William Gaddis - J R

— No but that’s what I mean Bast, like who just said it’s this bomb threat and these here company spokesmen I don’t hardly know who anybody is anymore like this here Mister Greenspan, I mean Piscator said he’s up there helping you out when you went which you didn’t even tell me so he goes and sells off this whole old Ray-X inventory right when we’re writing it off did you even know that?

— No I don’t even know where he…

— Me neither I mean I ask Piscator so all he knows he says they talked French so it must be somebody down at France, see they bought it all at retail and paid cash so at first Piscator’s taking all this credit like he tried that time with that neat Triangle deal it was really Beamish that figured up, see so if we hear these here tapes we can…

— Can’t you understand I haven’t been here? Any tapes I’ve got were made before I left I’ve just been carrying them around to give you with the rest of this trash. I don’t know what’s on them I don’t even know if that tape thing’s still on the phone, I come back and the place is full of marshals waving subpoenas somebody sticks his head in the car window and says you’re firing everybody franchising your health plan on your way to court Crawley’s going under how am I sup…

— But that’s what I been trying to tell you! I mean where Crawley and these here brokers gét pissed off at me where they have to go borrow all this here margin money off these same banks they helped get us these big loans off of so then these big lenders start yelling how they have to protect theirself, so I mean I have to go put all this stock in this here voting trust which they control it so they won’t call these here old loans on us and they’ll go through with these here new ones so then you go sell off your stock and they’re really pissed off, I mean then they get to dump our directors and hire this bunch of new ones which get to fire the whole J R Corp management and sue me for this here erotic…

— So it’s my fault is that what you mean?

— No well sort of see bee…

— Because a bank sells my stock and gets me fired for selling it and then somebody sues me while you’re running around getting loans for this here asset to borrow against for this here new asset to look haven’t I told you to stop? when the whole thing started? just stop and let somebody help you pull things together instead of this more! more! The more you get the hungrier you get by this time you don’t even know how much you, I mean who would believe it who would be, any of it who would believe it.

— No but that’s what you do! I mean where they said if you’re playing anyway so you might as well play to win but I mean even when you win you have to keep playing! Like these brokers these underwriters these banks everything you do somebody’s getting this percent for theirself this commission this here interest where they all know each other so they’re fixing up these deals giving you all this here advice which they’re these big experts how am I supposed to stop everything!

— If you hadn’t been so cheap if you’d just hired somebody who knew what…

— Okay so I even write out this whole bunch of rules where one says hire smart people but run things yourself if they’re so smart how can you run anything! I mean this Mister Greenspan he’s so smart everybody else is hiring him like Crawley says he has this surefooted grasp of market trends he tries to hire him he even said this Leva tried to hire him so I mean I try to call him up they just leave the phone hang there I don’t even know…

— Look will you just get this pile of stuff off my…

— Okay wait let me find this one financial column it says he’s like maybe this like greasy eminence behind the whole meteoric rise of J R Corp I mean I don’t even know who he is! I mean it even says there’s this rumor where these new directors even want to hire him for how he figured up this Erebus deal where they’re suing me for this here erotic management for the same thing hey, hey? Can’t you even…

— I can’t even move my knees no now will you get this stuff…

— No but you’re not hardly even listening Bast I mean…

— Well what do you mean! How could you be sued for…

— I just told you erotic management how do I know, I mean that’s what Piscator said wait where’s, I wrote all this stuff down like they just stuck in everything they can think of see look hey, our next quarter earnings that they’re grossly overstated like where we put in this here forecast for J R Shipping Corp where there’s all these rules about shipping U S exports in American bottoms, see so we were like building it up to ship all these bellies in these here American bottoms I mean what’s so erotic about that.

— I don’t know I don’t know what you’re talking about, look Piscator’s the only one who can do anything why don’t you just…

— No but he already did it boy, I mean he goes and files this here affidavit which he said it means I allowed myself to be served I mean how did I know what that means it sounds like some crumby lunchroom, so like then some dumb newspaper says this here company spokesman confirms I maybe went to Honduras which I never even heard of it so these here new directors get this court to attach all this stock in this here voting trust to like make sure I’ll be there today to defend everything, like this here Judge Ude I mean he wouldn’t even give this postponement while we figure up some laws I mean holy shit how can I go to court!

— To court! but you, look this might be serious look…

— That’s what I been trying…

— No but what can, what did Piscator say they wouldn’t just come and arrest us I don’t even…

— No wait see it’s these whole different things, see where these here stockholders say you screwed them it’s like this thing you did just for yourself see only this thing today I wouldn’t get arrested because everything I did I’m like acting for the corporation, I mean that’s the thing of this here limited reliability you know? See where these new directors get pissed off at me for this here erotic management only I’m like acting for the corporation doing all this stuff for these here stockholders with this limited reliability it’s like the corporation did it itself which you can’t go put a corporation in jail, I mean it would be like sticking this bunch of papers in jail see so…

— So I can go to jail and you’ve got nothing to worry about you don’t even go to court you just…

— No no that’s what I’m telling you hey! I mean if I don’t show up and they get this here judgment and take all this stock off me where I lose control then I can’t even…

— Yes but that’s, then it’s over! It’s all over!

— No but wait a sec…

— Today right now you’re supposed to be there aren’t you? and you’re not? So you lose it you lose your stock you lose the whole thing the whole mess you’re out of it why didn’t you tell me!

— Okay but wait a…

— Okay what do you mean okay it’s the best thing that ever happened why didn’t you just tell me instead of, look what’s going on anyhow! You knew about it about the court the whole thing but you show up today with this field trip you pretend everything’s…

— No but how did I know this court thing’s going to happen today! I mean boy is Mister Stye going to be pissed off, like I mean him and Davidoff fixed up this trip ahead of time for this whole publicity thing for where we like bought the school off that Superintendent that Mister Teakell before he just got killed in this car wreck see it’s going to be like this here showcase…

— Stop it! you can’t buy schools you can’t even buy…