Jack grabbed the glass. His hand shook. Pete clamped it down. Jack imbibed. Jack coughed and gasped. Jack held it down.
Ward said, "You've been saying someone should do it all weekend."
Pete said, "You'll do eighteen months tops. You'll get your own fucking motorcade when you get out."
Ward said, "You'll own this town."
Pete said, "He clipped that Tippit guy. Every cop in Dallas will love you."
Ward said, "Your money worries are over as of this moment."
Pete said, "Think about it. A tax-free pension for life."
Jack said, "No." Jack shook his head.
Ward waved the gun. Ward spun the drum. Ward aimed at Jack's head. He pulled the trigger _two times_. He got two dry clicks.
Jack sobbed. Jack prayed-heavy-duty hebe shit.
Pete poured him a refill-three fingers of Schenley's-Jack shook his head. Pete grabbed his neck. Pete cleared his pipes. Pete force-fed him hard.
Jack kept it down. Jack coughed and gasped.
Pete said, "We'll fix up the club and let your sister Eva run it."
Ward said, "Or we'll kill all your brothers and sisters."
Pete said, "She'll make a mint. This place will be a national monument."
Ward said, "Or we'll torch it to the ground."
Pete said, "Are you getting the picture?"
Ward said, "Do you understand your options?"
Pete said, "If you say no, you die. If you say yes, you'll have the world by the balls. If you blow the job, it's '_Shalom_, Jack,' you tried, but we don't appreciate failure, and it's too bad we have to take out your whole fucking family, too."
Jack said, "No."
Pete said, "We'll find a nice home for your dogs. They'll be glad to see you when you get out."
Ward said, "Or we'll kill you."
Pete said, "Your tax troubles will disappear."
Ward said, "Or everyone you love will die."
Jack said, "No." Pete cracked his knuckles. Ward pulled a belt sap-a hose chunk packed with double-aught buck.
Jack stood up. Pete pushed him down. Jack reached for the jug. Pete poured it out. Pete saved a chaser.
Jack said, "No. _No no no no no_."
Ward sapped him-one rib shot-whap.
Jack balled up. Jack kissed his Jew star. Jack bit his tongue.
Ward grabbed his belt. Ward dragged him. Ward kicked him into his office. Ward kicked the door shut.
Pete laughed. Jack lost a shoe and a tie clip. Ward lost his glasses.
Pete heard thump sounds. Jack screamed. The dogs woke up. Pete popped aspirin and Schenley's. The dogs yapped. The noise got all mixed up.
Pete shut his eyes. Pete rolled his neck. Pete worked his headache-_fuck_.
He smelled smoke. He opened his eyes. Smoke blew out a wall vent. Ash sifted through.
_Arden_.
Ward got Jack alone. Pete knew why. Do what we want/do what _I_ want/don't talk about HER. He torched Jack's files. He torched HER name. He torched Arden WHO?
Jack screamed. The dogs yapped. Smoke blew out the vent. Smoke seeped and pooled.
The door popped open. Smoke whooshed out. Wet ashes flew. Sink sounds. Screams. Loose shot pellets hurled.
Ward walked out. His sap leaked buckshot. The shaft dripped blood. He stumbled. He rubbed his eyes. He stepped on his glasses.
He said, "He'll do it."
10
(Dallas, 11/24/63)
_Hangover_.
The room light hurt. The TV noise hurt. Alka-Seltzer helped. Wayne dosed up and replayed the fight.
He swung. He hit Moore. Moore swung bourbon-blind. Pete got between them. Pete fucking laughed.
Wayne watched TV Room service was late-SOP for the hotel.
A cop faced a mike. He said we're moving him. Clear a path now.
Willis Beaudine didn't call. Buddy Fritsch did. Buddy had an update. Buddy talked to the border cops.
Wendell Durfee: Still at large.
Wayne dropped _his_ plan: I've got a car/I'll drive to McAllen/I'll liaise with the border cops there.
Fritsch said, "Take Moore with you. If you cap that nigger, you'd better have a Texas cop in your pocket."
Wayne argued. Wayne almost said it: My plan is a shuck. Fritsch said, "Take him out. Earn your fucking keep."
Fritsch won. Wayne lost. He stalled. He watched TV. He never called Moore up.
Wayne sipped Alka-Seltzer. Wayne saw cops with Stetsons. The TV picture jumped.
He slapped the box. He tapped the dials. The picture cohered.
Oswald stepped out. Oswald wore handcuffs. Two cops flanked him. They walked through the basement. They faced some reporters. They cleared a path fast.
A man jumped out. Dark suit/fedora. Right arm outstretched. He stepped up. He aimed a gun. He shot near point-blank.
Wayne blinked. Wayne saw it-oh fuck.
Oswald doubled up. Oswald went "Oooh."
The cops blinked. They saw it-oh fuck.
Commotion. Dogpile. The gunman's down. He's prone. He's disarmed. He's pinned flat.
Rerun that. I think I-
The hat. The bulk. The profile. The dark eyes. The fat.
Wayne grabbed the TV. Wayne shook the sides. Wayne focused in tight.
Jerky shots/camera jumps/a low zoom.
The bulk grew. The profile blossomed. Someone yelled, "Jack!"
_No_. Asshole Jack Ruby-the dive club/the dogshit/the-
Someone yelled, "Jack!" A man snared his hat. Cops wrestled him. Cops cuffed him. Cops stood him up. Cops went through his pants.
The picture jumped. Wayne slapped the antenna. The picture went flat.
Reruns:
Moore muscles Jack. Jack prowls the PD. Jack knows Pete. Moore knows Pete gooood. Bowers. The thumb. The Kennedy hit-
The picture jumped. The tubes buzzed. The fucking phone rang.
The picture settled. A newsman yelled, "Local nightclub"-
Wayne stood up. Wayne tripped. Wayne grabbed the phone. Wayne snagged the receiver.
"Yeah, this is Tedrow,"
"It's Willis Beaudine. Remember, you met me-"
"Yeah, I remember."
"Well, that's good, because Wendell's going for that offer you made. He don't know why you're doing it, but I told him my dog liked you."
The sound died. Jack moved his lips. Cops gave him the big two-cop flank.
Beaudine said, "Man, are you _there?_"
"I'm here."
"Good. Then you be at rest stop number 10, eighty miles south on I-35. Make it three o'clock. Oh, and Wendell wants to know if you've got money."
The cops dwarfed Jack-big men-boots up to six-four.
"Hey, man. Are you _there?_"
"Tell him I've got six thousand dollars."
"Hey, you have to like that!"
Wayne hung up. The TV jumped. Oswald rode a white sheet on a cot.
(Dallas, 11/24/63)
He saw it live.
He'd tuned in Channel 4. He squinted to see. He broke his glasses at Jack's club.
He sat in his room. He watched the show. It capped his interview-one hour back.
He sat with Lee Oswald. They talked.
Littell drove I-35. Freeway signs blurred. He hit the slow lane and crawled.
Arden called last night. Oswald died at Parkland. Ruby was under arrest.
Oswald bit his nails. Littell uncuffed him. Oswald rubbed his wrists.
I'm a Marxist. I'm a patsy. I won't elaborate. I'm pro-Fidel. I indict the U.S. I scorn her Cuban misdeeds. I scorn the exiles. I scorn the CIA. National Fruit is evil. The Bay of Pigs was insane.
Littell agreed. Oswald warmed up. Oswald craved perspective. Oswald craved friends.
Littell faltered then. Oswald craved friends. Guy's cutout knew it. Littell shut down. Oswald caught his tone. Oswald threw it back.