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.F]ossie came back in."It's for you, Mr.Billy." Billy leftthe room."When did you find out, Trisha?" Eloise asked."Justyesterday, when Torn Mudter confirmed it." "Is everything all right?"asked Henry Fowler worriedly."I mean, are you all right?" He wasalready thinking of what he could do for a grandchild."Of course, Mr.Fowler.Happens every day, you know.Nothing to be concerned about.""Well, I'm just so happy, Patricia," Carrie said, beaming."We'regoing to enjoy having a baby in the family.I'm just so pleased foryou and all of us." Billy returned to the room.Patricia noticedimmediately that something was wrong."What is it, Billy?" They allturned and looked at him."That was Hugh Holmes.Melvin Thomascollapsed and died on the steps of the Methodist Church about an hourago, right after church." "How awful," Carrie said."He was such anice man." Billy stood with his hands in his pockets, looking out awindow.Patricia wrinkled her brow."Is there something else, Billy?"He nodded."Some of the council members got on the phone right away.Sonny Butts has been made acting chief of police.Mr.Holmes thinksthey'll make it permanent tomorrow.""WHEN SONNY walked into the Delano police station after Melvin Thomas'sfuneral on Tuesday morning, he felt Ilk& a king newly crowned.Thecouncil had voted to make him chief of police the preceding day,although the announcement was bing withheld until Thursday, partly outof respect for the dead and partly because the Delano Messenger waspublished on Thursdays, and that was a convenient way to announce hispermanent appointment.:.He had a girl, Millie, on loan from the ety manager's office to &nswerthe phone and handle the radio until he could hire another officer, andshe was at work as he entered.He looked around the station room for amoment.The place was already the way he wanted it.Thomas had beencontent to let him arrange the station room, and Sonny was satisfiedthat he had done it efficiently.Now what he wanted was to get at theold man's office--now his office."Millie, I've got some work to do for a while.Don't call me unlessits real urgent, okay?"""Sure, Sonny." She giggled."I mean, Chief.": He had been screwing her once a week for three months.Too bad therewasn't a sofa in the chief's office.Maybe he could wangle one.Hewent into the office, closed the door, and leaned /tgainst it for amoment.He was breathing hard with excitement.234CraBsThings had worked out so much better than he could ever have dreamedthey would.After a whole war of being pushed around, first by NCOs,then by officers, now be' was in charge.He had wanted a battlefieldcommission, but it had never come.Now he had better than acommission, he had a command.He was fucking Eisenhower, was what hewas.The office wasn't much---a small room that had been added ontothe original building, furnished with a desk, a filing cabinet, a hatrack, and three wooden chairs.But it was the first office he had everhad, the sort of office a company commander might have had in the army.He walked around it slowly, looking into a filing cabinet, shufflingthrough the stack of papers on the desk.Christ, what a mess! Thomashad never let him get these files, this room, organized.He opened thetop drawer of the filing cabinet and started.Two hours later he hadfilled two large cardboard boxes with old files, circulars, papers, andjust plain trash.The desk top was clean as a whistle except for atelephone and a calendar.He sank into the desk chair and opened adrawer.The drawers were all that was left.began filling a smallerbox with the old man's stuff--an electric razor, a Parker pent apistol, some personal bills, a few photographs of his family--therewasn't a hell of a lot.Then he emptied each drawerin turn on the desktop and filtered through everything to find out whether it was personalor police stuff and whether it was important enough to keep.There werea few file folders, He put those aside for last.At noon he sentMillie out to get him a sandwich, then he propped his feet up on thedesk, ate his sandwich, and read through the files.They went back along way.Thomas had been a sergeant on the Columbus police force whenhe had been hired to replace Will Henry Lee nearly twenty years before,At first, it seemed to Sonny, Thomas had been enthusiastic about hisjob and had stuck to the routines of a trained officer from a biggertown [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.F]ossie came back in."It's for you, Mr.Billy." Billy leftthe room."When did you find out, Trisha?" Eloise asked."Justyesterday, when Torn Mudter confirmed it." "Is everything all right?"asked Henry Fowler worriedly."I mean, are you all right?" He wasalready thinking of what he could do for a grandchild."Of course, Mr.Fowler.Happens every day, you know.Nothing to be concerned about.""Well, I'm just so happy, Patricia," Carrie said, beaming."We'regoing to enjoy having a baby in the family.I'm just so pleased foryou and all of us." Billy returned to the room.Patricia noticedimmediately that something was wrong."What is it, Billy?" They allturned and looked at him."That was Hugh Holmes.Melvin Thomascollapsed and died on the steps of the Methodist Church about an hourago, right after church." "How awful," Carrie said."He was such anice man." Billy stood with his hands in his pockets, looking out awindow.Patricia wrinkled her brow."Is there something else, Billy?"He nodded."Some of the council members got on the phone right away.Sonny Butts has been made acting chief of police.Mr.Holmes thinksthey'll make it permanent tomorrow.""WHEN SONNY walked into the Delano police station after Melvin Thomas'sfuneral on Tuesday morning, he felt Ilk& a king newly crowned.Thecouncil had voted to make him chief of police the preceding day,although the announcement was bing withheld until Thursday, partly outof respect for the dead and partly because the Delano Messenger waspublished on Thursdays, and that was a convenient way to announce hispermanent appointment.:.He had a girl, Millie, on loan from the ety manager's office to &nswerthe phone and handle the radio until he could hire another officer, andshe was at work as he entered.He looked around the station room for amoment.The place was already the way he wanted it.Thomas had beencontent to let him arrange the station room, and Sonny was satisfiedthat he had done it efficiently.Now what he wanted was to get at theold man's office--now his office."Millie, I've got some work to do for a while.Don't call me unlessits real urgent, okay?"""Sure, Sonny." She giggled."I mean, Chief.": He had been screwing her once a week for three months.Too bad therewasn't a sofa in the chief's office.Maybe he could wangle one.Hewent into the office, closed the door, and leaned /tgainst it for amoment.He was breathing hard with excitement.234CraBsThings had worked out so much better than he could ever have dreamedthey would.After a whole war of being pushed around, first by NCOs,then by officers, now be' was in charge.He had wanted a battlefieldcommission, but it had never come.Now he had better than acommission, he had a command.He was fucking Eisenhower, was what hewas.The office wasn't much---a small room that had been added ontothe original building, furnished with a desk, a filing cabinet, a hatrack, and three wooden chairs.But it was the first office he had everhad, the sort of office a company commander might have had in the army.He walked around it slowly, looking into a filing cabinet, shufflingthrough the stack of papers on the desk.Christ, what a mess! Thomashad never let him get these files, this room, organized.He opened thetop drawer of the filing cabinet and started.Two hours later he hadfilled two large cardboard boxes with old files, circulars, papers, andjust plain trash.The desk top was clean as a whistle except for atelephone and a calendar.He sank into the desk chair and opened adrawer.The drawers were all that was left.began filling a smallerbox with the old man's stuff--an electric razor, a Parker pent apistol, some personal bills, a few photographs of his family--therewasn't a hell of a lot.Then he emptied each drawerin turn on the desktop and filtered through everything to find out whether it was personalor police stuff and whether it was important enough to keep.There werea few file folders, He put those aside for last.At noon he sentMillie out to get him a sandwich, then he propped his feet up on thedesk, ate his sandwich, and read through the files.They went back along way.Thomas had been a sergeant on the Columbus police force whenhe had been hired to replace Will Henry Lee nearly twenty years before,At first, it seemed to Sonny, Thomas had been enthusiastic about hisjob and had stuck to the routines of a trained officer from a biggertown [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]