The cold six thousand

44

(Neshoba County, 6/30/64)

The AC died. Littell dipped his window.

He drove I-20. He passed Fed cars. He passed camera vans.

Klan kars tailed them. Said kars sported decals. "AYAK" meant "Are You A Klansman?" "AKIA" meant "A Klansman I Am."

He'd called Mr. Hoover. He'd mentioned his trip. Mr. Hoover approved.

"A salutary idea. You can meet with Bayard Rustin and observe 'Freedom Summer' in the flesh. I would be delighted to hear your perceptions, minus your pro-Negro views."

He brought twenty grand. Ten for Bayard Rustin/ten for some Cuban exiles, Pete scored on Clay-Liston. Pete had his own tithe.

It was hot. Bugs bombed the car. Klan kars blew by. Klan klods sneered at him. Klan kooks flipped him off.

He looked Fed. That made him a ten-ring. He brought his gun along-safety first.

Lyle Holly called him in Vegas. Lyle Holly stressed caution. Lyle Holly ragged his planned trip.

Don't do it. You look Fed. The Klan hates you. The whites hate you. The lefties hate your guts.

Littell passed Bogue Chitto Swamp. Littell saw drag-line crews. The kids were dead. Lyle said so. Mr. Hoover said some Choctaws found their car.

It vibed Klan. Mr. Hoover was pissed. We'll martyr the kids now. We'll shit on states' rights.

Littell drove I-15. Littell skimmed the radio. Nut preachers preached. It's a lie. It's a hoax. Them kids are holed up in Jew York.

He'd talked to Moe Dalitz. Moe braced all the Boys. They okayed the Hughes charter plan. That meant more money-another tithe source.

Traffic stalled. Gawkers lined the roadway. Fed cars crawled. News vans crawled. Folks rubbernecked.

State troopers and crackers. Housewives and toddlers in sheets. They flashed hand signals-kall it Klan kode-konfidential konversation.

Littell jumped lanes. Littell veered hard right. There-a cross off the road. A _used_ cross-last night's business-gauze on scorched wood.

A crowd gawked the totem. Feds and Negroes. Snow-cone vendors sans sheets.

There's Bayard Rustin-spiffed in a seersucker suit.

Bayard saw him. Bayard waved. Bayard walked over. A man tossed an egg. A man tossed a snow cone. They nailed Bayard flush.

o o o

They parked. They viewed a torched church.

The church was razed. The church was molotoved. Tech crews bagged bomb debris.

Littell tithed Bayard. Bayard briefcased the money. Bayard watched the techs.

"Should I be encouraged?"

"As long as you understand that it's Lyndon Johnson's doing."

"Mr. Hoover's been talking a good game."

The sun was way high. Bayard wore egg yolk and slush.

"He wants hate and resentment sustained at what he considers the proper level, and coming down on the Klan gives him a mainstream cachet."

Bayard drummed the dashboard. "Let me ask you a question. Lyle said you have some expertise."

"All right."

"Here's the situation. Martin and Coretta enter their hotel room and want to make sure their friend Edgar hasn't gotten there first. Where do they look for bugs and what do they do when they find them?"

Littell slid his seat back. "They look for small wires with perforated metal tips extending from picture frames and lampshades. They speak innocuously until they determine that there are none, and they do not pull the ones that they find, because it would anger their friend Edgar and cause him to escalate his actions against Dr. King, who is making great strides while Edgar slowly builds a file against him, because Edgar's greatest weakness is implementing institutional sadism at a sedate pace."

Bayard smiled. "Johnson's signing the Civil Rights Bill next week. Martin's going to Washington."

Littell smiled. "That's a case in point."

"Any other advice?"

"Yes. Keep your people out of areas where the Regal and Konsolidated Knights operate. They're full of mail-fraud informants, they're almost as bad as the White Knights, and the FBI will never investigate anything that they do."

Bayard popped the passenger door. The handle burned him.

Littell said, "I'll have more money soon."

o o o

The party went late.

He stayed late. He _had_ to. The town exiled him. Desk clerks sized him up. Desk clerks saw his suit and gun. Desk clerks said, "No vacancy."

The party was a wake. Guy Banister-_mort_. The camp was gulfside. The Cubans perched on four acres.

Their landlord was Klan. Maynard Moore's Klarion Koalition. They were pro-exile. They spelled "Cuba" with a K. Carlos bankrolled the site. Pete passed through last spring. Pete said the troops needed work.

Littell toured the grounds. Littell dropped off Pete's tithe. Littell chucked his coat and kicked sand.

A bunkhouse. A speedboat. A Klan/exile range. Straw-man targets with cartoon faces: LBJ/Dr. King/Fidel "Beard" Castro.

A gun hut. Stacked flamethrowers. Bazookas and BARs.

The exiles were gracious-he knew Big Pete. The Klan boys were rude-he wore a Fed suit.

The sun went down. The sand dunes launched fleas. The wet air launched mosquitoes.

Bottles traveled. Toasts went up. Klansmen rigged hibachis. They served hot dogs. They overcooked. They flamethrower-broiled.

Littell played wallflower. Guests bopped by. Littell made their reps:

Hank Hudspeth-Guy's pal-kook in mourning. Chuck Rogers clipped Guy. Guy's heart attack was assisted.

Laurent Guйry and Flash Elorde-Pete's right-wing confreres. Mercs/ Dallas backup/late of Pete and Boyd's team.

Laurent was ex-CIA. Laurent clipped Patrice Lumumba. Flash clipped untold Fidelistos.

The Loop. Open secrets. Things you _just knew_.

Laurent dropped hints: _Monsieur Littell, nous savons, n 'est-ce pas, ce qui s'est passй a Dallas?_

Littell smiled. Littell shrugged-_Je ne parle pas le franзais_. Laurent laughed. Laurent praised "_le pro shooter_."

_Le pro йtait un francais. Jean Mesplиde, qui est maintenant un "merc" a Mexico City_.

Littell walked off. Guйry made him nervous. Littell stopped and ate a hot dog. It was bad. It was overcooked. It was flamethrower-broiled.

Littell played wallflower. Littell watched the party. Littell read news magazines. The Civil Rights Bill/the conventions/Bobby's shot at Veep.

The party wore on. Hank Hudspeth blew a tenor sax. The Cubans blew cherry bombs.

Pete loved _la Causa_. The Cause anchored. The Cause justified. The Cause always condoned. They shared a dilemma-penance and tithe. He knew it. Pete didn't.

Littell tried to sleep. The Cubans sang songs. Cherry bombs blew.

o o o

De Kalb adjoined Scooba. De Kalb adjoined Neshoba County.

The drive took five hours. The heat sapped his car. De Kaib fit Jane's description.

A main drag. Feed stores. Segregated shade. Whites on the sidewalk/Negroes in the street.

Littell drove through town. Negroes looked down. Whites looked straight through him.

There-the school. Jane's description etched pure.

Bungalows. Walkways. Poplar trees. Pseudo-Quonset huts.

Littell parked. Littell checked his notes. The registrar was Miss Byers-in Bungalow 1.

Littell walked. Littell followed Jane's route. The bungalow fit Jane's description.

One counter. File chutes behind it. One woman-scarves and pincenez.

The woman saw him. The woman coughed.

"It's a hoax, you want my opinion."

Littell wiped his neck. "Pardon me?"

"Those boys in Neshoba. They're sipping cool ones in Memphis right now."

Littell smiled. "Are you Miss Byers?"

"Yes, I am. And you're an agent with the Federal Bureau of Invasion."

Littell laughed. "I need information on an old student. She would have attended classes in the late '40s."

Miss Byers smiled. "I've been here since this place was chartered in 1944, and in some ways the postwar years were the best we ever saw."

"Why was that?"

"That's because you had those rowdy GI Bill boys, and some girls just as rowdy. We had a girl who became a drug addict and two girls who became traveling prostitutes."

"This girl's name was Arden Smith or Arden Coates."

Miss Byers shook her head. "We've never had an Arden here. It's a pretty name, I would have remembered it. I've been the sole registrar of this institution, and my memory hasn't failed me yet."

Littell checked the chutes. Littell saw year-dated tabs. One chute per year/'44 up.

"Are your student files alphabetized?"

"They certainly are."

"Are student photographs included?"

"Yes, sir. Clipped to the very first page."

"Have you had teachers here named Gersh, Lane, and Harding?"

"Had and have. Teachers who come tend to stay."

"Could I look through the files?"

Miss Byers squinted. "First, you tell me that this big commotion isn't just a hoax."

Littell said, "The boys are dead. The Klan killed them."

Miss Byers blinked. Miss Byers blanched. Miss Byers pushed up the counter. Littell stepped through. Littell pulled the '44 chute.

He checked the first file. He studied the layout. He saw first-page photos and class lists. He saw last-page notes: Job referrals/placements/general postscripts.

Jane knew the school. Jane attended-or knew those who did.

Littell pulled chutes. Littell checked files. He read names. He checked photos. He worked from '44 up. No Ardens/no Jane pix/no Coateses or Smiths.

He read files. He reread files. He went back to '44. He wrote names down. He checked postgrad notes.

Miss Byers watched. Miss Byers kibitzed. Littell jotted names.

Spark points. References. Jane might mention names. Jane dropped names routinely. Jane buttressed her lies. Jane sketched vivid scenes.

Marvin Whitely/'46-a bookkeeper now. Carla Wykoff-a state auditor.

Littell pulled the '47s. Aaron/Abelfit/Aldrich/Balcher/Barrett/Bebb/Bruvick. Lowly jobs. Prosaic appointments. Construction firms/feed stores/labor stewardships.

Richard Aaron married Meg Bebb. Aldrich stayed in De Kalb. Balcher caught lupus. Barrett worked in Scooba. Bruvick moved to Kansas City. Bruvick joined the AF of L.

Littell checked files. Littell wrote names. Miss Byers kibitzed.

Bobby Cantwell got shingles. The Clunes sisters went chippy. Carl Ennis spread head lice. Gretchen Farr-Satan with bangs. A hophead and worse.

Littell stopped. His knees gave out. His pen ran dry.

Jane built whole worlds. Jane lied past their limits. Jane eclipsed him at lies.

Miss Byers said, "I still think it's a hoax."