Executioner's Song, The - Norman Mailer [276]
In the prison infirmary, Vern and Gary talked through a telephone and sat on opposite sides of a plate glass window. It was unusual speaking to a man that way, but with Vern's bad leg, it beat walking all the way out to Maximum Security.
Straight out, Gary said, "Vern, would you take care of things if I discharge Boaz?"
Vern said, "I'm a shoemaker. I don't know as I can do it. I'm not an attorney."
Gary said, "With your business ability and my brains"-he gave a big smile as he said this-"we can do it."
That was all they said about it. As Vern was getting ready to go, Gary said, "Know how to shake hands through the glass?" and put his open palm on the window. Vern touched the other side with his palm, and they wiggled fingers back and forth. A prison handshake.
Brenda was also there for that visit, and it was emotional for her.
Gary was looking weak, she thought, like a lot of the fight was out.
Brenda, however, decided to sail right in, so she said over the phone "Gary, you old shithead. Looks like you pulled through."
"You haven't changed any," he said.
Brenda asked, "Still mad at me?"
"Well, I don't like what you did," he said. Brenda replied, "I don't give a damn. I did what I had to do. I suppose you did what you had to do." She paused for breath, and said, "I love you and I'm glad you made it." Then she added, "Are you going to do something stupid like this again?"
"No," Gary said, "I don't think so. I have a hell of a headache."
"You're cold assed. You really are. You wanted to stay awake long enough to find out if she was really dead, then you wouldn't have to worry she'd take another lover."
Gary said, "I am jealous."
"Don't you know, there's a real possibility she'll be damaged in her brain?"
"Impossible. I don't even think of that," he said.
"Come on, Gary, isn't that what you wanted? If she has brain damage, nobody else is going to want her."
"You're cruel," said Gary.
"And you're an asshole," said Brenda. At that point, she knew she'd gone too far.
Gary said, "You have a vile and dirty mouth."
There was a guard standing by, and he was having a conniption.
After Brenda gave the phone back to her father, the guard walked up and said, "I wouldn't dare call him any of the names you did. He's mean. He'll kill you soon as look at you. I'd be scared to death to talk to him like that."
"God," Brenda said, "he can't hurt you. Look at him. Locked behind a door and in a weakened state. He couldn't hurt a pussycat."
The guard said, "Well, I wouldn't bet on it."
Back at the window, Brenda couldn't stop herself. The guard might just as well have egged her on. "Hey, Gary," she said, "how come you didn't take enough to do the job?"
"What makes you think I didn't?" said Gary.
"If you had," said Brenda, "you'd have been dead."
"What in the hell are you trying to do? You know I really meant to do it."
Brenda said, "You know more about drugs than that. I think you knew just what you were doing."
Gary started to tuck his lip in. Finally, he kind of snickered, and said, "Well, I might know one of my cousins would pick up on that."
Yet, in the way he said it, she was confused. He was perfectly capable of letting her think she was right when she was wrong. Gary liked to toy with her head.
It made Brenda mad. She said, "I think you're being a selfish lover. What about those two little kids?"
"Oh," said Gary, "somebody would have taken care of them."
They started to stare at each other, and it got to be quite a contest.
Even across the hallway, ten feet wide, through two panes of glass, Brenda could feel the heat coming out of his eyes, and she thought to herself, I'm not going to let him outstare me this time, not when he's half dead and there's all this protection between us. But, it went on so long, she finally remembered his favorite saying and quoted it to him on the phone: "An honest man will look you in the eye, but the soul of a man will try to convince you of his lie." At that point, Gary began to laugh, and said, "God, Brenda, you sure