The Naked and the Dead - Norman Mailer [81]
Ah been keepin' an eye on that south herd leader, the red one with the spot 'hind his ear, an' he's gonna be gittin' mean when the hot weather comes.
The Education of Samuel Croft.
And always, day after day, the dust of cattle through the long shimmering afternoons in the sun. A man gets bored and it's uncomfortable falling asleep in a saddle. Thinking of town maybe. (Bar and a whorehouse, dry goods.)
Sam, you gittin' itchy?
A lazy somnolent pulsing in his loins. The sun refracts from the hide of his horse, bathes his thighs in a lazy heat. Yeah, some.
They're fixin' to start a National Guard outfit in Harper.
Yeah?
Ah figger they'll be some women hangin' round the uniforms, an' ya git to do a lot of shootin'.
Maybe I'll go down with ya. He wheels his horse to the left and rides out to turn back a straggler.
The first time Croft ever killed a man he was in a National Guard uniform. There was a strike on at Lilliput in the oil fields, and some scabs had been hurt.
They called the Guard. (The sonsofbitches started this strike come from up north, New York. They's some good boys in the oil fields but they got they heads turned by Reds, an' next thing they'll have ya kissin' niggers' asses.) The guardsmen made a line against the gate to the plant and stood sweating in a muggy summer sun. The pickets yelled and jeered at them.
Hey, drillers, they called out the Boy Scouts.
Let's rush 'em. They're jus' company scabs too.
Croft stands in line with his mouth tightening.
They're gonna rush us, the soldier next to him says.
The Guard lieutenant is a haberdashery salesman. If there're rocks being thrown you better lie down, men. If it should git real bad, fire a couple of rounds over their heads.
A stone lofts through the air. The crowd is sullen outside the gate, and every now and then one of them shouts some curses at the soldiers.
No sonofabitch'll talk to me that way, Croft says.
A rock strikes one of the soldiers, and they lie down on the ground and point their rifles above the heads of the advancing crowd.
Let's rip the place apart.
About ten men start to walk toward the gate. Some stones fly over their heads and scatter among the soldiers.
All right, men, the lieutenant pipes, fire over them.
Croft sights down his barrel. He has pointed his gun at the chest of the nearest man, and he feels a curious temptation.
I'll just squeeze the trigger a little bit.
BAA-WOWWW! The shot is lost in the volley, but the striker drops.
Croft feels a hollow excitement.
The lieutenant is cursing. Goddam, who shot him, men?
Guess they's no way to find out, Lieutenant, Croft says. He watches the mob retreating in a panic. Bunch o' dogs, he tells himself. His heart is beating, and his hands feel very dry.
" 'Member that gal, Janey, he married. Ah'll say one thing for her, she was a reg'lar ole tomcat," Jesse Croft said. (He spewed an oyster of phlegm, and ground it reflectively with his boot.) "Jus' the meanest little ole girl, Ah'll tell ya she was a mate for him till they busted up. They ain't one of the gals my boys've married that I woulda taken up against her. Ah'm an old man, but Ah'll tell ya, mah balls would git to itchin' when Ah'd look at her and jus' think of lovin' up to her." (Scratching his pants vigorously.) "Trouble with Sam he shouldn'ta married her. When a man can knock off a piece with a woman without slippin' her a weddin' ring, it don' pay to git any ideas about settlin' down with her. A woman that likes her nookie ain't gonna be satisfied with one man after she gits used to him." (Pointing his finger at the man he is talking to.) "Reckon that's a law of life."
Oh, give it to me, you sonofabitch, give it to me, I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU STOP.
Who's your man?
You're my man, you give it to me, give it to me, give it to me.
They ain't nobody can make love to you like me.
They ain't anybody, anybody, oh, you're