A Crying Shame (160 page)

The trooper turned to walk to his car. Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement. Then events began occurring as if in slow motion. He opened his mouth to yell, but a citizen was lifting his rifle, squeezing the trigger; fire leaped from the muzzle. The report of the .308 was enormous in the quiet night. The trooper's .357 was in his hand without the highway cop even remembering pulling it from leather. He swung the muzzle toward the citizen with the rifle. Something clubbed him on the back of the head and the ground leaped up to meet him, smacking him in the face.

Dimly, in a painful fog, the trooper watched as the Special Forces sergeant ran toward the circle of men, a .45 in his hand.
All of you freeze!” he yelled.

Someone fired a shot and the sergeant went down, a bullet hole in his side, the .45 sliding from his numb fingers. He pulled himself to his knees and reached for the pistol. Someone kicked him in the face. He fell backward, his world going black.

The trooper could make out voices, in an oddly echoing manner.

You all seen him!” the citizen yelled.
That ugly thang was a-fixin' to jump me. That there soldier went crazy, fixin' to shoot us.”

Damned right, Jesse. I seen it all. You had to shoot. Same with that state cop; he was fixin' to shoot us. Good thang Walt popped him.”

You're all liars!” Jean screamed at them.
Freddie was holding my hand. He wasn't going to hurt anybody.”

You shut your mouth, girl!” a man told her. His eyes were fixed on her naked crotch. He licked his lips.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself, anyways. A decent woman would have kilt herself afore she let one of them big-dicked monsters fuck her. Them things is worse 'an any nigger. So you just shut up and be glad you come up on white men this night.”

Jean knelt down beside the Link. She was crying from rage, shame, and helplessness. Blood spurted from a hole in the center of the Link's chest.
Freddie,” she said, touching his ugly face.

Jun,” he gasped. Then he died.

 

What in the goddamned hell happened here?” the Special Forces captain said.

Jean told him, quickly and bluntly, the teen-ager punctuating her statement with a liberal sprinkling of
white trash, rednecks, and fuck-headed nitwits!”