motivation

George Stoyonovich 

he is a 19 year old boy who had left school on impulse he lives in an immigrant neighborhood where the side walks are broken and the trees withered he lives in a rail road flat above a butcher store with his family his mom is dead his sister is a 23 year old girl she takes care of the house and she works in cafeteria in the bronx his dad is a quiet person who works in a fish market his family is very poor he considered registering in a night school but he didnt like the idea of teachers telling him what to do he felt that they didnt respect him.

the result was him staying off the streets and most of the time in his room

he had his coffee by himself then he hung around in the house he mopps the house and put things away but most of the time he sat in his room

in the after noon George sat in his room and listened to ball games otherwise he had a couple of copies of the world almanac he bought long time ago he liked reading magazines and newspapers that Sophie had brought home from work

at midnight george went to a little darkly lit park with benches and trees with an iron railing and that gave him some privacy and he started thinking of a better life he started wishing for a private houde and a good job and a girlfriend that he can spend some money on and he wanted people to like him and respect him.

one time he was on his walk and he met Mr.Cattanzara coming home very late from work he worked at a change booth during a hot night Mr.Cattanzara sat on the stoop and he started reading the new york times he read it from the first page till the last page George liked Mr.Cattanzara because he asked different questions than the other neighbors he liked because when he was a squirt he gave him a nickel to go buy ice lemon

Mr.Catanzara asked George what he is doing this summer and he answered saying that he got a list of books that he is going to pick from the library Mr.Catanzara asked him how many books is on the list George said a hundred. but one evening the shoe maker stopped George to say that he was a good boy and George figured that Mr.Cattanzara had told him about the books he was reading Gorge some people smiling at him kindly he felt respected and that changed his mood he cleaned the house every day as a favor of Sophie and she gave him a buck as a week allowence even though it wasnt enough most of the time he bought some cigarettes and a beer and a movie ticket life wasnt too bad for him.

even though he only talked once to Mr.Cattanzara but Mr.Cattanzara’s silence made George feel a little bit uneasy he stopped walking past Mr.Cattanzara’s house anymore until one night forgetting himself he aproached it from a different direction than he usually did

he saw Mr.Cattanzara sitting on the stoop still reading his newspaper he wasnt sure what he was going to say if Mr.Catanzara had talked to him even though the more he thought about it the more it scared him so George crossed the street trying to make it seem that he is looking in the store window he feared Mr.Cattanzara that he would glance up from his newspaper and would call him a dirty rat , and his fat wife leaned out of the window reading the newspaper with her husband

George thought that she would spy him out and yell out to Mr.Cattanzara but she never moved her eyes off her husband

then one night George saw Mr.Cattanzara coming down the street towards him George was about to turn and run away but he didnt because he recognized from Mr.Cattanzara’s walk that he was drunk and that Mr.Cattanzara wouldnt even bother to notice him so he kept walking until he came next to Mr.Cattanzara he was not surprised when he passed Mr.Cattanzara without a word then George heard his name being called Mr.Cattanzara pulled a nickel out of his pocket and gave to George and said go buy yourself some lemon ice.

George replied saying im not a kid anymore so Mr.Cattanzara said no you aint which didnt make any reply that he could think of and then Mr.Cattanzara asked him how are all reading coming George said they are fine so Mr.Cattanzara asked him to name him one book but George couldnt answer that question and Mr.Cattanzara kept going on his walk but he still heard the words that Mr.Cattanzara saying dont do what i did.

the next night he locked him self in his room although Sophie argued with him but he wouldnt open the door she asked what are you doing he answered sayin nothing she reasked him aren’t you reading he replied by saying no

she was silent for a moment and asked him where is the books that you read i never see books in your room but he didnt reply so she said your not worth a buck of my hard earned money he locked him self in his room for a week but he snuk out of his room at when no one was home to get food

one night when he couldnt stand the heat anymore he went outside at 1a.m. the same night a guy around the corner asked if he really had finished reading the 100 books George figured that Mr.Cattanzara spread a new rumor that George had finished reading the books and one day George ran out of his house to the library even though he couldnt control the inward trembling he easily counted a hundred books and then sat down and started reading them

Mr.Cattanzar knew that George was lying from the beging but he didnt tell anyone and that changed Georges mood an he thought that he was respected by him even though when they met the second time and Mr.Cattanzara said dont do what i did that and George felt ashamed about it so he locked him self in his room Mr.Cattanzara was trying to change Georges life because he couldnt change his thats why he drinks to escape so he tried to change Georges life because he is still young and he can get him self educated and change his life by leaving the neighborhood and getting a good job and a great house and a girlfriend so he spread a rumor saying that George had finished reading the books so that gave the motivation to George because he knew that he had the potential to do it but no one motivated him to do so.