The James Gang by Tim Donahue

Author:Tim Donahue
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-956452-50-1
Publisher: Arts Ink Ltd DBACentral Park South
Published: 2023-04-17T23:24:48+00:00

1979

“They know exactly what they’re doing, Will.” Hersey tilted his head back, squeezing a bottle of drops into his eye. “The worst part is that Elroy caught it all on camera. I’m sure the tabloids are gonna have something to say.”

“You brought Elroy?” William—who had been inspecting Hersey’s eyes in a lean over the counter—ejected himself away from his patient in disgust. “What could have possibly tricked you into thinking that was a good idea?” William yelled and the sound of his voice echoed all around the hotel bathroom.

“I thought I’d look like a hero.” Hersey admitted. “Now either my daughters hate me, or I staged the whole thing for some controversy press. Wine’s too sacred to be used as a weapon, it’s the blood of Christ for God’s sake—maybe that’s the worst part of all this, the waste of a perfectly good glass of wine.” Hersey blinked hard and his eyes dribbled solution from the drops.

“It’s fifty-fifty.” William added, ignoring Hersey’s poetic wax about the wine. “Elroy can print whatever he wants. What’re we gonna do about it, tell the truth?”

“Never.” Hersey laughed a sarcastic kind of laugh. “She looked okay, though. She’s fit for television if we can get her to come around.”

“That’s a surprise, her picture didn’t exactly inspire confidence.” William turned away from Hersey’s eye to scan through the window. Glenn was splashing around in a hot-tub down by the courtyard, she spun in circles and spat hot water like a fountain to the other end of the tub. All the other children were gathering in the pool.

“A magazine is a lying thing, William. You taught me that.” Hersey got up to join William in his gaze out the window.

“I thought you’d forgotten. What is Elroy but a liar?” William turned to Hersey. “He’s attached himself to your hip, aren’t you worried about what he might see? What he’s already seen?”

“There’s worse things to be than a liar.” Hersey looked from the pool, up to his own reflection in the glass, and back down to the pool again. “I figured that one out for myself. You could be a liar, or you could be a nobody. Some people need to be liars in order to not be a nobody, and some people need to use those liars in order to not be a nobody.” Hersey stared at Glenn now, the hot-tub’s water turned to froth as she spun around and splashed circles around her body. “What imagination.” Hersey muttered and smiled, though the sun’s glare hurt his eyes and he flinched away.

“You don’t think she was lying, do you?” William was still by the window while Hersey paced the room.

“Beatrice has always had a flair for overcomplications.” Hersey squeezed his eyes shut. “And this is just about the most intricate plan I’ve ever seen. If her despair is a hoax, that is.” He turned and paced to the other wall, then stopped. “I must say, she looked suspiciously healthy for someone who’s supposed to be on a bender.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.