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Tuesday, March 28, 2017

The Writer's Life 3/28 - Work in Progress

Here's an excerpt from Present and Past, a work in progress. The two protagonists have embarked on a cross-country automobile trip. This is an example of the conversations they share throughout the novel. The incidents described actually occurred. I changed the names. The person who made the call was a friend named Sal:

"I'll never forget the night I found Robert Silverberg and his girlfriend. Geez, that's what? - almost twenty-five years ago. And I can still see it clear as day. I still say the nut shot 'er by accident, foolin' aroun’, then got scared and shot 'imself. That crap in the paper 'bout the double suicide 'cause he was a Jew and she was Catholic was bull. He didn't care about that. All he cared about was bangin' ‘er. Who woulda stopped 'im if he wanted to marry 'er? His mother and grandfather had no control over 'im. The papers made it seem like the family was to blame, but he was always nuts. I think that was when I decided to never believe anything in the papers again. They didn't even mention my name, and I was the one who called the cops. "
"Wasn't his father filled in Korea?"
Tony pondered a moment. "I think you're right. Or was that somebody else? I don't remember for sure. I can picture the ol' man standing on the stoop in his long Johns, leanin' on his cane, callin' for help, snot runnin' down his nose. It was freezin' out. I was the only one aroun'.  'Robbit, the girl, they're dead,' the poor bastid told me in his Jew accent. I went inside and there they were. There was blood all over the place. I was shittin' my pants. He musta put the gun in his mouth. There was no note or nothin'. That's another reason why I don't think he killed her on purpose. He was always crazy, but funny-crazy, not psycho-crazy."
"Remember how he'd drive around in that Catalina he had all primed up? He never got the chance to finish the paint job."
"I'd hear 'im tearin' aroun' the block in the middle of the night. I'd imagine him and Micky Mastroianni and those degenerate girls laughin' in the car laughin' it up, and me wishin' I was with 'em. I'd get atta bed and see 'em whizz by the window. One night they hit a cat. The thing cried for hours."
Amazed at the coincidence, at the past repeating itself, Freddie wondered if it were the same cat he'd shown Chucky. Subdued despite astonishment, he said: "And his mother never moved away. Talk about tough. Imagine what it must've been like for her to walk down the block or just go into the house."
"She still don't look nobody in the face."
"It has to be hard to hold your head up with a weight like that on your shoulders. Disease is one thing, but to be shot dead, especially by your own hand, has to be devastating. I felt so sorry for her I could never even look at her. I was afraid she'd think I thought it was her fault. But she never caused anybody any trouble. Robert was nuts."

How appropriate is it that the NFL's Las Vegas franchise will be the one that has caused the most controversy through the years, the Raiders?

The floating book shop was rained out. The forecast calls for a return of sunshine tomorrow after a four day hiatus.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

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