The Fat Man in History and Other Stories Read Online Free PDF Page B

at them all. She says, you are all wonderful … I love you all.
    It is the first time Finch has ever heard Florence Nightingale say anything so insincere or so false. He wishes she would unsay that.
    Finch says, he must be stopped.
    Behind him he can hear a slight shuffling. He looks around to see May, his face flushed red, struggling to keep the door closed. He makes wild signs with his eyes to indicate that someone is trying to get in. Finch leans against the door, which pushes back with the heavy weight of a dream. Florence Nightingale slides sideways out of bed and Glino pushes against Finch, who is sandwiched between two opposing forces. Finally it is the-man-who-won’t-give-his-name who says, let him in.
    Everybody steps back, but the door remains closed. They stand, grouped in a semi-circle around it, waiting. For a moment it seems as if it was all a mistake. But, finally, the door knob turns and the door is pushed gently open. Fantoni stands in the doorway wearing white silk pyjamas.
    He says, what’s this, an orgy?
    No one knows what to do or say.
18.
    Glino is still vomiting in the drain in the backyard. He has been vomiting since dawn and it is now dark. Finch said he should be let off, because he was a vegetarian, but the-man-who-won’t-give-his-name insisted. So they made Glino eat just a little bit.
    The stench hangs heavily over the house.
    May is playing his record.
    Finch has thought many times that he might also vomit.
    The blue sheet which was used to strangle Fantoni lies in a long tangled line from the kitchen through the kitchen annexe and out into the backyard, where Glino lies retching and where the barbecue pit, although filled in, still smokes slowly, the smoke rising from the dry earth.
    The-man-who-won’t-give-his-name had his dressing-gown ruined. It was soaked with blood. He sits in the kitchen now, wearing Fantoni’s white safari suit. He sits reading Fantoni’s mail. He has suggested that it would be best if he were referred to as Fantoni, should the police come, and that anyway it would be best if he were referred to as Fantoni. A bottle of scotch sits on the table beside him. It is open to anyone, but so far only May has taken any.
    Finch is unable to sleep. He has tried to sleep but can see only Fantoni’s face. He steps over Glino and enters the kitchen.
    He says, may I have a drink please, Fantoni?
    It is a relief to be able to call him a name.
19.
    The-man-who-won’t-give-his-name has taken up residence in Fantoni’s room. Everybody has become used to him now. He is known as Fantoni.
    A new man has also arrived, being sent by Florence Nightingale with a letter of introduction. So far his name is unknown.
20.
    “Revolution in a Closed Society—A Study of Leadership among the Fat”
By Nancy Bowlby
    Leaders were selected for their ability to provide materially for the welfare of the group as a whole. Obviously the same qualities should reside in the heir-apparent, although these qualities were not always obvious during the waiting period; for this reason I judged it necessary to show favouritism to the heir-apparent and thus to raise his prestige in the eyes of the group. This favouritismwould sometimes take the form of small gifts and, in those rare cases where it was needed, shows of physical affection as well.
    A situation of “crisis” was occasionally triggered,
deus ex machina
, by suggestion, but usually arose spontaneously and had only to be encouraged. From this point on, as I shall discuss later in this paper, the “revolution” took a similar course and “Fantoni” was always disposed of effectively and the new “Fantoni” took control of the group.
    The following results were gathered from a study of twenty-three successive “Fantonis”. Apart from the “Fantoni” and the “Fantoni-apparent,” the composition of the group remained un-altered. Whilst it can be admitted that studies so far are at an early stage, the results surely justify the continuation