'You're exaggerating.
How would you know? How in the hell would you know? You've always
had a nice white All Protestant Northern name. Franklin D; boulinger.
What would you know about it?'
'I guess you're right.'
'At that time, all the Ivy League intellectuals were involved in a
conspiracy of sorts against Southerners. They still are, except the
conspiracy isn't so broad or so vicious as it once was Back then, the
only way you could succeed in a Northern university or community was to
have ai Saxon name like yours-or else one that was out and out Jewish.
Frank Bollinger or Sol Cohen.
THE F OF FEM 'be accepted with either name. But not with Billy Lames
Plover.
,So you stopped being Billy.
'As soon as I could.
'And did your luck improve?'
,The same day I changed my name.
'But you want me to call you Billy.
'It wasn't the name that was wrong. It was the people who reacted
negatively to the name.
'Billy 'Shouldn't we have special names for each other?'
'Doesn't matter. if you want.
'Aren't we special ourselves, Frank?'
,i think so.'
'Aren't we different from other people?'
'Quite different.
'So we shouldn't use between us the names they call us by.
'If you say so.
'We're supermen, Frank.
'What?'
'Not like Clark Kent.
'We sure don't have X-ray vision.'
'Supermen as Nietzsche meant.
'
'Nietzsche?'
'You aren't familiar with his work?'
'Not particularly.'
'I'll lend you a book by him.
'Okay- '
'In fact, since Nietzsche should be read over and Over again, I'll give
you a book by him.
'Thank you ... Billy.
'You're welcome, Dwight.
At the half-open window, Bollinger glanced at his watch. The time was
12:30.
Neither Harris nor the woman had started dow from the thirty-third-floor
setback.
He couldn't wait any longer. He had squandered too much time already.
He would have to go looking for them. Connie hammered a piton into a
