Libra - Don Delillo [193]
Jack went to bed. He stared at the ceiling in the dark. Every time a truck passed on Thornton Freeway it made a noise like paper ripping. The phone rang and he went into the living room and picked it up. He listened about twenty seconds. Then he put on his clothes and drove to the Carousel.
He went up the narrow stairs and turned on the lights. The dogs started barking in the back room. He sat in his office running his hand through his hair. He needed a scalp treatment fast.
He heard the footsteps. Then Jack Karlinsky walked into the office. He looked a little tired. He wore an open-collar shirt and his neck was stretched and ridged. He looked old at this hour, unprepared. He brushed some dog hair off the sofa and sat down.
“It’s terrible, what’s happening to this city, Jack. Every hour brings new words of grief abroad and wonderment how this could happen. Already the Europeans are talking this is conspiracy. What do we expect? They have their centuries of daggers in the back, frame-ups and poisons. This is adverse thinking. It builds up a pressure which is bad for the city, bad for us all.”
“When I think of my father coming out of some Polish village.”
“Polish village, exactly.”
“To the carpenters’ union in Chicago.”
“To raise a boy who grows up owning a business, Jack. This is what we want to defend. What is the first thing people say about this tragedy? What does my mother say, eighty-eight years old, in a nursing home? She calls me on the phone. Do I have to tell you what she says? ‘Thank God this Oswald isn’t a Jew.’ ”
“Thank God.”
“Am I right? How many people are saying the exact same thing these last two days? ‘Thank God this Oswald isn’t a Jew.’ ”
“ ‘Whatever he is, at least we know he’s not a Jew.’ ”
“Am I right? These are the things people say.”
“When I think of my father,” Jack Ruby said.
“Of course. This is what I say.”
“Always drinking, drinking. Out of work for years. My mother talked Yiddish to the day she died. She couldn’t write her name in English.”
“This is exactly the situation we find ourselves today. I’m saying there are things that need protection.”
“I’m a great believer in you have to stand up for your natural values.”
“Don’t hide who you are.”
“Don’t hide. Don’t run.”
“This is a subject I talked to Carmine only today. I’ve been talking to Carmine direct. He made reference to he was anxious about Oswald. It makes the whole country look bad, all this talk on a level of conspiracy. I’ll tell you what people want. They want this Oswald to vanish. That’s how you close the book on loose talk. People want him off the map, Jack. He’s a nuisance to behold.”
“It’s a tide of emotion where anything can happen.”
“It’s a wave. You feel it in the streets. It carries everyone along. We’re involved one way or another whether we like it or not. Look at the ad that ran in the paper with a thick black border. Signed with a Jewish name. People notice things like that. They file it away. There’s a lot of extreme feelings that attach themselves to Jews.”
“I personally feel I’ve been dropped in a pool of shit.”
Jack Karlinsky nodded.
“Let me tell you something right straight out. The man who gets Oswald, people will say that’s the bravest man in America. And it’s just a matter of time before somebody clips him. They’re saying reports of mob action any time. The people want a blank space where he’s standing. This act, they’ll build a monument, whoever does it. It’s the shortest road to hero I ever saw.”
“You talk to Carmine.”
“Carmine mentioned your name. From Tony Push. They know about you, Jack, in New Orleans.”
“I did some things in the Cuba days.”
“In other words this Oswald is an aggravation. He knows some little iffy things. He has some names he’s playing around in his mind. Carmine wants to clear the air.”
“I was over at headquarters, dropping in this afternoon. There’s talk they’re moving him to the county