drove,
curious and amused. “Why wouldn’t they be?”
“Because they don’t know who they
are,” he said. “They don’t know who anybody is. They mosdy sound bewildered.”
“I don’t follow,” she said.
“You put your clothes on,” Frank
told her, “they’re your flag for the day. The public announcement, who you
think you are. What we all do. You gonna walk into court with words on you?
Property of Alcatraz?”
She smiled and gave him another
look. “So you’re dressed as the humble workman,” she said. “Is that it?”
“I’m dressed like I just walked out
of prison,” he answered. cc When I get a couple of dollars, I’ll
dress a litde different. Like a guy ready to party.”
She’d stopped smiling when he
mentioned the “couple dollars,” and now she said, sounding fatalistic but
worried for him, “You’re going back, aren’t you, Frank?”
He pretended he didn’t know what she
meant. “Back where? A life of crime?”
“The wrong crime,” she said. “So back to prison. You’re an intelligent man,
Frank, you know it yourself. There’s a rubber band on you, and the other end is
still in your cell.”
“I’ve learned stuff,” he said,
trying to sound competent and confident. ‘Whatever happens, I’m not gonna be
that easy to find.”
“Oh, sure you are,” she said.
He hadn’t expected this conversation
with anybody but himself, and he sure hadn’t expected it with a good-looking woman lawyer in an air-conditioned white
Saab doing sixty down the highway. He said, ‘What do you mean, the wrong
crime?”
“Little stuff,” she said. “Burglaries.
Breaking into houses and stealing wall safes, for heaven’s sake.”
Defensive, he said, ‘What’s the
complaint? Wall safes, that’s where they keep the valuables. That’s what I’m
after.”
“How much in valuables?” she demanded.
‘What do you mean, valuables?” She must be a pretty good lawyer. She said, “Are
you talking about three or four thousand dollars? Jewelry, and what do you get
from your fence? Ten percent?”
“Sometimes more,” he muttered.
“You can live a week, or a month if
you’re lucky, and then you have to go out and do it again. Every time you do
it, you’re at the same risk. Every time. It doesn’t matter how many times you
don’t get caught, because they don’t count in your favor the time you do get caught. So the odds are against
you, and sooner or later you will get
caught. That’s the only way it can end, cycle after cycle.”
“Okay, then, I’ll reform,” he said,
bored with the conversation, and looked out the window at the passing scenery:
trees, farms, trees.
But she wouldn’t let it go. “You
won’t reform, Frank,” she said. “You’re who you are, and you know it.”
“Habitual,” he said, like the word
was a joke.
“But you could retire she said. “That’s not the same thing as reform, you know. If
you reform, you have to get a job somewhere, live in a house somewhere...”
“No can do.”
“I know,” Frank, that ’ s what I’m saying. If you do a
burglary and you make five thousand dollars on it, you don’t go right back out
the next night, do you?”
“No need to.”
“Exactly. You retire, short-term.
Then, when the money’s gone, you come out of retirement.”
He laughed, seeing himself as a guy
constantly bouncing out of retirement. “I guess that’s me,
curious and amused. “Why wouldn’t they be?”
“Because they don’t know who they
are,” he said. “They don’t know who anybody is. They mosdy sound bewildered.”
“I don’t follow,” she said.
“You put your clothes on,” Frank
told her, “they’re your flag for the day. The public announcement, who you
think you are. What we all do. You gonna walk into court with words on you?
Property of Alcatraz?”
She smiled and gave him another
look. “So you’re dressed as the humble workman,” she said. “Is that it?”
“I’m dressed like I just walked out
of prison,” he answered. cc When I get a couple of dollars, I’ll
dress a litde different. Like a guy ready to party.”
She’d stopped smiling when he
mentioned the “couple dollars,” and now she said, sounding fatalistic but
worried for him, “You’re going back, aren’t you, Frank?”
He pretended he didn’t know what she
meant. “Back where? A life of crime?”
“The wrong crime,” she said. “So back to prison. You’re an intelligent man,
Frank, you know it yourself. There’s a rubber band on you, and the other end is
still in your cell.”
“I’ve learned stuff,” he said,
trying to sound competent and confident. ‘Whatever happens, I’m not gonna be
that easy to find.”
“Oh, sure you are,” she said.
He hadn’t expected this conversation
with anybody but himself, and he sure hadn’t expected it with a good-looking woman lawyer in an air-conditioned white
Saab doing sixty down the highway. He said, ‘What do you mean, the wrong
crime?”
“Little stuff,” she said. “Burglaries.
Breaking into houses and stealing wall safes, for heaven’s sake.”
Defensive, he said, ‘What’s the
complaint? Wall safes, that’s where they keep the valuables. That’s what I’m
after.”
“How much in valuables?” she demanded.
‘What do you mean, valuables?” She must be a pretty good lawyer. She said, “Are
you talking about three or four thousand dollars? Jewelry, and what do you get
from your fence? Ten percent?”
“Sometimes more,” he muttered.
“You can live a week, or a month if
you’re lucky, and then you have to go out and do it again. Every time you do
it, you’re at the same risk. Every time. It doesn’t matter how many times you
don’t get caught, because they don’t count in your favor the time you do get caught. So the odds are against
you, and sooner or later you will get
caught. That’s the only way it can end, cycle after cycle.”
“Okay, then, I’ll reform,” he said,
bored with the conversation, and looked out the window at the passing scenery:
trees, farms, trees.
But she wouldn’t let it go. “You
won’t reform, Frank,” she said. “You’re who you are, and you know it.”
“Habitual,” he said, like the word
was a joke.
“But you could retire she said. “That’s not the same thing as reform, you know. If
you reform, you have to get a job somewhere, live in a house somewhere...”
“No can do.”
“I know,” Frank, that ’ s what I’m saying. If you do a
burglary and you make five thousand dollars on it, you don’t go right back out
the next night, do you?”
“No need to.”
“Exactly. You retire, short-term.
Then, when the money’s gone, you come out of retirement.”
He laughed, seeing himself as a guy
constantly bouncing out of retirement. “I guess that’s me,
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