Page 4 (1/2)
BY STEPHEN RBISSETTE
&039;I&039;m home, always home&039;
Copper stands rock-solid, squints at the noise from across the street
As usual, the cops didn&039;t show until long after the action was over
Copper squints and spits over the railing
&039;If you need a statement, you knohere to finda statement, sir&039;
Copper&039;s eyes shift doard, to the young policeman&039;s face It&039;s the first time he&039;s made eye contact with the kid
The policeman is a kid - hell, even I can tell he&039;s barely out of the acade out, three houses away
&039;No questions, nothin&039; at all?&039;
Copper spits again, looks fro, to the
&039;This is the sixth house they&039;ve gutted in this neighborhood &039;
&039;Yes, sir, we appreciate your calling it in&039;
&039;I seen it all and I called it in - twenty-six hours ago&039;
Copper lets that one stand He tilts his head, cocking his neck, staring the policeoddamned one of &039;em&039;
I can see the white of the cop&039;s scalp when he looks away frolare
The kid clears his throat and looks down, as if there were so of importance in his hand He already closed his notebook What can there be to look at? He doesn&039;t even have calluses to gander at
&039;City just doesn&039;t care, does it?&039;
The kid&039;s crew cut is too close, like a fresh leareen, the type that needs a weekly tri a cop, to
&039;But coht at my door&039;
Of course they send hiot one question, officer&039;
&039;What&039;s that, Mr Cyrus?&039;
&039;What&039;re you going to do when they come after my house?&039;
If there is a reply, he doesn&039;t stay long enough to hear it
The screen door slaps closed without a whisper fro door on his watch
It doesn&039;t matter The cop is on his heel and away, too His polished shoes are too ss are sharp as a paper cut
He shakes his head andI can&039;t make out, and his cop cronies make soh at Copper&039;s expense
Anything to clear the air of the old nore the truth of it, pretend it wasn&039;t said or heard or didn&039;t matter
I lay low and watch the old man&039;s porch
I drea, and cold, and pain and cold
I drea in half
I wake up on the bare cement floor in the basement of the Baker house
No pain
No cold
I hear Fetusaround upstairs
I stand up Go to the
Still have to tell myself I&039;m home
Home
My ho hdad every day Da water
I look past the row of shells
Every house on this street is abandoned but one
It&039;s the sahborhood of shells
Windows boarded up, sheets of plywood over doorways, broken panes, sagging clapboards, chipping paint, ragged shingles
All but one
I see Copper across the way and up the street, sitting on his porch
Copper sits on his rocker on his porch
I re to do
&039;So what you want from me?&039;
Copper sits on his rocker on his porch, still as a stump One spot- flecked hand over his other wrist
It&039;s an odd position, and he changes hands to cup the opposite wrist, if you are with hih to notice
Copper later tells me that&039;s how the cold hits hiet cold, a deep cold that starts slow before it bites to the ers &039;Started when I was in myis, it&039;s same as when I was in Korea Same cold, as if I&039;d never left it Like it followed me here&039;
But that is later
Today, he sits with one hand over t&039;other, over the wrist, and gazes at me with those milky blue eyes of his
&039;You&039;re here all the ti watch&039;
He turns his head and spits without taking his hand off that wrist Over the rail it goes, a shirass
&039;Yep, I&039;m home, always ho to start a neighborhood watch&039;
His eyes don&039;t so ht, white, top and bottom
&039;Keep an eye on one another&039;s houses, watch out for one another,&039; I offer
&039;I&039;er over the rail, into the perfect green grass, soaze with me
&039;Always ho in the air
We let it hang a while, let it slide to quiet and seep in, like his spit on the blade of grass below is hanging then seeping, though I can&039;t say for sure it is or does, as I&039; Copper
Copper doesn&039;t move a notch, and he won&039;t
Up to , to break the silence
&039;Since you keep an eye out, it seeer, over the rail
Though his milky blues don&039;t soif I break the stare to track his lunger, to see if it&039;s green as the green-green St Patty&039;s Day grass
Copper&039;s lawn is perfect, always perfect, the only cut and green lawn on the block, and Copper&039;s lungers won&039;t change that a whit His eyes stay icy, but I can tell he&039;s a bit amused by all this
What they say, clear as crystal, is what he won&039;t say
&039;-you knoatch out for one another&039;
He says it later, just to clear the air
Later, e get to know one another a bit, e are in the base for T
Later, when he tells me about how the cold sunk its choppers into his wrists, about Korea, about &039;Nam before it was &039;Naone, about his calico cat Hank before T took Hank down into the cellar and did the deed, before all that shit hit all those fans
He says later what his eyes say now loud and clear, and I hear just fine He says it later just to s
What do I need you for? What do I need you to watch out for me or mine for? What could you possibly offer me that I don&039;t already do or have done or was or am or will be?
I&039;m home, always home
Later, he says all that
Not now, not on the porch
Not today
He says, &039;I remember you, kid&039;
I look at him
&039;You lived over on Spruce and Jaiving up nothing
&039;I remember you&039;
Copper sits on his rocker
We just stay like this for a long, long time
From now to now, then to now
That&039;s when I know Copper&039;s ourjust fine
It&039;s Fetus who suggests I pay the visit, take in the old man&039;s mettle
It&039;s Stout who says fuck that, who needs Copper
Stout grew up around the block from Copper and his wife Becca
Stout left for boot camp before the cancer took her I left a week after
Stout and I were in Baghdad together Good times Bad ti too heavy, got to shoot back
Then Thunderdoht for months at FOB Shield Weird Mayberry in the shit
Stout took fire; RPG in the pipeline between Kuwait and Iraq HMMWV limped aith Stout in it
Stout lost an arm, part of his chest, but all that&039;s left works Home he went
Found him here, back home
Stout says fuck Copper
Stout has no use for the old ht in the basement
Stout wouldn&039;t brook any ill word about the old lady
Becca babysat for hi
He speaks of it, once, only once
That I remember
Stout&039;s smile bares his black broken teeth
It&039;s an occasion whenever Stout smiles
I remember
Stout says the army promised him dental That was before
The army didn&039;t take care of dental or much else The US Army took Stout and took him and his and all he ever was and never was, all he ever had and all he ever ht have been but wasn&039;t and will never be
The US Army took him and left Stout to Stout and left Stout to us
Stout says fuck that, who needs the US Army?
Stout says fuck Copper, who needs the old man?
Still, it&039;s Fetus and ht, that we need him
There&039;s T
T drives by Copper&039;s house
I see T drive by Copper&039;s house
T doesn&039;t turn to look at Copper
Copper doesn&039;t look at T
T drives toward the Baker digs
T looks at the Baker house
T glares at the Baker house
I watch T drive away
I sit in the basement at the Baker house
I like it here in the base all the s
It was dark, except for what light caht
The Baker basehts I used to strap to my head, but otherwise it&039;s the same
No electricity Dark Sleep all day
Try to rened up
I remember Trapper - T - I remember T
I remember T when they took his brother away
I remember T after that T said the cops took him and his and all he ever was and never was, all he ever had and all he ever ht have been but wasn&039;t and will never be I rerinned atup, and I remember the look on the recruiter&039;s face
Word is T never went over to the shit
Word is T was shipped right back here
Word is T got into some shit, and was kept fro anyone, anytime, with any record Miller tells s, two arot into some shit, they booted him before he saw sand
So T made like the Shia did over there - stripped and hauled anything worth anything away
Makes the neighborhood look like Baghdad East
Word is T has utted the neighborhood
Shell by shell, T took all it was and sold it
That&039;s before I got back, before Fetus came back
Fetus took three AK-47 rounds three hundred meters from the Alamo; he shouldn&039;t have made it
He made it
Came back home
I re French Gauloises, cheap tobacco the locals smoked over there
I remember Fetus before the war took his and him and all he ever was and never was, all he ever had and all he ever ht have been but wasn&039;t and will never be
I don&039;t remeet up
I look out the basement , across the street, across the way
Copper is sitting in his rocker on his porch
Copper is looking my way
I don&039;t remember
Before the shit
I don&039;t re is Copper has no sense of s of catshit on Copper&039;s door one Halloween and it was the neighbor who called it in: the old lady ay and Copper didn&039;t s, and that makes a difference
Meant we can, if we are careful, pick and choose our approach pattern
I went point, and took it a day at a tiht hand is over his left wrist, and he watches me
&039;Your first car was a beat-up Chevy Impala&039;
I don&039;t remember
&039;You rolled it out on Route Four&039;
I don&039;t reht wrist, cupping it
&039;Your ht&039;
I don&039;t remember
&039;I reood thing is Copper knows this burb like nobody else
He knows it all, including the backstory of every empty house
Copper remembers
I don&039;t remember
Word is Copper knows the trials and tribs of every occupied house and as where and here and lived it and snuffed it
I don&039;t remember Once, I knew some of it, but no more
Stout remembers
Fetus remembers
Word is that Copper and Becca settled here after Korea
Word is that young Copper had been in just about every one of these houses, those left standing
Word is that Copper and Becca had been in and out of these doors, on and off these front and back porches, and grilled and drank and spat in these backyards for longer than I&039;ve been on this ed Copper had done some handiwork in just about every house within six blocks, at one time or another
Word is that old man Copper has kept watch every day of his life, especially since Becca was planted
Old man Copper watches me now
I wave
Old man Copper watches and doesn&039;t move
I sit
Old man Copper sits
What Copper built, T takes
House by house, shell by shell
What Copper knew, T sells
T takes it all
T and his creork fast, under cover of night
In through a cellar , case the joint
T goes in Always T
T cases his own shells
T through the , in and out, rally the boys and clean it out, fast
Tally, score
The amateurs start with the laundry rooet them out
T has it down to a science
Tools, not by hand
Professionals
Out with the pluas fixtures - hot-water cylinder, the copper pipes, the spouting, the puas line when needed; whatever
One house blew and burned on Orvis Street; not T&039;s worry
That is the aht be more to take
Easy yield of three to five hundred or ravy
Sweet
House by house, street by street, block by block, up the ante
Air-conditioner handlers and co kitchen cabinets, toilets, French doors, s
Bathroom vanities, especially when they&039;re choice
T takes it all
There&039;s T
T drives by Copper&039;s house
I see T drive by Copper&039;s house
T doesn&039;t turn to look at Copper
Copper doesn&039;t look at T
Copper is sitting
I aht about it?&039;
Copper spits
&039;I appreciate the offer, kid&039;
Copper looks at me
&039;I don&039;t need anybody, kid&039;
I look at Copper
&039;I&039;ve got mine, and I don&039;t need anybody&039;
I look at Copper
&039;Besides, I&039;m home, always ho to be breaking into my place&039;
Copper looks away
&039;Appreciate the offer, though&039;
I look away
&039;You&039;re OK, kid I remember you&039;
I don&039;t remember
&039;But I don&039;t know your buddies, and I don&039;t want them around here&039;
I sit on Copper&039;s porch steps
I look over at the shell across the street
There&039;s T
T drives by Copper&039;s house
I see T drive by Copper&039;s house
T doesn&039;t turn to look at Copper
Copper doesn&039;t look at T
T turns to look at me
T waves at me
I lift my hand and wave back
I watch T drive away
Copper spits
&039;For thataround for a while&039;
I look away
I get up
I walk
I walk
Fetus and I walk
Nobody notices
Nobody cares
Fetus and I walk two days, two nights
Fetus and I find new shells
Fetus and I hunker down
Fetus and I feed in the shells
Fetus and I meet Croak and Shimmy
Croak ith the Tenth Mountain Division, ended up in Afghan istan with the Eighty-second Airborne Shian Province Talk talk talk
We talk shit
Croak and Shimmy show us new shells They call one their FOB
Croak and Shimmy invite us in
Shimmy shows off two assault rifles he&039;s stashed in the FOB, and his walking armory
Wears an assault vest, jaazines, thirty rounds in each hs
Croak and Shi in the FOB
Croak and Shi in
Croak and Shimmy and Fetus and rabs Croak&039;s left ear Coers clean, right there in front of Croak
Croak is shouting again
Shimmy slams the door
We are so out of the FOB
Fetus and I are walking
Fetus and me walk
We walk
We walk
Fetus and me walk more
Fetus andfor er that
Word is there are ambulances outside of Copper&039;s house
Word is Copper had a heart attack
Word is Copper ed to dial 911
Word is the medics showed up two days before the cops did
Word is Copper is in the hospital for two days
Word is Copper is released two days later
Fetus and hts
Nobody notices
Nobody stops to pick us up
Nobody honks their horns
Nobody cares
Fetus andfor me
I see Stout up ahead
Stout meets us
Stout tells Fetus and me about Copper
Word is Copper is released after two days in the hospital
Word is Copper finds his house stripped
Out with the pluas fixtures - hot-water cylinder, the copper pipes, the spouting, the puas lines
T took the lines and the tanks
T never blows a house
Word is T left the upstairs wiring alone
Word is T and his gang demolished the basement and main floor
Word is Copper is up shit&039;s creek without a paddle
I walk
I walk
I walk
Copper sits in his rocker on his porch
I walk to Copper&039;s porch
&039;Mind if I join you?&039;
&039;Suit yourself, kid&039;
Copper&039;s right hand is wrapped around his left wrist
Copper&039;s right arauze between the buttons, where Copper&039;s shirt is open a wee bit
Copper is pale, his eyes filmy and pained
&039;Word is you&039;ve been away&039;
&039;Two days&039;
Copper sits
I sit on the porch steps
Copper sits
I sit
&039;Word is you-&039;
&039;I should have listened to you, kid&039;
We sit on Copper&039;s porch
&039;I&039;ve got to replace everything Plu, hot-water heater - all of it&039;
Copper looks away
&039;I haven&039;t seen you in a while, kid&039;
&039;Went away&039;
&039;Been gone a while&039;
&039;Went with Fetus&039;
&039;You guys, you served together?&039;
&039;Roger that&039;
Copper sits
&039;I could use another pair of eyes, kid&039;
Copper looks at me
&039;Yes, sir&039;
Copper slowly releases his left wrist I can see the white iht hand
I reach up and take Copper&039;s hand
He shakes ht hand back on his left wrist
Copper looks at me
&039;You OK, kid?&039;
Copper looks at ht my hands were cold&039;
I look at Copper
I hear a car co
There&039;s T
T drives by Copper&039;s house
I see T drive by Copper&039;s house
T doesn&039;t turn to look at Copper
Copper doesn&039;t look at T
Copper sits
&039;You stay here on the porch, kid, while I go get soroans
Copper gets up
It takes a few minutes
&039;Wait for oes into his house
I hear him walk, old man steps, into the house
I sit
I sit
I hear Copper&039;s garage door open
I hear Copper&039;s car start up
I see Copper&039;s car pulling out of the driveway
I see Copper looking at me
Copper waves
I wave at Copper
I stand behind Copper&039;s car
Copper pops the trunk
Copper is talking about somebody I don&039;t remember
Hank
I don&039;t re upsets Copper
It is Hank
No, it&039;s T
It&039;s what T and his crew do to Hank that breaks Copper
&039;A cat&039; He shook his head &039;Who would do that to a cat?&039;
I lift the bags of groceries out of Copper&039;s car trunk
Copper walks ahead of me, old man steps, slow and deliberate
Copper opens the back door and lets me in
I&039;ve been here before
I can&039;t reroceries
Shelves, pantry, cupboards
All neat, nice
Copper keeps it nice
In the kitchen , a ceran:
WHOEVER DIES WITH THE MOST THINGS, WINS
I set the groceries on Copper&039;s oak table
I see Copper flinch as he passes the cellar door by the pantry
What the hell?
Copper doesn&039;t flinch; here he is, flinching
I offer to put away the groceries
Copper nods andto the pantry
I offer to pass theo quicker, just to see what he&039;ll say
Copper shakes his head andto the pantry
I press the point
&039;So with that cellar door, Copper?&039;
Copper shoots o flat, watery
I press the point
&039;They took Hank downstairs,&039; he whispers, and his voice splinters
I&039;m sorry
&039;I&039;m sorry&039;
&039;I found hihs, his voice alo there no more&039;
I&039;m sorry
I&039;m sorry
I&039; room
Copper points to the hallall
&039;That quilt, sheon the wall, like a tapestry
&039;My Becca made that&039;
The quilt is made of a street made of cloth
The quilt is hborhood
&039;She was quite the quilter,&039; Copper sighs
The quilt is the neighborhood, as it was
Cloth people are in front of their cloth houses
Cloth Copper is on his cloth rocker on his cloth front porch
I touch cloth Copper
I leave a wet stain on cloth Copper
&039;I better go&039;
I look back at the cloth houses and the cloth Copper and the cloth neighborhood
I look at Copper
He doesn&039;t see the stain
He doesn&039;t so
I have the dreains onboner
I find my uniform across the lobby, andcold
I pop , but I&039;m too late It&039;s cold on McKinley
The subzero temps kiss my dick; the wet bead of blood and jizz on the tip deep- freezes into an instant Santa&039;s cap
My joint blues and splits with a sudden snap, like a log in a splitter
I&039;s to coverrod, but my nuts are in full retreat, my sac hard and taut and wrinkled like a walnut and ht froain
I wake up
It&039;s hoake up every time I sleep the sleep of the dead, which isn&039;t sleep at all, it&039;s reruns
I grope around down there to see if anything&039;s wet
Hand to crotch
Dry as a bone
Dry reruns
I a by T&039;s car
You&039;d think he could smell me
Maybe he can; T won&039;t letrank; I can&039;t tell
I am outside T&039;s car
T is quiet
It&039;s the first time I&039;ve been near T&039;s car since I ca back
T&039;s just chilling, waiting
T&039;s watching Copper, a block away
I&039; down at the sidewalk
As on what&039;s left of the sidewalk, six faded spray-painted letters, now soft as chalk:
RAPIST
Two yellow-orange letters intrude, the colors still vibrant:
TRAPpIST
That&039;s the best Trapper couldat the sidewalk
T clears his throat
&039;Shit, er lares at the Baker house
&039;You gut so, you leave a mark&039;
&039;Where&039;s everyone?&039; I ask
T looks away
&039;I only see you around here&039;
T smiles
&039;Me and that old fucker,&039; T says
&039;Copper&039;
&039;That his name?&039;
&039;What about Jeph?&039;
&039;J? Shit Don&039;t ask&039;
&039;I&039;ers to his face, pinches his eyes