Another voice, older, said, "Yes, the followers survive the leader. Like with Christ. Not vice versa."
"We better eat, because Rick stops serving exactly at five-fifty now."
"Talk about that in the Game, not now."
Chairs screaked, creaked. He rose too, carried the old mug to the tray of others, and joined them in line out. He could smell cold clothes around him, good smells but cold.
It sounds like they"re saying pa.s.sive life is good, he thought. But there is no such thing as pa.s.sive life. That"s a contradiction.
He wondered what life was, what it meant; maybe he did not understand.
A huge bunch of donated flashy clothes had arrived. Several people stood with armfuls, and some had put shirts on, trying them out and getting approval.
"Hey, Mike. You"re a sharp dude."
In the middle of the lounge stood a short stocky man, with curly hair and pug face; he shifted his belt, frowning. "How do you work this here? I don"t see how you get it to stay. Why doesn"t it loosen?" He had a three-inch buckleless belt with metal rings and he did not know how to cinch the rings. Glancing around, eyes twinkling, he said, "I think they gave me one n.o.body else could work."
Bruce went over behind him, reached around him, and cinched the belt looped back through the rings.
"Thanks," Mike said. He sorted through several dress shirts, lips pursed. To Bruce he said, "When I get married I"m going to wear one of these."
"Nice," he said.
Mike strolled toward two women at the far end of the lounge; they smiled. Holding a burgundy floral shirt up against himself, Mike said, "I"m going out on the town."
"All right, go in and get dinner!" the house director yelled briskly, in his powerful voice. He winked at Bruce. "How you doing, fella?"
"Fine," Bruce said.
"Sound like you got a cold."
"Yes," he agreed, "it"s from coming off. Could I have any Dristan or-"
"No chemicals," the house director said. "Nothing. Hurry on in and eat. How"s your appet.i.te?"
"Better," he said, following. They smiled at him, from tables.
After dinner he sat halfway up the wide stairs to the second floor. No one spoke to him; a conference was taking place. He sat there until it finished. Everyone emerged, filling the hall.
He felt them seeing him, and maybe some spoke to him. He sat on the stairs, hunched over, his arms wrapped around him, seeing and seeing. The dark carpet before his eyes.
Presently no more voices.
"Bruce?"
He did not stir.
"Bruce?" A hand touched him.
He said nothing.
"Bruce, come on into the lounge. You"re supposed to be in your room in bed, but, see, I want to talk to you." Mike led him by waving him to follow. He accompanied Mike down the stairs and into the lounge, which was empty. When they were in the lounge Mike shut the door.
Seating himself in a deep chair, Mike indicated for him to sit down facing him. Mike appeared tired; his small eyes were ringed, and he rubbed his forehead.
"I been up since five-thirty this morning," Mike said.
A knock; the door started to open.
Very loudly, Mike yelled, "I want n.o.body to come in here; we"re talking. Hear?"
Mumbles. The door shut.
"Y"know, you better change your shirt a couple times a day," Mike said. "You"re sweating something fierce."
He nodded.
"What part of the state are you from?"
He said nothing.
"You come to me from now on when you feel this bad. I went through the same thing, about a year and a half ago. They used to drive me around in cars. Different staff members. You met Eddie? The tall thin drink-a-water that puts down everybody? He drove me for eight days around and around. Never left me alone." Mike yelled suddenly, "Will you get out of here? We"re in here talking. Go watch the TV." His voice sank, and he eyed Bruce. "Sometimes you got to do that. Never leave someone alone."
"I see," Bruce said.
"Bruce, be careful you don"t take your own life."
"Yes, sir," Bruce said, staring down.
"Don"t call me sir!"
He nodded.
"Were you in the Service, Bruce? Is that what it was? You got on the stuff in the Service?"
"No."
"You shoot it or drop it?"
He made no sound.
" "Sir," " Mike said. "I"ve served, myself, ten years in prison. One time I saw eight guys in our row of cells cut their throats in one day. We slept with our feet in the toilet, our cells were that small. That"s what prison is, you sleep with your feet in the toilet. You never been in prison, have you?"
"No," he said.
"But on the other hand, I saw prisoners eighty years old still happy to be alive and wanting to stay alive. I remember when I was on dope, and I shot it; I started shooting when I was in my teens. I never did anything else. I shot up and then I went in for ten years. I shot up so much-heroin and D together-that I never did anything else; I never saw anything else. Now I"m off it and I"m out of prison and I"m here. You know what I notice the most? You know what the big difference is I notice? Now I can walk down the street outside and see something. I can hear water when we visit the forest-you"ll see our other facilities later on, farms and so forth. I can walk down the street, the ordinary street, and see the little dogs and cats. I never saw them before. All I saw was dope." He examined his wrist.w.a.tch. "So," he added, "I understand how you feel."
"It"s hard," Bruce said, "getting off."
"Everybody here got off. Of course, some go back on. If you left here you"d go back on. You know that."
He nodded.
"No person in this place has had an easy life. I"m not saying your life"s been easy. Eddie would. He"d tell you that your troubles are mickey mouse. n.o.body"s troubles are mickey mouse. I see how bad you feel, but I felt that way once. Now I feel a lot better. Who"s your roommate?"
"John."
"Oh yeah. John. Then you must be down in the bas.e.m.e.nt."
"I like it," he said.
"Yeah, it"s warm there. You probably get cold a lot. Most of us do, and I remember I did; I shook all the time, and c.r.a.pped in my pants. Well, I tell you, you won"t have to go through this again, if you stay here at New-Path."
"How long?" he said.
"The rest of your life."
Bruce raised his head.
"I can"t leave," Mike said. "I"d get back on dope if I went out there. I"ve got too many buddies outside. I"d be back on the corner again, dealing and shooting, and then back in the prison for twenty years. You know-hey-I"m thirty-five years old and I"m getting married for the first time. Have you met Laura? My fiancee?"
He wasn"t sure.
"Pretty girl, plump. Nice figure?"
He nodded.
"She"s afraid to go out the door. Someone has to go with her. We"re going to the zoo ... we"re taking the Executive Director"s little boy to the San Diego Zoo next week, and Laura"s scared to death. More scared than I am."
Silence.
"You heard me say that?" Mike said. "That I"m scared to go to the zoo?"
"Yes."
"I never have been to a zoo that I can recall," Mike said. "What do you do at a zoo? Maybe you know."
"Look into different cages and open confined areas."
"What kind of animals do they have?"
"All kinds."
"Wild ones, I guess. Normally wild. And exotical ones."
"At the San Diego Zoo they have almost every wild animal," Bruce said.
"They have one of those ... what are they? Koala bears."
"Yes."
"I saw a commercial on TV," Mike said. "With a koala bear in it. They hop. They resemble a stuffed toy."
Bruce said, "The old Teddy bear, that kids have, that was created based on the koala bear, back in the twenties."
"Is that right. I guess you"d have to go to Australia to see a koala bear. Or are they extinct now?"
"There"re plenty in Australia," Bruce said, "but export is banned. Live or the hides. They almost got extinct."
"I never been anywhere," Mike said, "except when I ran stuff from Mexico up to Vancouver, British Columbia. I always took the same route, so I never saw anything. I just drove very fast to get it over with. I drive one of the Foundation cars. If you feel like it, if you feel very bad, I"ll drive you around. I"ll drive and we can talk. I don"t mind. Eddie and some others not here now did it for me. I don"t mind."
"Thank you."
"Now we both ought to hit the sack. Have they got you on the kitchen stuff in the morning yet? Setting tables and serving?"
"No."
"Then you get to sleep to the same time I do. I"ll see you at breakfast. You sit at the table with me and I"ll introduce you to Laura."
"When are you getting married?"
"A month and a half. We"d be pleased if you were there. Of course, it"ll be here at the building, so everyone will attend."
"Thank you," he said.
He sat in the Game and they screamed at him. Faces, all over, screaming; he gazed down.
"Y"know what he is? A kissy-facy!" One shriller voice made him peer up. Among the awful screaming distortions one Chinese girl, howling. "You"re a kissy-facy, that"s what you are!"
"Can you f.u.c.k yourself? Can you f.u.c.k yourself?" the others chanted at him, curled up in a circle on the floor.
The Executive Director, in red bell-bottoms and pink slippers, smiled. Glittery little broken eyes, like a spook"s. Rocking back and forth, his spindly legs tucked under him, without a pillow.
"Let"s see you f.u.c.k yourself!"
The Executive Director seemed to enjoy it when his eyes saw something break; his eyes glinted and filled with mirth. Like a dramatic stage queer, from some old court, draped in flair, colorful, he peeped around and enjoyed. And then from time to time his voice warbled out, grating and monotonous, like a metal noise. A sc.r.a.ping mechanical hinge.
"The kissy-facy!" the Chinese girl howled at him; beside her another girl flapped her arms and bulged her cheeks, plop-plop. "Here!" the Chinese girl howled, swiveled around to jut her rump at him, pointing to it and howling at him, "Kiss my a.s.s, then, kissy-facy! He wants to kiss people, kiss this, kissy-facy!"
"Let"s see you f.u.c.k yourself!" the family chanted. "Jack yourself off, kissy-facy!"
He shut his eyes, but his ears still heard.
"You pimp," the Executive Director said slowly to him. Monotonously. "You f.u.c.k. You dong. You s.h.i.t. You t.u.r.d p.r.i.c.k. You-" On and on.
His ears still brought in sounds, but they blended. He glanced up once when he made out Mike"s voice, audibly during a lull. Mike sat gazing at him impa.s.sively, a little reddened, his neck swollen in the too-tight collar of his dress shirt.
"Bruce," Mike said, "what"s the matter? What brought you here? What do you want to tell us? Can you tell us anything about yourself at all?"