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Comentario
Chapter One
246
'Thinner,' the old Gypsy man with the rotting nose whispers to
William Halleck as Halleck and his wife, Heidi, come out of the
courthouse. Just that one word, sent on the wafting, cloying
sweetness of his breath. 'Thinner.' And before Halleck can jerk
away, the old Gypsy reaches out and caresses his cheek with one
twisted finger. His lips spread open like a wound, showing a few
tombstone stumps poking out of his gums. They are black and
green. His tongue squirms between them and then slides out to
slick his grinning, bitter lips.
Thinner.
This memory came back to Billy Halleck, fittingly enough, as he
stood on the scales at seven in the morning with a towel wrapped
around his middle. The good smells of bacon and eggs came up
from downstairs. He had to crane forward slightly to read the
numbers on the scale. Well ... actually, he had to crane forward
more than slightly. Actually he had to crane forward quite a lot. He
was a big man. Too big, as Dr Houston delighted in telling him.
In
case no one ever told you, let me pass you the information,
Houston had told him after his last checkup. A
man your age,
income, and habits enters heart-attack country a roughly age
thirty-eight, Billy. You ought to take off some weight
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