George Higgins - A change of gravity

"And Dave said to me that he thought that's very likely, may explain a lot of things that he's run into that sort of puzzle you at first, taking witness statements. "They're not telling you what they actually heard. They're telling you what they think they must've heard."

"So the two of us're having this fine philosophical discussion there about the gun that the two uniform Statics took away from our Sheila, and that's when I remember old Lennie's hunkered down out in back.

"Excuse me," I say to Dave, my new friend, j.

"I better go see how the judge is doin' here. Handlin' all this excitement."

"So," Merrion said, "I went in there and I told him all the things that'd been happening out front while he's been in his hiding place and everybody else who was there except Sheila Ryan and her husband was touching themselves all over to make sure they didn't have any holes in them spurting blood or anything. He looked me right in the eye and said to me that he thought "it would be best if we didn't try to go back out there today and try to pick up where we left off before all of this happened and disrupted everything.

'"Just go back out there and make a general announcement," this's what he said to me, patient and serene as he could be, as though I'm the one who panicked out there, ran for his fucking life, and he's the one who's calming me down now, in the sanctuary. "Just tell them that everything that was on the calendar for today, for Monday's continued until tomorrow. Tomorrow at ten A.M. Tuesday." In case I might've gotten the idea that because of all the uproar Tuesday might've been moved, not come after Monday this week. Maybe after Friday instead.

"I felt like saying: "Judge, you jumped clear into Tuesday a while ago, you're already there. We'd better tell people to 'come back on Wednesday." Give them time to catch up to you. You to fall back to the rest of us."

"But I didn't. I said: "Judge, does that mean you want me to call up Sammy Paradise and cancel that meeting, too, what I was telling you about out there before the gun went off?" Because now I don't know what the hell the man wants. I don't think he's too sure of it either.

"He looks at me like I have lost my mind. "Of course not, Amby, for God's sake. What gave you that idea? But what you can do, after you've gone out and told everybody court'll be suspended for the rest of the day here, you can use the time we'll have before this Federal Probation, Paradisio guy arrives to fill me in on him. So I'll have some idea of what I should expect from him." '"That I can do," I said," Merrion said. "What the hell kind ah grapes're these? They made of iron or something? Fuckin' things look like they're rusty."

"They're Furmint grapes," Hilliard said. "They originally came from Tokay, in Hungary. Years ago, I'm on the Hill, we had some hearings on a health bill to declare alcoholism a disease, make insurers pay to treat it. We had the usual parade of experts come in, and one of them got all wound up on what the stew-bums like to drink. They just love white Tokay wine, it's so sweet and strong. And cheap. I'd never had the wine and I made up my mind to avoid it. Don't want people thinkin'

I'm a wino, too, along with my other hobby. I find the grapes cloying, don't eat them."

"Jesus H. Christ," Merrion said, 'is there anything you don't know?"

"Well, twenty years ago," Hilliard said, "I would've said: "No, not a hell of a lot." But more recent events've made me question my confidence on that point. I'd have to say now: "Quite a lot. Much more than I ever thought. And I didn't like learning it at all."

"It's a very common tendency," Sammy Paradise said earnestly over the submarine sandwiches from the Canterbury Village Sub Shop. "Many of them do it." Merrion had asked the court officer to get two Cokes, two Pepsis and two ginger ales as well. Paradisio when he saw the beverage selection said he 'should've asked for a can of canned iced tea, but it's probably too late for that now."

Merrion had predicted it. "Sammy's very serious about what he eats," he told Cavanaugh. "Whatever we get will have something slightly wrong with it. He will mention it. He wont want anything to be actually done about it; he just likes to keep the record straight. Sammy's very serious about everything, keeps close tabs on everything at all times.

He lives as though he's been warned that his life's being taken down and may be used in evidence against him at a trial in a court of law.

Basically a very nice guy, but for him everything in life is business.

So life becomes business for everyone else who gets involved with him, like it or not.

"He looks ten years older'n he is. At least. He's got a few years left now before he retires, three or four, I think. But he looks like he's seventy right now. I doubt he ever looked like a kid, even when he was one."

Cavanaugh did not react. "I do have to give Lennie that," Merrion often said. "He isn't one of those silly bastards who're sensitive about their age. Maybe he got so much shit for bein' young when he was appointed 'fore he's thirty, must be his Confirmation picture inna paper, he thinks he must still look young. He doesn't, but that may not be what he thinks. He looks as young as most people do when they aren't, anymore."

Paradisio was five-eight or five-nine; a soft, unassertive, hundred-fifty pounds or so. "His idea of a good strenuous workout's making sure it's all right with the wife if he takes the car Wednesday night. Sammy will not use "my OGV," Official Government Vehicle, on personal business. She wont mind; she's known for months he's going to want the car that night, ever since he got the tickets in December. He put the dates on this year's calendar before he hung it up in the kitchen.

"He picks up their son, Jeff, and takes the turnpike to Boston. The daughters aren't interested in baseball. He thinks it's probably because they think they weren't supposed to. "They never really tried to play baseball, gave it half a chance. Naturally now they don't like it."

"Sammy doesn't have that much to say about the girls. I get the impression he thinks how they're doing now is their husbands' business.

If they're doing okay, their husbands get the credit. If they're not doing okay then their husbands're to blame. Jeff is different.

Apparently sons, married or not, remain their fathers' responsibility.

Sam's very pleased with the way that Jeff turned out. I think this means he thinks he gets the credit. "Jeffs all right," Sam says,

"Jeffs doing very good. He's a hard-working kid and a good family man and I'm very proud of him. He started in fish and he did his job and worked hard and proved he was reliable, and so now he's in meat. That's a solid job to have and it's a good strong company he's got it with, too, the Big Y. In that business you're not gonna wake up some fine morning and find out you lost your job; people stopped buying what you sell. All a sudden what you were trained to do and've been doing all your life, for years and years, is now obsolete. You're outta work; there's nothing you can do. Terrifying, but it wont happen to Jeff; it can't. People'll always have to eat so they're always gonna need food.

What he's in is secure.

'"But Jeffs also got a growing family, four kids, and you know what that means: Gotta be thinking now about tuitions down the line, all that kind of thing. And I'm through that; I don't anymore. And I'm one of the few guys I know who when the time came, didn't get hit as hard as I expected we was gonna. I actually made out a little.

'"See, Jeff got outta Cathedral, he went the Navy. Now you did have tuition, Cathedral. It's a parochial school. But his mother wanted it, thought it was better, and so what the hell, I went along. This's something that she wants for the kid, might as well let him do it." But it wasn't very much, couple grand or so a year back then. Nothing compared to college, which'd been what I was getting ready for. But then he ended up not going. When he came out the service he said he was too old, go back to school, and besides, him and Carol wanted to get married. Start a family.