The Last Collection (32 page)
Read The Last Collection Online
Authors: Seymour Blicker
He leaned back against the seat, pulled out an Export A and lit it. He looked at his watch. It was almost 11:30. He peered down the lane again just as the girl turned onto Peel Street and disappeared from view. A moment later the taxi's lights went off.
Levin sucked in his breath. Another current of anger passed through his body.
Levin kept his lights on. He left the motor running so that the battery would stay charged. He wasn't worried about the gas. He had a full tank. The tank's capacity was 20 gallons. He made some quick calculations. Idling he figured he could get 15 miles to the gallon. If he estimated a gallon would last perhaps fifteen minutes, that meant he could keep the motor running for at least five hours and probably a lot more.
No problem. It would begin getting light at about 4:30. He could keep his lights on with the motor running all night if he wanted to.
Levin leaned back against the door and put his feet up on the seat. He sat up for a moment to raise the radio volume for the 11:30 news, and then reclined himself again. The news came on. Levin half listened as the announcer spoke about the main events of the day. There was more fighting in Ireland. An item about refugees fleeing from Pakistan. An item about a man who had stuffed his wife into a garbage can and then thrown garbage in on top of her after a minor altercation. A priest arrested in Chicoutimi for smoking pot.
Levin shut the radio and stared down the lane in the direction of the taxi.
SEYMOUR BLICKER
is the author of
Blues Chased a Rabbit, Shmucks,
and
The Last Collection
. He lives in Canada.
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Blues Chased a Rabbit
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from
Shmucks
copyright © 1972 by Seymour Blicker.
This book was originally published in 1976 by McClelland & Stewart Limited.
THE LAST COLLECTION
. Copyright © 1976 by Seymour Blicker. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition DECEMBER 2014 ISBN: 9780062379580
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