William Gaddis - J R

— Failing any adoption papers, which could of course change the picture substantially, since the adopted child has the same legal rights as the blood child. Therefore if the child were the natural child of the decedent’s brother but had been adopted by the decedent, he would of course have every right to participate in this estate. If on the other hand he…

— He’s going to get into Reuben, Julia.

— James never really adopted Reuben.

— In the distribution of this estate that is to say, since in order to satisfy taxes part of this estate will have to be sold…

— They’re after our trees right now.

— I suppose it does look like an estate to them, Julia, stuck in their tiny pasteboard houses on little shirttails of land.

— Forcing your holdings to go public…

— They take for granted everything’s for sale.

— Proper evaluation will have to be made, of course, in terms of the prevailing market…

— That’s what the water people said, when they went into court and swore up and down that back in our trees was the only place they could possibly put up their pumping station.

— Since no part of the estate involved has ever been offered publicly before.

— I heard hammering out there last night, Julia.

— I thought I heard the sound of a truck myself.

— Or a tractor, the kind they knock down trees with.

— Would they do that? even the water people? come in knocking down our trees at night?

— They were there this morning.

— The water people? Why didn’t you call me!

— No the trees Anne, the trees.

— I’m glad you saw them. I didn’t really look.

— I can’t say I did either. But I know that passing the kitchen window I would have missed them if they’d been gone.

— Perhaps Mister Cohen looked when he came in.

— The oaks, Mister Cohen?

— And some locust?

— It’s the oaks, though, Anne, that really stand out.

— Before the advent of such a sale, you would, of course, receive adequate notice.

— What Mister Cohen considers adequate, I can’t even read them without a glass, Anne? have you seen the latest one? I had it here just a moment ago.

— It’s right there on the mantel, a picture of a castle? James’ hand has never been easy Mister Cohen, and he tries to get so much on one postcard…

— Anne I’m talking about the local paper, Mister Cohen means these legal notices they tuck off in the back in type so small that no one can read it, in language no one can understand. In fact if he has a moment now, he might be willing to translate something…

— But Julia he’s just broken his glasses.

— Here it is yes, yes this second column here Mister Cohen. No, right down here. It looks to me like they’re up to something with the old Lemp home.

— Do they have a picture of it there? It was always the grandest house in town, and when we were just girls Mister Cohen…

— This is simply a legal notice, Anne. They don’t print pictures in a legal notice. Can you see through the breakage, Mister Cohen?

— It’s a shame that Mister Cohen can’t see it, a white Victorian with a tower and a porte cochere along one side, and those copper beeches on the lawn. When Julia and I were girls Mister Cohen we used to imagine living there. We dreamt that some great stroke of fortune would…

— So far as I can make out here Miss Bast, this is simply a petition for a zoning change to turn the place into a nursing home…

— Old Mrs Lemp never was well of course, was she.

— It’s her son we mentioned earlier Mister Cohen, the attorney you should be taking all this up with.

— But Julia someone should warn Mister Cohen, when he says the law has no interest in justice…

— Ladies I, please I seem to be having difficulty making myself clear but I assure you…

— He made himself quite clear didn’t he Julia but I think he should be forewarned, if Mister Lemp took no interest in justice Father would never have chosen him.

— Even James holds him in high regard, and James can be most critical.

— Yes and Thomas, Julia, after all, he had Mister Lemp begin the suit against that dreadful little man who started that musical instrument company and stole every idea Thomas had.

— They’re not instruments at all, Mister Cohen. The Jubilee Musical Instrument Company is what he calls it but all they make are machines that play tunes, and that lawsuit, Anne, I think it was really James’ idea. He was someone James held in great contempt.

— He had something to do with that awful family, that politician out west somewhere whose family owned stock in the little company Thomas took on there may even be some there in the drawer, when he was looking for sheeps’ intestines to…

— We needn’t go into that right now Anne, if Mister Cohen has no more questions…

— But ladies I, this newspaper here I understood it was the local paper…

— Well of course it is it comes every week, it’s the only way we keep up with things.

— But it’s, I just noticed it’s from a town in Indiana I’m afraid when you said local I thought, your attorney Mister Lemp is, is in Indiana?

— Did you think he would be in Timbuctoo?

— No no I, I simply meant that if, that a nearby lawyer who might be more familiar with local situations…

— He’s quite familiar with them thank you Mister Cohen. I wrote him last week about this bingo parlor, Anne.

— But I meant, to go back to your nephew ladies some clue possibly regarding his age just, on your income taxes for instance do you recall listing him as a deduction?

— You talk about adequate notice Mister Cohen, this went up right under our noses. The holy name of something or other, they play there every Wednesday night and park their cars right up in our hedge.

— I see yes because if he is that would indicate he is still a minor though I, I trust he’s not disabled?

— We’d better be thankful to still have the hedge. It deadens the noise from the road, James says.

— You might tell Mister Cohen about those two women who came pounding on the door last week, staring in through these living room windows they thought it would make a nice teen center.

— I see yes you see your nephew ladies, your nephew Edward, in the event he is still a minor, he…

— Looking in from the road they said it looked empty. Just what were they doing looking in from the road?

— To protect his interests as well as your own re, recalling Egnaczyk versus Rowland where the infant sought to recover his car and disaffirm the repair contract the infant lost out in this case ladies, the defense of infancy in this case ladies, in this case the court refused to permit it, using infancy as a sword instead of a shield… there! I heard something. Don’t I hear him now? your nephew coming downstairs at last?

— Edward?

— Hammering, Julia.

— Yes, it couldn’t be Edward. He left long ago, didn’t he Anne?

— I think I heard him leave when I was sewing that button on. He has class today you know, Mister Cohen. At the Jewish temple, rehearsing Wagner…

— He’s… left? You mean, while I’ve been waiting, you just let him go? He… I don’t understand…

— We don’t interfere with his comings and goings but don’t think we haven’t wondered ourselves. Why he wants to teach at the Jewish temple.

— And what’s got into them, doing Wagner.

— That table Mister Cohen, do be careful…

— You’re not leaving us?

— I’m, yes, leaving… leaving this waiver for him, for you… somebody to sign, and your, I mean his birth certificate, here is his card, if you will give it to me, I mean if you will give him my card Miss Bast and urge him to get in touch with me so I won’t have to… to inconvenience you further…