It scared him. It said they've upscaled BLACK RABBIT. It said they're doing bad things.

He met Bayard Rustin once a month. They had lunch in D.C. Bayard said he almost got blackmailed-child, what a scene!

Bayard ran it down. Bayard described mirrors and mike plants. Bayard described a fruit squeeze. It felt like Freddy Otash. It could be Pete B.

Pete was bereft then. Barb had left him. Pete sulked accordingly. Littell tracked the date Bayard gave him. Littell tracked probability.

He was bugging Mob spots then. He braced Freddy T. Freddy declined work. Freddy _had_ work. Freddy said Fred O. gigs me.

Don't ask Pete. He might say yes. He might say I pulled that queer squeeze.

Retire me. I'm stretched thin. My friends frighten me.

He met Bayard. Bayard talked. Bayard said Martin scares me. He's making plans. They're his boldest yet. He'll make more enemies.

Rent strikes/boycotts/poor people's unions/poor people's marches/ poor people's heresies.

Littell heard it. Littell remembered-it's Lyle Holly's prophecy.

Bayard was scared. Martin was crazed. Martin breathed enmity. His plans would shock. His plans would divide. His plans would stir enmity. His plans would trash his triumphs. His plans would spark backlash. His plans would build heresy.

Littell _saw_ it:

It's Martin Luther/1532. It's Europe aflame. There's the Pope. He's Mr. Hoover. His old world's aflame.

Retire me. I want to watch. I want to watch passively.

Jimmy Hoffa's in jail. I'll file his appeals. Retire me. I travel to excess. I country-hop. Please retire me.

He flew south. He hit Mexico City. He made four trips and met with Sam G. They talked colonization. Sam talked travel spree.

Sam toured Central America. Sam toured the Caribbean. Sam brought interpreters and money. Sam talked to dictators. Sam talked to puppet thugs. Sam talked to rebel fiends.

Sam did gruntwork. Sam did groundwork. Sam laid seeds. Sam said I love your cause. I support it and pledge fraternity. Here's some money. There'll be more. You'll hear from me.

Sam spread seed money. Sam seeded all ideologies. Plant seeds-sow revolt and repression-casino ideology.

Retire me. I get airsick. Casino smoke sickens me. Retire Pete. He's tired too. His work sickens me. I disapprove-I've got no right-it's hypocrisy.

Pete sold dope. Pete ran his cab stand. Pete ran his hotel-casino. Pete had Cuba. Pete had Vietnam. Pete had two-front lunacy. Pete missed Vietnam. Pete missed Barb more. Barb made him stay home. Pete curtailed his lunacy.

Pete stayed home. Pete travel-spreed. Pete went to Barb's turf, Pete went to smalltown Wisconsin.

Pete called him. Barb called him. He got two versions. Vegas to Sparta-Pete leaves expectant-Pete returns whipped.

Pete worked his scams. Pete praised the war. Pete indulged habits. Barb slung hash. Barb reviled the war. Barb eschewed habits.

Love as stasis. Two takes. His-and-hers.

Retire Pete. Upgrade Wayne-_le fils de_ Pete.

Pete had nightmares. Pete described them. Betty Mac/the crossbars/the noose. Pete had real pictures. _He_ didn't. That made it worse.

There's Jane Fentress-Arden Breen/Bruvick/Smith/Coates. She's dead by knife/dead by cudgel/dead by steel sap.

The pictures varied. One soundtrack held in. Mr. Hoover's letter-addressed to Dr. King.

"What a grim farce." "One way out." "A liability."

Retire me. I'll try to live idle. I might not succeed.

104

(Vietnam, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Bay St. Louis, Cuban Waters, 11/4/67-12/3/67)

More:

Troop infusions. Troop movements. Troops dead.

More:

Bomb raids. Ground raids. Resistance.

Resistance in-country. Resistance at home. Resistance worldwide. The war was MORE. The biz was LESS. Wayne knew it.

Less:

Territory. Profit growth. Potential.

The kadre shared lab space. The Can Lao co-opted. Why do it? The Can Lao shipped to Europe. The kadre shipped to Vegas. Note the dichotomy.

The kadre did good biz. The Can Lao did great biz. Note the discrepancy. The war defined MORE. The biz defined LESS. Note the inconsistency.

Their turf was restricted. West Vegas was sapped. They had no growth room. Pete pouched Stanton. Pete pouched once a month. Pete said let us GROW.

Out of Vegas. Into L.A. Into Frisco.

We've got Tiger Kamp. We've got poppy slaves. We've got dope fields boocoo. We can GROW. We can earn MORE. The Cause will GROW.

Stanton said no. Stanton insisted. Wayne read his tone. Said tone was hinky. Said tone was quasi-weird. Pete wants MORE. Stanton wants LESS. Note the entropy.

Wayne wanted MORE. Wayne rotated east. Wayne saw more incessant. More troops smoking weed. More troops popping pills. More troops scared incessant.

Big "H" killed fear. They'd find it. Wayne knew.

The war thrilled him. The war rocked. The war grew. The "Cause" bored him. The "Cause" vexed. The "Cause" entropied.

Log it: Cuban runs/forty-plus/no at-sea resistance. It was boring now. It was impotent. It was quasi-weird.

The Cause was flypaper. Pete was a fly. Pete was stuck on 1960. Laurent was a fly. Flash was a fly. They buzzed Cuba persistent.

They talked stale shit. They talked coups and Reds. They talked domino jive. Bob talked stale shit. Bob talked race and Reds. Bob talked domino jive.

Bob vibed hinky. Bob vibed it weeks running. Bob vibed quasi-weird. Bob vibed anxious. Bob vibed scared. Bob vibed jazzed.

Bob vibed stuck. Cuba is flypaper. Cuba is quicksand. Cuba is glue.

Vegas is quicksand. Barb knows it. Barb extricates. Pete knows it. Pete stays.

Pete hit Wayne. Wayne took it. Pete apologized. Pete was frayed. Barb was in exile. The biz was exiled.

Pete wants MORE. Pete's frustrated. Stanton's entrenched. Pete's stuck. Pete's impeded. Pete's fuse might fry.

Pete and Barb cut a truce. Said truce was a travel ban-Vietnam nyet. Pete was stuck. Pete was truce-restricted. Pete talked truce overrides.

I'll fly to Saigon. I'll brace Stanton. I'll demand MORE.

And Stanton will wink. And Stanton will smile. And Stanton will mollify.

The war was MORE. The biz was LESS. Wayne Senior was MORE plus. They were equals now. Friends of sorts. Friends with non-Pete dimensions.

Pete seeks MORE. Pete seeks more dope turf and money. Wayne Senior seeks MORE. Wayne Senior dumps his hate biz. Wayne Senior disdains more money. Pete finds frustration. Wayne Senior finds Dick Nixon.

Pete hobnobs with pushers. Pete schieps cab calls. Pete walks flypaper. Wayne Senior plays golf. Wayne Senior shoots skeet. Wayne Senior drinks with Dick Nixon.

He worked for them. They were inimical types. They ran real to putative father. He loved both their women. He lived sans women. Wendell D. and Lynette made that fly. He head-tripped women. He head-tripped Barb mostly. He head-tripped Barb until then.

He hit her. She grabbed a knife. She ran from him and Pete. She grabbed the war. She sifted shit through.

Pete. Pete's gigs. The Life.

She kicked dope. She kicked the Life. She ran smug now. She jumped off flypaper. Her shit cohered. She lost her allure. He loved her more. He liked her less. His torch fizzled.

He head-tripped Janice. It ran twenty years now. He fucked her for payback on Dallas. He extricated. She paid.

She still limped. She still cramped. Her breath still spasmed. He saw her in Vegas. He saw her with Ward and solo. She saw him watching sometimes. She always smiled. She always waved. She always blew kisses.

It took him back. Old glimpses in windows. Peeks through cracked doors.

She was forty-six now. He was thirty-three. Her hips cocked funny. She had limp side-effects. He wondered how far her legs spread.