William Gaddis - J R

— Well it’s all right… she turned, eyes risen abruptly into sight over a lavender border of the handkerchief she held there — but what on earth…

— No well see it’s just, I’m just trying to help out this here friend see and…

— And why on earth is that dirty handkerchief stuffed in the…

— No well see with this here cold season coming on like maybe that’s even where you got yours you know? from these here…

— Mine?

— From how your eyes look sure you probably got it from these here germs somebody holy, holy wait a second I’ll get it all, holy…

— Well why do you try to carry all this around with you? I’ve never seen such a…

— No wait I’ll pick it all up see it’s just this here portforlio split and all my…

— I don’t suppose your paper on Alaska’s there anywhere is it, but no wonder you never can find anything saving old newspapers and all sorts of…

— No but didn’t you see this Mrs Joubert? about this here tender for Diamond Cable like taking over education and all? See I thought I’d bring it to class and…

— Oh yes I didn’t see it, yes do bring it in.

— And this here Alaska paper I’m going to hand it in like even if I have to write the whole thing over, you said you needed a dime before?

— No I really need change enough to call Washington but…

— What Washington D C? It’s like station to station it’s eighty cents the first three minutes then each minute after is twen, you going to talk more than three minutes?

— Well I don’t really…

— Here fifty, seventy-five… the coins came moist, — eighty or if you want to hang around like only twenty more minutes Mrs Joubert see then it goes down to fifty-five cents for…

— No no I can’t wait really, thank you… she sank into the booth, drew her legs away from his sudden breath retrieving Hedging Highlights underfoot and then pulled closed the doors and reached up dialing, sniffed, shook the doors half opened again and reached up, dropping coins. — Yes hello? I’m calling Mister Moncrieff yes will you say it’s his daughter please…? His… yes his daughter Emily yes… Yes I will… she waited, and then brought the doors almost closed on him again out there sweeping together papers, brochures, envelopes, — hello Daddy…? Oh… oh I’m sorry, I thought… Yes I see well, well how long do you think the meeting may last? It’s something quite urgent and… Oh, no then I’m afraid not… No I’m, I’m afraid not no. Thank you… and she sat staring at Dialing Instructions where a knifeblade’s hasty scars spelled fuck, her handkerchief up and then her eyes caught by movement stopped in the angle of the panel glass fixed patiently intent down the top of her dress, cracked the doors opened and breathed.

— Hi did you get your party okay?

— No but, it’s all right but I’m afraid I owe you…

— No that’s okay but like don’t you think it’s funny where they always call somebody your party like they’re this here party? The armload came up and shifted in a turn, — you coming out this way Mrs Joubert?

— No I, yes I might as well, get a train I think there’s one…

— See because there’s these here couple of things I needed to ask you, he came on half a step behind — like are we going to get to futures soon?

— Get to what?

— In class I mean like where you buy these different futures like potatoes and bellies and copper and all see what I wondered is…

— Oh, no I don’t think there’s time to get into anything as complicated as…

— No but see it’s real interesting Mrs Joubert, like now we already learned about the stock market and all with this here our share of America? See so now if we bought some of these futures like if we got in these here bellies and learned the…

— Got in what bellies what on earth are you talking about.

— These here frozen pork ones see if we got in these futures of them and learned like about hedging and how you get to help out these here fanners and all, see you just send away for these here free newsletters which wait could you just hold this stuff for me a second…

— And we can’t really ask the class to bring their own money in again to buy…

— No but that’s what’s neat see you don’t hardly put up much cash anyway because like you buy on this fifteen or like even five percent margin so it’s the broker who’s putting up the wait a second here it is see? Like if we got this newsletter we could learn all these here terms because the thing is sometimes it’s like kind of hard to understand like where it says here we are friendly to bellies for the long term and would begin cautious scale-down purchases in the low thirty…

— No I really don’t think we can start anything as…

— Okay but wait then see I got this here little booklet which I just want to ask you, see right here under Bank Financing? where it says there is this opportunity to increase the turnover in a firm’s capital with the leverage provided through bank loans on hedged commodities? I mean does that mean you really have these here commodities like all these bellies someplace? or like can you hedge in these futures of them and then get some bank to…

— Look please will you take this J R? She held the armload cradled where he’d settled to it like a portable writing desk, even rested an elbow on it — I really don’t understand all this that well myself, you’ll just have to ask Mister Glan, ask someone who…

— What you were going to say Glancy? He got both arms around the load, — I bet nobody’s asking him something now boy did you hear about this here brand new Cadillac he…

— Yes it was simply terrible, there are so many terrible…

— I know like it was this big El Dorado, he came on half a step behind down the corridor — which you know they have this thing where you sit in there and the whole car goes like up and down to stay level the same heighth off the ground even if you’re real fat like Glancy? and this thing at night where your bright lights go down by theirself when this other car’s coming? I mean there’s so much stuff… he got the half step ahead, — like did you ever think Mrs Joubert everything you see someplace there’s this millionaire for it?

— Is that all you think about!

— Sure I mean look back there… he’d blocked the door by way of opening it for her with his back against it, bringing the wind in, — like right now someplace there’s this water fountain millionaire and this locker millionaire and this here lightbulb one I mean like even the lightbulb there’s this glass millionaire and this one off where you screw the, oh wait wait a second… Down that bright empty corridor the telephone rang in the booth, — could you just wait up for me a second Mrs Joubert…? But she reached past him to push the door leaving him off balance there a foot in each direction where the wind brought in a wrapper from a Three Musketeers candy bar — see I just, just, okay wait a second I’m coming… and he ran up against her on the steps.

— Just stop for a minute! she caught an arm round his shoulders, — just stop and look…!

— What? at what…

— At the evening, the sky, the wind, don’t you ever just stop sometimes and look? and listen?

— Well I, I mean sure, I… He stood stiff in her embrace, his armload holding her off between them, — like it’s, I mean it’s like getting dark real early now…

— Yes look up at the sky look at it! Is there a millionaire for that? But her own eyes dropped to her hand on his shoulder as though to confirm a shock at the slightness of what she held there. — Does there have to be a millionaire for everything?

— Sure well, well no I mean like…