Executioner's Song, The - Norman Mailer [27]
Rikki didn't like the news one bit. Nicole was the best thing in his family as far as he was concerned. He told Sterling that if Gary did anything to hurt her, he would kill him.
Yet when Rikki saw them together, he realized that Nicole liked the guy a lot. Gary came over to Rikki and said, "Man, you've got the most beautiful sister in the world. She's just the best person I ever met." Gary and Nicole held hands like they were locked together at the wrist. It was all different from what Rikki had expected.
Sunday morning, Gary brought Nicole over to meet Spencer and Marie McGrath. Spencer saw a very good-looking girl, hell of a figure, not too tall, with a full mouth, a small nose and nice long brown hair, She must have been 19 or 20 and looked full of her own thoughts. She was wearing Levi's that had been cut off at the thigh, a T-shirt, and no shoes. It sounded like a baby was crying in her car, but she made no move to go back.
Gary was immensely proud of her. He acted as if he had just walked in with Marilyn Monroe. They were sure getting along in supergood shape. "Look at my girl!" Gary was all but saying, "Isn't she fabulous."
When they left, Spencer said to Marie, "That's just about what Gary needs. A girl friend with a baby to feed. It doesn't look like she'll be too much of an asset to him."
He squinted after their car. "My God, did he paint his Mustang blue? I thought it was white." "Maybe it's her car." "Same year and model?"
"Wouldn't surprise me a bit," said Marie.
Since Spencer lived next door to the work shed in Lindon, Marie could look out the window and see when Gary was there half an hour ahead of time. Some mornings, she would ask him in for a cup of coffee.
While sipping it, Gary would put his feet on the table. Marie would walk over and slap him across the ankles.
"Now, there," Gary said to Brenda, "is a lady who knows her own mind. She's not wishy-washy." He grinned. "I put my feet up just to annoy her."
"If she's such a nice woman, why do you want to annoy her?"
"I guess," he said, "I like an ankle slap."
Brenda didn't want to hope too hard, but, God willing, Gary might come around the bend.
She wasn't too happy, therefore, when he brought Nicole to her house. Oh, God, Brenda said to herself, Gary would end up with a space cadet.
Nicole just sat there and looked at her. She had a little girl by the arm and didn't seem to know the arm was there. The child, a tough-looking 4-year-old, looked to be living in one world and Nicole in another.
Brenda asked, "Where are you staying?"
Nicole mused herself. "Yeah." She mused herself again. "Down the road," she said in a soft and somewhat muffled voice.
Brenda must have been on radar. "Springville?" she asked. "Spanish Fork?"
Nicole gave an angelic smile. "Hey, Spanish Fork, she got it," she said to Gary as if little wonders grew like flowers on the highway of life.
"Don't you love her looks?" Gary said.
"Yeah," said Brenda, "you got yourself a looker."
Yeah, thought Brenda, another girl who pops a kid before she's 15 and lives on the government ever after. One more poverty-stricken welfare witch. Except she had to admit it. Nicole was a looker. Star quality for these parts.
My God, she and Gary were in a trance with each other. Could sit and google at one another for the entire day. Don't bother to visit. Brenda was ready to ask the fire department to put out the burn.
"She's 19, you know," Gary said the moment Nicole stepped away.
"You don't say," said Brenda.
"Do you think she is too old for me?" he asked. At the look on his cousin's face, he began to laugh.
"No," said Brenda, "quite frankly I think you are both of the same intellectual and mental level of maturity. Good God, Gary, she's young enough to be your daughter. How can you mess around with a kid?"
"I feel 19," he told her.
"Why don't you try growing up before you get too old?"
"Hey, coz, you're blunt," said Gary.
"Don't you agree it's the truth?"
"Probably," he said. He muttered