Love, Anger, Madness

“Give me a few more days,” he snarled.

“Don’t forget me, please,” another begged humbly. “You promised to reward me, and I too want a piece of land.”

“I’ve been waiting a year,” another protested, “and I’m still paying rent.”

“So stop paying rent,” the little man said coldly. “I’ll protect you in court.”

Visibly unhappy, he tried in vain to escape this horde harassing and suffocating him. Standing on his toes in a desperate attempt to get a little air, he said in a cutting voice:

“And now, gentlemen, let me through.”

The group parted and the little man found himself in front of Louis Normil, who was sitting quietly with his drink. He hesitated, then took a few steps to the table, holding out his hand.

“Pleased to meet you,” Louis Normil said, returning his greeting. “I actually wanted to see you again so we could talk alone.”

He saw the Gorilla’s long hairy hands shaking. From fear or rage? Louis Normil thought. Someone in the room frightens him, but who? He turned around and caught the Boxer looking at the Gorilla. And suddenly he was filled with new strength. The Gorilla had taken a handkerchief from his pocket and was patting his face as he stared at Louis Normil with distrust.

“Did you want to talk alone so you could start crying again?” he asked impertinently.

“The time for tears has come and gone,” Louis Normil said, and burst out laughing.

“Come, then. I’d like to have a talk with you as well.”

With a hand on one of his guns, he walked to an isolated table, called for a waiter, and turning toward Louis Normil:

“What can I get you?” he asked.

“A whiskey-and-soda,” Louis Normil replied.

“Two whiskey-and-sodas,” he ordered.

And leaning toward his interlocutor:

“What do you have to say to me?”

Louis Normil took the glass the server had just put on the table, raised it, and raised his voice to say:

“To Rose’s health!”

“Ah,” the dumbstruck man said, “if that’s how you’re taking it…”

And then he started laughing, his eyes on Louis Normil, whose face suddenly hardened for a fleeting instant.

“My daughter cares for you,” he said with a frozen smile that pulled at his lips but left the rest of his face unmoved. “So I look the other way…”

The man in uniform had taken a sip of liquor and seemed to reflect for a moment.

“I’ve gotten quite attached to her,” he confided to Louis Normil, who clutched his glass tight enough to break it. “I’ve been moved by how sweet and gentle she is. I find myself getting so impatient whenever I’m expecting her. Perhaps I’ll marry her someday. I’m not promising anything, but perhaps I’ll marry her someday.”

“I would be flattered,” he responded, unflappable.

His voice was low, almost hoarse. He lowered his eyes, afraid to give himself away, and fought off the desire to leap at the Gorilla and strangle him. His clenched jaw jutted out and he grew nauseous from the effort to remain calm. As sure as my name is Louis Normil, he thought, you will die by my hand.

“But,” the Gorilla added as if suddenly himself again, a mean and cunning rabid dog, “was it to talk about your daughter that you wanted to speak to me alone?”

“My son would like to wear the uniform,” Louis Normil replied very quickly, “and I was counting on you to recommend him to your people so he receives special consideration.”

“Now there’s a wise decision!” the Gorilla exclaimed. “I admit I was a little suspicious of him. He’s distant and avoids greeting me. I’m always wary of malcontents since there are so many around me. Our organization has set things up to satisfy everyone, but they’re insatiable. You look to me, such as I am, but I am only a cog in an immense machine. The one who gives us our orders is like God, invisible and all-powerful. We get our orders and we carry them out. That’s all. We often know nothing about the reasons for the things he asks of us and we just blindly obey. Your son holds me personally responsible and quite imprudently swells the ranks of the group of malcontents.”

“Maybe he thought you wouldn’t let him join,” Louis Normil added very quickly.

“Don’t try to play me,” the Gorilla protested. “He has reasons to be unhappy after we took his land and his sister. You were the first to be struck. Soon, all those who’ve been resisting will feel our heavy hand on their heads.”

He looked intently at Louis Normil as he spoke but was unable to decode his enigmatic face. Normil answered with aplomb:

“I know your reputation, you are feared and respected. Under your protection, my son will go far quickly.”

“Hey, hey, you’re laying it on a bit thick now, aren’t you…”

The Gorilla leaned over to him as he glanced at the uniformed men who had formed a circle around him, and whispered:

“They’re always pestering me and I can’t make them all happy at the same time. I have a tough job: that’s the price I pay for my position. Go tell them that your land still belongs to you, and you and I will figure an arrangement. You seem reasonable and you do what you’re told. Your daughter cares about you. I like people who do what they’re told. You know what, why don’t you handle these sales for me? Rid me of these birds of prey and you’ll get a nice cut.”

“All I want is to help,” Louis Normil affirmed, astonished by this turn of events.

“But remember, don’t double-cross me, eh, or you’ll regret it. I promised your daughter that I’d return the papers you signed, and I will keep my word. If you keep yours, everything will be fine and you’ll make good money. But the important thing is to make sure these people leave me alone.”

“You mean you’re authorizing me to sell these properties on your behalf and mine?”

“That’s exactly right. I would never dream of giving away free land to these vultures and ending up looking like a Simple Simon.” [36]

“I understand,” Louis Normil said and got up to leave.

Seeing this, the Gorilla hung on to him and insisted that he eat with him. When he was able to free himself two hours later, he felt so weak and in such pain that he dragged his feet all the way home. With a bitter taste in his mouth, he went up to his room and got in bed, refusing all food, and buried his face in the sheets as he brooded over his conversation with the Gorilla. He couldn’t help being haunted by obscene images of this runt fornicating with his daughter, and he was filled with cold rage. He kept furtively looking over at Rose, listening to her conversation with rapt and morbid attention as if hoping that she’d suddenly shout that she had played a dirty trick on the Gorilla, that he had never touched her. He let her kiss his forehead and watched her leave for her date and waited up for her late into the night, listening, agitated and appalled.

Nevertheless, as soon as the next day, under the authority granted by a powerful figure, he began advertising and selling the properties. Stone-faced and resolute, he avoided M. Zura and set up a meeting with the potential buyers, all of them Blackshirts, at the notary’s office selected by the Gorilla.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The next morning, a sharp altercation erupted among the uniformed men posted on the land. Their voices became violent and threatening and soon there was gunfire followed by yelling and screaming.

“The birds of prey are devouring each other!” the grandfather exclaimed. “God predicted that ambition and greed would lead to their demise and now his prophecy is coming true.”

“I want to see!” cried the invalid. “Someone take me to the window.”

Three bodies in black uniform lay on the ground, where they were being examined by other men in black with rifles on their shoulders.