Chapter 25 Chapter Twenty-Five

With just two weeks to go before Francis Kennedy's second inauguration, David Gentney is starting to get bored.California's perennial warm sunshine, beautiful beaches, moonlight, and the rich faces of people everywhere make David feel that he is about to drown in this sweet atmosphere, but he still achieves nothing, but he Nor did he want to go back home in Utah, he couldn't bear Rihui to see his parents' goofy joy. Irene moved in to live with him. She wanted to save the rent and go to India to learn scriptures under the leadership of a Hindu priest. A group of her friends were trying to charter a plane with all they had. She was going to take They were joined by her youngest son, Campbell.

She told David her plan, and David was stunned.She didn't ask him at all if she could live with him, but Yiran felt she had the right to do so, because in fact they now meet three times a week, watch movies, have sex, and she takes it for granted, just fine As much as David was one of her old California friends who moved in with each other, she saw him as just another old buddy, not as a gimmick to get married, but more like A casual gesture between friends.She didn't realize the impact of her actions on David, whose life was disrupted, and a woman and a child became part of his daily life.

What surprised David the most was Eileen's plan to take her youngest son to India too. Eileen is an absolutely confident woman who dares to venture into any world and always believes that fate will treat her well, David One can imagine that little boy sleeping in Calcutta among thousands of poor and ill people.Once he told her angrily that he really didn't understand why there was any reason to believe in a religion that gave birth to hundreds of millions of the poorest people in the world, and she replied that it didn't matter what happened in this life, because the next life would be There is more and better retribution.

Eileen's handling of her son surprised David Jantney, who used to bring little Campbell to her political meetings because of her high self-esteem and her reluctance to keep talking, sometimes kindergarten for some reason If not, she even takes her young son to work. There is no doubt that Eileen is a loving mother, but in David's view, her attitude towards motherhood is puzzling. She does not pay attention to protecting children from harm or caring about their psychological growth like ordinary women. She treats her son as if she were a pet, say a dog or a cat, and does not seem to care about the child's feelings or thoughts, and she is determined not to restrict her life in any way by being the mother of a child, Motherhood is not a bondage, she is to remain free.David thought she was being a little surly.

But she's a pretty woman, and when she's focused on sex, she's wild, and David enjoys being around her, and she's smart about the little things of day-to-day life, and she doesn't really get into trouble, so David let her move in. There were two consequences that he hadn't expected at all. One was that he became more and more useless; the other was that he fell in love with Campbell. Before he was ready to let them move in, he bought a big box to lock up his guns, ammo, and scrubbing tools, and he didn't want a five-year-old accidentally touching his weapons.Somehow, David Gentney now had enough guns to arm a bushman with dignity: two automatic rifles, a submachine gun, and a bunch of pistols.Among them was a small and exquisite double-caliber small pistol, which he put into a leather case that looked like a glove. He usually put the small pistol in his coat pocket and kept it under the bed at night.Before Eileen and Campbell moved in, he locked up the small pistol with the others, and he put a safety padlock on the case so that even if a child found the lock open, he wouldn't be able to figure out how to open the case .Erin was another matter, not that he didn't believe her, but that she was too surly, and surly and guns were incompatible.

The day they moved in, Jantney bought Campbell some toys so the kids wouldn't distract him too much.That night, Erin was getting ready for bed. On the couch, she spread blankets and pillows for the baby, undressed him, bathed him, and changed him into pajamas.Jantney saw the child looking at him, with the usual boredom, indifference, a little bit of fear, and a little bit of habitual confusion in his eyes. At this moment, Jantney translated the child's eyes as A little boy who knew his mom and dad were going to abandon him so he could make love in their own bed. He said to Eileen: "Hey, I'm sleeping on the sofa, you can sleep with the child."

"Don't be a fool," Eileen said. "He doesn't mind. Does he, Campbell?" The little boy shook his head.He hardly speaks. Eileen said triumphantly: "He's a brave boy. Isn't he, Campbell?" At this point David Gentney felt he hated her, and with all his might, he said, "I've got to write something, and it might be late. I think he should sleep with you for the first few nights." "If you have to work, fine," Erin said cheerfully. She reached out to Campbell, and the boy jumped off the couch and threw himself on top of her, burying his head in her arms, and she said to him, "Won't you say goodnight to your Uncle Jantney?" She smiled coquettishly at David, who understood that it was a self-deprecating remark, a sincere empty phrase, a way of telling David that she appreciated his thoughtfulness, and he was implicitly explaining that in the past she Through the ups and downs of being with her other lovers, this has always been her way of introducing her children.

The little boy kept his head in his mother's arms, and David patted him lightly and said, "Good night, Campbell." The boy looked up and fixed his eyes on Jantney, the questioning look of a small child. , purely a heedful look at a strange object that had intruded into his world. David felt startled, as if he was intimidated by the child's eyes, and he noticed that the child had an unusually graceful face for his young age, with a broad forehead and shining brown Eyes, a mouth that is firm, even harsh. Campbell gave Jantney a smile that worked wonders, a look of total trust on his face, and he put out a small hand to pat David's face, and Eileen led him into the bedroom .

She came out again after a while and kissed David. "Thank you for being so thoughtful." She said, "Shall we do it quickly and then I will go in." She said this without any provocation It's just a friendly gesture. Thinking of the little boy waiting for his mother in the bedroom, David said, "No." "Okay then." She happily agreed and walked back to the bedroom. For the next few weeks Erin was frantically on the go, volunteering for a job and joining the local agitation for the re-election of Francis Kennedy—a faithful, staunch believer. , despite being poorly paid, she worked long hours every night.She often relished talking about Kennedy's social reform plans, his struggle with America's rich, and his efforts to reform the legal system.David thought that she must have secretly fallen in love with Kennedy's good looks and his magical voice. David believed that the reason why she worked hard at the campaign center was not so much out of political belief. Said out of her dizzy infatuation with Kennedy.

Three days after Irene moved in, David walked by the headquarters in Santa Monica and found her already working on a computer with little Campbell sleeping in a sleeping bag at her feet, but David saw his eyes wide open, apparently is awake. "I took him home and put him to bed," David said. "He's fine," Erin said. "I don't want to take advantage of you." David felt happy as he pulled Campbell out of the sleeping bag, the child was clothed but barefoot, and he squeezed the child's hand, the skin warm and soft. "I'll take him out for pie and ice cream, okay?" David said to Eileen.

She was busy with her computer work, "Don't spoil him, he will eat yogurt from the refrigerator when you are not around." She took a precious moment to smile at him, then kissed Campbell. "Shall I wait for you?" he asked. "What?" she said, and quickly added, "I'll be late." He took the kid by the hand and walked out, then drove up Montana Avenue and stopped in front of a trattoria.He watched Campbell eat, and Campbell devoured a whole piece of the pie with great relish, much larger than his usual portion, to David's delight. Back in the apartment, he put Campbell into bed and watched him undress himself and change into pajamas.David spread the bedding on the sofa by himself, then turned down the volume of the TV and watched it. Television is filled with political coverage and interviews, with Francis Kennedy seemingly on every channel.David secretly admits that this person is indeed very skilled on TV. He fantasizes that he can also become a tall man like Kennedy. You can see the secret agents searching around behind him with a livid face. people support.David often fantasized that he was Francis Kennedy, Rosemary fell in love with him, he also thought of Haugan and Gibson, they would go to the White House to have dinner with him, Rosemary would chat with him excitedly, Touching his knee, telling her heartfelt heart. He thought of Eileen, how he felt for her, and realized that she was a fascination for him, not a crush, that even though she was open, she was actually completely closed to him, and he would never really fall in love with her .He thought of Campbell, named after Joseph, the writer of mythology.Campbell's name, the little boy is frank and innocent, with such an elegant face. Campbell called him Uncle Jant now, and used to put his little hand in his, and Jantney liked it too, he liked the simple, friendly touch of a child, which Irene never did, during the two weeks they had moved here. All the time, only the affection for the little guy, this wide-ranging concern and love between people, sustained him. It's about Haugen.After he lost his job at the film studio, he would have been helpless and a mess had it not been for Haugen - his "uncle" Hugen. After he got fired, he got a message asking him to stop by Haugen's office, and when he did, he thought Campbell would like to see a movie studio, so he took the little guy with him. As soon as he saw Haugen, David Gentney felt his heartfelt love for him.Haugen was very enthusiastic. He immediately called a secretary to the small shop to buy ice cream for the children, and then showed Campbell the props of a movie he was currently rehearsing on the table. Campbell was delighted by all this, which aroused a tinge of jealousy in Jentney, but he immediately realized that it was Haugen who was trying to facilitate their conversation by letting Campbell busy playing with the props without disturbing them.Haugen shook Jentney's hand and said, "I'm sorry to say I was fired. They're going to cut the script review department, and the people left will be older than you. But keep in touch with me, and I'll find you." work." "I'm fine," David Gentney said. Haugen looked at him carefully, "You look too thin, David, maybe you should go home and have a look, Utah's fresh air and laid-back Mormon life can make you relaxed. Is this your girlfriend's child? " "Well, yes," said Jantney. "She's not my real girlfriend, just a friendship, but she wants to save some rent money and go to India, so we live together." Haugan frowned. "You'd be a pauper if you funded every girl in California to go to India. They seem to have kids." He sat down at his desk, pulled a large checkbook out of a drawer, tore off one, wrote it, and handed it to Jantney, "Here's all the birthday presents I haven't had the chance to give you in the past and graduating from school." gift from me." He smiled at Jantney, who looked at the check, surprised, it was a check for five thousand dollars. "Oh, come on, Haugan, I can't have it," he said, feeling grateful and humiliated, almost to tears. "It's all right, take it," Haugen said, "Remember, I want you to recuperate and have fun. Or give the girl the plane ticket money and let her go so you can do your thing freely. "He said with a smile, and then added an emphasis: "The trouble with being friends with a girl is that you have all the troubles of being a lover, but none of the benefits of being a friend.She's a nice little boy, though, and maybe I'll use him in a kids movie sometime. " Jantney packed the check, knowing what Haugan said.He said: "It is true, he is a very beautiful boy." "It's not just that," said Haugen, "you see, he has such a graceful face, like a born tragedian, you just want to cry when you see him." Jentney thought Haugen was worthy of being a smart man, and "elegant" was the most appropriate word to describe Campbell's appearance, but it was so ridiculous.In the final analysis, it is Irene who, like a god in the sky, directed this tragedy. Hauke ​​hugged him goodbye and said: "David, don't forget to keep in touch, I mean what I say. Take care of yourself, you are still young and you will be promising." He gave Campbell a prop, a beautiful future The model of the plane, Campbell held it in his arms and asked, "Uncle Jant, can I have it?" Jantney saw Haugen smile. "Say Rosemary hello for me," said David Jantney, who had been holding back the words when they met. Haugen gave him a surprised look, "Okay, I'll tell her," he said, "We've been invited to the White House for the inauguration in January, me, Gibson, and Rosemary, and I'll tell her then. " David Jantney suddenly felt he was thrown out of a spinning world. There was a gleam of dawn in the living room window, Irene hadn't come back, and Jantney lay on the sofa, thinking of Rosemary Blair.He remembered her turning to him on the bed and burying him, he still remembered the smell of her perfume, maybe it was the sleep medicine working in her muscles, her body was so heavy.He thought of how proudly and unceremoniously she sent him away in the morning in her tracksuit, and he thought for a moment about the scene when she offered him the money to tip the driver and he refused to accept it, but why did he then What about insulting her?Said that she knew better how much money he needed, and satirized that she was in the same embarrassing situation that night, and was sent home in such a disheveled manner. He found himself waking and sleeping, listening for Campbell's movements, for Irene's return.He thought again of his parents, far away in Utah, and he knew they'd forgotten about him, living their loving life behind closed doors, hanging out their prudish "angel pants" while Wu Shan Yunyu was naked in the room, if he made a phone call, they would have to separate. David Gentney fantasized about meeting Rosemary Blair and telling her about his love, and listen, he'd say, if you had cancer.I'll take the tumor from you and put it on me; listen, he'll say, if a big rock fell from the sky, I'll cover you with my body; listen, he'll say, if someone wants to kill you, I'll hold my chest against the sniper that's coming at you; listen, he'll say, if I could get the fountain of youth and live forever, I'll give you the fountain and keep your face forever. He vaguely understood that because of the halo cast on his memory of Rosemary Blair by her status and power, he was praying to a goddess to make him something extraordinary, he begged for power , wealth and beautiful women, begging for a magnificent performance that attracts the attention of the world, begging not to drown him in such obscurity among all living beings. He showed Eileen the check that Haugan had given him, to impress her that he had such a distinguished friend who cared about him all the time and that giving him such a large sum of money was just a casual gift. .Unexpectedly, Erin was indifferent. In her experience, the sharing of blessings among friends was a very common thing, and she even said that with Haugen's huge wealth, he could easily have given him a larger sum of money.When David offered half the check to get her to India sooner, she declined. "I've always only used my own money and supported myself," she said. "If I used your money, you would feel like you could have a privilege over me. Besides, you really wanted to give Campbell, not I." Her refusal, and her claim that he liked Campbell, left him dumbfounded, and he wanted to take both of them away from him and resume a single life with nothing but visions of the future. However, she then asked him, after she took half of the money and went to India, what did he do with the other half?He noticed that she hadn't proposed that he go to India with him, and that she had said "your half," which meant that she had accepted the half in her heart. Next he told her what he was going to do with his twenty-five hundred dollars.He made a big mistake. "I wanted to go around the country and I wanted to see JFK's inauguration," he said. All over the United States, I even want to go to the ice and snow to feel the real feeling of cold." Irene thought for a while, then walked around the room with brisk steps, as if she was counting her belongings, and said, "That's a good idea. I want to see Kennedy too, and see it with my own eyes." Look at him, or else I wouldn't really know what he's got--that's his fate. I happen to be on vacation, and they owe me a lot of days off. Just in time for Campbell to see the country, and every one of them is different state. Let's take my minivan and save a few hotel bucks." Eileen has a minivan that she's packed with bookshelves and ~Campbell's cot.This car is her baby. When Campbell was a baby, she often drove this car around California, attending various gatherings and lectures about Eastern religions. When he first set off, David felt as if he had fallen into a trap.The car was driven by Eileen, who loved to drive, and Campbell sat between them, with a small hand in David's. David had deposited half the money in Irene's account for her trip to India, and now the remaining twenty-five hundred dollars had to be spent on the three of them, not on himself.His only consolation was the small double-caliber pistol in a leather holster in his coat pocket. He had to protect Irene and Campbell from the raging robbers in the Eastern United States. Contrary to David's expectations, the first four days of leisurely driving trip made him feel relaxed and happy.At first, Erin and Campbell slept in the van while they rested, and he slept outside until the cold weather hit them on the drive to Arkansas, so they drove south, avoiding the cold as much as possible, and then They stayed in motels along the way for a few days. The trouble came the day they got to Kentucky. Because of the cold, they stayed overnight in a motel.Early the next morning, they drove to a breakfast shop that also sold newspapers in a nearby town for breakfast. The waiter in the store was about the same age as Jantney, and looked quite smart. Erin, with her Californian approachable personality, quickly caught up with the young man, and she admired his quickness and efficiency.She used to say that it was a pleasure to watch an expert at work, even if it wasn't important.She said it was a good sign of one's enlightenment, and Jantney never really figured out what the word "karma" meant. But the waiter knew clearly that he was also a believer in an Eastern religion, and Irene got into a chat with him, and it was out of control. Campbell was thrown aside, at a loss, Jentney paid for the meal, and led him to wait outside the door. It took fifteen minutes for Irene to come out. "This kid is so sweet," Erin said, "his name is Christopher, but he calls himself 'Karese'". Jantney waited annoyed, but said nothing.On the way back to the motel, Erin said, "I think we might as well stay here for a day, Campbell needs a rest." They shopped for the rest of the morning and all afternoon, although Eileen hardly bought anything, and then they had an early dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and their plan was to go to bed early, but luckily the next day Leave before the light is on. But not long after they got back to the hotel room, Eileen suddenly said that she wanted to go for a drive, maybe get something to eat.After she left, David played checkers with Campbell. Unexpectedly, the little guy was very good at playing and won almost every game. When he was only two years old, Irene taught him how to play checkers.After playing for a while, Campbell suddenly raised his broad forehead and elegant head, and said, "Uncle Gent, don't you like to play checkers?" Erin didn't return until near midnight, and Jantney and Campbell looked out the window as the familiar pickup pulled into the parking lot, followed by another car. Jantney was surprised to see Erin come out from the other side of the driver's seat, because she always insisted on driving by herself, got out from the driver's side of the waiter called "Karui" and handed over the car keys. To her, she gave him a sisterly kiss, and she gave them both a soft sisterly kiss as two other young men emerged from another car.Irene walked towards the door of the hotel, and the three big men held hands and sang a serenade: "Good night, Irene. Good night, Irene..." Until Irene walked into the room, they could still be heard singing.Erin smiled charmingly at David. "It was so much fun talking to them, I lost track of time," Erin said.She went to the window and waved to them. "Well, I guess I'll have to keep these people here," said Davy, and he could see in his head the gun he took out of his pocket, and the bullets whizzed into the heads of the men. mean." "Hey, don't call me," Irene said, pulling Campbell up, bending over the window, and pointing Campbell to the few people to greet them.The singing stopped suddenly, and David heard the car pull out of the parking lot. Eileen never drank, but sometimes did drugs, and Jantney could see that, and she had this weird smile on her face tonight, remembering one night in Santa Monica when he waited for her to come back , It was almost dawn when she came back, and he accused her of sleeping with someone else, and she said coldly: "Someone has to fuck me, but it's not you." On Christmas Eve, they still continued to travel, still staying in a motel.It's really cold at this time.They didn't want to spend Christmas, Irene said that Christmas was far from the spirit of religion, and David didn't want to bring back the memories of innocent and romantic childhood, but he ignored Irene's objection and bought Campbell made a crystal snowman. On Christmas Day, David woke up early in the morning. Now he always puts the gun in his coat pocket. He reached out his hand to touch the leather holster and looked at the mother and son who were still sleeping soundly next to him. He thought, he wants to kill them How easy it is. Three days later, they arrived in the capital, and there was still quite a while before the inauguration day. David planned all the places of interest and scenery they were going to see, and also drew a parade route map for the inauguration day. They all went to Watch the ceremony where Francis Kennedy was sworn in as President of the United States.