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'Get mad if you want. T'rowin' them white men out ain't solvin' nothin'. It's about money, Dave. It's always about money. The white man need the nigger to work cheap. That ain't no mystery to black people. It's white folk don't figure it out, no.'
'I need you to help close up tonight,' I said.
'I'm gonna be there. Hey, you runnin' round in circles lookin' for this man been killin' dope dealers, this man who hurt you so bad the ot'er day, it don't have nothin' to do with no vigilante. When somebody killin' black people, it don't matter if up in a tree, or breakin' in a jail and hangin' a man on a beam, they can say it's 'cause he raped a white woman, or he killed a white man, or he done some ot'er t'ing. But it's over money. It means the black man stay down at the bottom of the pile. The dumbest nigger in Lou'sana know that.'
His eyes lingered indulgently on mine. He squeezed the rake handle, and his callused palm made a soft grating sound like leather rubbing against wood.
Monday morning I returned to work. The first telephone call I received was from Lucinda Bergeron.
'Fart, Barf, and Itch are no help on Will Buchalter,' she said. 'I don't understand it. Is the guy made out of air?'
'He didn't seem like it to me.'
'Then why doesn't he show up in the system?'
'You can't throw an electronic net over every psychopath in the country.'
'Somebody has to know who this guy is. Being around him must be like getting up in the morning and biting into a shit sandwich for breakfast.'
Too much time around squad rooms, Lucinda, I thought.
'How's Zoot doing?' I said.
'He's fine, thank you.'
'What's the problem?'
'He said you thought he should join "the Crotch." That's swinging-dick talk, isn't it? Quite a vocabulary you guys have.'
'How about your own?' I said.
'I'm not the one encouraging a seventeen-year-old boy to drop out of school.'
'He wanted me to talk to you about joining the Corps. He can get a GED there. I don't think it's the worst alternative in the world.'
'He can forget about it.'
'You do him a disservice. Why'd you call, Lucinda?'
Her anger seemed almost to rise from the perforations in the telephone receiver.
'That's a good question. When I figure it out, I'll tell you.' Then she made that sound again, like she had just broken a fingernail. A moment later, she said, 'We're operating a sting out of a motel dump by Ursulines and Claiborne. You want in on it?'
'What for?'
'We're going to roll over some dealers from the Iberville Project.'
'You think they're going to tell you something about the vigilante?'
'They're the bunch most likely to undergo open-heart surgery these days.'
'You think this will lead you back to Buchalter?'
'Who knows? Maybe there's more than one guy killing black dope dealers.'
'Lucinda, listen to me on this one. Buchalter doesn't have any interest in you or Zoot. Don't make it personal. Don't bring this guy into your life.'
'That sounds strange coming from you.'
