He twisted it. He turned it. He popped the bolt. They popped the door and walked in.
They flashed the floor. They flashed a stairwell. Wayne smelled mold. Wayne smelled baked beans.
They turned left. They hit a hall. They hit a kitchen. Wayne felt trapped heat. Moonlight sieved through venetian blinds.
Pete pulled the blinds. Wayne hit the lights. There:
Sink water-dark pink-carving knives afloat. Baked beans and fruit flies on mold. Hair in a colander. Dots on the floor. Dots by the fridge.
Pete opened it. Wayne smelled it. They _saw_ it:
The severed legs. The diced hips. Mom's head in the vegetable bin.
(Bogalusa, 6/21/65)
Phone work:
Room 6-the Glow Motel-direct calls out. Outside noise as direct counterpoint.
Shouts. Rebel yells. Nigger! Nigger! Nigger! We Shall Overcome!
We're in BOMBalusa now. We remember BOMBingham.
He slept with the riddle. He lived with it. He ran.
To: Marches and pray-ins and cross burns. To: Beatings and hecklings and shouts.
He assumed a Fed presence. He laid cover tracks. He called Carlos. He set up a meet. He flew through New Orleans.
BLUE RABBIT might be here. Add BLUE's Brother WHITE. Add Hoover confidants. Add local Feds.
He laid tracks. I was close. It was close. I had to see. I'm CRUSADER RABBIT I'm a fool for civil rights.
Littell checked his phone book. Littell ran motels. He called the Texas DMV this morning. He got Chuck Rogers' stats.
Houston/Driscoll Street/one Oldsmobile. Texas plates: DXL-841.
He got the stats. He got the room. He called motels. Forty-two local-dull phone-book stats.
He played Fed. He dropped his stats. He checked registrations. He made 19 calls. He got all nos. He hit Clerk 20.
"You the second police type who called 'bout that Olds. Only this other guy didn't give me no DXL number, he said it'd have hot Texas plates."
He brainstormed the response. He ran RABBITS. FATHER RABBIT's Wayne Senior. FATHER knows Chuck. FATHER runs WILD RABBIT WILD RABBIT's close. WILD RABBIT's Klan.
There's BLUE RABBIT He's Fed. Who _else_ wants Chuck?
He called motels. He hit 28. He got nil results. The outside noise got bad-these loud Nigger! shouts.
Littell worked. Littell called motels. Littell got nil results. Motel 29. Motel 30. Motel 3 1-2-3.
Motel 34: "You're the second guy askin' about that Rogers an' that car, but I ain't seen him or it."
The Moonbeam Motel/the Lark Motel/the Anchor Motel-nil results. The Dixie/the Bayou/the Rebel's Rest:
"Office. May I help you?"
"This is Special Agent Brown, FBI."
The guy laughed. "You come to curtail these agitators?"
"No, sir. It's about something else."
"That's too bad, because-"
"I'm looking for a white man driving a 1953 Oldsmobile with Texas license plates."
The man laughed. "Then you're one lucky member of the Federal Bureau of Integration, 'cause he checked into room 5 yesterday."
"What? Repeat th-"
"I got it right here. Charles Jones, Houston, Texas. '53 Olds sedan, PDL-902. By my lights, he's a mean motherhumper. Probably gargles with antifreeze and flosses with razor blades."
o o o
Traffic crawled. The disruption ratched it up.
Sidewalk marches. Hecklers. TV crews out. Signs and countersigns. Shriekers with good lungs. Nonparticipants out for yuks.
_Freedom Now!_/_Jim Crow Must Go!_/_Nigger Go Home!_ _We shaaaall overcome!_ in re-run shouts.
Littell drove his rental car. Traffic slogged. Littell parked and walked. Egg crews roamed. White kids chucked eggs. They chucked at Negroes. They nailed perceived Feds.
Littell walked. Littell dodged eggs. Eggs hit marchers. Eggs hit picket signs.
Egg crews walked. Egg trucks roamed. Egg men trucked ammo. Eggs flew. Eggs hit doors. Eggs hit awnings and cars.
The marchers wore slickers. The slickers dripped yolk. The slickers dripped cracked shells. Cops stood around. Cops dodged eggs. Cops sucked Nehi and Coke.
Littell walked. Eggs creased him. Littell looked all-Fed.
He cut left. He walked two blocks. He passed two egg huts. Egg crews formed. Egg crews armed. Egg trucks loaded up.
He saw it-right there-the Rebel's Rest.
One floor. Ten rooms. All street-view units. Rebel flag and rebel sign-neon Johnny Reb.
Parking slots/outdoor walkway/the office detached.
Littell palmed a credit card. Littell cut straight over. Littell saw room 5.
He knocked. He got no answer. No car in front/no people/no Olds 88.
He faced the street. He braced the door. He worked backwards. There now-by touch:
The jamb. The bolt. Wedge the card and slide it through fast.
He did it. The door popped. He fell backwards inside. He locked the door behind him. He hit the lights. He checked the room out.
One bed. One bathroom. One closet. One overnight bag on the floor.
He tossed the bag. He saw clothes and a razor. He saw hate tracts. He checked the closet. He checked the shelf. He saw a box of fuses-half full.
He saw a Mossberg pump. He saw a.45. He saw a.357 mag.
He grabbed the pump. He dumped the shells. He grabbed the.45. He popped the hot round. He popped the clip.
He grabbed the mag. He popped the cylinder. He dumped the shells. He pulled the rug up.
He hid the ammo. He shut the closet door. He killed the room lights. He sat down. He pulled his piece. He cocked the hammer.
He leaned on the bed. He faced the door. He counted rabbits fullout.
He dozed. He cramped up. He heard chants outside. Two words-say two blocks out.
"Freedom" and "nigger"-two words overlapped.
The sun arced-light cut through window shades-shades going black.
Littell dozed. Littell stirred. Littell heard siren bursts. Short bursts-per stalled traffic.
He got up. He walked outside. Tenants mingled. Tenants rebel-yelled.
A man laughed. A man went "Ka-pow!"
A man said, "A nigger church just went ka-blooey."
Littell ran.
He cut left. He ran two blocks. He passed the egg huts. His coat flapped. His piece showed. Some egg men perked up.
They chucked eggs. They hit him. They dosed his pants. They grazed his head.
He hit the main drag. He cut right. He pushed through pickets. He ate eggs. He ate picket signs.
He slid. He hit eggshells. He tripped. A redneck kicked him. A marcher kicked him for kicks.
Horns. Sirens. Shouts-street blockade dead ahead. Egg trucks and egg men. An ambulance stalled and bucked.
Rednecks ran over. Marchers ran over. Fat cops ran up slow. They hit the blockade. They yelled. They shoved.
The blockade held. Pushing and shoving. Horns/sirens/shouts.
Littell got up. Littell dripped eggshells. Littell ran over fast. The cops saw him. Looks traveled-check Johnny Fed.
Littell pulled his badge. Littell pulled his gun. The cops smirked. The egg men smirked. The marchers stepped back.
Louder now: Yahoos and nigger yells. Horns/sirens/shouts.
Littell grabbed an egg man. Said egg man smirked. Littell smashed his face on his truck. He hit the door. He hit the ground. His false teeth popped out and cracked.
The egg men stepped back. The cops stepped back. The cops bumped the marchers. The cops brushed picket signs.
Littell cracked the door. Littell jerked the brake. The truck rolled. The truck hit a light pole. The ambulance swerved and cut through.
Littell stepped back. Eggs hit his glasses. Tobacco juice hit his shoes.
o o o
Gutted:
Scorched timber/wet timber/wet dirt. Two dead-a boy and his dad.
The bomb hit a 4:00 p.m. service. The bomb made a floorboard blast. It reached up. Pews shattered. Wood sheared.