“You got any money?” Dan ast.
“Bout ten or fifteen dollars,” I says. “How bout you?”
“Twenty-eight cents.”
“Well, maybe we can get some breakfast,” I says.
“Hell,” Dan says. “I sure wish we had enough to go to the oyster bar. Man, what I wouldn’t give for a dozen oysters on the half shell right now. Served up over crushed ice, with one of them little crystal bowls for sauce on the side—lemons and Tabasco and some Worcestershire an horseradish.”
“Well,” I says, “I reckon we could do that.” Matter of fact, I know I ain’t got much cash on me, but what the hell. I remember ole Lieutenant Dan in Vietnam, always talkin about how much he liked raw oysters. I figger, bad off as he is now, why not?
Ole Dan, he is so excited he is about to bust, an his legs begun to clatter as we go down the hallways.
“Assateague or Chincoteague oysters,” he says, “don’t matter which. Even good ole Chesapeake Bay oysters’ll do! Hell, mysef, I prefer the Pacific Coast variety—Puget Sound salties, or some of the Oregon State breeds. Or, then, down from the Gulf Coast, where you come from—Bon Secour or Heron Bay oysters, or over at Apalachicola, Florida, they used to have some delicious mollusks!”
Dan was kinda gettin beside hissef, an I think his mouth was waterin as we walked across a great big marble-floored hall toward where the signs say Restaurant an Oyster Bar. But just afore we go inside it, a policeman come up an order us to halt.
“What you clowns think you’re doin?” he ast.
“Gettin our breakfast,” says Dan.
“That so?” says the policeman. “An what’s that hog doin here?”
“That is a licensed seein-eye hog,” Dan says. “Can’t you see I’m blind?”
The cop be lookin at Dan pretty hard in the face, an finally he say, “Well, you look kinda blind, but we can’t let no hog inside the Union Station. It’s against the rules.”
“I tole you, this is a seein-eye hog. It’s perfectly legal,” Dan says.
“Yeah, well, I heard of seein-eye dogs. But ain’t no such thing as a seein-eye
“Yeah,” say Dan. “Well, I am livin proof that there is—ain’t that right, Wanda?” He reach down an patted Wanda on the head, an she give out a single loud grunt.
“So you say,” the policeman answers, “but I ain’t never heard of any such thing. Besides, I think you better show me your driver’s licenses. You fellers look kinda suspicious.”
“Driver’s licenses!” Dan shouts. “What kind of people would give a driver’s license to a blind man?”
The cop, he thinks a minute, an pointin his thumb at me, says, “Yeah, maybe you’re right—but what about him?”
“
“Yeah, well, how come he’s all wet?”
“On account of he fell down in a big mud puddle outside the station here. What kind of people are you, allowin such mud puddles? Why, I think you oughta be sued or somethin.”
The cop be scratchin his head now, an I guess tryin to figger out how to deal with this situation without makin hissef look like a fool.
“Well, all this may be so,” he says, “but if he’s a idiot, what’s he doin here? Looks like maybe we oughta lock him up or somethin.”
“It’s his
At this, Wanda give out another big grunt an then peed right on the nice marble floor.
“All right—that’s it!” the cop holler. “I don’t care what you say! You bozos are outta here!”
He grapped Dan an me by the collars an start draggin us to the doors. In the confusion, Dan done dropped Wanda’s leash, an by the time the cop turn aroun to see where she was, he suddenly got a real funny look on his face. Wanda is back about twenty yards behin, lookin at the cop with them squinty little yeller eyes of hers, an she is pawin the marble an gruntin an snortin to beat the band. Then, without no further warnin, she done charged across the floor straight at us, but Dan an me, we knew who she’s aimin at, an so does the cop.
“Oh, my Lord! Oh, my Lord!” he shouts an takes off runnin fast as he can. I let Wanda chase after him for a moment or two an then called her back. Last we see of that cop, he is headed for the Washington Monument. Dan picks up the end of Wanda’s leash again, an we walked on out the door of the Union Station an onto the street, with Dan tappin the ground with his stick.
“Sometimes a man gotta stand up for his rights,” he says.
I ast Dan what we gonna do next, an he say we need to go on down to Lafayette Park, across from the White House, account of it is the prettiest piece of public property in the town, an is also the main place in the city where they let folks like us camp out an do our thing.
“All we gotta do is get us a sign,” Dan says. “Then we become legitimate protesters, an ain’t nothin nobody can do to us. We can live there long as we want.”
“What kinda sign?”
“Don’t matter, long as it is against whatever the President stands for.”
“What is that?” I ast.
“We’ll think of something.”
So that’s what we did. I found a big ole piece of cardboard, an we spent twenty-five cents on a red crayon, an Dan tole me what to write on the sign.
“Vietnam Veterans Against the War,” he say.
“But the war’s over.”
“Not for us it ain’t.”
“Yeah, but it’s been ten years…”
“Screw it, Forrest, we’ll tell em we been here all that time.”
Anyhow, we gone on down to Lafayette Park across from the White House. They was all sorts of protesters there, an bums an beggars, too. They all gots signs, an some are hollerin across the street an a lot have got little tents or cardboard boxes to live in. They is a fountain in the middle, where they get their water from, an two or three times a day everbody get together an pool their money an send out for some cheap sambwiches an soup.
Dan an me, we set up our operation on a corner of the park, an somebody tole us where a appliance store was so that we can get a couple of refrigerator cartons that afternoon, which will be our homes. One of the fellers say it is a lot better now that wintertime has come, account of when it is halfway warm, the Park Service turns on the sprinkler system deliberately in the middle of the night, to drive us away. Lafayette Park is kinda different than the last time I was here—or at least the President’s house was. Now they has got a big iron fence around it an concrete posts ever few feet, an a bunch of armed guards pacin back an forth. It is like the President don’t want nobody to come see him.
Anyhow, Dan an me commenced to beggin from the passersby, but ain’t too many people interested. End of the day, we has made about three bucks. I am beginnin to get worried about Dan, account of all his coughin an how thin he is an all, an I remembered how back when we come home from Vietnam he had gone on up to the Walter Reed Hospital an they fixed him up.
“I don’t want no more of that place, Forrest. They done fixed me up once, an look where it got me.”
“But, Dan,” I says, “ain’t no reason for you to be sufferin. You still a young man.”
“Young, hell! I’m a walkin corpse—Can’t you see that, you idiot?”
I tried, but there wadn’t no talkin him out of it—He just wadn’t goin to the Walter Reed Hospital. That night we was in our boxes, an things was pretty dark an quiet in the Lafayette Park. We was gonna get a crate for Wanda, too, but I decided she could sleep with Dan, account of she might help keep him warm.
