Long George Alley by Richard Hall

Author:Richard Hall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2004-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

RICE

We arrive back at the freedom house. Cal and Cates are seated at the desk, fiddling with the short-wave radio. All I hear is static coming through. When we come in, Cal turns and stares at us, looking Parnell up and down. She walks past them toward her room. Cates and Cal are watching me. Cates wears one of those olive drab fatigue suits with the floppy hat. Cal has on a pair of headphones pushed in front of his ears over his temples. His sunglasses have slipped down on his nose. He turns back to the radio, curses and yanks off the headset and throws it down on the desk and stands up. He pivots and looks hard at me, his eyes angry, penetrating. Then he looks back at Cates.

“I carried it to Jackson,” Cates says, his voice diffident. “I swear I told them.” Then suddenly he looks off absently. “She could of rode up with me but she didn’t wanna come.”

“What the fuck are you talking ’bout?” Cal says. “Listen, motherfucker. I want this goddamned radio fixed. You hear me? You ain’t done nothing ’cept sit on your ass and mope for more’n a week now. If you got troubles, you better talk up and tell somebody. This ain’t no game. You better shape the fuck up or pack your goddamned things and leave. You got it straight?” He stands there breathing hard, staring down at Cates.

“I carried it to Jackson,” Cates says, still looking off out the window. “I told them to check it out good. That we’d be needing it. You know when I first heard it, I didn’t know what it was. But now I think it’s my basic rhythm.” He looks up at Cal, then at me. Then back at Cal. Cal lets out a deep sigh.

“Look, man,” he says. “I’m gon’ take my car twenty miles out. My radio works fine. When I get to Fayette, I’ll try calling you. If this fucking thing here cain’t reach Fayette, you take it back and tell headquarters to give us a good one or shove it up their ass. You hear me?”

Cates nods. Then Cal whirls and faces me again, his eyes above the rim of the sunglasses fixed, immobile, like gray stones cemented in his head. I hear the toilet flush, then Parnell turns on the shower. Cal listens too.

“Where y’all been all damn day?” he says finally, his voice cool and controlled again.

“Sloane Hollow,” I say, too fast. I slow down. “We passed out demonstration notices. And Parnell recruited a bunch of folks for tomorrow. But we’ll have to pick them up in the truck.” Cates gives a little nervous cough and turns back toward the radio. Cal keeps burning his eyes into mine. We’re standing looking level at each other. I return his stare as hard as I can so in case he doesn’t already know, he won’t find it there. Cates starts fiddling with the radio again. Static crackles between our eyes.

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