Page 44 - The Myth and the Moment

Afternoon

“Got it.”
Zip! I guess there wasn’t much on the tape. Okay, from the top.
What a tiny image; put it closer to your eye, dummy. Okay. Pan of
the park, zooming from the statue down to the orator.
“What about sound?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s got it all. Turn up that dial with the ear stamped
on it.”
“—his lies are your truth, that every move you make to get ahead is
pushing you further and further behind. I tell you all your schooling
has been for nothing: you can’t think, you can’t speak, you don’t
understand. But you can. And when you do—”
“Quite a speech, eh, Nate? Pretty good stuff.”
“What? Let me turn down the sound. Oops. There’s that kid that
jumped you. Looked to me like he started all that confusion just to
get at this camera. Maybe they weren’t junkies, Ham. Maybe they
were the thieves, and they didn’t want to be photographed.”
“Now that’s the silliest thing yet, Nate. I’m not saying those kids
wouldn’t have hit your pad if they’d thought you had anything they
could sell, but Kolpak would never deal with those types. Naw.”
Free-for-all starts, and picture stops, after a wild glimpse of the
heavens. Nothing but blank tape now. All right.
“Thanks for letting me see it, Ham. Sorry I doubted you.”
“That’s okay, man. I know you’re upset.”
“But tell me something, Ham. The whole thing seems a little, well,
amateur. I don’t see a TV station paying for that sort of footage.”
“Ha! Amateur? I ought to be insulted! Well, I’ll tell you something
I probably shouldn’t; your curiosity is going to get you killed if you
don’t ease up on it. Dig: my clients don’t have quite the same
standards as CBS News. They’re not Americans.”
“Eh?”
“I think you can pick up on this: they’re brothers from North
Africa. Want some insight into American political processes, see? So
they buy film and videos from a lot of guys like me.”
“You mean, to show on TV in their country?”
This is incredible.
“Oh, I don’t know and I don’t ask questions. You want a TV Guide
in Arabic delivered to your door by international air courier? I’m on
assignment, you understand? I’m just a flunky, not an executive.”

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