Free The Early Stories of Truman Capote by Truman Capote Page B

calling the police if I don’t hurry up!”
    “Oh,” he said eagerly, “I have lots of comic magazines at home. I’ll bring some tomorrow for Jamie!”
    “Good,” the woman said. “I’ll tell him. He loves magazines.” She started off down the path.
    “I’ll meet you here tomorrow and I’ll bring the magazines. I’ll bring lots of them!” he called after her.
    “All right,” she called back, “tomorrow.” And as he stood watching her disappear he thought how wonderful it must be to have a mother like that and a dog like Frisky. Oh, Jamie was really such a lucky boy, he thought. Then he heard Miss Julie’s sharp voice calling him.
    “Teddy, Oh—yoo-hoo! Teddy come here this instant. Miss Julie’s been looking everywhere for you. You are a naughty boy and Miss Julie’s angry with you.”
    He turned laughing and ran toward her, and suddenly, running as fast as he could, he felt like a young sapling bending in the wind.
    That night, after he had finished his supper and had had his bath, he set to work to gather up all his comic magazines. They were stuffed helter-skelter in his closet, cedar box, and bookshelf. Except for the brightly covered magazines, his bookshelf was a picture in solemn literature—
The Child’s Book of Knowledge, The Child’s Garden of Verse,
and
Books Every Child Should Know
.
    He managed to gather thirty fairly recent issues together before his mother and father came to say good night. His mother was dressed in a long flowery evening gown and she had flowers and perfume in her hair. He loved the smell of gardenias, so pungently sweet. His father was in his tuxedo and carried his tall silk hat.
    “What are all these magazines for?” his mother asked him.
    “For a friend,” said Teddy, hoping she wouldn’t ask any more. It would not be quite as secretive, quite as exciting, if his mother knew about it.
    “Come on, Ellen,” his father said impatiently. “The curtain goes up at eight-thirty, and I’m tired of getting to shows right in the middle.”
    “Good night, darling!”
    “Good night, Son.”
    He threw them a kiss as they closed the door behind them. Then, quickly, he turned back to his magazines. He got the sheet of wrapping paper his new suit had come in, and awkwardly wrapped them in it. It made a big package. He tied it up with thick, coarse string. Then he stepped back and looked at it. Something was wrong, he thought. It wasn’t fancy enough; it didn’t look like a gift.
    He went to his desk, delved around inside and came up with a box of crayons. With alternating red and green letters, he printed, “THIS IS,” then shifted to blue and red, “FOR JAMIE—FROM TEDDY.”
    Satisfied, he put the package away before Miss Julie came in to turn off his light and open the window.
    The next morning before they started to the park, he got out his Red Sky Chief Wagon, put his package in and covered it with playthings.
    When they reached the park, Teddy could tell it was going to be an easy matter to get away from Miss Julie. She had on her best dress. She was all excited and had on more lipstick than usual. Teddy knew that she was expecting to meet Officer O’Flaherty in the park. Officer O’Flaherty was Miss Julie’s fiancée, at least as far as Miss Julie was concerned.
    “Now, Teddy, you just run on and have a good time, but mind now, Miss Julie will meet you at the playground.”
    He ran as quickly as he could toward the reservoir. He couldn’t take any short cuts with the wagon; it bumped along behind him.
    He saw Frisky and the woman sitting on the bench.
    “Well, here on time, I see,” she laughed when she saw him.
    He rolled the wagon up beside the bench, threw off his playthings and proudly exhibited his big parcel of magazines.
    “Oh,” she cried, “what a big package! Why, Jamie will never finish reading all these. He will love them, Teddy. Come here; let me kiss you.”
    He blushed slightly as she kissed him on his cheek.
    “You’re a sweet