Charles Bukowski - Factotum

I arrived in New Orleans in the rain at 5 oclock

I was in a room on the second floor across

I went out on the street, as usual, one day

He was a man behind the desk with a hearing

It was a magazine publishers distributing house and we stood

Monday I was hungover. I shaved off my beard and

We were still in Louisiana. The long train ride through

When the train stopped in Los Angeles we had a

My mother screamed when she opened the door. Son! Is

My mother had found a job. She was to start

The next day I went back to bed for a

I stayed in my room until after they left the

I woke up in a room. I was alone.

That night my father arrived with the thirty dollars. As

I got a job in an auto parts warehouse just

My bill for room, board, laundry, etc., was so high

I had worked long enough to save up bus fare

For four or five days I walked around. Then I

It looked like a deserted store. There was a sign

Two old guys were waiting for me. I met them

The hours at the dog biscuit factory were from 4:30 p.m.

After arriving in Philadelphia I found a roominghouse and paid

When I arrived in St. Louis it was very cold,

I found a job as a shipping clerk in a

We were down in a cellar. The walls were painted

Whenever I went out into the hall of the roominghouse

After losing several typewriters to pawnbrokers I simply gave up

I kept hand-printing my short stories. I sent most of

I always walked to my room, it was six or

I often saw Gertrude in the hall. We talked but

When I got back to Los Angeles I found a

Her name was Laura. It was 2 oclock in the

When we awakened, Laura told me about Wilbur. It was

By the time we docked, Grace had joined us too.

Grace, Laura and I were sitting at the bar in

Rows and rows of silent bicycles. Bins filled with bicycle

She was the managers secretary. Her name was Carmenbut despite

We all doubled up as both stock and shipping clerks.

Jan was an excellent fuck. Shed had two children but

I arrived at the bicycle warehouse at 10:30 a.m. Starting

I still had my thirty-five dollar car. The horses were

We lived on the fourth floor of an old apartment

I was too sick one morning to get up at

I was finally hired on at an auto parts warehouse.

The next day at work we were questioned about our

We ran through the tunnel as they were putting them

The new life didnt sit well with Jan. She was

The arguments were always the same. I understood it too

At the auto parts warehouse I did less and less.

I had my winnings and the bookie money and I

Jan and I were at Los Alamitos. It was Saturday.

When I awakened I was sweating. Jans leg was thrown

Miami was as far as I could go without leaving

In the morning it was very quiet and I thought,

The Florida State Department of Employment was a pleasant place.

I found a job through the newspaper. I was hired

I dont know how many weeks I worked there. I

I got to my room and took my old pants

It took four days and five nights for the bus

I got hired immediately at a fluorescent light fixture company.

Feldman was trying to collect his insurance and go bankrupt

I walked into the Times Building. I had taken two

I awakened sick the next morning. It had been nearly

I was there at 9 p.m. The Superintendent showed me

The Superintendents full name was Herman Barnes. Herman met me

The next night I did about four hours work then

The next day about noon we started out again, Jan

I took the card they gave me at the State

I quickly lost that job, just as I lost many

The Yellow Cab Company in L.A. is located on the

Janeway Smithson was a little, insane, grey-haired bantam rooster of

There were forty or fifty of us in the Training

A couple of days later I found an ad in

Business didnt seem to be too good. Outgoing orders were

Mary Lou was one of the girls in the front

Bud came back pushing three one gallon cans of paint

Paul was one of the clerks. He was fat, about

Mr. Manders walked back to where I was working and

The store was going broke. Each day the orders were

The next thing that happened was that they hired a

The next job didnt last long either. It was little

It was another fluorescent light fixture house: The Honeybeam Company.

National Bakery Goods was located nearby. They gave me a

The Hotel Sans was the best in the city of

Sundays were best because I was alone and soon I

The Farm Labor Market was at Fifth and San Pedro

Workmen For Industry was located right on the edge of

I arrived in New Orleans in the rain at 5 oclock in the morning. I sat around in the bus station for a while but the people depressed me so I took my suitcase and went out in the rain and began walking. I didnt know where the rooming houses were, where the poor section was.

I had a cardboard suitcase that was falling apart. It had once been black but the black coating had peeled off and yellow cardboard was exposed. I had tried to solve that by putting black shoepolish over the exposed cardboard. As I walked along in the rain the shoepolish on the suitcase ran and unwittingly I rubbed black streaks on both legs of my pants as I switched the suitcase from hand to hand.

Well, it was a new town. Maybe Id get lucky.

The rain stopped and the sun came out. I was in the black district. I walked along slowly.

Hey, poor white trash!

I put my suitcase down. A high yellow was sitting on the porch steps swinging her legs. She did look good.

Hello, poor white trash!

I didnt say anything. I just stood there looking at her.

Howd you like a piece of ass, poor white trash?

She laughed at me. She had her legs crossed high and she kicked her feet; she had nice legs, high heels, and she kicked her legs and laughed. I picked up my suitcase and began to approach her up the walk. As I did I noticed a side curtain on a window to my left move just a bit. I saw a black mans face. He looked like Jersey Joe Wolcott. I backed down the pathway to the sidewalk. Her laughter followed me down the street.

I was in a room on the second floor across from a bar. The bar was called The Gangplank Cafe. From my room I could see through the open bar doors and into the bar. There were some rough faces in that bar, some interesting faces. I stayed in my room at night and drank wine and looked at the faces in the bar while my money ran out. In the daytime I took long slow walks. I sat for hours staring at pigeons. I only ate one meal a day so my money would last longer. I found a dirty cafe with a dirty proprietor, but you got a big breakfasthotcakes, grits, sausagefor very little.

I went out on the street, as usual, one day and strolled along. I felt happy and relaxed. The sun was just right. Mellow. There was peace in the air. As I approached the center of the block there was a man standing outside the doorway of a shop. I walked past.

Hey, BUDDY!

I stopped and turned.

You want a job?

I walked back to where he stood. Over his shoulder I could see a large dark room. There was a long table with men and women standing on both sides of it. They had hammers with which they pounded objects in front of them. In the gloom the objects appeared to be clams. They smelled like clams. I turned and continued walking down the street.