— Did you hear that Whiteback? Tells me I’m accusing them of a conspiracy and then hangs up in my face, what did I tell you that day he was in here. Not a word out of him, he just sat there taking it all in, am I right? Look at their face and you don’t know what’s going on inside, am I right? Talking about racial overtones, whose insurance company does he think he’s working for, am I right Dan?
— Maybe he meant, when they take you to court maybe he meant you should…
— Take me to court? Who’s taking me to court.
— Well I heard, I think I heard Buzzie’s family was…
— Taking me to court? I’ll take them to court, what do they think they, you saw that kid Whiteback, one look at his face and you could see he was so hopped up before he ran out of here…
— Yes well of course the ahm, communityrelationswise that is to say we ahm, excuse me… hello? Oh, yes Gottlieb just called, yes, I told him to call you, he… Yes no simply because he was sitting on the Town Board when you presented the Flo-Jan offer to lease the town dock and he thinks they’re trying to make some connection between him and ahm, the loan, the connection between the bank’s directors and the unsecured loan to ahm, to embarrass us down to the bank that is to say, he… what? No not that loan no, yes no of course that suggestion of seizing the assets if his Ace Transportation defaults on its loan is just an attempt to embarrass me as ahm, seizing the school buses that is to say, as a… to Pecci yes, Mister Pecci, of course as he said in his statement anyone who tries to serve the public must expect smear stories but… in public office yes but of course the attempt to embarrass me as… yes no I’m not running for anything, no…
— Hello? No he’s on the other phone here, he… wait here he is.
— Yes hello…? Yes well classes should start at any ahm, as soon as homeroom is over that is to ahm… yes I heard the bell too but of course the… no it’s the Constitution, the United States Constitution yes, yes do you happen to know how long it… hung up yes, Dan? Can you tell how many pages he still has to go there? look like you’re following it pretty closely that is to…
— No I was, I was looking at his suit.
— Yes well it’s a nice enough suit of course but the sleeves don’t seem to ahm, when I saw him come in this morning his pants hardly reached his ankles that is to say, yes which is all right of course but it made the old straw slipper he was wearing on one foot look like he’d ahm, more like he’d ahm…
— Been on a bender, look at him! Do you need color tv to see how red his eyes are? And the muslin wing flapped heavily in the direction of the image just then paused to preen a crease and raise the dirt line on the pocket handkerchief square into view, — been on a bender with that friend of his that cut off his ear with a pencil, look at him! If there’s one thing I’m going to see while I’m still on this school board Whiteback, it’s to see him fired.
— Yes well of course we ahm, can you turn that up just a little Dan? see what Article he’s up to? Of course if we tried to fire him now we ahm, in terms of the ongoing situation anything that might touch off the ahm, precipitate a strike that is to say, Dan you were going to feel out your ahm, your wife’s ahm…
— Touch it off then, why not! The budget was just voted down wasn’t it? Let them strike. Lock the doors, turn off the heat and save some money, see it at the corporate level all the time. What do you think U S Steel does when a new contract’s coming up? Goes into full production, builds a big inventory, no contract no work and they’re out on strike, would have had to fire half of them anyway. By the time they’ve sold out their inventory these red unions are banging down the gates to get back in, just like these parents will eat up your budget and march their kids back in just like Vern said they would. Somebody at the door there.
— or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. Article two section one. One. The Executive…
— Did he say two? He can’t only be up to, come in? How many do you think there, oh come in come in Senator… and the door fell ajar on the flurry of cloth, introducing silk in the muted iridescence of a famous name suit, — we were just discussing the United States ahm, Hyde, you remember Major Hyde on the school board and, yes no this is Major Hyde here Senator, that’s Dan our ahm, Dan diCephalis, our psycho… and the flurry subsided. — Maybe you read about their accident in the papers?
— Smear stories, the papers… and the flurry renewed in newspaper streamers from an inside pocket — I say it myself right here in my statement, smear stories, they find the Cultural Center is a rider to my highway bill so they smear me because they stoop to nothing to smear Parentucelli. Look, right here they try to tie his state contracts to my highway bill through Flo-Jan Corp but right down here they admit Catania Paving pays Flo-Jan Corp eighteen cents every yard of asphalt landed at the town dock, minimum five hundred dollars monthly, you see? They stoop to nothing.
— Yes well of course in terms of the ongoing situation down to the bank we ahm, excuse me… hello?
— United States. Six. In case…
— Because he is represented by Ganganelli, Pecci and Peretti? Because he is Italian American he should not have the best legal counsel?
— Yes well of course I know it doesn’t make you look good Vern but of course we ahm…
— This teacher woman from your television sues him for a million dollars, he is not entitled to defend himself?
— Yes well of course she’s suing the school too, she… what? Oh yes, Vern? Yes I’m sorry I was listening to something else, we ahm… yes to bring you solutions of course but in terms of the ahm… that you didn’t want to hear about it yes, but of course we… Yes no Mister Pecci is right… No no right here that is to say, he dropped in to discuss the ahm… want to hear about it, no I… no I’ll tell him, yes…
— That Vern, Whiteback? Here, I’d better just speak to him about the…
— Yes well he ahm, he hung up.
— Well what was that he wanted you to tell me.
— Yes well it was not you, no, no he wanted me to tell Mister ahm, tell the Senator here to ahm, of course I can’t repeat it but he seemed quite put out at the reference in the newspaper story to what Mister Parentucelli did to his yard as ahm, as a gift.
— What I said? they stoop to nothing? Because Parentucelli tries to make a gift they smear him with the District Superintendent?
— Yes well of course I don’t think it was a gift that Vern especially ahm…
— So to say there is no gift he sues Parentucelli for damages? Parentucelli comes to do a nice job, maybe too much enthusiasm, all his work to do the nice job, all the trees out, all the blacktop, how does he offer to settle? Free, no bills, nothing. You take out one tree, one elm tree, one oak tree seventy feet, eighty feet high, how much it costs to take out one tree? Two-inch pressed blacktop the best, indestructible, no grass to mow, nine thousand square feet no more grass to mow, no leaves to rake all the time, he parks the car anywhere, no trees to smash the fenders, no birds shitting the Simoniz…