Red Wheelbarrow 2008 text FINAL REVISED.indd - De Anza College

night and went their separate ways.
Walter unlocked his cabin door. They did not have an
expensive room; theirs was an interior one with no windows. Without
the light from the hallway pouring in, the room was pitch black.
Lauren stirred in the bed.
Walter went into the tiny bathroom, closed the door and
turned on the light. He opened his shaving kit, then reached into his
fur coat pockets and took out handfuls of bills. He didn’t bother to
count them, but he knew that it was more money than he’d ever earned
doing an honest day’s work. He shoved the money into his shaving
kit along with his other winnings and zipped it up. It would barely
close. Tomorrow he would buy a bigger kit. He chuckled to himself,
brushed his teeth and went into the bedroom.
He kept the light in the bathroom on and the door open a
crack while he got undressed. Lauren hadn’t bothered to wash her face
before going to bed and her makeup stained the pillowcase. There
were dark black splotches under her eyes. Her lipstick had smeared
along her left cheek and down toward her chin. Her hair looked dry
and brittle.
He took off his coat and got undressed. He folded his clothes
neatly and put them on a chair. The coat he hung carefully on the hook
on the back of the door. He ran his hand lovingly down the back of
it. He looked over at Lauren before shutting off the bathroom light
and getting into bed beside her.
He lay awake, thinking about his good fortune and smiling
to himself in the dark. Lauren turned over, facing him. Walter could
smell the liquor on her. He looked over at her and tried to make out
her features but he couldn’t. She was snoring. She reeked.
He couldn’t wait to tell her about the money. He knew
what he’d do - he’d stuff some into her purse before she went ashore
tomorrow. He would slip it in when she wasn’t looking and when she
opened it later to buy some silly little souvenir, she would see it. Then,
when she came back onto the ship in the evening, she would run over
to him and say, “Walter, you’ll never believe what happened!” He’d
act so surprised and let her go on a bit, and then he would take her
up to their room and show her the rest. They’d be rich! She would be
so proud of him and maybe, after she saw what he would finally be
able to give her, she’d let him make love to her.
He smiled again at his good fortune and at how happy Lauren
would be.
He was too excited to sleep. He got up and went into the
bathroom, closed the door and turned on the light. He splashed water
Red Wheelbarrow | 141