William Gaddis - J R

— She’s ahm, yes suing the school, the Catania Paving Company, the Ford Motor Company, and Skinner. Catania, Parentucelli that is to say, he’s suing her, Skinner, and the school, and Skinner is suing…

— Who the hell is this Skinner?

— The textbook salesman who was riding her over, he’s su…

— Yes well I’m sure Mister Stye here is a busy man Whiteback, we’ve taken up a lot of his time, his company’s time that is, he’ll ah, as soon as he gets this situation smoothed out we should get together again and kick around this school board idea Mister Stye. It can be a pretty rewarding experience, see it pay off at the community level and the corporate level and these little headaches that come up now and then, helps you get a consensus, see things our way…

— like, so that means like if we paid twenty-two dollars and ninety cents for this share of America then we already lost over four dollars so what good is…

Billowing to a rise, blue fought blue to free a cuff of the ranting telephone and seek mid-air for a handshake — when you have some more time Mister Stye, we’re always on the lookout for ahm, for experienced knowhow in terms of implementing our efforts activitywise down to the bank that is to say, housing, small business applications, potentiating some of our ahm unadvantaged citizens here…

— Out this way Mister Stye, I have to stick around a little longer stop off over at the Holy Name of, Holy Name school there see how they’re coming setting up their closed-circuit facility, they ought to stop lifting your lessons off the air for free any day now Whiteback, worth stopping in there sometime just to see Sister Agnes cut up a frog… His energy pitted against the apparent weight of the door as though for the first time almost flung it off its hinges, — and I mentioned our Assemblyman Pecci to Mister Stye here, a good man for him to know, we ought to get them together as soon as he’s straightened this little situation out so nobody’s embarrassed. Pecci’s a good friend of the district of course, we wouldn’t want to see him embarrassed right now, Mister Stye knows what I mean…

— by what you call a paper loss, boys and girls. On paper you’ve lost four dollars, but…

— If you can stay with us a minute longer Dan, we just want to discuss, you awake, Dan?

— I don’t like it. Hyde massed against the door as though it were being assaulted from the other side. — Notice the way he just sat here and took everything in? And what’s this about him running for the school board.

— He ahm, before you came in, he mentioned it before you came in, he ahm, I think he said Vern had sugges…

— One thing I don’t trust it’s a sullen black, not a word out of him just sitting there taking it all in, look at their face and you don’t know what’s going on inside if he’s on the line past Dunkin Donuts there Whiteback I’d just let district thirteen have him, you’ve already got two other black families pulling into that area. Blockbusting…

— Yes well the, in terms of the ongoing situation integrationwise, that is to say, we have some Koreans, a Korean family out by Jack’s Discount Appliance…

— Your Koreans aren’t white blackbite.

— No the, yes, nonwhite you might say the directive is right here somewhere, in terms of structuring our district integrationwise, it refers to nonwhite, integrating them in that is to say, before we start getting busloads shipped from Queens yes which phone is ahm, hello…? No he’s here yes but…

— That my office?

— No it’s for him… Whiteback gestured the phone at the face on the screen which continued unperturbed to address a vacant confine near the door. — Hello? Not exactly here that is to say he… I’ll give him the message, I’ll give him the message as soon as he… goodbye. Some friend of Mister Gibbs, an accident, put his eye out with a pencil it sounded like.

— Accident? Like that painter of his cutting off his ear, just listen to him…

— how your share in America relates to your country’s history with a little background on the famous man you met, Governor John Cates, better known as Black Jack Cates back when he helped open the industrial frontiers of…

— Do you hear this, Whiteback?

— by his private army in the great Bitterroot strike in Montana where ninety-seven miners were killed…

— Do you hear this Whiteback? Is he getting this out of a textbook, this strike talk?

— Yes, this strike talk, threat that is to say, Dan was going to feel his wife’s ahm, feel her out on this teacher strike threat activationwise that is to…

— to remember his famous line on politics. If they don’t own you, they can’t trust you…

A bell sounded silencing motion where anything moved, hurling motionlessness into activity, books gathered at a sweep, papers to the floor, a glove through the air. — Just a minute, you in the third row there.

— Me Mister Gibbs?

— No you, you read the lines about the song the Brahmin sings?

— And when he flies I am the…

— Yes, what was it all about?

— My trip, they said read a report on your trip.

— Were you on this six J field trip?

— The whose?

— What grade are you in? What class are you in?

— Isn’t this Communications Skills?

— You’d better go down to see Miss Waddams.

— Your telephone Mister Gibbs.

— Thanks. Get him down to the school nurse, will you? Gibbs… for me? Be right there…

— Mister Gibbs could you just look at…

— Not now I’m sorry, I’m in a hurry… he came through the door, down an up stairway two at a time.

— Oh Mister, yes Gibbs, you had a call, an emergency I just wrote it down somewhere, somebody…

— Yes Schramm you said, what happened?

— Here somewhere, he…

— Put out his eye with a pencil look Gibbs, I want to know where you got your material for this lesson on…

— Wait what’s, what is all this.

— This lesson of yours on Governor Cates, I want to know…

— Yes here it is, Schramm, a Mister Eigen called…

— And where you get the material to justify telling these youngsters about a church squatting on…

— Just a minute, this is important.

— Well so is this important, Gibbs. I want to know if you’re using regular textbooks for your sources of…

— listen this is an emergency I’ve got to…

— And while we’re at it I want to know how much truth there is in reports you’re starting class without the proscribed openings, the Pledge of Allegiance or the Star Spangle…

— Listen I, Whiteback if this idiot will shut his mouth for a minute I, this is an emergency I’ve got to get to New York…

— Yes well of course if you ahm, if you’re taking the train that is to say I have some tickets here one of the youngsters turned in yes they’re right here somewhere, if you could ahm…

— He can really pick them can’t he… came from the arm of the sofa where Hyde had sunk slowly restraining his chest by folded arms, his collar ridden up hollow behind — his friend here with the pencil…

— Here they are yes if you could turn them in for us Mister Gibbs, on your way to the…

— Sounds like that painter that cut off his ear, what did he do Gibbs? sent it to somebody in a…

— Wait wait…!

— Mister Gibbs! here, now…

— Don’t try that again Gibbs.

— No come with me Major come see him! Schramm come see him you’d be a real tonic Major you know why, Major? Because he feeds on outrage that’s what keeps Schramm alive, just his rage over the mean insensitive stupid you, you’d be the biggest God damned inspiration I could bring him with your proscribed op…