Rydell walked over and had a closer look at the prayer-hankies. He wondered which one of them was supposed to keep the AIDS off. No he said, finally, you go back to work. You are protecting people. That parts real. You got to make a living, Sublett.
What about you?
Well, what about me?
Theyll just find you and kill you, Berry. You and her.
You, too, probably, if they knew what Id told you. I shouldnt oughtve done that, Sublett. Thats one reason Chevette and I have to get out of here. So there wont be any hassle for you and your mom.
Well Sublett said, Im not working for them anymore, Berry. But Im leaving here, too. I just have to.
Rydell looked at Sublett, seeing him, somehow, in his full IntenSecure outfit, Glock and all, and suddenly that big crazy idea-thing sort of up and shook itself, and rolled over, revealing all these new angles. But you cant get him involved, Rydell told himself, it just wouldnt be fair.
Sublett Rydell heard himself saying, about a minute later, I bet I got a career-option here you havent ever even considered.
Whats that? Sublett said.
Getting in trouble Rydell said.
33. Notebook
rice
scouring pads broom
detergent liquid sleeping bag
stove fuel oil/gasket
He sleeps now. Rice with the curry from the Thai wagon. Asks where the girl has gone. Tell him Fontaine has heard from her but does not know where she is or why. The pistol on the shelf. Reluctant to touch it (cold, heavy, smelling of oil, the dark blue finish worn to silver-gray down the sides of its muzzle, around the fluted segments of the cylinder. (SMITH & WESSON. Thomasson.) Tonight he spoke again of Shapely.
How they did him like that, Scooter, thats just some sorry shit. Same shit all over. Always some of em, anyway, makes you wonder how these damn religions last so long or what started it in the first place. Could be hell be that himself one day, crazy fuckers out killing people for him, or theyll say its for him. Used to be these Crucified Jesus people, they wouldnt talk at all except on Mondays, and that was the day theyd go and dig a spadeful of dirt out of their grave, Scooter. Every little while theyd get one of them thought hed got the spirit in him and theyd just do it, do it with these special chrome nails they all carried, leather neck-pouch, see, it had to be unborn lambskin. Hell, youd have to say they were crazier than the ones got him, Scooter. Put em all away, finally. Werent any left at all, after about 1998.
Inner Tube, honey Mrs. Sublett said, Talitha Morrow, Todd Probert, Gary Underwood. 1996. She was leaning back in the recliner with a damp washcloth folded across her forehead. It was the same color blue as her slippers, and they were terrycloth, too.
I never saw that Chevette said, flipping through the pages of a magazine all about Reverend Fallon. There was this has-been actress, Gudrun Weaver, and she was up there hugging Fallon on a stage somewhere. If hed turned around, Chevette thought, his nose wouldve barely come up to her breastbone. Looked like hed had some kind of pink wax injected, all under his skin; had the creepiest-looking hair shed ever seen, like a really short wig but it sort of looked like it might get up and walk off by itself.
All about television Mrs. Sublett said, so naturally its of special significance to the Church.
Whats it about?
Talitha Morrow is this newswoman, and Todd Probert is a bank robber. But hes a good bank robber, because he only needs the money to pay for a heart-transplant for his wife. Carrie Lee. Remember her? In a mature role, honey. More like a cameo. Well, Gary Underwood is Talithas ex, but hes still got it for her, bad. In fact hes gotwhatcha callit?erotomania, like its all he ever thinks about and, honey, its turned pure evil. First hes sending her these chopped up Barbie dolls; sends her a dead white rabbit, then all this fancy underwear with blood on it
34. Punching out of paradise
Chevette let the old lady talk. She could just sort of tune her out, the way she used to do with her own mother, sometimes. She wondered what it was Rydell and Sublett were so worked up about. Up to something; whispering in the kitchen.
She watched a fly buzz around the stuff on Mrs. Subletts shelves. It looked slow, like maybe the air-conditioning was too much for it.
She wondered if maybe she wasnt starting to fall for Rydell. Maybe it was just that hed showered and shaved and put on clean clothes from his stupid-looking suitcase. The clothes were exactly the same as the ones hed been wearing before. Maybe he never wore anything else. But she had to admit he had a cute butt in those jeans. Subletts mother said he looked like a young Tommy Lee Jones. Who was Tommy Lee Jones? Or maybe it was because she had the idea somehow he was going to do something mean to Lowell. Shed thought she was still in love with Lowell, or something anyway, but now she didnt think so, not at all. If Lowell just hadnt started doing dancer. Shed thought about how that Loveless had got when shed dumped all that dancer in his Coke. Shed asked Rydell if that was enough to have killed him, and Rydell had said no. Said it was enough to keep him stone crazy for a while, and when he got back together, he was going to be hurting. Then shed asked Rydell why Loveless had done that, banging his gun into his crotch that way. Rydell had sort of scratched his head and said he wasnt sure, but he thought it had something to do with what it did to your nervous system. Said hed heard it induced priapism, for one thing. Shed asked him what that was. Well, hed said, its when the man is, like, overstimulated. She didnt know about that, but it had given Lowell these total brickbat boners that just didnt want to go away. And that wouldve been just fine, or anyway okay, except he got all mean with it, too, so shed wind up all sore and then hed be badmouthing her in front of these people he hung out with, like Codes. Anyway, she wasnt going to waste any time worrying about what Rydell might have in mind for Lowell, no way. What she did worry about was Skinner, whether he was okay, whether he was being taken care of. She was kind of scared to try phoning Fontaine now; every time Rydell made a call out, she worried it might get traced back or something. And it made her sad to think about her bike. She was sure somebody wouldve gotten it by now. She kind of hated to admit it, but that was starting to make her nearly as sad as Sammy getting killed that way. And Rydell had said he thought maybe Nigel had gotten shot, too.
And then Subletts mother was saying, Gary Underwood goes through this window. And he falls on one of those fences? Kind with spikes on top.
Hey, Mom Sublett said, youre bending Chevettes ear.
Just telling her about Inner Tube Mrs. Sublett said, from under the washcloth.
1996 Sublett said. Well, Rydell and I, we need her for something. Sublett gestured for her to follow him back into the kitchen.
I dont think its a real good idea for her to go outside, Berry he said to Rydell. Not in the daytime.
Rydell was sitting at the little plastic table where shed had breakfast. Well, you cant go, Sublett, because of your apostasy. And I dont want to be in there by myself, not with my head stuck in one of those eyephone things. His parents could walk in. He might listen.
Cant you just call them on the regular phone, Berry? Sublett sounded unhappy.
No. Rydell said, I cant. They just dont like that. He says theyll at least talk to me if I call them on an eyephone rig.
Whats the problem? Chevette said.
Subletts got a friend here whos got a pair of eyephones.
Buddy Sublett said.
Your buddy? she asked.
Names Buddy Sublett said, but that VR, eyephones n stuff, its against Church law. Its been revealed to Reverend Fallon that virtual realitys a medium of Satan, cause you dont watch enough tv after you start doing it