being carried across Harris Avenue and the Red Apple parking lot on her staggering, bleeding mother’s hip?
Ralph’s arms broke out in goosebumps.
Ed had begun to pace, meanwhile, crossing and recrossing the cement path, trampling the zinnias Helen had planted along it as a border. He had returned to the Ed Ralph had encountered out by the airport the year before, right down to the fierce little pokes of the head and the sharp, jabbing glances at nothing.
This is what the gee-whiz act was supposed to hide, Ralph thought. He looks the same now as he did when he took after the guy driving that pickup truck. Like a rooster protecting his little piece of the barnyard .
‘None of this is strictly her fault, I admit that.’ Ed spoke rapidly, pounding his right fist into his open left palm as he walked through the cloud of spray thrown by the sprinkler. Ralph realized he could see every rib in Ed’s chest; the man looked as if he hadn’t had a decent meal in months.
‘Still, once stupidity reaches a certain level, it becomes hard to live with,’ Ed went on. ‘She’s like the Magi, actually coming to King Herod for information. I mean, how dumb can you get? “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” To Herod they say this. I mean, wise men my ass! Right, Ralph?’
Ralph nodded. Sure, Ed. Whatever you say, Ed.
Ed returned the nod and went on tramping back and forth through the spray and the ghostly interlocking rainbows, smacking his fist into his palm. ‘It’s like that Rolling Stones song – “Look at that, look at that, look at that stupid girl”. You probably don’t remember that one, do you?’ Ed laughed, a jagged little sound that made Ralph think of rats dancing on broken glass.
McGovern knelt beside him. ‘Let’s get out of here,’ he muttered. Ralph shook his head, and when Ed swung back in their direction, McGovern quickly got up and retreated to the sidewalk again.
‘She thought she could fool you, is that it?’ Ralph asked. He was still lying on the lawn, propped up on his elbows. ‘She thought you wouldn’t find out she signed the petition.’
Ed leaped over the walk, bent over Ralph, and shook his clenched fists over his head like the bad guy in a silent movie. ‘No-no-no- no !’ he cried.
The Jefferson Airplane had been replaced by the Animals, Eric Burdon growling out the gospel according to John Lee Hooker: Boom-boom-boom-boom, gonna shoot ya right down. McGovern uttered a thin cry, apparently thinking Ed meant to attack Ralph, but instead Ed sank down with the knuckles of his left hand pressed into the grass, assuming the position of a sprinter who waits for the starter’s gun to explode him out of the blocks. His face was covered with beads of what Ralph at first took for sweat before remembering the way Ed had paced back and forth through the spray from the sprinkler. Ralph kept looking at the spot of blood on the left lens of Ed’s glasses. It had smeared a little, and now the pupil of his left eye looked as if it had filled up with blood.
‘Finding out that she signed the petition was fate! Simple fate! Do you mean to tell me you don’t see that? Don’t insult my intelligence, Ralph! You may be getting on in years, but you’re far from stupid. The thing is, I go down to the supermarket to buy baby-food, how’s that for irony – and find out she’s signed on with the baby- killers! The Centurions! With the Crimson King himself! And do you know what? I . . . just . . . saw . . . red !’
‘The Crimson King, Ed? Who’s he?’
‘Oh, please.’ Ed gave Ralph a cunning look. ‘“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.” It’s in the Bible, Ralph. Matthew, chapter 2, verse 16. Do you doubt it? Do you have any fucking question that
Ralph’s arms broke out in goosebumps.
Ed had begun to pace, meanwhile, crossing and recrossing the cement path, trampling the zinnias Helen had planted along it as a border. He had returned to the Ed Ralph had encountered out by the airport the year before, right down to the fierce little pokes of the head and the sharp, jabbing glances at nothing.
This is what the gee-whiz act was supposed to hide, Ralph thought. He looks the same now as he did when he took after the guy driving that pickup truck. Like a rooster protecting his little piece of the barnyard .
‘None of this is strictly her fault, I admit that.’ Ed spoke rapidly, pounding his right fist into his open left palm as he walked through the cloud of spray thrown by the sprinkler. Ralph realized he could see every rib in Ed’s chest; the man looked as if he hadn’t had a decent meal in months.
‘Still, once stupidity reaches a certain level, it becomes hard to live with,’ Ed went on. ‘She’s like the Magi, actually coming to King Herod for information. I mean, how dumb can you get? “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” To Herod they say this. I mean, wise men my ass! Right, Ralph?’
Ralph nodded. Sure, Ed. Whatever you say, Ed.
Ed returned the nod and went on tramping back and forth through the spray and the ghostly interlocking rainbows, smacking his fist into his palm. ‘It’s like that Rolling Stones song – “Look at that, look at that, look at that stupid girl”. You probably don’t remember that one, do you?’ Ed laughed, a jagged little sound that made Ralph think of rats dancing on broken glass.
McGovern knelt beside him. ‘Let’s get out of here,’ he muttered. Ralph shook his head, and when Ed swung back in their direction, McGovern quickly got up and retreated to the sidewalk again.
‘She thought she could fool you, is that it?’ Ralph asked. He was still lying on the lawn, propped up on his elbows. ‘She thought you wouldn’t find out she signed the petition.’
Ed leaped over the walk, bent over Ralph, and shook his clenched fists over his head like the bad guy in a silent movie. ‘No-no-no- no !’ he cried.
The Jefferson Airplane had been replaced by the Animals, Eric Burdon growling out the gospel according to John Lee Hooker: Boom-boom-boom-boom, gonna shoot ya right down. McGovern uttered a thin cry, apparently thinking Ed meant to attack Ralph, but instead Ed sank down with the knuckles of his left hand pressed into the grass, assuming the position of a sprinter who waits for the starter’s gun to explode him out of the blocks. His face was covered with beads of what Ralph at first took for sweat before remembering the way Ed had paced back and forth through the spray from the sprinkler. Ralph kept looking at the spot of blood on the left lens of Ed’s glasses. It had smeared a little, and now the pupil of his left eye looked as if it had filled up with blood.
‘Finding out that she signed the petition was fate! Simple fate! Do you mean to tell me you don’t see that? Don’t insult my intelligence, Ralph! You may be getting on in years, but you’re far from stupid. The thing is, I go down to the supermarket to buy baby-food, how’s that for irony – and find out she’s signed on with the baby- killers! The Centurions! With the Crimson King himself! And do you know what? I . . . just . . . saw . . . red !’
‘The Crimson King, Ed? Who’s he?’
‘Oh, please.’ Ed gave Ralph a cunning look. ‘“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.” It’s in the Bible, Ralph. Matthew, chapter 2, verse 16. Do you doubt it? Do you have any fucking question that
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