Executioner's Song, The - Norman Mailer [77]
He was getting ready to picture a truly pimply long-haired son of a bitch when Sissy came in with her new guy. Charley thought he looked a little old, but regular enough. In fact, Charley thought they might hit it off if they met in the Army or something.
Right away the Gilmore fellow said he wanted to have a talk, so they went to the backyard. Even while Charley was standing there, the boy friend lay down, on the grass, put his hands behind his head, and started to talk. First thing he said was real funny. Charley didn't like it. Gilmore said, "You ever feel like killing somebody?"
Charley tried to pass it off as a joke. "Yeah," he said, "I feel killing my boss all the time, the ignorant son of a bitch." But Gilmore didn't crack a smile. In the silence, Charley felt himself stepping in. "I mean, you're not serious, are you?" he asked. The boy friend said, "Nah, I was just wondering."
It was only when the conversation was over, that Charley started wondering if the remark about wanting to kill somebody had been aimed at him.
This was one evening that just refused to get comfortable. After Sissy came in, damned if one of Charley's brothers didn't point to Wendy and say, "Nicole, meet your new stepmother." Wendy looked embarrassed half to death and Nicole finally said, "You are my stepmother?" Wendy said, "I guess so." Nicole looked at her real strange.
Then, Nicole started necking with Gilmore on the grass in front of everybody. Charley saw Verna getting plenty annoyed, she came by pretending to laugh, but said, "Knock it off, you two." It was the way you'd shoo fornicating dogs. Gilmore got up like he'd been shot.
A little later, Charley heard he almost picked a fight with Glade Christiansen who had been sitting under a lilac bush giving a bottle to his youngest boy, a year old. Gilmore came along with a football, asked if he'd like to play catch. Glade said, "I'm trying to get the kid fed." Gary sat down on a stool and started asking questions about what Glade did, but ran out of inquiries. So he looked at Glade and said, "Want to know more about me?" Glade really wanted to be alone feeding the kid. He said, "Not really." Then Gilmore began to act like he was cruising for a bruising. Said to Glade, "You give me the impression you're quite a man." Glade wasn't looking for trouble, and answered, "How do you figure that?" Gilmore said, "Well, you just look like you're a real man." Kept looking him over. Glade didn't see any reason to say anything and Gilmore just walked away.
Then the fellow must have had words with Nicole. He took off suddenly. Charley could hardly blame him. Understood the feeling. Like when you went to church once in five years, and the pewholders looked you over. Enough to make you buy a pew.
Afterward, Charley heard that Gary went in the house, knocked over a stool, fell down in the bathroom and Stein finally had to say "Your friend looks pretty intoxicated." To which Nicole, just a dreamboat, said, "He'll probably be all right." Anyway, Gary took off. Nicole looked like she didn't care. She was talking away to her relatives for once.
Charley began to feel like he was missing every conversation and that got him to brooding again how he had been pushed out of the Service three years short of his pension. A terrible business to think about 'cause he felt April had done it to him with her mental difficulties, which, after Midway, just got worse and worse. One time she cut her wrists, another night, an overdose. Whenever Charley left the family to go overseas, he had to ask for a leave to come back because April had flipped out again. Then he was out with Battalion, doing rugged duty on Okinawa, and they were kind of depending on him, but he had to go home twice. Emergency leaves. What with the problem looking like it would continue, they recommended he get out. Charley said, "I don't want out." They gave him a discharge. He refused to sign it. Finally they just handed the thing to him and said "Buddy, get on the plane." Like that. He only had