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Show 210 "Why me?" "You were there. If Bill got kicked out of here, they'd pick him up and put him in the booby hatch." "How can he afford a psychiatrist and not room rent?" "He gets the doctor free on some kind of veterans' deal. From now on I'll take up a collection to pay his rent. You don't have to contribute." "Wow! Really? Oh gee, thanks." He looked hurt. "Hell, if we'd known, we wouldn't have stuck you at all." "Yeah? Known what?" "About the war and those eleven Nazi planes." "Those what?" "Christ, I walked through that whole god damned war, across North Africa and up that whole damned Italian peninsula, and I hated you pilot bastards, riding up there. But, man, eleven Nazi planes, that's something else." "Ahhhh ..." "You still in the reserves? If there's a war in Korea, will you have to go?" "Huh-uh, I resigned my reserve commission. I'm a pacifist now. Ben, about those eleven planes, there wasn't really--" "That's so great, Chess." "Well ..." "We all owe you an apology. Jesus, what shmucks we are. Assholes one and all. The guys all wondered about you when I rented to you, there was grumbling all right, but now that they know . . . well, we all owe you an apology. If there's anything these guys really respect . . . it's practically awe they have. We can't all say it, so I'll say it for all of us: we're damned proud to have you living here." |