The Thomas Berryman Number

came to a remark she?d made a few weeks earlier. She?d said, ?Ochs, when I go to the supermarket now, people shooting guns always comes into my mind.? On Saturdays (Saturday is Nan?s shopping day), Cat had been sleeping late or starting to vacuum or dust if her mother even mentioned going to shop.

A tall, balding guard at the front gate asked me who I was there to see. He didn?t ask me to ?state my business,? or anything like that. He was sipping coffee, very cordial and friendly.

?My name is Jones,? I said. ?I?m here to see Joseph Cubbah. My newspaper has already contacted your warden.?

(Interview between Ochs Jones and Joseph Cubbah. Taped at the federal penitentiary at Louisville.)

Jones.

Do you mind if I ask questions?

Cubbah

No. No, that?s a good way. Yeah

J

: I uh? What were your feelings about Bert Poole? For starters.

C

: Who?s Bert Poole?

J:

I?m sorry? The young hippie boy in Nashville. The boy you

C

: None. Nothing.

J:

If you could think of anything?

C

: ? He was an asshole. (Laughs) Really.

(I felt that Cubbah thought I was trying to draw some kind of half-assed parallel here. I abandoned the topic.)

J

: ? All right? What about Berryman? Tell me what happened?

C

: In actual fact, he got fucked over. I don?t know, you know

J

: Not exactly? Any specifics you

C

: He was double-crossed. See, he was in the crowd there? Hey, why don?t you make sure your tape?s working

J

: It is. I can see the thing turning? I?ll play it? (Click)

C

: That?s me, huh?

J

: I?m always surprised at the way my voice sounds? It?s on

C

: Yeah, well, Berryman was in the parking lot. I was watching him when the other kid

J

: You?re talking about Bert Poole?

C

: Bert Poole, he opened up right in front of me. Maybe I was a row of people away from him. When it happened, you know, I figured he was working with Berryman. I don?t know

what I thought.

He never hit Jimmie Horn, though. Didn?t even know how to hold a gun.

J

: What happened to Horn? Do you know?

C

: Berryman hit him. Shot right through this windbreaker. He had a windbreaker over his arm. Two shots, I figure. Silencer.

Pfft. Pfft.

.44. Which I don?t understand to this day. Neat trick.

J

: You shot Poole though?

C

: That was just an accident. Reflexes. See, I already had my hand on the gun. But when I turned around for Berryman, he?s already gone. Back in the crowd. I couldn?t believe it. Like ten seconds of the greatest fucking confusion in my life. Everybody?s screaming. There?s movie cameras all over Horn. He?s shivering. Keeps kicking the back of his heel into the asphalt. Like these little kicks. This is fifteen, twenty seconds. I swear to Christ.

J

: I?ve seen films, Joe

C

: Yeah.

J

: What did you do then? I?ll try not to interrupt.