The Crossing (The Border Trilogy, #2)

by Cormac McCarthy

When the waitress came he started to order the plate lunch but she said that lunch didnt start till eleven oclock. She said he could get breakfast. I’ve done eat one breakfast today. Well we dont have no city ordinance about how many breakfasts you can eat. How big of a breakfast can I get? How big of a one can you eat? I’ve got a mealticket from the recruitin office. I know it. I see it layin yonder. Can I get four eggs? You just tell me how you want em. She brought the breakfast on an oblong crockery platter with the four eggs over medium and a slice of fried ham and grits with butter and she brought a plate of biscuits and a small bowl of gravy. You want anything else you let me know, she said. All right. You want a sweetroll? Yes mam. You need some more coffee? Yes mam. He looked up at her. She was about forty years old and she had black hair and bad teeth. She grinned at him. I like to see a man eat, she said. Well, he said. You’re lookin at one I believe ought to meet your requirements. When he was done eating he sat drinking coffee and studying the form his mother