us. Manfred slipped off his white barber coat, and we went together out the door of the shop. I took my coat from the rack as I went by.
In the corridor outside Manfred said, “God damn you, Spenser, you want to get me fired?”
“Manfred,” I said, “Manfred. How unkind. Un-Christian even. I came by to see you and buy you lunch.”
“Why don’t you just leave me alone?” he said.
“You still got any of those inflatable rubber nude girls you used to be dealing?”
We were walking along the arcade in the Park Square Building. The place had once been stylish and then gotten very unstylish and was now in renaissance. Manfred was looking at his feet as we walked.
“I was different then,” Manfred said. “I had not found Christ yet.”
“You, too?” I said.
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”
Near the St. James Avenue exit was a small stand that sold sandwiches. I stopped. “How about a sandwich and a cup of coffee, Manfred? On me, any kind. Yogurt too, and an apple if you’d like. My treat.”
“I’m not hungry,” he said.
“Okay by me,” I said. “Hope you don’t mind if I dine.”
“Why don’t you just go dine and stop bothering me?”
“I’ll just grab a sandwich here and we’ll stroll along, maybe cross the street to the bus terminal, see if any miscegenation is going on or anything.”
I bought a tuna on whole wheat, a Winesap apple, and a paper cup of black coffee. I put the apple in my pocket and ate the sandwich as we walked along. At the far end of the arcade, where the Park Square Cinema used to be, we stopped. I had finished my sandwich and was sipping my coffee.
“You still with the Klan, Manfred?”
“Certainly.”
“I heard you were regional manager or Grand High Imperial Alligator or whatever for Massachusetts.”
He nodded.
“Dynamite,” I said, “next step up is playing intermission piano at a child-abuse convention.”
“You’re a fool, like all the other liberals. Your race will be mongrelized; a culture that took ten thousand years and produced the greatest civilization in history will be lost. Drowned in a sea of half-breeds and savages. Only the Communists will gain.”
“Any culture that produced a creep like you, Manfred,” I said, “is due for improvement.”
“Dupe,” he said.
“But I didn’t come here to argue ethnic purity with you.”
“You’d lose,” he said.
“Probably,” I said. “You’re a professional bigot. You spend your life arguing it. You are an expert. It’s your profession. And it ain’t mine. I don’t spend two hours a month debating racial purity. But even if I lose the argument, I’ll win the fight afterwards.”
“And you people are always accusing us of violence,” Manfred said. He was standing very straight with his back against the wall near the barren area where the advertisements for the Cinema used to be. There was some color on his cheeks.
“
You people
?” I said. “
Us
? I’m talking about me and you. I’m not talking about
us
and about
you people
.”
“You don’t understand politics,” Manfred said. “You can’t change society talking about
you
and
me
!”
“Manfred, I would like to know something about a group of people as silly as you are. Calls itself RAM, which stands for Restore American Morality.”
“Why ask me?”
“Because you are the kind of small dogturd who hangs around groups like this one and talks about restoring morality. It probably helps you to feel like less of a dogturd.”
“I don’t know anything about RAM.”
“It is opposed to feminism and gay activism—probably in favor of God and racial purity. You must’ve heard about them?”
Manfred shook his head. He was looking at his feet again. I put my fist under his chin and raised it until he was looking at me. “I want to know about this group, Manfred,” I said.
“I promise you, I don’t know nothing about them,” Manfred said.
“Then you should be sure to find out about them,
In the corridor outside Manfred said, “God damn you, Spenser, you want to get me fired?”
“Manfred,” I said, “Manfred. How unkind. Un-Christian even. I came by to see you and buy you lunch.”
“Why don’t you just leave me alone?” he said.
“You still got any of those inflatable rubber nude girls you used to be dealing?”
We were walking along the arcade in the Park Square Building. The place had once been stylish and then gotten very unstylish and was now in renaissance. Manfred was looking at his feet as we walked.
“I was different then,” Manfred said. “I had not found Christ yet.”
“You, too?” I said.
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”
Near the St. James Avenue exit was a small stand that sold sandwiches. I stopped. “How about a sandwich and a cup of coffee, Manfred? On me, any kind. Yogurt too, and an apple if you’d like. My treat.”
“I’m not hungry,” he said.
“Okay by me,” I said. “Hope you don’t mind if I dine.”
“Why don’t you just go dine and stop bothering me?”
“I’ll just grab a sandwich here and we’ll stroll along, maybe cross the street to the bus terminal, see if any miscegenation is going on or anything.”
I bought a tuna on whole wheat, a Winesap apple, and a paper cup of black coffee. I put the apple in my pocket and ate the sandwich as we walked along. At the far end of the arcade, where the Park Square Cinema used to be, we stopped. I had finished my sandwich and was sipping my coffee.
“You still with the Klan, Manfred?”
“Certainly.”
“I heard you were regional manager or Grand High Imperial Alligator or whatever for Massachusetts.”
He nodded.
“Dynamite,” I said, “next step up is playing intermission piano at a child-abuse convention.”
“You’re a fool, like all the other liberals. Your race will be mongrelized; a culture that took ten thousand years and produced the greatest civilization in history will be lost. Drowned in a sea of half-breeds and savages. Only the Communists will gain.”
“Any culture that produced a creep like you, Manfred,” I said, “is due for improvement.”
“Dupe,” he said.
“But I didn’t come here to argue ethnic purity with you.”
“You’d lose,” he said.
“Probably,” I said. “You’re a professional bigot. You spend your life arguing it. You are an expert. It’s your profession. And it ain’t mine. I don’t spend two hours a month debating racial purity. But even if I lose the argument, I’ll win the fight afterwards.”
“And you people are always accusing us of violence,” Manfred said. He was standing very straight with his back against the wall near the barren area where the advertisements for the Cinema used to be. There was some color on his cheeks.
“
You people
?” I said. “
Us
? I’m talking about me and you. I’m not talking about
us
and about
you people
.”
“You don’t understand politics,” Manfred said. “You can’t change society talking about
you
and
me
!”
“Manfred, I would like to know something about a group of people as silly as you are. Calls itself RAM, which stands for Restore American Morality.”
“Why ask me?”
“Because you are the kind of small dogturd who hangs around groups like this one and talks about restoring morality. It probably helps you to feel like less of a dogturd.”
“I don’t know anything about RAM.”
“It is opposed to feminism and gay activism—probably in favor of God and racial purity. You must’ve heard about them?”
Manfred shook his head. He was looking at his feet again. I put my fist under his chin and raised it until he was looking at me. “I want to know about this group, Manfred,” I said.
“I promise you, I don’t know nothing about them,” Manfred said.
“Then you should be sure to find out about them,
Similar Books
