“Ten seconds to air,” said the assistant.
Truck sipped at his coffee, wiped his face with his favorite handkerchief, and leaned toward the microphone.
“I’ve just received the disturbing news from my esteemed sources in the offices of the Washington State Patrol. It seems that the body of another white man has been discovered up on the Tulalip Indian Reservation forty miles north of Seattle. The details are sketchy, but authorities have identified the body as that of David Rogers, the University of Washington student who has been missing since he won two thousand dollars at a slot machine. The body was mutilated and dumped near the Tulalip Tribal Casino, the last place where David Rogers was seen alive. I know this is terrifying news, but I must inform you that the Seattle Police Department believes that a serial killer, known only as the Indian Killer, is responsible for David Rogers’s murder, as well as the murder of Justin Summers, the bartender whose bloody body was found in Fremont. Both David Rogers and Justin Summers had been scalped.
“And there is more. The police insisted I keep this quiet, but the time for silence is over. Just a few days ago, the Indian Killer mailed me a special package. Inside the package were a piece of Mark Jones’s pajamas and the Indian Killer’s calling card. Now, I don’t want to tell you what the killer sent me. But it’s proof of the Indian Killer’s existence. The Indian Killer has kidnapped and most likely murdered little Mark Jones.
“Citizens, I am deeply saddened by these murders. I extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the murdered men. And most especially, to the mother and father of Mark Jones. I think we should have a moment of radio silence in their honor.”
Truck pressed the mute button, sipped at his coffee, toked on his cigar, and watched the clock. A full minute passed.
“Citizens, I am outraged. What is our society coming to when good men cannot safely walk the streets of our cities? When a little boy can be taken from the safety of his own home? And you know these murdered men, this kidnapped little boy, were targets precisely because they were white. They were guilty of the crime of being white males.
“Yes, yes, citizens, I know, I know. What have I been telling you? Haven’t I told you that our current political climate, with its constant vilification of white males, would prove to be disastrous? White males built this country. White males traveled here on the Mayflower, crossed the Great Plains on horseback, brought light to the darkness, tamed the wilderness. This country exists because of the constant vigilance and ingenuity of white males.
“And, now, through no fault of their own, two men are dead, and a little boy is missing, because they were white. If two black men had been killed because of their race, this city would be in an uproar. If a black child had been kidnapped by a white man, the city would be up in arms. Citizens, there would be a candlelight march. Our liberal black mayor would have appointed a task force by now. Of course, he would have. This whole country cares more about the lives of young black teenage hoodlums than it does about law-abiding, God-fearing white men.
“And now comes the news that an Indian savage is killing white men. Have we somehow traveled back to the nineteenth century? Has some Godless heathen been kept on ice on the reservation for a couple hundred years? Did they thaw that psycho warrior and send him into the city to scalp white men? Citizens, I’m happy I am balder than Kojak and Yul Brynner combined.
“Seriously, citizens, I’m deeply, deeply saddened. But, I have to tell you, I’m not surprised by this turn of events. I mean, what happens to a child that is given everything he wants? That child becomes an aggressive, domineering brat. Well, citizens, we keep giving Indians everything they want. We give them fishing rights, hunting lands. We allow them to have these illegal casinos on their land. They have rights that normal Americans do not enjoy. Indians have become super citizens, enjoying all the advantages of being Americans while reveling in the special privileges they receive just for being Indians.
“And we give all this to them because we supposedly stole their land from them. Indians are living a better life than they ever did before. They have jobs. They have electricity and running water. They have God. Citizens, and this is a fact, there are more Indians living now then there were when Columbus first landed on these shores. It’s true, you can look it up.
“And despite all these special advantages, Indians still live in poverty. They live in filth, folks. Broken-down cars stacked in their yards. They have the highest infant-mortality rates. They have the highest rates of alcohol and drug abuse. Indians still get rickets, for God’s sake. We give them everything, and yet they cannot take care of themselves.
“Would you give money to a four-year-old and tell her to feed herself, clothe herself, buy a house, pay bills? Of course not. Yet we give millions and millions of dollars to these Indians and expect them to know what to do with such wealth. Then when we, as tax-paying citizens, complain about such a waste of our tax dollars, the Indians call us racist. They whine about their treaty rights. They wave their flimsy little treaties around. Well, I’ve got a piece of paper to show those Indians. It’s called the Bill of Rights and, citizens, it doesn’t say one word about special rights for Indians. It’s says that all men are created equal. All men, not just Indians.
“Calm down, citizens, calm down. I know how you feel. I know you’re upset. You have every right to be upset. I’m upset. We have coddled Indians too long and we’ve created a monster. We share the responsibility.
“It’s true, citizens, it’s true. We should have terminated Indian tribes from the very beginning. Indians should have been assimilated into normal society long ago. We should have given them every chance to become fully productive members of our society. Yet we allowed them to remain separate. In fact, we encouraged their separation from the mainstream values and culture in this country. That separation created poverty. It created drug abuse and addiction. It created misery and anger. It created this Indian Killer. Now, I believe we should find this Indian Killer, give him a fair and speedy trial, and then hang him by the neck until he is dead.
“Yes, citizens, to paraphrase one of our great military leaders, Philip Sheridan, the only good Indian Killer is a dead Indian Killer.”
12. The Battle of Queen Anne
LESS THAN AN HOUR after Truck Schultz phoned Aaron Rogers and personally told him about the discovery of his brother’s body, Aaron, Barry Church, and Sean Ward were cruising downtown Seattle, looking for Indians to attack. Aaron and Barry had both tossed baseball bats into the truck before they left the house. Each of the three had a ski mask shoved into his pocket.
“Let’s do it for David,” Aaron said to his housemates, pounding the steering wheel of his Toyota 4Runner as he cruised through downtown Seattle. On any given night, a couple dozen Indians usually staggered through the downtown streets. Aaron had often seen them. Homeless drunks. Men and women. Sitting in their own vomit. Rotten faces, greasy hair, shit-stained pants. Aaron had always been disgusted before. Now he felt a hate that made his chest ache. Sean and Barry scanned the streets. Other college kids on the street walked from bar to bar, laughter and conversation. A small crowd gathered outside the Elliott Bay Book Company. Couples slowly strolled past dark windows of stores.
“Where the fuck are they?” Aaron was screaming now, his face red with frustration.