"But I must introduce you!" exclaimed the first brother, clapping his
hands together with energy. "This here is the wife of the nice young
man who stopped in and talked to us for awhile this afternoon. We are
the Purtel brothers."
He leaped toward a chair, sat on it and bounded up. He made wild
gestures of apology and self-reproach and indicated that I should sit
on the chair.
The second brother said languidly, "His name is Purtel, if he so
chooses. But my name is Purtel. Please remember that." Mr. Purtel
laughed heartily, wrinkles fanning out from his eyes across his cheeks.
He smacked his fist into the palm of his other hand.
"Usually it's women that change their names when they get married, but
Si here changed his when he got married. Always before, he was
satisfied with Purtel, but ever since he got married it's had to be
Purtel. That's why our sign says "Purtel and Purtel" instead of "Purtel
Brothers"--so people can pronounce it Purtel and Purtel."
"Purtel and Purtel," corrected the second brother, brushing a speck of
something daintily off his shirt sleeve. He lit a cigarette, and I
watched in fascination as the flame curled near his long black fire
hazard.
Mr. Purtel disappeared into the rear part of the building again, but
Mr. Purtel gave me a refund for the pie tin, and then asked me if I had
any children.
"Yes, two," I told him. "A boy and a girl."
He reached into the show case. "Take this for the boy," he said,
bringing out a huge sugary doughnut. "And this for the girl." The
second gift was a luscious cream puff. My mind's eye presented me with
a swift foreglimpse of Donna, her hair stuck into thick strands, her
face covered by whipped cream and a blissful expression.
I told Grant that one of the brothers was nice, but that I didn't care
much for the other. And until bedtime I wondered why Mr. Purtel's
marriage had caused him to become dissatisfied with the name he had
grown up with.
At last, just as I was getting into bed, I thought maybe I had it.
"I'll bet," I thought happily, "his wife's name is Myrtle."