a couple of bats in the far corner. He kicked
a stone, which hit the wall and slid back to the ground. George went
back to sit with Lennie and looked at him earnestly.
‘No we can’t. You know we can’t. We’ve been
trying and failing too long. We can’t go on like this
Lennie.’
For the first time, it looked as if Lennie had understood. He dropped
his head between his knees and closed his eyes. Then, darkness fell.
And the rustling of horses could be heard in the distance.
Lavinia 8C
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