The Widening Gyre Read Online Free PDF Page A

these two nerds. Same goes for you.“
    ”You a holy roller too?“ Tattoo said.
    ”No,“ I said. ”I’m a policy implementation specialist.“
    ”What the fuck’s that mean?“ Gray-hair said.
    I smiled very flutely. I said, ”Well, it is campaign policy that our campaign workers not be harassed, if you see what I mean.“ I shifted my feet a little and got balanced.
    ”Oh, yeah.“ Tattoo again. ”And what d’ya do if they are?“
    I hit Tattoo a left hook. Maybe the best left hook ever thrown in Springfield. He went rattling back against a tan Buick Electra, and his knees buckled and he sagged without falling.
    ”Implementation,“ I said. And kicked the gray-haired man in the groin. He doubled up and fell down. Tattoo’s eyes got a little clearer and he shoved himself off the Electra and lunged at me. Not smart. He lunged right into a straight left and stopped short. I shuffled a little to my right and came down over his left shoulder and hit him a right-hand shot that finished it. Tattoo dropped to the concrete floor and stayed.
    John was just getting into his fighting stance as Tattoo went down. I smiled at him.
    ”There,“ I said. ”The power of sweet reason.“

Chapter 6
    Alexander and I were sitting alone at a small table in the corner of the main dining room at a German restaurant called The Student Prince and The Fort. It was on Fort Street, which probably accounted for some of the name. Why it had all that other name was a mystery to me. But the food was good, and there was German beer, and I wasn’t having a bad time.
    Alexander ordered sauerbraten. I chose Wiener schnitzel. The restaurant was a splendid clutter of beer mugs and German artifacts. Susan and I had eaten there a couple of times before when she’d come to Springfield on business and I’d come for the ride. The food was good.
    The waitress brought us two draft beers. Alexander looked down into the top of his as if there might be a message.
    ”You going to turn that into wine?“ I said.
    Alexander smiled without much pleasure. ”That was water, I believe. I know you don’t mean any harm, but I’d rather not joke about Jesus, if you don’t mind.“
    We are not amused.
    I drank some beer. Alexander went back to studying his.
    ”You probably wonder why I wanted to have dinner with you alone,“ he said.
    I nodded.
    ”Well, first, what did you learn about the two men that molested my young campaign workers?“
    ”I learned they had reached their limits with the kids,“ I said. ”With me they were in over their heads.“
    ”I heard you had a fight with them.“
    ”Fight is too strong a word. I breathed heavily on them and they fell down.“
    ”Even so,“ Alexander said. ”I would have preferred another approach.“
    I shrugged. ”Made me mad, slapping a couple of kids around.“
    Alexander nodded. ”Did you learn why they did that?“
    ”They told me a man they didn’t know gave them two hundred dollars to harass the kids. Said that he told them there might be more to come if they showed him they could handle it.“
    ”A strange man just approached them on the street?“
    I shook my head. ”No, not quite. I called the Springfield cops, these guys have a modest reputation in what you might call paralegal circles. If you were from Boston or Worcester or Hartford and you wanted to hire a cheap small-time arm twister, the grapevine would lead you to these guys.“
    ”Will the two young people press charges?“
    ”They said they would.“
    ”What if these two men harm them, threaten them to make them withdraw the charge?“
    ”No,“ I said. ”They won’t. I told them not to.“
    Alexander looked up from his still unsipped beer. He studied me for a minute. ”And they’re afraid of you?“
    ”Um-hmm.“
    ”Well, you are physically imposing, but there must be a savagery in you that doesn’t show normally.“
    ”Um-hmm.“
    Our waitress went by, and paused, and looked at my yearning eyes and empty