"Will do," Ira replied. "I guess I'm gonna go get some of that coffee, and then wander over to the... What'd you say the name of the paper was?"
"Press Times, or it used to be." Jimmy replied.
"Press Times buildin' then, I guess," Ira continued, "see if I kin find Frank Morgan, and the group he came in with. Jimmy, I'll be seeing you later." Ira shook his hand once more before he turned and headed off down the Street.
- 3 -
Jimmy sat and thought about what Ira had said, as he watched him walk away. Funny, he thought, a few minutes ago I was sure I hadn't made up my mind what to do, but he's so sure, and calm, is he right? He just made me see what I couldn't see myself.
That's what we need, he decided, somebody like that, or maybe like Frank Morgan. His group had seemed the same way, like they had made up their minds about something, and intended to go through with it. While he was thinking it occurred to him that he had needed to make up his mind too. Almost like... Well, like he had to. It was important.
That was the end of it as far as Jimmy was concerned. He leaned back into the soft vinyl seat and sipped the coffee. He felt better than he had for a while, maybe even well enough to get some sleep tonight. It really was funny, he decided. It was funny that one man could say a few words and help him to make up his mind. Not a fire-breathing-preacher, or some other Bible-thumper, but just a man.
He made up his mind completely. If Ira came back tomorrow, he was going with him. In the meantime he was getting out of this stupid car, and find a place to sleep, maybe talk to some of the other people hanging around. He had seen the same thing in a lot of the eyes he had looked into. People who had thought he might be the answer. He wasn't. He was just part of the old way, he realized, and he didn't want to be part of the old way, he wanted to be part of whatever was left instead. Ira Pratt seemed to have a handle on what that was, and Jimmy felt that he too had an idea of what it was now.
What it was involved action, not sitting here waiting to live or die, but just getting on with life. He had been half expecting, up until a few minutes ago anyway, that someone just might come walking up to the car with an answer. Of course he thought the answer would be in the form of "Help's on the way," or "Soldiers are here," something like that, most likely delivered by some happily smiling person shouting through his open squad car window or something. This was a better answer though, to the question he had been asking over and over in his mind; what now?
He felt he knew now. The answer seemed to be, go find out, and get on with your life. He opened the door of the car and stepped out into the night air. It was almost full dark now, and it finally seemed to be cooling off. He let the door stand open and walked to the front of the car, set the coffee on the hood, and stared out into the crowd. Even though it was almost dark, no one seemed to be drifting off yet to find a place to sleep. The crowd was every bit as large as it had been for most of the day. He leaned against the bumper of the car, and smiled, the first real smile he had in days.
Several people had turned towards him, when he had gotten out of the car, expectantly, and now quite a few of them began to walk forward towards him.
"You got news?"
"You hear something?" several of them asked as they approached.
"I believe I do," Jimmy said as the crowd began to gather around him.
"It's about time," he heard from several in the crowd. He could see hope on a lot of the faces, as they crowded around to listen.
Ira walked slowly up the wide stone steps of the old County Court House building. As he walked he listened to the quiet conversations around him. Most of the conversations centered around what to do, or when help would arrive, and most of the conversations were murmured quietly between just a few people, or in some cases as little as two people.
Everyone he passed seemed to be sad, and several had been quietly weeping, or staring blankly out into the night air, while silent tears rolled down their cheeks unchecked. He was almost to the top of the stone steps when a whisper began to travel through the crowd, finally reaching the people on the upper most steps.
"News, news, somebody knows something!"
The steps cleared out rapidly as people began to stand and walk, some almost running, down the stairs towards the police cruiser that blocked the middle of the boulevard. Ira turned and looked towards the car at Jimmy, who now stood at the front of the car, with a huge crowd of people gathered around him. Ira could not hear Jimmy's words from the top of the stairs, above the whisper-roar of the crowd, but he had a good idea what he was saying. Ira had seen it before. He smiled and continued to stare out at the crowd.
Looks like all they needed was a little push, Lord, Ira thought, at least they'll be doing something, 'stead a standing around.
~4~
The small paper that had been printed that morning had contained several articles about what had probably occurred in the United States, gleaned from travelers who
